Commuting from Columbus to Chillicothe-please advise (Westerville, Upper Arlington: to rent, neighborhoods, pre-school)

[perrymason007]

Hi folks,

I am taking up a new job in chillicothe in summer. I eventually want to move to columbus . I want to stay in a middle/upper middle class neighbourhood. I am not sure which of the suburbs would have the shortest commute time to chillicothe. Some friends suggest Gahanna, some suggest Dublin /New Albany. I am being told the commute time is not much of a difference. But in google maps dublin?New Albany seems to have a longer commute time to chillicothe. How about Blacklick , canal winchester and schools in that area. Please advise. I am also wondering how bad the traffic would be in peak traffic times.

Thanks

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by perrymason007

Hi folks,

I am taking up a new job in chillicothe in summer. I eventually want to move to columbus . I want to stay in a middle/upper middle class neighbourhood. I am not sure which of the suburbs would have the shortest commute time to chillicothe. Some friends suggest Gahanna, some suggest Dublin /New Albany. I am being told the commute time is not much of a difference. But in google maps dublin?New Albany seems to have a longer commute time to chillicothe. How about Blacklick , canal winchester and schools in that area. Please advise. I am also wondering how bad the traffic would be in peak traffic times.

Thanks

Shortest commutes would be Grove City, Obetz and Canal Winchester in Columbus. Just south of Columbus along 23 is Ashville. It's located between Columbus and Circleville.

[perrymason007]

Hi jbmh81,

Thank you very much for the reply. How long is the commute from Canal Winchester to Chillicothe during peak traffic hours. Are the schools in canal winchester good?. I have a 6 year old and I am looking for good elementary schools.


Thank you
.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by perrymason007

Hi jbmh81,

Thank you very much for the reply. How long is the commute from Canal Winchester to Chillicothe during peak traffic hours. Are the schools in canal winchester good?. I have a 6 year old and I am looking for good elementary schools.

Thank you
.

Canal Winchester has good schools. No matter where you live in Columbus, you're looking at a long commute. From Canal Winchester, it'd be a good hour. I drove from Columbus to Circleville quite often and it was a good 35 minutes alone, and Chillicothe is another county south from there. It would be relatively easy, though. You'd probably have to take 33 to 270 to 23 south, which are all main roads.

[grapegrape]

I used to live in Chillicothe and drove to Columbus every day. It's about 45 miles but during rush hour (and depending upon which part of town you'll be working), you can safely say it's about an hour, maybe a little more.

As far as neighborhoods. If you want upper class/upper middle class - Worthington, Dublin, Westerville, Grandview, Upper Arlington. All have good schools. New Albany is a mixture of new rich and farmers. Gahanna, Pickerington, Reynoldsburg are more working class, blue collar. Grove City, Canal Winchester, Obetz definitely are NASCAR, muscle shirts and beer heaven.

[perrymason007]

Hi grapegrape,

Thank you for the reply. I have been trying to find out this information for some time. I have been planning to visit columbus and do the drive myself and see but so far not happened. My prime goal is good public schools. I was hoping to minimize the drive as much as possible
For now I am planning to rent in chillicothe and my daughter would be in Bishop Flaget. Any thoughts about the school?? I would really really appreciate it.

My husband thinks we can stay in chillicothe for elementary and move to columbus for her middle school. I do not want her to have to make new friends every few years. any thoughts on this. We live in a suburb in MI with top notch public schools. I am afraid she will be bored in chillicothe.

Beer heaven sure is tempting. I should surely let my hubby know. He will be elated.

Thank you once again for taking time to reply.

[behindenemylines]

Not sure where in MI you are coming from but as a somewhat recent transplant from MI myself, I would say that schools here on average are much better than schools in MI on average.

Never been to Chillicothe as its not really a suburb of Columbus.

[Momotaro]

There is nothing wrong with her having to make new friends every few years. It will help make her a better person. Grove City is where I live and I make the drive to Chillicothe and Ray several times a year. It is a easy drive to Chillicothe, just take 23 south straight down. It is about an hr, unless you are one of the many who ignore the speed limits and go 65, then its about a 50 min drive.

[perrymason007]

Hi Behindenemylines,

I think it is just moving jitters. I would be less worried if I was in one of the suburbs of columbus. I know there are plenty with good schools like dublin, UA, worthington. These are all to the north west of columbus. My job is in chillicothe and commuting from dublin or UA will be too hectic. It is just that I have spent my entire life in MI and my girl has settled in so well. We are in bloomfield hills and elementary school , middle school and high school are at the max 10 min drive. Her pre-school was right behind our house. Many of her class-mates live in the same subdivision and she is very close to them. when she heard we were moving she kept on and still does say " I hate Chillicothe". She is shy and little slow in making friends. Chillicothe is not a suburb and so you might not have heard of it. Anyhoo thanks for chiming in.

Cheers

[perrymason007]

Thanks Momotaro.

I was looking at Grove city as an option. Google mapped it and it says 1 hr 3 mins from grove city. It probably would be an ideal choice. Like a poster said anywhere from columbus to chillicothe it looks like a minimum of an hour. My husband is agains staying in columbus and wants to live in chillicthe . He cites that in winter commutes might be longer and drive harder. What is your experience in winter??

Thanks a ton