What are you looking for in a town? Good schools, a one or multiple high school community, short distance to downtown, short distance to a different part of town, an established area, a high growth area, any price range you are looking at (might price yourself out of markets), will you be in town for a while or only a couple of years (some markets are soft and are buyers markets, so if you need to sell in a couple of years some areas could be tough to dump a home... ie Murfield Village)...
quick thoughts:
Worthington: Two high schools, considered to be very good schools, mature community, not really any more room to continue to expand the city, due north of Downtown (half in/half out of the outerbelt).
Dublin: Two high schools (about to be three, once the third is completed), considered to be very good schools, has alot of room to continue to grow (tends to be cheaper than Worthington, due to the high amout of supply in the housing market), northwest of downtown (parts of Dublin can really get out there).
Powell: One high school, considered to be a good school district (they have been improving), a lot of room to grow (like Dublin, there are a lot of new homes being built), far north of downtown (about as far north as you can get to be considered a suburb of Columbus), does have a rural feel in some areas.
Hilliard: Two high schools (I believe a third high school is being considered), considered to be a good to very good school diestrict (again a lot of improvement over the last ten/fifteen years as far as the schools are concerned), a lot of room to grow/high growth rate, a bit cheaper than the surrownding areas to the north and east, west and a bit north of downtown.
Upper Arlington: One high school, considered to be a very good school district (some might argue the best in central Ohio... has state and national awards to back that up), mature area/no room to grow, high prices/high demand to get into city, if you want a good deal on sq. foot per dollar this isn't the place for you, northwest of downtown/close to downtown.
Grandview: One high school, smaller community, considered to be a good school district, mature area/no room to grow, northwest & close to downtown/butts up to downtown, can get pricey however cheaper than UA.
Grove City: Two high schools, considered below average school district, can grow to the west and south, much cheaper per sq. foot compaired to the above listed areas, west and a bit south of downtown.
Westerville: Two high schools, considered to be good schools, is growing, north east of downtown
New Albany: One high school, considered to be very good school district, is growing, is pricey for the east side, east of downtown, can be a bit of a drive to get down town, does hasve some rural areas if you go east enough.
Bexley: One high school, considered to be very good school district, is mature/no room to grow, again pricey for the east side, east of downtown/butts up against downtown.
Reynoldsburg: I would guess one highschool (don't know much about this town), considered average school district, southeast of downtown, still growing, cheaper sq. foot for the dollar.
Pickerington: Two high schools (will prob. need a third at some point), considered good school districts (although they have been hit hard with budget problems, this could effect their rating since they aren't putting as much money in the district, and have been cutting a lot of programs), south east of downtown (parts can get pretty south/ butts up to canal winchester), mega huge growth rate (to the point they are limiting the growth because the city can not keep up with the growth... some of the water and sewer is provided by canal winchester due to the city not being able to support all the growth), still a lot of farms down there (will be homes at some point), can get a lot of house for the dollar (most bulders are building down there, it could be tough to dump a house in short order if the need arose).
If you consider Plain City a suburb, they have one highschool, it is a rural area, way northwest of downtown, still a sleepy farm town, but pricey for what it is. The school district is considered "good."
This was typed quickly, I might have forgotten a city, sorry if I did... it was general, not specific, I'm sure people might gripe about the school district rating, that was my assesment, if you disagree that is ok... I don't claim to be a school district expert and I very well could be wrong on some of them.
Hope this helps... will talk more about areas if you wish...
