High on Hilltop’s consumer power

By: Walker

35 Comments

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  BetsyB October 30, 2007 12:02 pm

  not a surprise to me honestly, especially considering they lump the Westgate area in with the Hilltop. I would say majority of the people I have met through block watch and other Westgate/Hilltop functions have some pretty good jobs. Plus could it be that by buying under what you can afford for a house and driving say a honda instead of a bmw gives you more expendable income…a point that seems to fall on deaf ears most of the time…
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  Walker October 30, 2007 12:13 pm

  BetsyB wrote a point that seems to fall on deaf ears most of the time…

  Who have you been talking to? Trying to get some businesses to relocate there? :D

  I think simply seeing news articles like this should be a flag for some businesses. The media is a powerful way to speak out the demands of the residents. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an increase in retail/commercial development along some of the commercial corridors through the Hilltop area in the next few years.
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  BetsyB October 30, 2007 12:27 pm

  no I am talking about the people (some on this site as discussed in other threads) that seem to think the Hilltop is a wasteland. I think that area is largely mistaken as being poor since people there may be more economical and reserved regarding what they spend on a home and their car and tend to have more expendable income than folks in Dublin, UA, etc. because they live below or at their means.

  Kind of a weird example of this: I met with a funeral home director that operates a well-known funeral home in the Hilltop and he told me that they perform on average 3-4X the amount of casket funerals than the funeral homes in suburban areas. Suburban areas tend to have a much higher rate for cremation. He said the reasoning behind this was because the people who work and live around his funeral home tend to save up their money to have a proper burial including buying plots, while suburban funeral homes do more cremations because it is cheaper implying they don’t save or value having a formal funeral.
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  gramarye October 30, 2007 12:46 pm

  I know for myself that the differences (or lack thereof, due to overlap) of Franklinton, Valleyview, Hilltop, Westgate, and “the Bottoms” took a while to make sense to me, too, and I’m still not sure I got them all right.
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  myliftkk October 30, 2007 1:20 pm

  BetsyB wrote no I am talking about the people (some on this site as discussed in other threads) that seem to think the Hilltop is a wasteland. I think that area is largely mistaken as being poor since people there may be more economical and reserved regarding what they spend on a home and their car and tend to have more expendable income than folks in Dublin, UA, etc. because they live below or at their means.

  I’m not sure that that kind of attitude of residents is actually beneficial to inducing an expansion of retail options. :?

  BetsyB wrote Kind of a weird example of this: I met with a funeral home director that operates a well-known funeral home in the Hilltop and he told me that they perform on average 3-4X the amount of casket funerals than the funeral homes in suburban areas. Suburban areas tend to have a much higher rate for cremation. He said the reasoning behind this was because the people who work and live around his funeral home tend to save up their money to have a proper burial including buying plots, while suburban funeral homes do more cremations because it is cheaper implying they don’t save or value having a formal funeral.

  Funny, that’s exactly the opinion I’d expect from a funeral home director, about 25 years ago. :roll: It’s more likely the current residents in the Hilltop area haven’t read Jessica Mitford’s “American Way of Death”. I’ll go out on a limb and stake the claim that cremation rates have absolutely nothing to do with a family’s savings, and everything to do with avoiding creative financial poaching by the “death services” industry. :wink:
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  chaptal October 30, 2007 1:27 pm

  I’d welcome anything that opens up. There is not a decent grocery store in the area since Big Bear shut down, no coffee shop, but if you want money orders or cash advances – the west side is the place to go.
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  myliftkk October 30, 2007 1:35 pm

  Nearly a third of the 30,000 households on the Hilltop earn at least $50,000 a year, which is about $6,000 more than the city median, said Boring, principal of Columbus-based Boulevard Strategies. The analysis also shows the Hilltop’s 67,000 residents will spend an estimated $525 million on retail purchases this year.

  The statistic above, if it can really be called one, is more an exercise in creative writing than actually laying something informative out about Hilltop. I also don’t trust articles that don’t directly link their sources, i.e. the analysis. “Nearly”, “at least”, “about”… those words send business people who actually have to crunch the numbers heading for the hills. :roll:

  Copy deadline must have been short on this one. :wink:

  I wonder how much of that 525m goes to drugs and prostitution… wouldn’t those be considered “local” businesses? :D
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  Brewmaster October 30, 2007 1:50 pm

  myliftkk wrote
  

  Nearly a third of the 30,000 households on the Hilltop earn at least $50,000 a year, which is about $6,000 more than the city median, said Boring, principal of Columbus-based Boulevard Strategies. The analysis also shows the Hilltop’s 67,000 residents will spend an estimated $525 million on retail purchases this year.

  The statistic above, if it can really be called one, is more an exercise in creative writing than actually laying something informative out about Hilltop. I also don’t trust articles that don’t directly link their sources, i.e. the analysis. “Nearly”, “at least”, “about”… those words send business people who actually have to crunch the numbers heading for the hills. :roll:

  Copy deadline must have been short on this one. :wink:

  I wonder how much of that 525m goes to drugs and prostitution… wouldn’t those be considered “local” businesses? :D

  And how much do the bottom 1/3 make? It’s great that the top 1/3 is faring well, but that bottom 1/3 can really drag down an area with sheer laziness.

  Also judging by that statistic, one could say that about 2/3 of Hilltop’s residents make less than than the city median. I’m not saying that’s a death knell for an area, it’s just to point out that it’s a creative spin of statistics.
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  JoshOSU75 October 30, 2007 2:16 pm

  http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m91/JoshOSU75/hilltop.jpg
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  Coremodels October 30, 2007 2:22 pm

  LOL…sorry, I couldn’t resist…from your myspace page Josh…

  http://a216.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/42/l_815a1ac4613ef7b51400f90f13abf9a7.jpg
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  JoshOSU75 October 30, 2007 2:50 pm

  haha, I nearly wrecked when I saw that sign. Unfortunately, it’s not there anymore. Has anyone seen the movie Pecker by John Waters? Thats exactly how I feel about the Hilltop…its my own private Baltimore.

  Also, my little map of the Hilltop is to hopefully erase any confusion about what is what on the west side.

  And about that market analysis…I definitely don’t fit into the third that makes $50,000 but I do ok considering my mortgage payment is less than my rent was in Grandview four years ago. I was an art major for crying out loud, I knew I probably wouldn’t be making that much. But I’m single and gay (hear the dance music?) so I probably won’t have kids (hear the violins?) which means I’ll have more money to spend (hear the dance music again?) My move to the Hilltop meant I had to lose the convenience of walking to a movie theater, book store, coffee shop, gallery and restaurants ALL for the sake of buying a home. Its all good because I’m not that far of a drive away from I-70 which gets me to those things quickly. It would be nice if someone decides to move or add their business to the Hilltop, even if it meant Westgate was the lucky winner…I’d just put on my walking shoes.

  Also, I think my area is great just off of Mound on Butler Ave, it looks just like the street I lived on in Grandview for 1/2 the cost (see my myspace pictures) but just to give props to Westgate, it reminds me of Clintonville but you’d never know it existed if you just drove on Broad Street. If you’re going west on Broad, make a left on any of the streets from Roys on down to Southampton…give or take. EVERYONE will be pleasantly surprised.
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  Take2 October 30, 2007 4:49 pm

  This is my first post to Columbus Underground. I have been reading for about a month now and the site has become my new obsession.

  My name is Charlie and I am one of the owners of Take 2 Apparel in the Short North. When not “Take2′ing” in the evenings, I have a full time job as an accountant with an Accounting Software company in North Columbus.

  I felt the need to post a reply to this topic as my partner and I own a home on the Hilltop. I was only a year and half out of college and had a great corporate, accounting job. I was already tired of throwing my money away on rent and felt the need to invest in a home. At 23 years old, I did not want a huge mortgage payment so my realtors suggested Westgate. They drove me through the area and I instantly fell in love with the architecture. Within a few weeks we found a home just on the other side of West Broad (I soon discovered that this was no longer considered Westgate … but rather the Hilltop).

  This house was perfect for me. It had the old school flare of it’s 1920 build date with features like the original fireplace and bookcases yet it had a very modern feel by the complete renovation of kitchen, bathrooms, windows, plumbing, electric, etc. Best of all I had a nice backyard, garage, porch swing, and yard to play in … all this for a mortgage payment of less than $600. How could I say no to this?

  I soon discovered that I was not in Westgate and that the Hilltop had a stigma of being the ghetto. Still to this day, my partner and I prefer to say that we live in Westgate than the Hilltop … citing that we are only one block from that distinction.

  Regardless of the technical geography of where our house lies, I would not trade it (unless you counted moving it just one block west into Westgate!). Having the lower mortgage payments has given us the cash flow to add a deck & hot tub, travel, and do many of the other things we wouldn’t have been able to do with a $1500 or $2000 mortgage payment we would surely find living downtown or in the burbs. A short 8 minute drive gets us to the Short North or German Village and a nice 10 minute walk through Westgate with the dog gets us to Westgate Park. The houses on the walk are beautiful and the landscape is well cared for. Every street you walk down you are greeted with a smile or nod as others walk, jog, or sit on their porches.

  As for the article I do find certain flaws with it. The Hilltop area (not including Westgate) is filled with rentals. This leads to streets with unmowed lawns, sketchy alleys lined with trash, and may I add tacky Halloween decorations. While I would love to see a Starbucks at the end of my street or a string of classy restaurants a few blocks away, West Broad itself has a long time before it will see these items. For now we will have to settle for the Hilltop Market, Josie’s Pizza (which is amazing if you don’t think about where it was made as you chew), and the Foxy Lady strip club. Until I am ready to drop a small fortune for a tiny, two bedroom condo I am ok having a short drive to the Short North for dinner, Easton for a movie, or Dublin to see the mother-in-law … only to come home to let the dog run in the back yard, watch the neighborhood kids play in the street, or jump in the hot tub.

  Maybe the city could spend a couple of mil on arches for the Hilltop? lol We wouldn’t even care if they twinkled or had the capability of changing colors! Hell, while they are at it maybe they could throw us in the proposal for the street cars too.

  Charlie
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  Coremodels October 30, 2007 5:22 pm

  Welcome aboard Take2, love the store :)
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  Walker October 30, 2007 6:45 pm

  Take2 wrote This is my first post to Columbus Underground. I have been reading for about a month now and the site has become my new obsession.

  Glad to hear it! Welcome to the site and thank for taking the time to write up that HUGE post! Always glad to hear about neighborhoods from an insider’s perspective. :D
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  Walker October 30, 2007 7:33 pm

  Take2 wrote While I would love to see a Starbucks at the end of my street or a string of classy restaurants a few blocks away, West Broad itself has a long time before it will see these items.

  I’m not sure how old this plan is, or what status it might currently be in, but it’s pretty interesting nonetheless. Stumbled upon it today:

  http://neighborhooddesign.org/Highland%20West%20Visioning%20Charrette_FOR%20WEB.pdf
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  BetsyB October 30, 2007 7:54 pm

  Take 2 it was like you were describing our house hunting experience, except we found a great house in Westgate. People look at me like I am crazy when I describe where we live, as most think that it is an area of unkempt houses and the ghetto. I think you really nailed it as far as the reasoning to why Westgate is a good place to live.
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  Outerloop October 30, 2007 7:57 pm

  BetsyB wrote …could it be that by buying under what you can afford for a house and driving say a honda instead of a bmw gives you more expendable income…

  Right on BetsyB!!! That’s my mantra to live life by.

  Take2′s first post pretty much validates your point. Spending less on items for show allows one to enjoy what Columbus has to offer. Think of it as spreading the wealth
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  gramarye October 31, 2007 10:05 am

  I’m completely down with that way of thinking as well, and I think I will be until I have kids that are approaching school age. Since I would never send my children to Columbus Public, Westgate and similar neighborhoods would start to look fairly unattractive for me at that point, because the savings of living in a cheaper home would be swallowed up by the necessity of private school tuition. This would be particularly true if one had two or more children.

  Grandview has managed to carve out a decent deal for themselves because they have their own exempted village school district; it’s not the best in the state, but it’s at least possible to get a decent education there. The closest neighborhood to downtown that I could let myself live in with school-age kids would be Upper Arlington, however, and that doesn’t come cheap.
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  BetsyB October 31, 2007 11:28 am

  Yes your right, private school doesn’t come cheap, but you are spending a similar number on taxes for the public schools in an area such as UA. Plus I don’t know if you have priced private schools lately, but they are only about $5000-$8000 a year excluding Columbus School for Girls, but including St. Charles. Which kinda seems like a deal when you pay $10,000 a year for daycare.

  If you divide the cost of private school over 12 months and add that to my current mortgage payment, honestly, it still isn’t the difference between living in Westgate or UA, Dublin, Westerville, etc. and I would probably have a much crappier house that was built in the 70s or 80s (when the real craftsmanship began to die) and looks like my neighbor’s down the street.

  If you do the math you are still saving by sending them private over living in a more expensive neighborhood.

  since you don’t have kids, its kinda of a moot point for you anyways…
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  gramarye October 31, 2007 1:52 pm

  $8000/yr is a lot of money to me. :cry:

  $10,000/yr for daycare is even more obscene, but that doesn’t make private school cheaper in fact–just by comparison. Also, $10k daycare is just God’s just punishment upon our heathen land for letting women out of the house. 8)