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Old 08-27-2010, 09:46 AM
 
Location: Cincinnati near
2,628 posts, read 4,279,271 times
Reputation: 6114

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If you are looking in the Hartwell area, I strongly suggest you look afew miles east in the Deer Park area as well. While you may not find the 30K 'bargains' you might see in Hartwell, the 50K bargains in Deer Park are more value in my opinion. If you are handy, your improvements will increase the value of the property more as well, and with all of the other costs of home ownership, the extra $80/month or so on the mortgage is not that critical.

Deer Park is a great little community. There are a lot of under 30/early 30s homeowners, single and married, with and without kids. It seems like everyone has a dog, and if you have a dog you will meet new people every day walking him or her. In some areas the houses are small and fairly close together, but every house in the neighborhood is within 4 blocks of a park. The overwhelming majority of the homeowners care about maintaining their property, and Saturday mornings can be recognized by the sounds of grass being cut, driveways refinished, houses painted, trees trimmed, and gutters cleaned. The way my cousin explains it, Deer Park was in fairly bad shape a few years ago and a lot of young people bought up a lot of the housing with the idea that it was a great neighborhood for a starter-home. Then, the housing market collapsed and they decided invest in the properties and stay in the area.

This past winter I bought a house in Amberley a few blocks from the border, but I have to say I have fallen in love with Deer Park. The portion of Silverton along Ohio Ave. That borders Deer Park and Amberley is a fantastic area as well. Dillonvale is nice as well, if a bit pricier.
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Old 08-27-2010, 09:59 AM
 
29 posts, read 76,759 times
Reputation: 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chemistry_Guy View Post
If you are looking in the Hartwell area, I strongly suggest you look afew miles east in the Deer Park area as well. While you may not find the 30K 'bargains' you might see in Hartwell, the 50K bargains in Deer Park are more value in my opinion. If you are handy, your improvements will increase the value of the property more as well, and with all of the other costs of home ownership, the extra $80/month or so on the mortgage is not that critical.

Deer Park is a great little community. There are a lot of under 30/early 30s homeowners, single and married, with and without kids. It seems like everyone has a dog, and if you have a dog you will meet new people every day walking him or her. In some areas the houses are small and fairly close together, but every house in the neighborhood is within 4 blocks of a park. The overwhelming majority of the homeowners care about maintaining their property, and Saturday mornings can be recognized by the sounds of grass being cut, driveways refinished, houses painted, trees trimmed, and gutters cleaned. The way my cousin explains it, Deer Park was in fairly bad shape a few years ago and a lot of young people bought up a lot of the housing with the idea that it was a great neighborhood for a starter-home. Then, the housing market collapsed and they decided invest in the properties and stay in the area.

This past winter I bought a house in Amberley a few blocks from the border, but I have to say I have fallen in love with Deer Park. The portion of Silverton along Ohio Ave. That borders Deer Park and Amberley is a fantastic area as well. Dillonvale is nice as well, if a bit pricier.
Thanks for your reply. I'm not looking for such a bargain (I can do some home improvements, but a 30k home would need significant work..I don't have that kind of time ). I've looked into the Deer Park area and the houses just don't really grab my attention. Judging by your post, I'm certain the area is very nice, but I need a home that will "wow" me, and a none in Deer Park have done that yet. I'll certainly keep looking though!
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Old 08-27-2010, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Columbus, Ohio
1,781 posts, read 2,671,138 times
Reputation: 7071
Lightbulb Heyyyyy Wilson!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by wilson1010 View Post
OK, goodbye then.
LOL...what exactly did you do get this person so worked up? I've called you truculent and combative myself at least once, but I will back you to the hilt if I think you're right---and you know that...

Double LOL...I honestly think you're the Cincy forum's version of someone's cranky brother---you love him to death, and sometimes he annoys you and makes you blow up at him, but God Help anybody besides us here in the forum who wants to take a crack at you...far as I am concerned, I'm one of you, and you're one of us, crankiness being an every-other-day option!
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Old 08-27-2010, 12:02 PM
 
10,135 posts, read 27,354,571 times
Reputation: 8398
Quote:
Originally Posted by captaincatfish View Post
LOL...what exactly did you do get this person so worked up? I've called you truculent and combative myself at least once, but I will back you to the hilt if I think you're right---and you know that...

Double LOL...I honestly think you're the Cincy forum's version of someone's cranky brother---you love him to death, and sometimes he annoys you and makes you blow up at him, but God Help anybody besides us here in the forum who wants to take a crack at you...far as I am concerned, I'm one of you, and you're one of us, crankiness being an every-other-day option!

I guess it was just my truculent vibes because I never has a single exchange with that person.

But, I never trust a person who has three posts and done. I mean who registers just to take a shot at aome other poster, no matter how deserving. I mean if you wanted to scold miscreants on CD, you would need about 1000 different identities. So if someone picks me out of a crowd, I refuse to believe its a coincidence.

Wilson's Third Law of Human Behavior: There are very, very few coincidences in life.

PS, I like your crankieness, captain, . . . a lot. People who can blow up are people who care about stuff. I'll take a guy who can make good use of four letter words every day over some snide backhanded stuff.
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Old 08-27-2010, 12:40 PM
 
29 posts, read 76,759 times
Reputation: 12
Wilson, what do you think about Hartwell (corner of Curzon and Hartwell Ave)? Safe? Family-friendly?
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Old 08-27-2010, 02:33 PM
 
10,135 posts, read 27,354,571 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jl938206 View Post
Wilson, what do you think about Hartwell (corner of Curzon and Hartwell Ave)? Safe? Family-friendly?
What if HG sees my praise after all the smart remarks I made?

Seriously, I used to work in Hartwell and I had a girl I went out with a little that worked at a bar there called the Salty Dog. Other than that I'm not expert enough to send you there. I know HG says its the cat's a$$. And, I moused around enough to stop quibbling with her. Its so well located that if you find a nice house with neighbors within eyesight that you don't just hate on sight can't can't be too far off. But I'd really have to defer to HG.

But best of luck.
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Old 08-28-2010, 02:08 AM
 
Location: Cambridge, MA
4,882 posts, read 13,750,571 times
Reputation: 6947
The only real drawback to Hartwell Ave is the reason that it totally lacks houses on its south side. Once upon a time long long ago there was no direct way to reach Arlington Hts, Reading, and points east from Hartwell (one that'd be readily apparent, anyway.) Instead of Galbraith Rd there was a hodgepodge of east/west streets: Galbraith Rd out of Colerain Twp, which phased into Pfau Rd and ended at Vine St, whence travelers had to "jog" a block south and then turn east on Hartwell Ave. From the other direction, Kugler Mill Rd in Kenwood phased into East Galbraith which extended to Arlington Hts.
Then the Miami & Erie Canal was paved over and became the Mill Creek Expressway. A connector between Pfau and the start of Hartwell Ave was constructed, and another went in from Hartwell Ave immediately east of Woodbine that rose to pass over the railroad tracks and link to the new highway before descending to East Galbraith. One consequence of this was that Pfau Rd was relegated to a small side street off Vine, and Hartwell Ave's starting point was shifted to Woodbine. For now Galbraith Rd was one continuous artery from Colerain to Kenwood.
The other, more lasting, consequence was that everything on the south side of Hartwell Ave was cleared in favor of what Britons call a "flyover." The farther east you go on the street, the more you'll only see the road embankment when looking south. Hand in hand with no view is the traffic noise. Galbraith is still heavily traveled despite the completion of the Cross-County Highway.

The Enquirer on one Sunday in August, 1969 had a screaming headline that even knocked the Sharon Tate murder below the front-page fold: "TORNADO SLAMS INTO CINCINNATI." Said twister did a good bit of its slamming in Hartwell, nowhere harder than at the Galbraith/Hartwell/Woodbine intersection. At the northeast corner stood a hulking brick building, once the community school, which had been converted to an apartment house. Four people racing to the cellar were outrun by the funnel cloud and killed when it reduced the structure to rubble. Other homes nearby were also heavily damaged if not destroyed. Mature trees, many over a hundred years old, were strewn across yards and streets. "It looked like a bomb hit" is a worn-out phrase, but hey, it looked like a bomb hit. Anybody who lived in Hartwell or was passing through on that terrible night talks about it at the slightest prompting to this day. And after 41 years some visible scars are there still. Nothing took the place of the old schoolhouse beyond a small business that started out as a greenhouse and ended up specializing in cheesy lawn ornaments. Most of the lot is nothing more than grass, but at least somebody keeps it cut. Along the secondary artery Anthony Wayne Ave, ruined houses were succeeded by brick box apartment buildings that were put up fast and on the cheap.

Also taking lumps at the same time, in an economic sense, were the manufacturing operations in nearby Lockland. Motorists in the know stayed away from Anthony Wayne Ave during shift changes at factories like Philip Carey so as to avoid the onslaught of hundreds of wage-earners heading for home. Quite a few of the workers lived close enough to not have to drive, with paychecks that enabled them to afford a home in Hartwell or Lockland. In fact the lure of well-paying non- and semi-skilled work was strong enough that thousands of Appalachians, many from Kentucky, took the bait. To meet the demand for housing, a lot of the larger dwellings in the community - even quite a few of the Victorian residences - were carved into efficiency apartments and rooming houses. Hartwell was no longer a serene enclave in many parts. But the inhabitants still held down jobs and kept the streets populated, until the jobs went away. Once the factories started shutting down the neighborhood wasn't far behind - particularly in the Woodbine/Wayne sector. Poorer and fewer people occupied the subdivided houses which were largely the worse for wear. Vacant abodes were vandalized and burned. While they weren't taken over by the "criminal element" exactly, the brick boxes on Wayne started harboring some unsavory goings-on.

BUT...while all eyes are on OTR, Hartwell is quietly turning the corner, and nowhere more strongly of late than between Woodbine and Wayne. The section south of Galbraith which had always been the nicest and had deteriorated the least is looking fantastic these days. SRO's are roomy single-family homes once again. Kids languidly pedal around the quiet streets while grown-ups chat on the sidewalk or doorsteps. Meanwhile, there's a veritable gold rush on for the fixer-uppers across Galbraith. During a trip from the elite East Coast last June to review the Midwestern commoners out the window of my chauffeur-driven car () I heard hammers and power saws from all directions while rolling along Sheehan Ave. A large gray two-story house was receiving a fresh coat of bright mustard-yellow paint. Porch rebuilding was well underway a few doors down. Roofers swarmed atop yet another residence. The neighborhood was jumping with rehabbing and remodeling.

If only the public schools were better (same song, umpteenth verse.)
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Old 08-28-2010, 02:12 AM
 
Location: Cambridge, MA
4,882 posts, read 13,750,571 times
Reputation: 6947
P.S. HG doesn't mind if I spout off about "her" neighborhood as long as everything I say agrees with what she would.
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Old 08-28-2010, 02:39 AM
 
Location: Cambridge, MA
4,882 posts, read 13,750,571 times
Reputation: 6947
Quote:
Originally Posted by captaincatfish View Post
LOL...what exactly did you do get this person so worked up? I've called you truculent and combative myself at least once, but I will back you to the hilt if I think you're right---and you know that...

Double LOL...I honestly think you're the Cincy forum's version of someone's cranky brother---you love him to death, and sometimes he annoys you and makes you blow up at him, but God Help anybody besides us here in the forum who wants to take a crack at you...far as I am concerned, I'm one of you, and you're one of us, crankiness being an every-other-day option!
What he said!!! Blood runs thicker than water in every family of any kind.
The goyguy philosophy of life includes, "Don't dish it out if ya can't take it."

Quoth the Isley Brothers: "(I)f you think it's easy it's only 'cause you ain' me and I ain' you."

Some of my best friends are Republicans. Seriously. None other than wilson and I have a common bond by being cat-owned. Anybody who can't appreciate a whole person for what they are is less than whole themselves.
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Old 08-28-2010, 03:18 AM
 
10,135 posts, read 27,354,571 times
Reputation: 8398
Goyguy is employing sincerity and humility in addition to artful writing. These cat people can be very tricky.
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