The East End (Cincinnati, Riverside, Washington: real estate, apartments, lease)

[goyguy]

For all the discussion that goes on about dozens of suburbs and city neighborhoods, some communities don't get mentioned much. One that stands out in this category for me is the East End. The West End gets its share of attention, but the other End is left alone. It was supposed to be "revitalizing" (read "gentrifying") on the heels of all the riverfront development downtown and the perennial appeal of its northern neighbors Columbia-Tusculum and Mt Lookout. Eastern Ave, for a mile or so from its origin at the base of Mt Adams, was even renamed Riverside Dr. The typical culture clash between the longtime poor and working-poor Appalachian residents and the new arrivals with more disposable income was said to be in full swing. Neighborhood dives were getting facelifts and serving martinis. Falling-down houses were getting a new lease on life. Etc etc.
I don't know whether the endless spotlighting and overpromotion of OTR comes at the expense of reporting changes in the East End, or whether the economic slowdown has put things on hold there. So I'd be interested in reading the observations of anybody who passes through the area regularly or, better yet, lives there.
[The inevitable goyguy anecdote: A couple of years ago, I was doing my customer-service thing on the phone with a woman whose address was on Eastern Ave. "Shouldn't this be changed to 'Riverside Drive'?" She burst out laughing: "Oh, PUH-LEEEZE!!! Leave it the way it is."]

[Wilson513]

First off, all of Eastern Ave is shown on my commute videos starting at the 2:10 mark on Part I:


YouTube - Rush Hour Commute From Mt. Lookout Part I


YouTube - Rush Hour Commute From Mt. Lookout Part II

Since I make eye contact with every resident of East End at one time or another and I have commuted through East End for 50 plus years more or less, I have a pretty good feel for the neighborhood.

Like OTR, the population is way down from where it was in 1965 when my friends and I cruised the three miles for hot chicks or a drag race. It has some of the very nicest real estate in Cincinnati. there are River views, wonderful airport views, hillsides, its 4 minutes from town. You can buy a house down here with an expansive view of the airport and Mt. Washington in the background for the same prices as Northside - $15- 40k).

I have said on the forum that it is the most likely neighborhood to improve in the next 10 years.

But, I call it "Creepyville." because it has the creepiest bunch of people living down here you will ever see. If you want to ridicule my Appalachian homeys, Creepyville is the place to get your photos. It s like Halloween all year round down on Eastern. You could fill a dumpster from the stuff on most people's front porch.

[t45209]

Wilson is right, there are still a lot of ramshackle buildings that you can buy on the cheap down there, but the real trend in that area has been teardown and rebuild. The new buildings are modern brownstones and maybe attempt to recall the Italianate buildings they replaced, but they are built with the idea of maximizing the view of the river in order to maximize price. There's just as much stuff in the East End going (asking) for $500k to $800k as there is $10k-$15k.

[progmac]

The East End is seriously suffering from overly-high owner expectations. Crapshacks with views there have prices in the stratosphere. The same thing is happening to some extent in OTR. That is one factor retarding redevelopment.

The other factor is that so much of the East End is in a 100 year floodplain. So you almost are forced to have super-expensive apartments because of the type of construction that would be involved. This same issue can be found in Linwood, though Linwood also must contend with horrible access and the Mt Washington Skyway (copyright 2010)

I don't see how East End can ever become a vibrant mixed-income community. It will be rich living next to super-poor and maybe some day be all rich. There are a few exceptions - around Bella Luna and the gaudy awesome hamburger place whose name I forgot comes to mind.

[AimfulDrifter]

Originally Posted by wilson1010

But, I call it "Creepyville." because it has the creepiest bunch of people living down here you will ever see. If you want to ridicule my Appalachian homeys, Creepyville is the place to get your photos. It s like Halloween all year round down on Eastern.

Poor Appalachian people are not creepy. Yuppies with cell phones are creepy.

[Tubby513]

No he's right. I ride my bike down to Schmidt Fields and all along Eastern Avenue, and some of the people are right out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

[Bigbluelandrover]

Originally Posted by wilson1010

First off, all of Eastern Ave is shown on my commute videos starting at the 2:10 mark on Part I:


YouTube - Rush Hour Commute From Mt. Lookout Part I


YouTube - Rush Hour Commute From Mt. Lookout Part II

Since I make eye contact with every resident of East End at one time or another and I have commuted through East End for 50 plus years more or less, I have a pretty good feel for the neighborhood.

Like OTR, the population is way down from where it was in 1965 when my friends and I cruised the three miles for hot chicks or a drag race. It has some of the very nicest real estate in Cincinnati. there are River views, wonderful airport views, hillsides, its 4 minutes from town. You can buy a house down here with an expansive view of the airport and Mt. Washington in the background for the same prices as Northside - $15- 40k).

I have said on the forum that it is the most likely neighborhood to improve in the next 10 years.

But, I call it "Creepyville." because it has the creepiest bunch of people living down here you will ever see. If you want to ridicule my Appalachian homeys, Creepyville is the place to get your photos. It s like Halloween all year round down on Eastern. You could fill a dumpster from the stuff on most people's front porch.

OMG! Isn't that a little mean? I know this question is not PC but what is the difference between redneck and Appalachian? My dad was from the backwoods of West Virginia and had some stories but my daddy was what I call "kuntry"-nicest man with a good heart, but no education beyond 8th grade and worked with people with rural/Appalachian backgrounds.

[Sarah Perry]

Calling someone from a lower socio-economic bracket Appalachian is just another run-of-the-mill cultural slur. It's really meaningless. Both my parents were 100 percent Appalachian. They had advanced professional degrees and spoke standard, midwestern-accented English.

People who are drawn to living on the riverbank do oftentimes share some common characteristics and those are pretty much the same wherever you go in the US.

[Wilson513]

I love Appalachians. I became a man by learning the hard way to respect others in the hillbilly string music bars in Cincinnati, first in Hartwell then on McMillan Street. I speak Appalachian whenever I let myself fall back into it. My New Jersey relatives ask me about my accent.

But, that doesn't mean that East End is not Creepyville or that it doesn't look like Halloween there all year round.

The stretch of Eastern Ave. between Wilmer and Beechmont has great views and is cheap. I saw one property sell for $10,000 on Ebay. There are several burned out houses with great views that could just be torn down. But, the problem is that the folks living there are not very good neighbors unless you are one of them. Trust me on this.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by AimfulDrifter

Poor Appalachian people are not creepy. Yuppies with cell phones are creepy.

Agree in part, disagree in part.


Some Appalachians are not creepy. All yuppies with cell phones are creepy.