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would've been if not for the location of this incident. It's an anomaly nonetheless. But there's been some class tension thereabouts "forever." That section of Wyoming is within its "traditionally" Black enclave, and right where blue-collar and middle-class households bump property lines with those of some of the city's "least fortunate." Undoubtedly someone envious of what someone else had decided to make a score. The neighborhood straddles heavily-used railroad tracks (why d'ya think po' folks live there?) Lockland's downtrodden mid-west section lies proverbially "on the other side of the tracks," with still-poorer Lincoln Hts not far distant.
In these times, it also can't be ruled out that some sort of rivalry - whether or not involving the underground economy - might've been in effect. That sort of stuff knows no geographic, racial, or class boundary.
Even so, "this doesn't go on in Wyoming" as a rule. Far from it. Tongues wagged all over town for days when there was a homicide on the same block of the same street, and that was over forty years ago. Wyoming's Finest are probably all over this case, more so given that the PD is at 800 Oak. It's nothing that should discourage anyone looking to set up housekeeping in town, even in that vicinity.
goyguy - You give such amazingly detailed responses! I think Wyoming took forever to hit the housing bubble and is finally seeing the results in the past year. I know when I was in Lebanon, we started to see the downturn at least 3 years ago (and it's continuing there as well). The areas with the better schools seemed to be immune for the first couple of years, but now are seeing the price adjustments...
Bopfletch - My response, which is not nearly as good as goyguy's, is that it's a great street with lots of kids. I know two families on that street and they both love it. They speak about how all the kids run around and play while the parents congregate and chat. You are fine on that location, as there is a decent stretch left before you hit Woodlawn (you still have over to where the condos/landominiums are in Wyoming Glen, which is past Fifth Third Bank). To add to the commercial development on that side of town, they are renovating the other side of the building that houses they wine shop (right at the foot of Ritchie) and putting a coffee shop/gelateria in it. I know I can't wait for that!!
would've been if not for the location of this incident. It's an anomaly nonetheless.
Of course, I asked the police about it today at the Farmer's Market. Let's just say, it was definitely not a random act. From what I could surmise, it appears as if someone owed someone $$.
Of course, I asked the police about it today at the Farmer's Market.
Of course you did, you live in Wyoming. That's what Wyomingites do.
My folks chat up the local constabulary all the time. I think that whenever a cop's assigned to patrol their street, he (no women on the force yet) allots at least twenty minutes for when he gets to the Goyguy Srs' house. They're in for a friendly ear-bending if one or both of the parents is outside.
Outstanding schools and a Mayberry vibe make for an unbeatable combination for families with young children. That's why people love to bring up kids there, and why many of the kids can't wait to leave. And it's also why the officers of the law are as approachable as they are. Try striking up a conversation with a wo/man in blue in Cincinnati or a higher-crime suburb.
An engaged citizenry throughout the city naturally makes it a safer one. The "bad guys" as well as the police know they're being watched. And that, in turn, means that even on the poorer streets in town ANY crime draws screaming headlines and clucking tongues.
We are not intentionally moving north in our search. In fact not being from the area, I was assuming a location like forest was better than ritchie. We just like the size of this house better. Actually we prefer the older WWII houses. I strongly believe that that was the golden age of construction. When people say they dont build them like they used to I think of WWII houses.
So as a non-local, can someone give me lay of the land? How do I think of the town from a geographical perspective? Does the town break up into different areas (ie. this is area has smaller more affordable houses, this area has more younger couple, this is the section with huge mansions, etc)?
In the price range we are looking (<$400) is there a section we should be looking at, or does it not matter?
goyguy will be much better at this than me, but I will try (as I have only been here 6 months and he lived here his childhood).
Moving East to West. Eastern area bumps against the train tracks. Close to the train tracks = "bad" area of Wyoming (Van Roberts, Oak Ave). It's not awful, it's just bad for Wyoming. Grove is the the cross over street where the houses start to get nicer (I believe a house on Grove is for sale for upper 400s for illustrative purposes). Burns to Springfield Pike is really the old village part of Wyoming . You have lots of older houses (Victorian, Colonials, Bungalows, etc). You see all house styles from the 1800s through the 1970s. The newer houses are where they filled in as people sold off their extra parcels (lots). I'm in the village, and my street has 2 ranches built in the 1950s mixed in with the old historic houses. You have a more urban feel down in the village as you can walk to the downtown, library, high school, middle school, etc. Village is a mix of younger couples that want an older house as well as people who have been in their same house for 30+ years. Houses go from upper 100s up to 1million. All mixed up and next to each other. Cute streets that are affordable in the village are Stout, Barney, Walnut, Clark). Wentworth, Wilmuth, Worthington, Elm and Beech may occasionally have a more affordable house on them, but many are 500+. Burns is a bit busy, but some of the lots are really large. All depends if you don't mind a bit of traffic.
After you cross Springfield Pike, (in the central part of Wyoming), you start to see some of the "rich" areas. Linden & Linden Ridge have some huge houses on them. Jewett, Dorino and Brooks all have nice houses as well, although a few are a bit more modestly priced. Reily and Oliver have a vast mix of houses from upper 100s to several million. You are heading up the hill now, and you reach more development from the 50s onwards the higher up the hill you get as that developed later (Cody Pass, Abilene Trail, etc). This area seems to have a ton of families as it's a bit more affordable, but decent sized houses.
Back at Springfield Pike, heading a bit South, you run into another nice area that backs up to the Wyoming Golf club. Here you have some cute smaller streets tucked in off of Mt Pleasant. Closer you are to Springfield Pike, the older the houses seem to be. Further up to get as you approach Compton, you get a mix of ranches.
Another area some people like (reminds me more of the northeast, especially Connecticut), is off of Compton back on Poage Farm Rd and Compton Hills. You can't walk to town or anything from up there, so you have to like that feel more.
Back down to Springfield Pike, on the south side (as you approach Hartwell) you have more modestly priced homes. Seems to be a mix of ages living in this area.
Heading to the Northern part of Wyoming along Springfield Pike (heading towards Woodlawn), you will hit Central Ter (small street w/ nice houses) and then Fleming. Fleming is a cut through street that starts with tudors and ends with ranches. Off of Fleming there are some very affordable, kid friendly areas. I wouldnt recommend Fleming itself due to the fact it's a busy road.
Heading further North off of Springfield Pike, you hit Forest & Ritchie. To me, these seem to be some of the kid heavy area. Nice starter homes mixed in with homes you can stay in forever. If you keep heading North, houses start to get smaller and you start running into the commercial area.
So, basically, kids are tucked in all of Wyoming. If you want a kid heavy area, I would look on Ritchie, Forest and roads that come off of Fleming (Firewood, Sweetwater). If you don't mind being a bit further from the high school and middle school, take a look at the top of the hill at the houses around Cody Pass, Chisholm Trail, etc.
Honestly, just avoid the fringes of the town and you are fine. I would stay West of Grove, South of Vermont, North of Mt Pleasant.
goyguy will be much better at this than me, but I will try (as I have only been here 6 months and he lived here his childhood).
Not a chance! Your synopsis is about 1/11th of the length mine would've been. And transplants' eyes always take in more than natives'. I hear that all the time where I live now, even three decades after relocating. ("You've been there?"..."I never noticed that!"...etc.)
As opposed to Jen35, there are few places in Wyoming that I wouldn't consider living in (as little as I want to consider moving back.) Though accustomed to dwelling in - and preferring to dwell in - "mixed" communities, I'd draw the line at breaching what was historically Wyoming's color boundary. Plenty of nice houses are inside that boundary - the farther from the tracks the nicer - but there's no point in antagonizing the small number of locals who are happy with their enclave's staying segregated. I like the streets on the fringes of Woodlawn and Hartwell, where there's no shortage of appealing little houses that're perfect for a single person or couple or small family. The blocks are close-knit and unpretentious, and are where some teachers and many municipal employees hang their hats. Bonham Rd would be the sole exception, only because eastbound drivers use it as a speedway just as they do Fleming, Mt Pleasant, etc. OTOH I'm cooler towards "The Reservation" (the large chunk of town where some street names end with "Trail") and the pockets of the city where the uber-rich mingle with the social climbing upper middle class.
This goes to show, "it depends on who you talk to." And it also goes to show that there's something in Wyoming to suit every taste and wallet.
Just got back from first house hunting trip, and it was a huge disappointment.
Of the 10 places in Wyoming on our list, 5 of them we could not see because the owners refused to show because it was not convenient for them. ABSURD!!!
(they all had more than 24 hrs notice)
Apparently people in Wyoming have not heard about the housing crisis. I have got to say that before this trip, I had heard about Wyoming being snooty, but this experience helps me to see it for myself. If your selling a house in this market, you bend over backwards to get buyers to look at it, not shun them.
As a comparison point, we had 35 other houses on our list in HP, Mt Lookout, and Mariemount. We saw all but 2.
All that aside, the trip remained unfruitful. We saw 1 house in Wyoming that was really nice, but had a VERY wet basement (which crossed it off the list).
Mariemount seems to be extremely over priced.
There were 3 places of intrest in the HP/Mt Lookout area. Can anyone tell us about the following streets (pros and cons)?
All little enclave streets off of the main drag. Arcadia is a micro neighborhood. The other two are stub treets. But like everything in HP they are near great amenities, are safe and have stable if not now rising property values. Salisbury is sort of on the way to nowhere but is walkable to ML Square and for the fit, both Ault and Alms Parks (its right between the two best parks in Cincinnati.
I live in walking distance to all three of those streets.
Wyoming has nothing in the way of amenities. Why anyone would look there is beyond me. I guess if I worked at GE or Princeton High School it would be convenient. Otherwise, why? Its in the valley so air quality will be much worse than the other good choices. I75 is the main street and everything in Wyoming is within ear shot of it. Snooty people in Wyoming? Why?
What do you mean as odd choices? We kind of came to these three by elimination. After looking at 35 spots, these were the only 3 houses in our range that would work for us.
We are looking to spend <400, but need 1800+sqft, 3 bed, etc.
Any thoughts on better streets to look at? We lived on broadview last time we were here and loved it, but nothing available now
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would've been 
if not for the location of this incident. It's an anomaly nonetheless. But there's been some class tension thereabouts "forever." That section of Wyoming is within its "traditionally" Black enclave, and right where blue-collar and middle-class households bump property lines with those of some of the city's "least fortunate." Undoubtedly someone envious of what someone else had decided to make a score. The neighborhood straddles heavily-used railroad tracks (why d'ya think po' folks live there?) Lockland's downtrodden mid-west section lies proverbially "on the other side of the tracks," with still-poorer Lincoln Hts not far distant. 
And it's also why the officers of the law are as approachable as they are. Try striking up a conversation with a wo/man in blue in Cincinnati or a higher-crime suburb. 
And transplants' eyes always take in more than natives'. I hear that all the time where I live now, even three decades after relocating. ("You've been there?"..."I never noticed that!"...etc.) 
