West Chester, Lakota vs. ???????? (Cincinnati, Fairfield: wood floors, houses, neighborhood)

[LI Jeff]

Hi there....

We will be moving with our 3 kids to the Cincinnati area shortly. Work will be in the West Chester area. Looking to spend $200-$250 for a house, and the nicer the house the better. Big part of the bribe to get the kids on board with the move! Our eldest is involved in gymnastics heavily, and their is an excellent gym in Fairfield. Researched Lakota schools, and they are rated as excellent, though from reading in this forum, there are better. Need nice house, classic suburban neighborhood for young children, great school district, and close to West Chester, Fairfield.

We're heavily involved with soccer, gymnastics, homework, and the rest of the kid centered activities that take up much of our time.

Based on all of that, is Lakota our best bet? Can anyone with some knowledge of the school district or area give me their review? Or talk me into a better SD that is also close? Taxes okay? Priced the homes in Indian Hill and Sycamore, and you don't get close to the value that you would in West Chester. I've read that Wyoming is nice. Madeira?

Thanks in advance....

[Pathwalker]

I live in West Chester, and let me give you some advice....

Don't pay attention the "West Chester naysayers".

This is a great place. Lakota schools are consistently excellent, you'll find a great home in the price range you're stating, and the gym you're talking about will be a lot closer. (I know what gym you're referring to......it's operated by a coach who had some girls in the olympics.) Yes, the King's school district might be a little better - perhaps Mason, too - but I honestly don't think they would be all that much more superior to Lakota. Even still, if you wanted to check out Landen or Mason, they are both the same type of community as West Chester - perhaps a bit newer housing developments. But West Chester still has a LOT of newer homes as well, and it is a really up-and-coming place, with a growing population, strong economy, very friendly people and great amenities.

P.S. Wyoming and Madeira are both great areas, but the schools probably aren't any better than here in West Chester, and the drive would be much farther for you to get to work. And Cincinnati traffic can be a pain.

[LI Jeff]

Lakota SD seems like a no brainer based on the close location to everything, I just wanted to be sure I wasn't overlooking something. From reading just about every post in this forum, there sounds like many nice places to live. We've been blown away by how nice the houses are in West Chester. You can get close to 3000 sq ft, all brick, a deck, hard wood floors, finished basement, all for under $250k. As Beano Cook would say, "It's unbelievable!"

[zackatac]

another thing to consider is that is you live and work in west chester you will not pay local taxes-this will save you 1% of your gross income or more that you will pay in mason or fairfield or wyoming. Our kids graduated from lakota schools and all three are successful in college and did very well on entrance exams.

[Hartwell Girl]

Originally Posted by Pathwalker

P.S. Wyoming and Madeira are both great areas, but the schools probably aren't any better than here in West Chester, and the drive would be much farther for you to get to work. And Cincinnati traffic can be a pain.

West Chester is less than 10 mins up I-75 from the WYoming area, AND Wyoming has consistanty had great schools. I grew up in W. Chester and I apologize but I cant much agree with the post. I dont live in Wyoming but I live in the community next to it and I can say I would rather drop $200k for a solid historic home with a large lot (with mature trees) surrounded by a walkable community with a nice small family feel than drop $200k for a house that I can open the window and shake my neighbors hand good morning. Also, the School dist in Lakota may be good but the growing population out there is nothing I would send my son to. I went to Lakota when there was 2 jr. highs and 1 high school---at least in WYoming you can go to high school with all the high school kids in the area instead of growing up in a community, attending school and still never knowing half the kids in the community. Exactly how many schools are in Lakota now..2 High schools, 2 freshman buildings, 4 jr high schools, 10 elementary schools, 4 prek-1 schools. And Wyoming has 1 high school, 1 middle school and 3 elementary schools. I guess the difference is the feel of a community or a neighborhood. If it was up to me, I'd tell you to save yourself $100,000 tuck it away for your kids college fund, buy a house in Hartwell and send your child to Walnut Hills or a private school, but that's just my opinion

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by Hartwell Girl

West Chester is less than 10 mins up I-75 from the WYoming area, AND Wyoming has consistanty had great schools. I grew up in W. Chester and I apologize but I cant much agree with the post. I dont live in Wyoming but I live in the community next to it and I can say I would rather drop $200k for a solid historic home with a large lot (with mature trees) surrounded by a walkable community with a nice small family feel than drop $200k for a house that I can open the window and shake my neighbors hand good morning. Also, the School dist in Lakota may be good but the growing population out there is nothing I would send my son to. I went to Lakota when there was 2 jr. highs and 1 high school---at least in WYoming you can go to high school with all the high school kids in the area instead of growing up in a community, attending school and still never knowing half the kids in the community. Exactly how many schools are in Lakota now..2 High schools, 2 freshman buildings, 4 jr high schools, 10 elementary schools, 4 prek-1 schools. And Wyoming has 1 high school, 1 middle school and 3 elementary schools. I guess the difference is the feel of a community or a neighborhood. If it was up to me, I'd tell you to save yourself $100,000 tuck it away for your kids college fund, buy a house in Hartwell and send your child to Walnut Hills or a private school, but that's just my opinion

x2!