Reluctantly Relocating to Cincy (Columbus, Cincinnati: houses, water heater, school district)

[kjbrill]

Some of the suggestions about getting the lease voided have merit. A little further out in Anderson Twp and Forest Hills Schools and you are going to be a whole lot happier and less stress prone. The girls will have good schools to go to without jumping through hoops so your blood pressure will be calmed down.

Mt Washington is not a bad area, but I will guarantee you most of the residents have lived there most of their lives. And a good percentage of them do not have school aged kids. That does not make it a bad area.

Where I live is similar, my neighborhood is full of greybeards. But our city as a whole has exploded and therefore has younger people everywhere. I can stay here in my retirement years and feel content while the city as a whole is bursting with younger families. That is the type of balance I enjoy.

I have an older daughter who lives with me. She is here in Mason, a northern suburb, and works in Hebron Ky. That is a distance of almost 40 miles. On a regular basis she travels that in 40 minutes or less, right down I-71 and across the river to I-275 and then Hebron. Of course there are exceptions, but sometimes the commute is blown out of proportion. BTW her boss also lives here in Mason and beats her to work about every day.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

Oh, I forgot. According to some, those guidelines of society don't apply to the Cincinnati forum boards and we are amiss for not bowing down and kissing someones .... who comes over here with paragraphs of negativity and disdain.

Don't be silly. Allow me re-acquaint you with a helpful phrase: Benefit of the doubt.

There arguably are some good points in this thread: The questions could have been phrased differently; her panic about the sex offenders was a knee-jerk overreaction (but then again, I don't have young daughters, so her perspective is different from mine).

But you all must admit that the prospect of moving a family of four across the country to a place you're largely unfamiliar with is a little daunting. The OP is not wrong to be apprehensive; her apprehension was fueled by a misinformed, if not downright lousy, relocation agent.

Waay back when I was a young Ohiogirl, fresh from the big bad metropolis of Cleveland and new to Cincinnati, I often point-blank said stuff like "I hate it here." I found Cincinnati stifling, boring and stuck in the mud. Of course it's nothing of the sort, but I didn't believe it. My friends, God love them, didn't chastise me or make snarky comments; they just made suggestions and introduced me to different aspects of the city they thought I might like. I stayed for 21 years, discovering all sorts of things about the city and about myself and eventually considering myself a Cincinnatian.

Perhaps that's why I can cut the OP some slack.

[flashes1]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

And I promise anyone if they move here with such a crappy outlook you can expect to not be very welcomed into your neighborhoods either. And that goes for anyplace I have ever lived. Want to be welcomed? Be friendly.

I couldn't agree more. If I was moving to say Boston....and I was asking a Bostonian questions about their city, I wouldn't start by asking if anyone who ever moved to Boston ended up liking it, or am I going to end up moving out of Boston in a few years because I don't like it. It totally puts the other person on the defensive and quite frankly they can't answer those kinds of questions for you. Only you can do that after you've gathered as much information as you can in a tactful manner.

If you move to a new city....immerse yourself in the local happenings.....and embrace them! You can't expect to be welcomed by your new neighbors if you don't come out of your house and make yourself accessable. Some new neighbors moved in across the street from me 2 weeks ago......and I've not seen them out in their yard once......they literally pull in their garage and close the door behind them. I bet they think Cincy is full of a bunch of unfriendly people......well guess what.....you have no one to blame but yourself in this scenario.

Open yourself up....smile a lot.....talk to people and you'll make friends.....guaranteed.

[thatswanlady]

Warning, this is long and rambly and probably only marginally relates to this topic, but here goes:

I currently live in Memphis, and have almost my entire life except for college in central Arkansas and then 1.5 years spent in NJ just outside of New York City.

You all should travel to the Memphis board sometime -- it's full of endless debates about violence, how good it used to be, how backwards Memphis is, etc etc forever and ever. There is a solid group of Memphians who love their city but acknowledge that things need to change -- I am, in fact, one of that group. Memphis frustrates me but it's been my home for 90% of my life, so I can't help but love it too. That said, we get tons of posters who are relocating to Memphis and petrified because of its violent reputation.

The advice given there is similar to here -- there are certain areas you should stay out of, no questions asked, certain others you'll be fine in as long as you're not involved in shady activity, and then many others are completely fine and safe minus the petty stuff that can happen anywhere. And still, we get those posters who come in scared they're going to be robbed/shot/burgled the minute they enter the metro.

Honestly, I used to inwardly chuckle at those paranoid posters and roll my eyes, thinking "Come ON. Are you scared of your own shadow?" But it's because I know Memphis, know where to go and where not to. Still, I gave nice advice as long as someone else was respectful about their questions and not just "OMG Memphis gangs death violence!!! HELP!"

Now, I'm getting fed a taste of my own medicine. I started coming to this board when my husband's relo was a possibility and have hung in there through the whole process. Now we're moving August 24th, and I'm terrified because I just don't want to make the wrong housing choice. And some of the Cincy topics make it sound like anywhere in Cincinnati is a hotbed of violence, when my own experiences with Memphis prove that just isn't the case.

Still, I'm excited and you guys have all been so nice and helpful about everything. There seems like there's so much more to do in Cincinnati as compared to Memphis, and I'm excited to see that way of life. Still worried about decent housing, but that should take care of itself eventually, I suppose.

I understand the OP's fear -- I'm feeling it myself, but for different reasons. But sometimes you just have to jump in and see what happens.

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by thatswanlady

And some of the Cincy topics make it sound like anywhere in Cincinnati is a hotbed of violence, when my own experiences with Memphis prove that just isn't the case.

It's not a hotbed of violence. Most of the violence is specific to areas like Avondale, Millvale, Winton Terrace, certain areas of East/West Price Hill, Lower Price Hill, West End, certain sections of OTR - though this improves daily, etc. And not all of the previously mentioned areas are nasty, they just have rough areas. If you run across posts/threads that seem to be sensationalized or defy common sense then use the grain of salt rule.

Example:
I live in CUF (which by Cincinnati standards) is dense urban with a lot of people. There is a higher concentration of robberies because I am in the shadows of UC. I understand that about where I live and have never had a problem. Probably because I am not walking around with a $500 iPad in plain view while listening to headphones, and texting to see where the next house party is. I have a wife and son and they have never had so much as a blip of trouble around here. I feel perfectly comfortable when my wife goes walking several times a week and takes my son on his bike.

Please check spot crime neighborhoods links.

Cincinnati Neighborhood Crime Maps, Crime Statistics and Real-Time Alerts

[flashes1]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

Example:
I live in CUF (which by Cincinnati standards) is dense urban with a lot of people.

What's CUF? I know it's Clifton-related but I have no idea what the UF is?

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by thatswanlady

And some of the Cincy topics make it sound like anywhere in Cincinnati is a hotbed of violence

And other topics make it sound like certain neighborhoods in Cincinnati are above all that.

It's all a matter of perspective, as you've pointed out. If a person has been mugged in the parking lot of the Cincinnati Country Club, that person may perceive that neighborhood as unsafe - which on the whole it is not, but someone who's been mugged there won't see it that way.

Conversely, people would look at me in horror when I told them I was moving to Madisonville because of its history of frequent crime. I'd (inadvertently) leave my door unlocked or even wide open, my garage door open, the car unlocked; never had a problem. I perceive Madisonville as perfectly safe because of my personal experiences; someone who has been a victim of crime in Madisonville will perceive it another way because their experiences are different.

Neither is right or wrong.

[thatswanlady]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

It's not a hotbed of violence. Most of the violence is specific to areas like Avondale, Millvale, Winton Terrace, certain areas of East/West Price Hill, Lower Price Hill, West End, certain sections of OTR - though this improves daily, etc. And not all of the previously mentioned areas are nasty, they just have rough areas. If you run across posts/threads that seem to be sensationalized or defy common sense then use the grain of salt rule.

Exactly my point.

I was just pointing out that in many cities, there are many people who view all of it as nothing but violence and instant death -- which is not helpful to newcomers AND also not true.

And that now I understand how detrimental topics like this can be to those new to the city, because part of you latches on to the idea and won't let it go, no matter how patently untrue it is.

[progmac]

Originally Posted by flashes1

What's CUF? I know it's Clifton-related but I have no idea what the UF is?

CUF is the single name given to what were historically three smaller neighborhoods

C - Clifton heights
U - University heights
F - Fairview

It's the area south of campus

To add to the confusion, most people from the suburbs (and the realty groups, i think) generically refer to the whole area, both CUF and actual Clifton north of campus as "Clifton." Because of this, we use this term - "Gaslight district" to refer to what is really just Clifton.

[flashes1]

Originally Posted by progmac

CUF is the single name given to what were historically three smaller neighborhoods

C - Clifton heights
U - University heights
F - Fairview

It's the area south of campus

To add to the confusion, most people from the suburbs (and the realty groups, i think) generically refer to the whole area, both CUF and actual Clifton north of campus as "Clifton." Because of this, we use this term - "Gaslight district" to refer to what is really just Clifton.

I'm a transplant from 8 years ago, but I still find the way Cincy describes its neighborhoods very confusing.....I'll probably never know most of them. The township designation is particularly confusing-----Symmes Township, Anderson Township (but Forest Park? School District---i just learned this a couple weeks ago), Deerfield Township------and then coming into the city you have areas like University Heights, Fairview, Fairfax, etc. It's my responsibility to learn it as Cincy is now my home....but it seems covoluted to me.