Moving to Mason from California (Columbus, Cincinnati: fit in, real estate, amusement park)

[CALI TO CINCY]

My husband and I are considering moving to Mason, Ohio from the Los Angeles area. I've lived in California my whole life and would love to hear some feedback about what to expect in Ohio as compared with California. I'm afraid of the weather...but excited about the cost of living compared to Cali and hope to find a more family-oriented environment.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

[hairmetal4ever]

Originally Posted by CALI TO CINCY

My husband and I are considering moving to Mason, Ohio from the Los Angeles area. I've lived in California my whole life and would love to hear some feedback about what to expect in Ohio as compared with California. I'm afraid of the weather...but excited about the cost of living compared to Cali and hope to find a more family-oriented environment.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

Weather-much colder in winter, obviously, but not as cold as other areas. Winters are cloudy, some snow but not much. In Cincy you'll get one or two good storms per winter at most, about every 5 or so years you'll have a bad winter and about as often almost no snow at all. Temps can range from a mild day around 60 degrees to a freezing night below zero.

Summers are about as hot as LA, but humid on top of that. Decent amount of sunshine but afternoon thunderstorms are also common.

You can buy a near-mansion for the cost of an average home in LA. Gas is also cheaper. You'll find plenty of family-friendly communities.

What do you do for a living?

[fauxgal]

OK here is the big difference....in Cincy we seem to get snow and ice mixtures in the winter. We are also in the tornado alley. But very rare to the cincy area.

You said you were looking into the Mason area which is very nice. But you should also look into the Lebanon area which is one exit down. Lebanon also has excellent rated schools, and you can get way more house due to the fact that are taxes are so much lower. Plus traffic is so much easier in Lebanon. Depending on where you are located in Mason you can hit the two worst roads to get to either of the interstates. The city of Lebanon also has it's own utility, phone, & cable company so you get everything on one bill rather than 4 or 5 different bills.

We have tons of family friendly areas and we are 5 minutes down from King Island amusement park.
PLease feel free to ask away about Lebanon either here or via PM

[CALI TO CINCY]

Thank you for the responses.

We are coming out to visit this month and hope to kind of make up our mind about it then. I will definitely check out Lebanon as well. If we do move we are going to wait to buy a house until we know the area really well, plus the housing market is iffy right now anyway.

Everywhere I have ever visited seems to have a different mindset or different cultural values. I guess I'm just curious what the general attitude or mindset is in the greater Cincinnati area. I know that is hard to evaluate but does anyone have any input on that?
For example, we in Southern California are typically fake and materialistic-and to be honest I can vouch for that one!

[fauxgal]

Originally Posted by CALI TO CINCY

Thank you for the responses.

We are coming out to visit this month and hope to kind of make up our mind about it then. I will definitely check out Lebanon as well. If we do move we are going to wait to buy a house until we know the area really well, plus the housing market is iffy right now anyway.

Everywhere I have ever visited seems to have a different mindset or different cultural values. I guess I'm just curious what the general attitude or mindset is in the greater Cincinnati area. I know that is hard to evaluate but does anyone have any input on that?
For example, we in Southern California are typically fake and materialistic-and to be honest I can vouch for that one!

Ok so aren't we all a little fake and materialistic. I would have to say that most people are very honest and genuine. I tend to be more materialistic when it comes to my house. I have to have all the best in it. Which is probably hurting us now that our house is on the market. Plus I am also a faux painter so I do very high end finishes which also pushes me towards higher end homes. But I think that most of the people that you will run into are very nice and are not fake. People in our neighborhood are very concerned with the schools, and family and jobs. No bible thumpers

[becylou]

Hi there-
If you haven't already moved, here is my 2 cents...
While I am not that familiar with the Mason area specifically, I grew up in the Cincinnati area before moving to Northern CA 7 years ago (now we're in SoCA). I went through culture shock at first, but in a good way. Whether or not you like Cincy will depend on your personality and what is most important to you. Personally, I like the liberal open-mindedness of Northern Ca which is something you will not find alot of in Cincy. Cincinnati is very, very conservative (for the most part) so if you are of a conservative mindset you will fit in just fine. If you are more liberal you may feel like you're suffocating there, and then I would suggest looking into the Columbus area instead. Cincinnati does have a nice art museum, history museum, some great parks, and of course Kings Island is great for the kids. And from where you're coming from the real estate is going to seem like a steal! The weather will be quite a change also - cold winters and very humid summers (compared to what you're used to). Fall is nice though. As far as the people, they never seemed particularly friendly or unfriendly to me - some of each I guess - but I do remember there being a bit of racial tension. That was 8 years ago though, so hopefully things have changed since then. And of course the people are not as materialistic as say those in Orange County, but then again who is LOL. Good luck!

[paintballer1708]

Cincinnati is a great area to live in. I just moved to Mason from Westlake, Ohio. Im originally from the Pittsburgh area. Cincinnati is a great city. The riverfront is awesome, and there is a lot to do in the downtown as well as along the riverfront. There are many parks and restaurants along the rivefront. You see people playing tennis, volleyball, and eating out on the decks out over the river. A very nice place to go to in the spring, summer and fall. The change of seasons is really nice. We dont really get heavy snowfalls that often, but not saying it cant happen.

Mason is in the booming Warren County. The area is really growing fast. In fact there are a lot of people around me from the California area. Lebanon is also very nice. It still is growing, but not near the levels of Mason. Butler county to the west is growing much faster than Warren County though. You can get so much more for you money in Ohio than California. Just to give you an idea, I saw a log cabin home that was over 3,000 sq. feet on 33 acres with two lakes for about 490k in Clermont County just south of Mason. Compare that to a three bedroom two bath home next to West Palm Beach, Florida that went for over 500k. Mason is a very nice town to consider a move. We had a nice visit before moving here, and then when we got here it was even better. The people that i live around are great.

[Subway]

I agree with everything paintballer said except for the part about Butler County growing much faster than Warren County. Whereas the population of Butler County increased 5.3% from 2000-2005, the population of Warren County increased 23.6%. Warren is the second fastest growing county in the state (Delaware County, just north of Columbus, is first).

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39/39165.html

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39/39017.html

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...96/1058/NEWS01

http://www.western-star.com/news/con...406census.html

[paintballer1708]

Thank you, subway. I know Butler is growing fast, but i wasnt sure. Hamilton and Middletown are growing very well, they are just larger cities. Delaware county is crazy in growth. The 12th fastest growing county in the nation.

[lydunn]

I have lived her 12 years and to me it's not a good place for single, people of color or anyone who is not a straight (so called) white mal....their is no diversity at all...and no cultural.....people here still say (younins) I have never met so many uneducated, missing teeth people in my life who are very close-minded and don't like change.....If you a liberal from Calif you won't like it here...if you not then this place will be perfect for you....I used to Live in the Liberty Township area....I am in the process of moving to a more moderate to liberal place that excepts EVERYONE