Questions about Mariemont, Glendale and Hyde Park/Mt. Lookout (Cincinnati: best neighborhood, rent)

[Susan V]

Hi everyone,
We are considering moving within the greater Cincinnati metro area (currently live in Oakley). My husband and I are both in our 30s, work downtown and have 2 kids (would like a 3rd eventually). We really have loved Oakley, but bought our house before our first child was born and now that we do have kids, we've discovered that our criteria for choosing a house would be a bit different. Things we like about where we live - proximity to downtown (both commute distance and ease of commute, also ease of access to cultural amenities in the urban core), walkability (we frequent Oakley Square, also Hyde Park Square - not for necessary items like grocery shopping, but walk to dinner, to ice cream, to the book store, library, farmers' market, etc.), older home/housing stock and variety of housing stock, very friendly neighborhood with lots of young families. Things we don't love - our street is a little busier than we'd like; we'd ideally get a house on a larger (flatter) lot, or be within walking distance to parks, as our kids grow; some crime in the area.

We love Hyde Park/Mt. Lookout and, disclosure, intend to send our kids to Catholic schools for K-12 because we are Catholic and had those experiences (and they were positive ones for us). My first question is, can anyone provide feedback on St. Mary and/or Cardinal Pacelli? We have boys and, if they would be admitted, could see ourselves sending them to St. X., so we're trying to work backwards to find grade schools that would be good feeders in terms of academic preparedness, but also social preparedness.

My second question is, if we relocated to Mariemont (we really like the area for its safety, walkability, parks, recreation like the swim club, and still close proximity to downtown), would my kids be regarded as "outcasts" for not going to Mariemont schools? I know how highly they are regarded (and frankly, it is a huge plus for us to live in a good school district just in case our plans did not work out, but as of now, the plan is parochial schools). As a follow-up, do kids who do go to parochial school in Mariemont go to any place in particular? St. Gertrude? Can anyone provide feedback on St. Gertrude?

Third (final, sorry this is tl;dr) question is, if we relocated to Glendale (again, we love the Norman Rockwell-esque vibe, though the 75 S commute is a bigger issue), and chose to send our kids to parochial schools, what are the best options? St. Gabriel? All Saints?

Thanks much for any feedback you can provide.

. Have you searched this forum for answers to your questions before posting a new inquiry? Yes.
. What specific topic have you not found answers to? My questions, above.

. Where is you current location and environment? Oakley, urban but neighborhood feel.
. Are you looking for similar in Cincinnati or a change? Similar but a little safer, little quieter.

. Where will your work location be? Downtown
. Maximum commute time desired? 20-25 minutes

. What is you budget for housing? 400K-500ish
. Rent or buy? Buy
. Type (Apt., Condo, Single Family) Single Family
. Size (Approx. Sq. Ft., # Bedrooms & Baths) 2000, 3-4, 2
. Other specifics? Decent yard for running/playing catch, or walkable to parks/playground

. Neighborhood environment?
. Urban, young professional, nightlife
. Mid-urban, close in neighborhood or suburb, stable investment
. Suburban, low maintenance, quiet streets, soccer mom atmosphere
. Family oriented
. Lots of same age kids, activities
. Great schools
. Older, distinctive architecture, individual character
. Modern, 15 yrs old or less, move-in ready
. Diversity of income, race, housing?
. Yard - none, small, large (1/2 acre or more)
. Very safe, low crime area?
. Can tolerate some degree of crime potential? How Much?
. Private neighborhood association, swimming & fitness facilities

. Schools?
. Not applicable
. High Ranked Public schools
. Small or large district?
. Diverse student body?
. Strong athletics?
. Consider Private schools?
. Special considerations?

. Community amenities?
. Daily needs within walking distance, shopping, restaurants, parks, etc.
. Town/city community center for adults & kids
. Swimming, fitness center, running track, adult activities
. Nearby fitness centers & clubs
. Close promity to public transportation?
. Lots of parks & youth athletic leagues
. Jogging & biking trails
. Other?

. Specific wants/desires?
. Please identify any specific wants/desires not mentioned above.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by Susan V

As a follow-up, do kids who do go to parochial school in Mariemont go to any place in particular? St. Gertrude? Can anyone provide feedback on St. Gertrude?

Don't know much about St. Gertrude. Other schools in the immediate vicinity include St. Cecilia in Oakley, or Good Shepherd Montessori in Madison Place. If you lived in Mariemont, your kids could easily walk to Good Shepherd.

There's another K-8 parochial school nearby, on Murray Avenue, but I can't remember the name of it; the affiliated parish is St. Margaret of Cortona.

[mimi in cinci]

Susan, I would reccomend checking out St. Ursula Villa in Mt.Lookout. It's not parish affiliated so there are no boundaries. The majority of the eighth grade boys go to St. Xavier. Academically, it's a good school and has much to offer.

It's pretty much directly off Columbia Parkway so it's an easy drop off on the commute into Downtown if you decide to live in Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout, Mariemont, Terrace Park.

[kjbrill]

I think you will find that St Gertrude is actually in Madeira. It was my parish church when I lived in Madeira. But that is a long time ago. Maybe they are also adopting an open enrollment policy, but somehow I doubt it.

[Susan V]

Thanks very much for the feedback - just a few items to clairify. We've looked preliminarily at St. Ursula Villa, but thought it could be cost-prohibitive with potentially 3 in school all at once (and then one or two there with one or two in high school), but we were very impressed with it. I think the cost difference between the private grade schools and diocesean grade schools is substantially greater than the high schools, but we will check it out.

I was thinking St. Gertrude might be a viable option from Mariemont because it is just up Miami Rd. (more or less), though I realize it's in Madeira. We are currently parishoners at St. Mary's (Hyde Park) and my understanding is that the schools no longer have geographic borders but that first preference for admission is given to those that belong to the parish (also no longer having hard and fast geographic boundaries).

[t45209]

All Saints in Kenwood is a pretty long haul from Glendale. I grew up in the Glendale area, and there were a few kids that went to St Gabes. I don't know that it was as academically solid as the Princeton elementary schools were at the time. Glendale Elementary was particularly good, but that may be because the families in Glendale are pretty solid. I remember more kids going Catholic in the 9th grade, and almost of them went to St. Xavier.

I almost moved back to Glendale recently, and it would have been great so long as our lives were situated more on the north end of town. But, my wife worked downtown, and everything we like to do is in downtown and on the east side. The idea of having to commute on I-75 was intolerable. Ended up staying on the east side of Cincinnati.

I argue that Oakley is the best neighborhood in Cincinnati for location, walkability, things to do, but outside of a few streets like Drakewood, Hyde Park Ave, Eileen and such, the housing stock is small and not much to look at. It's an indication of how powerful all of those other factors are in making a neighborhood an appealing place to live.

[Susan V]

T45209 - thanks! Very helpful.

[SoFresh99]

I just moved to Mariemont recently but did grow up in Kenwood and went to IH so I have some insight. Mariemont parents are more likely to send their kids to Summit than to St.Gertrudes I think, and wouldn't Moeller be closer than the haul to St.X for HS? Or are there city-wide buses like Seven Hills?

The community is VERY centered around the schools but there are tons of kids and young families so I would imagine your kids would easily have neighborhood friends in addition to their school friends. I have noticed that the older (little) kids tend to have lots of afterschool activities/sports at the school. So you would have to decide if the kids play soccer with the Mariemont kids or soccer through their catholic school, things like that would make a difference.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by SoFresh99

I just moved to Mariemont recently but did grow up in Kenwood and went to IH so I have some insight. Mariemont parents are more likely to send their kids to Summit than to St.Gertrudes I think, and wouldn't Moeller be closer than the haul to St.X for HS? Or are there city-wide buses like Seven Hills?

The community is VERY centered around the schools but there are tons of kids and young families so I would imagine your kids would easily have neighborhood friends in addition to their school friends. I have noticed that the older (little) kids tend to have lots of afterschool activities/sports at the school. So you would have to decide if the kids play soccer with the Mariemont kids or soccer through their catholic school, things like that would make a difference.

Your comments definitely carry some weight since you are living them. Please advise both the OP and the rest of the forum what went into you decision to move to Mariemont. First hand knowledge is valuable.

[SoFresh99]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Your comments definitely carry some weight since you are living them. Please advise both the OP and the rest of the forum what went into you decision to move to Mariemont. First hand knowledge is valuable.

As a kid I always wanted to live in Mariemont but as an adult I was really feeling Mt.Lookout or Hyde Park/Oakley but Mt.L and HP cost the same as Mariemont (I think Oakley is speculatively overpriced) and we wanted "walk to coffee", predictably good schools, a flat useable yard, and for the kid (only child) to have a true neighborhood full of kids he could bike/bum around. So it was either Wyoming, Madeira or Mariemont in the end. Wyoming is just too far from family and Madeira houses are too small. So we paid a premium for Mariemont and my Boston born and bred husband talks about how much he loves it EVERY DAY. And while I'm sure he would have loved the house we were thinking of buying on Beverly Hills he likes the location AND the house in Mariemont which puts the library, hardware store, thai food/pizza/mexican, graeters, starbucks, Little Miami bike path, Fairfax bike path, elementary school, playground, UDF, and swim club all within a 5 minute flat bike ride. I can be in Oakley or E.HP in 7 minutes or Alms Park in 5 so we feel like we have the best of both worlds.