Potential Relocation to Cincinnati - Neighborhood between Cincy/Dayton (Warren: rental, condo)

[SWOH]

Originally Posted by OHKID

I think Wilson covered it above with the OH 48 to US 42 route.... only downside there is you'd be dealing with slow-moving suburban traffic from Lebanon all the way out to I-71 in South Lebanon.


Either way OP, this would be a LONG commute!

I'd still keep Hamilton and Lebanon in the running, especially Lebanon.

Lebanon adds about 5 minutes to your wife's commute when compared to Loveland, but in return you'd be shaving your commute down to around 45 minutes. Also Lebanon has significantly more amenities than Loveland.

And I'd still at least take another look at Hamilton because your wife's commute would be at about 40 minutes using 128 to 27 into the city, while your commute would be at about an hour at the most using 4 to 35 to 4 again.


Otherwise, if proximity to Cincinnati is your #1 concern, Glendale and Wyoming are your best bets but try Sharonville too. Here's one that meets your criteria with a relatively easy walk to downtown Sharonville:
4176 Whisper Way, Sharonville, OH 45241 is For Sale - Zillow

Good luck!

Hey OP, I was probably too harsh on Loveland in this post. Today I took some time to look at streetviews to refresh my memory on Loveland and it is nice! A lot nicer than I remembered. So probably not a bad option.

[alohamonkey]

Originally Posted by OHKID

Hey OP, I was probably too harsh on Loveland in this post. Today I took some time to look at streetviews to refresh my memory on Loveland and it is nice! A lot nicer than I remembered. So probably not a bad option.

That's what I'm seeing on street view too. I've never stepped foot in the town but it looks like it has a handful of restaurants/pubs with patios (both nicer and hole-in-the-walls), a few ice cream shops, a few sandwich shops, a good beer store, a nice park, the river and the bike trail. Milford certainly looks like the downtown has more to offer but Loveland looks like it may have enough for us. I'm liking this house alot .... just not sure if living next door to a snow cone shop and across the street from a park would be too much activity in the summer. Living right next to bike trail and river is appealing though. Anyone know how busy this park/street is in peak season?

220 Railroad Ave, Loveland, OH 45140 (MLS# 1393758) - Loveland OH Real Estate - cbws.com

[SWOH]

Looks like a nice house, and right now it's the only place on the market that meets your criteria in Loveland. The railroad might get annoying, but offhand I can't imagine the other stuff being too bad.


I will warn you to not get too caught up with it. Take some time (like a weekend), fly out from Boston, and visit every city mentioned so far on this thread. Take some time too to visit some more unexpected places as well, like some of those suburban patches inbetween like Mason and West Chester. You might be surprised by what you find you like and don't like. Whatever you do, don't base this decision on this thread and some streetviews alone.


Because honestly, the Loveland-Cincy commute is only 5 minutes less than the Lebanon-Cincy commute, but the Lebanon-WPAFB commute is 15-30 minutes shorter than the Loveland-WPAFB commute. That's a major factor pointing away from Loveland IMO. Also found this house in Lebanon you might like:
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/45...35629206_zpid/

Same goes for Wyoming, Glendale, even Hamilton and Milford to some extent. All have some inherent advantages over the others, as well as disadvantages. It just depends on, at the end of the day, what you and your wife like best. And a couple of talking heads on here and some computer images of a place can't convey what a place is really like as well as actually visiting.

For fun, I'll list the primary pros for each city (why? because I have a big exam I don't want to study for haha). Here goes:

Loveland - nice downtown, 30 min. to Cincy, no I-75, nice parks/bike trail, good schools.
Glendale - nice downtown, 20 min to Cincy, lots of options / easy resale, nice parks.
Wyoming - nice downtown, 20 min to Cincy, good schools, lots of options, nice parks.
Sharonville - nice downtown, 20 min to Cincy, big park, aquatic center/library on path
Lebanon - excellent downtown, 45 min to Dayton, good schools, no I-75, bike trail
Milford - excellent downtown, nice parks/bike trail, 30 min to Cincy, no I-75, library/grocery
Hamilton - best downtown, nice parks, library/grocery

[Wilson513]

I don't think so on that house on RR. That is the parking lot for the Loveland Bike Trail which will bring 200 strangers (albeit physically fit strangers) too your front yard every day.

[flashes1]

Looks like a great spot to me. Within walking distance of downtown, not right on Main Street, big front yard gets you off the road, and privacy fence in the back yard.

Plus a pool? Looks good to me----a couple bathrooms and the kitchen need updated---change tile in Living Room----do some painting---and I think you've got a fabulous house.

[hokiemama24]

I know that house well, Wilson513 is absolutely right, the Loveland Bike Trail gets a LOT of traffic, and that is the most common stopping point for a refreshment break. Its also the most common path to take for anyone biking into downtown Loveland for a go around too, and you will also be able to hear the live music from one of the quaint little cafe's - if I'm getting my little back streets correct in my mind. If I am, you will be giving up a lot of privacy and any semblance of quiet on a nice day/night! I see its appeal for a short period of time, but I can imagine that getting old real quick!

Loveland is a fantastic area but the commutes I don't think are what you are looking for. I don't consider Loveland a "hop downtown for a quick visit" place, nor do I think you can consistently plan for your wife's commute to be less than 30m, especially if she on the west side of downtown. Your commute through 42/48 will also be very unpredictable as some of that stretch north towards Dayton will include 2 lane roads, and if you get behind a slow driver or a truck (there is some industry on the outskirts of Lebanon that adds some trucks to the road) than it can slow you way down.

Boy, I'm not really sure I could offer any better of a solution though, that is definitely a tough one!

[Gerri Ann]

Check out Montgomery! Twenty minutes from downtown and the city manager lives in Dayton and commutes everyday!

[alohamonkey]

Thanks for all the info everybody. We were able to go and visit a few potential areas on our list. Loveland, Oakley, and Madeira. We really liked all three, Loveland and Oakley especially. Both had small but cool downtown areas and seemed pedestrian-friendly/walkable. Oakley has grown a lot in the last decade. Having never visited Loveland before, I was pleasantly surprised. More than enough in the little downtown area to keep us entertained when we want to stay close to home. We also drove through Lebanon as well. That downtown seems to have done well in the last decade too. Lots of options ...

Definitely still worried about the commute to Dayton though. Planning on visiting Montgomery, Milford, and some of the northern neighborhoods - Wyoming, Glendale, West Chester, Mason, etc.

If this pans out, we'll probably have to move and rent for a few months while we "test drive" the commutes to see how long each takes. Thanks again for all the info and if you have more suggestions, keep 'em coming.

[SWOH]

^Thanks for reporting back!

Glad to hear you visited and liked 2 out of 3 at least. Madeira would have been a bit of a stretch for you... the houses are small and downtown is smaller. But at least Loveland, your #1 from before, still made the cut.

I'd be somewhat worried about the location of the house you liked there, but otherwise if you all like it a lot then go for it! Loveland is a great community, and with some luck another house that meets your criteria downtown will pop up on the market.

[alohamonkey]

Bumping this thread because it looks like our relocation back home to Cincinnati is going to happen very soon. Now we need to start getting into decision mode about where to live. We are still planning on renting somewhere for a few months (probably Loveland - since it seems to be staying at or near the top of our list) before we make a decision about where to buy. That would also give us time to test out our potential commutes in any neighborhoods we're interested in too. I would appreciate any more advice/suggestions of any areas with small, walkable downtowns and houses with character but with a manageable commute between the northeast side of Dayton and downtown Cincinnati. See my original post for all the details.

To make my commute to Dayton manageable, I feel like I need to be outside of 275 but would be willing to move inside of 275 if we find the right neighborhood. However, we don't want to be as far north as Hamilton or Lebanon because we still want to be down in Cincinnati for entertainment purposes as much as possible. The problem is, we both want a house with character and at least a few things (bars, shops, restaurants) within walking distance. Outside of 275, this seems to be hard to come by.

Here's my 500' view from the East Coast on some neighborhoods of Cincinnati. I know these are sweeping generalizations so please correct me if I'm wrong.

1) Fairfield - Seems like every house was built in the 70's and any restaurants or shopping are chains. Still, it's nice and under consideration but the lack of a walkable downtown moves it down our list.

2) West Chester - Seems nice but lacks a downtown and most houses are newer, cookie cutter subdivisions. Seems like you need a car to go anywhere in West Chester.

3) Mason - Same as West Chester.

4) Maineville - Same as Mason and West Chester.

5) Loveland - The little downtown is nice and almost ideal for us. We also love the idea of the bike path and kayaking on the river. But it doesn't appear that many houses come up for sale near the downtown. Surrounding Loveland, it seems like there are a lot of McMansions, which aren't really appealing to us, but I've seen some online (a few Drees homes) that appear to have character and aren't necessarily as cookie cutter as other subdivisions. If anyone has suggestions on areas that are walkable or within biking distance of downtown Loveland and that have some character, I'm all ears.

6) Milford - Appears to have a nice downtown and access to the bike path and river. We are very interested in Milford too but just worried that the commute to Dayton will be too long.

7) Oakley/Hyde Park - These are probably our top two neighborhoods that we want to live in but the commute to Dayton would probably be too long.

8) Montgomery - Very interesting as it seems to check all of our boxes but it seems that not much is for sale and homes are fairly expensive.

9) Blue Ash - I honestly don't know anything about Blue Ash but, from what I've read on these forums, I feel like we need to consider the area. Does it have a downtown? When I'm looking at homes on Zillow, I even have a hard time determining which houses are actually in Blue Ash.

10) Sharonville - I know nothing about it. Does it have a downtown area?

11) Springdale - Same as Sharonville

12) Glendale - Seems nice and situated well for our commutes but I think it's out of our price range.

13) Wyoming - Seems nice and there are a few interesting homes on the market. Does it have a downtown area? Also, when I look for homes on Zillow, it seems strange that there are several in the $300k-400k range but just a few blocks over, there are houses for sale for $40k-50k. Is Wyoming safe?

14) Northside - Seems interesting. Houses have some character and some restaurants and bars within walking distance. I remember from when I lived in Cincinnati a decade ago that the Northside was up and coming back then but it was still fairly rough. Has it improved as far as safety and raising kids in the area?

15) Clifton - Seems like there are some nice homes and businesses to walk to but is it safe nowadays?

Thanks for any feedback and, for those of you that live in these areas, please tell me what you like about living there. I'm not trying to knock or talk bad about any one area, just trying to find a spot that meets our needs.