Where to live for NKU/hospital (Cincinnati, Kent: best city, apartment complex, rental)

[reynaldo70]

My wife and I will be moving to Cincinnati in July as I'm starting as a prof at NKU. My wife is in biology and will be looking for a research job at a hospital, P&G, or some other biotechy place. We'd kind of like to live in Ohio (us being ohioans, it being closer to the family, and the smoking ban), but if there are compelling reasons to live in northern Kentucky, I'd like to know. We don't have (and don't plan on having) kids, so we don't care about school districts. We'll start out renting, and would prefer a neighborhood that you can walk/bike around a bit. Currently we live in an apartment complex surrounded by retail and it stinks. So where should we live?

[YoMikey617]

Mt Adams: Check out MtAdams and the little pockets of neighborhoods surrounding Eden Park. I would say that on the Ohio side / in the center of town Mt Adams is probably the safest neighborhood to be. It's well defended being high on a hill and it doesn't blend into other neighborhoods. There's no grocery store that you can walk to on Mt Adams BUT such is the case in many of the best city neighborhoods (Clifton has a small 60's style IGA btw). Mt Adams cab be pricey though.
Immediately north of Eden Park is a good place to rent because you're on the park, but north of Nassau St between Nassau and McMillan becomes kinda dicey and then just flat out ghetto at McMillan (typical Cincinnati: neighborhoods here change drastically within 1-2 blocks).

East Walnut Hills: Cheaper alternative between Mt Adams and Hyde Park / Oakley / Mt Washington. Lotta bikers (Cannondales not Harleys), walkers / runners / dog walkers from EWH and surrounding neighborhoods. Very quiet area, very convenient, beautiful old mansions some of which are chopped up into large apartments. Lotta SFH sized victorian half doubles. There's a newly hip corner at Madison and Woodburn with a coffee joint, tappas restaurant, dry cleaners, etc with brand new apartments built above the place (new construction is rare in this area so I thought I'd mention it...but stay east of Woodburn).

Quick map of the general area:
francis lane, cincinnati oh 45214 - Google Maps

Mt Adams, East Walnut Hills, and some of the areas east / northeast of East Walnut Hills are INCREDIBLY convenient if you wanna be on the Ohio side but need proximity to Kentucky.
* It's a quick jump onto I-471 and a reverse commute at that.
* You have the option of doing your shopping in NKY or Ohio.
* You're minutes from just about everything worthwhile in Cincinnati.
* Your wife can work just about anywhere in Cincinnati.
* The two areas I'm speaking of ARE NOT bland, new build, suburban ticky tacky that Ohio is well known for.

O'Byronville is an often overlooked, trendy little burg between East Walnut Hills and Hyde Park (Madison and Torrence Pkwy). I don't know what the rental stock is like over there but it's definitely worth checking out.

Hyde Park is a lively, 1920's streetcar era suburb. Very yuppie with shops and bistros everywhere. But it's very safe, clean, and it's the furthest thing from boring suburbia.
Oh and there's a ton of cheaper apartments spread out between all the old mansions.

[reynaldo70]

Wow, thanks for the detail, I'll look into those areas.
What's the south east side of the city like? I guess that'd be places like Faxon Hills, Mt. Lookout, Tusculum, Mt. Washington.
Thanks.

[YoMikey617]

I don't know Faxon Hills... But the other hoods you mentioned above are all great places to be and in many ways just as convenient as East Walnut Hills if not moreso because the shopping and restaurant selections are better.

[cincyUK]

Don't leave out Northern Kentucky - your going to be there anyway by virtue of living here, so you are going to have to get over your phobia. Its a great / beautiful part of this city, much better than most other places mentioned here. Check out Newport and Bellevue on a visit and tell me they aren't nicer than East Wallnut Hills... i mean, come on. Also you will be a lot closer to NKU right down 471.

[crookac]

Check out Aspen Pines, it's in Wilder, KY. It's a rental community but I've been very impressed. I moved to Northern Kentucky from the Mt. Lookout/Hyde Park Cincinnati areas. Northern Kentucky feels like a smaller town, you get more for your money, and NKU and downtown are both about 5/10 minutes away.

[UncleRando]

In Cincinnati:
Mt. Adams, Downtown, Mt. Lookout, also be sure to look into the many new units that have popped up in the East End.

[jlrosen]

oh: Downtown, Mt. Adams, East Walnut Hills, East End

ky: Covington, Newport