Possible move to cincinnati w/ 3 kids

[Chemistry_Guy]

Originally Posted by GearHeadDave

One thing to note. I find the culture and diversity of Mt. Adams and Indian Hill to be completely different. forgettting about the big difference in property values; Open, upbeat, energetic (Mt. Adams, Over the Rhine) versus old-school and stuffy (Indian Hill, Terrace Park, Mariemont). Just my take, others will have a different opinion of course.

I can see how you would see it this way, but my take is that you pay a premium in OTR and Mt Adams to be close to a lot of people and 'excitement', while in Indian Hill you pay a premium for privacy, and in Mariemont and Terrace Park you pay a premium to be part of a tight knit, homogeneous community. I know a lot of people from all of these communities and this describes their rationale for living where they do. Almost everyone I know that lives in Mariemont or Terrace Park does it for their kids. Mariemont in particular is a place where kids can walk to school, ride bikes to get ice cream, and generally play all around the neighborhood while being supervised by a close knit group of parents.

[hokiemama24]

Originally Posted by PouringRain

If we can keep the home price under $700k, we could consider catholic/private schools especially if it means that the kids will be in the same building for more than a year! (Our middle schools start in 6; not sure what happens in OH.)

It really depends on the school district you choose, many of our public districts in Cincinnati have separate buildings for elementary K-4, a middle school for 5-6, a junior high for 7-8, and high school 9-12. Sometimes there is just one intermediate school for 5-8, but elementary is usually always in a different school building than the middle/junior high grades for public districts. If you want them in the same building, then private schools would be the best option. Catholic schools are all K-8 and also tend to be smaller, depending on what size of public district you are used to already. If you are looking at the Indian Hill or Terrace Park area, I would recommend checking out St. Gertrude School. St. Gertrude would also be a good option for Montgomery, or you'd have All Saints as an option too (its one of the biggest Catholic schools). For Anderson you would probably want to check out Immaculate Heart of Mary. Wyoming I don't think has a good Catholic school option I am aware of, but that is probably the smallest public district of the areas you are looking at too.

[veetzvino]

I'm a big fan of Madeira. Such a great community. You can walk to everything here and kids run free. Great schools and great neighbors. There is a boom going on here with new housing. Tearing down old homes and building large desirable homes. You kind of get the best of both worlds, close to DT and good schools but you don't have to sacrifice on home size (at your budget). We love it here.

[ohioscholar]

You've gotten good advice on this thread. The responses seem accurate from my experience. I'd vote for Mariemont. Yes, you'll get less for your money there but that's because it is in demand. Everyone who lives there lives in a smaller house then they'd get elsewhere in the metro but it has a high quality of life. SalamanderSmile gave a good description of why people like it. When we were looking, we really tried to find something in Hyde Park or Mount Lookout but could not find anything we liked. Plus while the schools are good, they are not suburban school districts. If you can't get a big enough house for your liking in Mariemont, check out Terrace Park which has some bigger houses. Tip: check zillow as many people are starting to list by owner since inventory is so low.

Fort Thomas is a really nice area with good schools and your money goes further south of the river. Taxes are also much less in Kentucky than in Ohio. And when you're spending $700k, that'll make a big impact.

Clifton Gaslight is a decent choice if you like the urban environment. Mix of nice stately homes and student rentals. Most houses there need a lot of work but are big. Since the housing stock is old, basements are mostly unfinished, made of clay so hard to keep dry. Pleasant Ridge is another nice urban area. Can be really hit or miss there.

Wyoming is another fine choice but does not have much around it. Thus, you can get more house for your money there but there are not many restaurants and the bordering cities/towns are not that nice. Wyoming is definitely much nicer than the surrounding area. That always worried me for resale values.