Cincinnati Bound! (Columbus, Dayton, Lima: rent, condo, house)

[Family_of_4]

Hi there! My family (myself, husband and 2 kids, ages 12&10) are relocating to Cincinnati due to my husband's job. We have decided on the West Chester/Liberty Township area after several trips to explore, research on the schools, and first hand opinion from someone who recently moved there. We planned this move around the kids finishing the school year here. What we didn't plan for was the crazy sellers market for housing, and are now having trouble finding a house in our price range ($200-$220's). That being said, we are now looking for other options for areas.
My husband will be primarily working in the Delhi area. However, there is a lot of travel with is job, and he will also be making frequent trips to Columbus, Dayton, Lima, and Louisville. We chose the West Chester area because of it's easy access to travel north if needed, and for a little closer drive for us to travel home and family to come visit us. We are aware of the commute to Delhi, and please keep in mind that as of the past several months, he has had to drive from Cincinnati to Lima, so anything is better than that.
We have looked at Mason, but there again, not a lot of housing options.
We of course want nice, safe, areas with good schools. Any advice would be appreciated.

I'll include the answers to the questions that were posted.

Have you searched this forum for answers to your questions before posting a new inquiry?
. What specific topic have you not found answers to?
- Recent reviews of northern suburbs and schools.

. Where is you current location and environment?
-We are coming from Lima, Ohio. Average graduating class size is about 200. We currently live in a quiet subdivision.

. Are you looking for similar in Cincinnati or a change?
- Similar, although we know the school districts are bigger in the areas we have chosen, which is fine.

. Where will your work location be?
---- Delhi, but as explained, travel to several other areas.

. Maximum commute time desired?
- would prefer 45mins- 1 hour.

. What is you budget for housing?
-$200-$220's

. Rent or buy?
-Buy

. Type (Apt., Condo, Single Family)
-Single Family

. Size (Approx. Sq. Ft., # Bedrooms & Baths)
3 bedroom

. Other specifics?
Basement (does not have to be finished.

. Neighborhood environment?
suburban, quiet subdivision, safe with families and kids.
Great schools
. yard doesn't have to be huge, but we like to be outside so a descent size would be great.
- We do not mind driving to get to shopping and dining,

I also want to add that we are extremely excited for this move, and all of the things that Cincinnati offers. So many more dining choices and activities than what we have here.
Thank you all for your help.

[Wilson513]

The commute to Delhi would rule out West Chester for me.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

The commute to Delhi would rule out West Chester for me.

Me, too. Especially when there's a good school district (Oak Hills) and probably plenty of housing in your price range in quiet, safe suburban neighborhoods right in or adjacent to the Delhi area.


I'm always astonished at people who are willing to just blow off the issue of an hour or so commute each way to their job when they have school-age kids or younger. Spending that time you'd otherwise be commuting with those kids would be a pretty high priority for me. YMMV. So to speak.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

Me, too. Especially when there's a good school district (Oak Hills) and probably plenty of housing in your price range in quiet, safe suburban neighborhoods right in or adjacent to the Delhi area.


I'm always astonished at people who are willing to just blow off the issue of an hour or so commute each way to their job when they have school-age kids or younger. Spending that time you'd otherwise be commuting with those kids would be a pretty high priority for me. YMMV. So to speak.

Agreed!!!

Its a 25 mile trip on the worst highway pattern we have. That means it is 50 miles per day and probably 2 hours per day. One should expect to pay a fully loaded cost of $.80/mile for the commute which translates to $800/month in commute costs and 37 hours per month.

What are they thinking? Oak Hills is as good as West Chester. And, out of town trips can be timed for avoidance of crushing rush hour traffic. I have seen days on that commute where two hours would be doing well.

OP, around 7-8 am, check out the camera view on the OHGO traffic cam website and see if you really want to live in West Chester.

Ohgo || Real-time Ohio traffic

[American Luxury]

I feel like I should make up a canned response for every time someone blows off the westside for no other reason than here say. As Sarah said and like I've said before, it's absolutely not fair to your kids to have a commute time of over two hours each day. There's plenty of great areas on the westside to live... Green Township, Miami Township, North Bend among others.

[Misfit Toy]

Delhi is kind of removed from the major thoroughfares, so I agree with others who suggest checking out the Oak Hills school district.

[PerryMason614]

Getting to Delhi from West Chester each and every day sounds rather tricky to me. I would go look for a home in Green Township if I were you. Both Delhi and I-74/I-275 are pretty much in your back yard. There are newer homes in the area and I think you should be able to find something in your price range.

Originally Posted by Misfit Toy

Delhi is kind of removed from the major thoroughfares, so I agree with others who suggest checking out the Oak Hills school district.

Yup, that's Green Township. It's roughly 8 miles from the Meijer store on Harrison Ave. to Delhi.

https://goo.gl/maps/YiR8hkxPZX92

Also, Catholic schools are something of a phenomenon in Cincinnati. If you're Catholic, you may want to consider going that route.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by PerryMason614

Getting to Delhi from West Chester each and every day sounds rather tricky to me. I would go look for a home in Green Township if I were you. Both Delhi and I-74/I-275 are pretty much in your back yard. There are newer homes in the area and I think you should be able to find something in your price range.



Yup, that's Green Township. It's roughly 8 miles from the Meijer store on Harrison Ave. to Delhi.

https://goo.gl/maps/YiR8hkxPZX92

Also, Catholic schools are something of a phenomenon in Cincinnati. If you're Catholic, you may want to consider going that route.

I'm confused. Why do you point out the distance to the Meijer store in Bridgetown?

Oak Hills covers all of Delhi, with a middle school in the center of Delhi. OHHS is as close to Dehi as it is to the Meijer Store. So what is with the Meijer store. Do they work there?

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

I'm confused. Why do you point out the distance to the Meijer store in Bridgetown?

Oak Hills covers all of Delhi, with a middle school in the center of Delhi. OHHS is as close to Dehi as it is to the Meijer Store. So what is with the Meijer store. Do they work there?

I fear you may have added to the confusion by characterizing the Meijer store as in Bridgetown. It's in Dent. That said, if the OP is even still reading and is at all interested in our suggestions, I think they might want to just take a look at the boundaries of the Oak Hills School District and consider looking at homes in the district. The boundaries of the district may not be the same as some of the township boundaries. Anything in that SD is going to be a reasonable drive to a job in Delhi.

[Misfit Toy]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

I fear you may have added to the confusion by characterizing the Meijer store as in Bridgetown. It's in Dent. That said, if the OP is even still reading and is at all interested in our suggestions, I think they might want to just take a look at the boundaries of the Oak Hills School District and consider looking at homes in the district. The boundaries of the district may not be the same as some of the township boundaries. Anything in that SD is going to be a reasonable drive to a job in Delhi.

My understanding of the Oak Hills SD boundaries is all of Delhi Twp. and part of Green Township.