Looking for a Nice Area to Live (Cincinnati, Dayton: lease, house)

[Azalim]

My husband and I are moving from Louisville, KY area to Cincinnati area this summer.
My workplace will be near the purple people bridge/Sawyer Point Park.
I was wondering if anybody could give us any suggestions as to where to live.

What we are really looking for is somewhere that is rather countryside, maybe 1 acre of land, far away from neighbors, easily accessible to interstate, shopping, etc. (maybe 15 - 20 minutes of drive).
But, we know we have to be somewhat realistic and give up some of the features we want.

So, this is what we are hoping to find (and we know even this would be almost impossible...):

- 30 minutes or less to my workplace (not considering traffic)
- Somewhat rural
- Nice neighborhood (meaning safe and peace)
- 15 - 20 minutes at the most to grocery shopping (Kroger, Walmart, etc.)
- About $650 - $700 for monthly rent (house)
- NO preference on state (OH, KY, or even IN)

We do not have children, so a school is not our concern (of course, bad school usually means bad neighborhood and vise verse...).

We know that we might have to go out little further to find an area like this. If you know any surrounding cities, please let us know even if it is more than 30 minutes of drive to Sawyer Point park area.

Thank you.

[HuskerDu]

$650 to $700 a month for a house is going to make things difficult. You might want to look at old Milford where all of the antique shops exist... or something east of that.

[Azalim]

Thank you for your suggestion! I will look into Old Milford area. We might set $800 as our max if that gives us better choice.

[goyguy]

Too many people wanting "country" has equaled suburban sprawl in Cincinnati as in most metropolitan areas throughout the US. You can pretty much forget finding anything approaching rural in character anywhere along the I-75 corridor between Florence (KY) and beyond Dayton (OH.) But, at least for the time being, Grant and Carroll and Owen Counties, and perhaps western Boone County, in Kentucky might prove suitable. (Just check out what the flight paths into the airport are before signing any lease or purchase agreement.) Within and between Harrison and Oxford (OH) could be good too. Or, venture north of Bright along Route 1 in eastern IN - or to the Brookville area along Route 52. Though Clermont and Warren Counties in OH are growing more subdivisions and shopping malls than corn now, once you're beyond Morrow or Bethel or New Richmond there's still a bucolic feeling.

I don't know how long the TO has lived in the States, but as time goes on we Americans get better and better at isolating ourselves. You don't need acreage to get people to leave you alone, just make no effort to meet anybody and chances are they'll return the favor. Paradoxical as this may sound, the more urban the community you live in the better your chances at being ignored. If you want a minimum of social interaction with neighbors it really doesn't matter where you set up residence. With no children, one automatic ice-breaker has been removed. But having people nearby can be useful if your house catches on fire or someone's hovering outside during the work day.

Anyway, enough social commentary - each of the "semi-rural" areas I've listed are not terribly far from an Interstate, but for commuting purposes it'd be a faster trip from an area of northern Kentucky than from the other locales.

[Azalim]

Thank you for your suggestion. We will do more research on all the areas you have suggested. We might actually drive around the areas to see.

[kally]

West Chester
Hyde park
Amberly Village
Kenwood
Blue ash

[jlrosen]

I would think you best bet is somewhere in kentucky down 471

[HuskerDu]

Originally Posted by goyguy

Too many people wanting "country" has equaled suburban sprawl in Cincinnati as in most metropolitan areas throughout the US. You can pretty much forget finding anything approaching rural in character anywhere along the I-75 corridor between Florence (KY) and beyond Dayton (OH.) But, at least for the time being, Grant and Carroll and Owen Counties, and perhaps western Boone County, in Kentucky might prove suitable. (Just check out what the flight paths into the airport are before signing any lease or purchase agreement.) Within and between Harrison and Oxford (OH) could be good too. Or, venture north of Bright along Route 1 in eastern IN - or to the Brookville area along Route 52. Though Clermont and Warren Counties in OH are growing more subdivisions and shopping malls than corn now, once you're beyond Morrow or Bethel or New Richmond there's still a bucolic feeling.

I don't know how long the TO has lived in the States, but as time goes on we Americans get better and better at isolating ourselves. You don't need acreage to get people to leave you alone, just make no effort to meet anybody and chances are they'll return the favor. Paradoxical as this may sound, the more urban the community you live in the better your chances at being ignored. If you want a minimum of social interaction with neighbors it really doesn't matter where you set up residence. With no children, one automatic ice-breaker has been removed. But having people nearby can be useful if your house catches on fire or someone's hovering outside during the work day.

Anyway, enough social commentary - each of the "semi-rural" areas I've listed are not terribly far from an Interstate, but for commuting purposes it'd be a faster trip from an area of northern Kentucky than from the other locales.

My wife just glanced at this entry and confirmed what I love about reading your posts. Very good insight and advice!

[Azalim]

Everybody - Thank you very much for your suggestions!!

[Azalim]

bump

I got a pretty good idea on where to look, but if anybody has any more suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks!