Where to live-Fairfield to Cincy (Cincinnati, Springfield: section 8, apartments, rental)

[nightengalejsc]

So,

My husband currently works for a large company in Fairfield. I work in Cincinnati near Dana Avenue and Montgomery Road (Exit 5 off of 71). My children attend a childcare facility by the river on Kellogg Avenue, just about 10 minutes from my workplace. Currently, we rent a duplex in West Chester. The commute for me and the kids is almost an hour going home every day. It's horrible.

We tried driving around and looking into other areas between Fairfield and Cincinnati, but nothing seems very nice at all.

Our lease will be up soon and we would love to find a 3 bedroom rental house/very spacious townhouse somewhere between Fairfield and Cicninnati that would cut down our commute. My husband said he doesn't mind having a commute, as long as its under 25 minutes. We really like living in the suburbs in a nice, safe, quiet neighborhood. We just can't seem to find any nice areas.

Any suggestions?

[goyguy]

Montgomery, Blue Ash, and Anderson Township are about your only options if you insist on suburbia. And those would help in terms of proximity for one spouse but not the other. The other outlying areas in that vicinity have few if any apartment/condo/townhouse complexes and would also be short on rental houses.
The Cincinnati neighborhoods of Mt Lookout and Hyde Park would present possibilities, as would Norwood. There are many quiet side streets in each of those communities. But in terms of housing, the apartments are largely in multifamily houses or "brick boxes" and only Norwood would likely have many freestanding houses available for renters. And then there'd be the schools to contend with.
You may want to visit the Website of Williamsburg of Cincinnati and have a look in person. This complex was "all the rage" when it was a gated community built on the site of a dairy farm in the late '60s. (No one had heard of a gated community in those days.) It's a mixture of small brick apartment buildings and streets lined with brick and wood townhouses. Although that community has aged well and is still perceived as a "good address," there's been some grumbling because - whether they had to is debatable - its management has done some Section 8 conversions. In light of that, I recommend touring on a warm Saturday night when the potential for noise and "acting up" is greatest. I think income and possibly race biases often conspire to paint a more dire picture than what's real, but firsthand observation works best. The Williamsburg complex is situated just west of Valleydale and Hartwell between Galbraith (main entrance) and Compton, just a few minutes west of the Galbraith Rd exit off I-75. It's also close by access to the Cross-County Highway, Reagan Highway if you insist, which means a quick and easy connection to 75. Though the kids would be assigned to Cincinnati's Hartwell Elementary School, and would be sent to Carthage until that school's renovation is finished, the complex abuts Wyoming. The schools there are top-notch, with some seats available for students from outside the district who pay tuition. Children from around there could also attend St James in Wyoming for grades K through 8. From Williamsburg, you'd both see your commutes reduced to about a half-hour when traffic allows.
Hartwell, Valleydale (an unincorporated section of Springfield Township usually classified as Hartwell in real-estate listings), and Wyoming have a few rental houses. Connections and sharp eyes work best in terms of finding one, but drive down some streets off Route 4 (Vine St/Springfield Pike.) Stranger things have happened than spying a cozy dwelling with a "For Rent" sign on the front lawn.

[your_gdoc]

I like Mason may be Loveland,West chester

[wilson1010]

For your demographics, I would recommend Amberley. Its very affordable; much more so than other equivalent neighborhoods mentioned above and a very easy commute from your work and child care and directly between your husband's work and yours. I think you will be shocked at the difference in price between Blue Ash and Amberley. Start be searching north of section. But, if you are on a really tight budget, look at the "Ridgewood" area which consists of several streets (including Ridgewood) south of Section and west of Ridge. In this market, almost any house that can be purchased can be rented. But, if I can make a suggestion, why don't you try to get the seller to agree to a land contract instead of a lease that lets you get out if you choose not to buy (refinance land contract) after a year or two and you can deduct the monthly payments as interest instead of losing the deduction on rent.

[jlrosen]

Originally Posted by wilson1010

For your demographics, I would recommend Amberley. Its very affordable; much more so than other equivalent neighborhoods mentioned above and a very easy commute from your work and child care and directly between your husband's work and yours. I think you will be shocked at the difference in price between Blue Ash and Amberley. Start be searching north of section. But, if you are on a really tight budget, look at the "Ridgewood" area which consists of several streets (including Ridgewood) south of Section and west of Ridge. In this market, almost any house that can be purchased can be rented. But, if I can make a suggestion, why don't you try to get the seller to agree to a land contract instead of a lease that lets you get out if you choose not to buy (refinance land contract) after a year or two and you can deduct the monthly payments as interest instead of losing the deduction on rent.

Amberly or Deer Park