franklin or middletown? (Cincinnati, Dayton, Hamilton: how much, houses, neighborhoods)

[deborah01]

I will be relocating to the Cincy area in a few months, all the homes that are in my price range are in Franklin and Middletown. Does any one know what is the racial make up of the population and are these areas safe?

Are these areas also growing or dying out? Any ideas on schools in those areas?

[deborah01]

Any one can send me a private message if the topic is too sensitive.

[Ohiogirl81]

Both areas get kind of a bad rap, but like any other cities, Franklin and Middletown have their good points and bad points. Both have a history of being very much working-class towns. Both have a history of revitalization efforts that have had limited success (that may be putting it kindly!).

Franklin has some gorgeous neighborhoods of Victorian-era homes; Middletown has a variety of neighborhoods.

I don't know much about the school districts in either city.

To get a feel for either town, try reading the Middletown Journal online.

Just curious, why did you choose those two locations?

[JefferyT]

I am thinking that they are fairly safe. The racial makeup? There is a small black community on the south side of Middletown, but none that I know of in Franklin.

Dont know about the schools.

The towns might seem the same on a map, but they are different. Middletown is really a small industrial city, dominated by a big steel mill and some paper factorys, with a dead little downtown.

Though this might sound grim, outside the older parts the place is actually pretty suburban feeling as there are a lot of nice suddivisions from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and later between the old part of town and the interstate. The place is actually pretty well-maintained for a factory town. Though blue-collar, there is really more of a mix in Middletown as it is its own city, not a suburb of some other city (though there is a lot of commuting to very nearby Dayton and Cincinnati areas).

Franklin is more of a small town in feel, with a main street and some big mansions along the river. There is a lot of industry there, too, but a lot of that is out in industrial parks out by the freeway. Housing in Franklin, as in Middletown, ranges from old Pre WWII and 19th Century houses in the valley by the river, to 1950s, 60s, 70s and more recent housing out on the hills and the flatlands towards the interstate.

There is a lot of ribbon devleopment of houses strung out along country roads outside of both towns.

Both towns are declining or losing population in the older parts, but booming in the areas around the I-75 interchanges, moreso Franklin than Middletown.

These are probably pretty good places to live if you want a house, a larger lot, and a family-oriented lifestyle.

[deborah01]

I chose these areas due to the housing prices. Both areas seem to have the lowest housing cost. I know by looking on line does not tell me much. I was hoping for some positive feed back on other areas also.

[deborah01]

Thank you very much for the info. I will be out there in a couple of weeks to check out the new job and hopefully have a few hours to look around. Are there any other cities close to Sharonville Oh that I may try?

[Ohiogirl81]

I don't know what kind of housing you're looking for or how much you can spend, but Sharonville itself has plenty of affordable housing, as do Reading and North College Hill.

I'd suggest some city neighborhoods, like Pleasant Ridge, Oakley or Madisonville, but the Cincinnati school district might be an isssue for you.

Good luck!

[JefferyT]

Reading and Lockland are close to Sharonville. They both have older homes, before WWII and from the 19th century. Of the two I like Reading the best. Their main street is filled with bridal shops and wedding places.

You might want to look at Fairfield, too, which is south of Hamilton.

[deborah01]

Thank you both.

[Sabinaguy]

Definatly, Franklin, Middletown is run down and a depressed city even though there are nice areas, but Franklin as a whole is better, Franklin has very nice sub-divisions and nice schools, Middletown is more economically depressed.