Better house or better neighborhood? (Cincinnati, Green: houses, neighborhoods, buy)

[new_to_town]

If given the choice, would you rather live in a house that has all the features you want, but is located a neighborhood that isn't quite what you are looking for - or live in a neighborhood with all the features you want but in a house that is somewhat lacking?

Obviously the best is a house with all the features you want in the neighborhood of your choice but if that's not available/affordable... ?

30's single female, enjoys sports (running, biking, etc), walkable neighborhoods (coffee shops, bookstores, grocery access), and would like a central location. Deciding between a house that isn't exactly what I want, but is in Hyde Park (no garage, interior layout isn't the best, but can walk to everything, run, bike, etc), or a house that has more of the features that I want, but is in N. Norwood or maybe, Pleasant Ridge (not as much to walk to, but house itself has aforementioned features).

I live downtown now, don't mind it, but would like a place that is better for biking, running, and has less traffic noise (but don't care to be in retirement- or family- central).

THANKS!

[goyguy]

I'd take neighborhood over house, because you can adapt a home to better suit your preferences and can't do the same for a community. That's the choice I made in 1992. My place has no separate dining room, and the two bedrooms are around the corner from each other. So large-scale entertaining doesn't happen much, and things get crowded when visitors from out of town stay over. But I'd already lived in the area for some years and had liked it even before then. Relocating to a farther-removed city neighborhood or a suburb in order to have more room or even an actual house was never a consideration.
"But that's me."

[wilson1010]

X2

You can improve the house. You can't change the neighborhood.

[gman5431]

Exactly what the other two said - cant change the neighborhood but you can do basically anything with the house. Where in Norwood are you looking though? If you are in the right place its a great deal, you get the same amount of house as you would in HP but for almost half the money.

G Man

[Ohiogirl81]

I did the opposite. When I was house hunting in 1992, I chose more house for the money in Madison Place over homes with extreme limitations in Hyde Park or Oakley. Never did I regret that choice.

[new_to_town]

Yeah, to some extent that is how I feel. Except, that the house has no garage (that was a major requirement) and I might not be able to put one in due to the layout and zoning regulations, and it would be difficult to change some things about the awkward layout of the house without some moderately serious structural re-do. Grrrr...

[gman5431]

Originally Posted by new_to_town

Yeah, to some extent that is how I feel. Except, that the house has no garage (that was a major requirement) and I might not be able to put one in due to the layout and zoning regulations, and it would be difficult to change some things about the awkward layout of the house without some moderately serious structural re-do. Grrrr...

Well i wouldnt buy that house because it doesnt fit your needs. There are plenty of houses out there right now for great prices. Getting something that isnt perfect is not something you have to do with the market where it is right now.

G Man

[new_to_town]

Well here's a changeup. Saw a house I liked today, but it was in Green Township. Think it would be relaxing, and good for running/biking, but I'm not sure if I might find it boring after a while, also, not as central to the Cincinnati Metro as Hyde Park.

Kind of like apples and oranges.

[wilson1010]

Originally Posted by new_to_town

Kind of like apples and oranges.

More like comparing apples to Ipods. I'd say that a person who could stand to live in Green Township should not pay the high prices for Hyde Park.

[new_to_town]

Yeah well. I'm undecided at this point if I would find it boring over there. The proximity to Mt. Airy would be great. But then when I wasn't running or biking, staring at the walls of my house wouldn't exactly my ideal activity. And outside of Mt. Airy (which I'd run to anyway), not much to get to by foot out there, as far as I know. And a bit of a drive to anywhere that anything would be "happening."

I like that it feels like a park but that might only go so far.