Where to Rent in Cincinnati (Akron, Norwood: apartments, rental, crime)

[newcomer9]

Greetings folks, After several years of living away from Ohio, my career has brought me back. I am originally from the Akron area, but this time am going to be working in downtown Cinci. Any areas I should look into renting? Or I should possibly stay away from? I'm not from this area. I'm 30, a white male, single, ready to live life.
Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks....

[paintballer1708]

Norwood is a great suburb to live in. Not far from downtown Cincinnati. Also check out Cheviot Hills thats only about 15 mins from downtown depending on traffic. If you need more info just ask.

[CBox]

Any of the Northern Suburbs from Springdale over to Blue ash are
very nice communities.Traffic on I-75 North from Downtown is
pretty heavy and for a city the size of Cincinnati,its unusual but
its not a Huge Problem.I can also give you more Cincinnati area
information as well

[mccchr]

Hyde Park. (& mount lookout)
+Downtown is easily reached via columbia parkway or I-71
+There are lots of great bars, clubs, & restaurants
+A great place to go running & walking around (particulaly because there are a LOT of attractive women (and men) doing the same)
+There are lots of rental properties: Entire homes, 2 family homes, and regular apartments
+There is a wonderful park to hike in as well as just lay out and enjoy the sun or play soccer/frisbee/football (Ault Park)
+At least two bus routes connect between downtown and many people commute via the bus (I've met a lot of friendly people just by taking the bus)

If you drive down Erie or Observatory ave before you look elsewhere, don't worry, not all of HP/ML is that well off.

Very close by is Oakley which is definitely working it's way up the ladder of cool places in Cincinnati. Lots of shops, restaurants, bars, and rental properties.

Another place to checkout is Mount Adams. It also has a park nearby, has a number of clubs and restaurants nearby, and if you're into plays/theatre, has the playhouse within easy walking distance. It can be a little more pricey since it's an in demand place and there's a limited supply of housing on the hill. It is, however, an easy bike ride down the hill into downtown.

Another place is the gaslight district of Clifton. That is centered around Ludlow Ave. near the University of Cincinnati. I'd recommend two block south of Ludlow and all of north of ludlow based on what my friends and I expereinced in the way of crime around UC. Ludlow has a lot of shops, a grocery, and independent movie theatre (the other one is in Mariemont) and a great pizza shop (dewey's). Easy drive to downtown as well.

As paintballer said, Norwood is there as well, just a little further drive off from HP/ML stuff.

I can't speak on what crime is like in Norwood but we and our neighbors haven't had any issues whatsoever since I've been here (6years)
Hope this all isn't too much. I've listed the locations in my order of preference.

The only thing I would suggest is avoiding commmuting on I-75. It seems like there's a wreck or three every morning.