Opinions on Mariemont (Columbus, Cincinnati, Hamilton: cul-de-sac, best town, rent)

[CTtoOH]

My family and I (three kids) are moving to Cincy from Connecticut in November. We know that we want to live in the Hamilton county area, but are not sure about the best town for us. Mariemont looks like it would be a nice community with good schools, but we are wondering if the people are friendly. My husband is worried that people there are snobby. Blue Ash is another area we are looking at closely. Any opinions on these areas (or others!) would be very much appreciated - Thanks.

[paintballer1708]

I am also looking into moving to the Cincinnati Metro. Blue Ash and Mariemont are great towns. I have got alot of feedback from those towns. I have also got alot of great news from Kings Mills, Mason, Lebanon, Hamilton, and Monroe. Alot of good towns nearby. Good Luck with your move. By the way me and my wife are headed down there this weekend. Will give you some more information on the area. We are also checking out Columbus.

[CTtoOH]

Thanks - I would love to hear from you after you visit Cincy this weekend. Have a great trip!

[mccchr]

As with any big city, there are lots of little nooks and crannies of neighborhoods that take awhile to discover in Cincinnati. Mariemont is (in my opinion) one of those special places that have a lot of personality.

I guess I should ask you if you are coming here for a job and if so, where is it? That will have an impact on where you may want to live strictly from the standpoint of commute time. If you are looking for good schools, Mariemont is supposed to have very good public schools. There are other nearby (close to the city) neighborhoods that also have good schools like Madiera, Indian Hill, Montgomery, Wyoming and further out are the Lakota schools and Mason schools, Blue Ash was mentioned earlier as well. If you are looking for unique neighborhoods with a little character, I would suggest Mariemont as well as Madiera. They have perhaps the nicest town centers which you can walk around and enjoy yourselves and not feel like you're walking along some minor highway with bigbox stores like target and walmart looming over you.

As to your husband's concern about snobbery, I can only say that all of these areas mentioned are firmly middleclass and up. It's rather difficult to address the snob-factor since you'll probably experience that in a variety of places including the ones mentioned. I kinda' feel like it's just a matter of luck who you run into on the street and who you end up living next to. We live in a fairly nice neighborhood within the city limits (hyde park) and we've had wonderful luck with most of our neighbors being very kind and one or two who we leave alone since they seem unfriendly. Eh, scr*w 'em if they can't even bother with a smile! ;-)

You had asked about Blue Ash and Mariemont so here's what i can tell you: Blue Ash is just inside the 275 beltway and is a mix of housing and corporations. Fortunately for the residents, all the business brings in a lot of revenue for the city which can provide good city services for the residents. The downtown has a number of shops and resturants but doesn't really have a lot of personality. Everything there is pretty new looking and kind of bland. Blue Ash does have a wonderful recreation center with great pool that a lot of people utilize, as well as a number of parks. I would estimate that most of the homes in Blue Ash are 40-50 years old. There is also a couple neighboring communitie of sharonville and evendale that are pleasant as well. I don't think you're going to find much snobbery around here.

Mariemont is an older community that was built up I think around the turn of the century and most of the house show a little more personality because of it. Generally, the housing prices are a bit more expensive but you'll also get nice city services and (from what I understand) great schools. Two other neighboring communities share the school system: Fairfax and Terrace Park. Fairfax is a less expensive neighborhood and Terrace Park more expensive. Mareimont has a downtown with a few restaurants, an Ice Cream shop, a 3 screen movie theater that shows more alternative movies inters*****d with bigger features, a little hotel, and a few other shops as well. A very pleasant place to stroll around. Just east of downtown (quick drive) are the supermarket as well as other businesses.

I guess maybe you should also throw out here how much you're looking to spend for a house and what else you feel is important to have nearby. How old of a house are you looking for? less than 10 years?, less than 50?, doesn't matter? Do you want downtowns you can walk through? Good community facilities like public pools for the kids? Hamilton county library system is pretty good and has branches in nearly every town center.

If we can answer any questions, let us know!
Chris

[CTtoOH]

Wow, thanks so much for all of the information, very helpful!

We are moving to Cincy because we have some family and friends in the area, among other reasons. My husband will be working for himself and so we will rent office space nearby wherever we chose to live. His dream is to have a small office at the Blue Ash airport since he is in the aviation biz.

We will probably spend in the $400s for a house, and since we have 3 boys, we are looking for a good kid neighborhood, a place to ride bikes, and a pool nearby. Schools are key, of course. All of this would seem to point us in the direction of Blue Ash/Montgomery.

However, I myself am more of a city girl, and the idea of living on a cul-de-sac in the burbs is a little depressing. I may have to deal with it, if it is what's best for the kids. Mariemont appealed to me because it seemed to have that character and walkability that I really like. It may be too expensive for us though, as house prices are in the $500s and taxes are about $10,000 per year, from what I can tell.

Thanks again for your help!

[CTtoOH]

One more thing I'd like to ask...you said you live in Hyde Park and I'm wondering about the schools there. People are afraid of city schools, but they aren't necessarily bad, so any information you can give me about your area would be great. Are there any magnet schools?

Thanks again.

[mccchr]

Hey CT,

Has your husband looked into working near Lunken Airport? It's very close to Mariemont and HydePark (a bit too close sometimes for my sleeping habits) and seems to be a much more developed airport than Blue Ash. That said, my wife commutes to Blue Ash (a block away from the airport) and it's about 20 minutes if you take the Red Bank Road approach to 71 north. If you leave after 7:30am, it can bump the time up to about 30-40minutes.

Hyde Park has a decent elementary school (that's currently getting a complete renovation) and a Cincinnati public has a magnet montessori for (i think) grades 6-12 which happens to be located in hyde park. there is also another cinci public magnet school in walnut hills (close by) and that is supposedly very good. I'm only speaking from 2nd and 3rd hand info though since our daughter is only 2...

Since you have 3 boys, you probably don't want to shell out for private schools though there are a number close by to HP (including some private catholic schools). We were also doing the math and with one it's alright but once you have 2 or more, why not just pay slightly more property taxes and get all the schooling you want included...

No pools that I know of around HP. Blue Ash definitely has one, Wyoming definitely though it may be a private swim club, Montgomery not sure (but seems like they would), Mariemont I haven't seen one but maybe call or check the city website.

We also can't/won't move to the burbs because we also get ill at the thought of cul-de-sacs. <smile> It may eventually come to it though.

Another option that I didn't mention before is looking at Anderson. It's just east of Lunken Airport and is a little more "burb-y". Little cheaper housing than Mariemont and not as walkable as Hyde Park but nice with good schools. 3 of our neighbors with school age children have decamped to Anderson because of the schools. Probably a longer/more circuitous commute to Blue Ash airport.

Please also understand that after all this, I'm certainly not critizing Blue Ash and Montgomery. They are fine places to live I'm sure. I'm just a bit partial to HP.

[fauxgal]

I know you said that you don't think that you could handle the burbs but Lebanon is a wonderful place to live. And it is right off of interstate 71 which is very quick access to get to Blue Ash.
We have the charming old houses, or new construction homes and a wonderful downtown area. We have excellent rated schools and the biggest YMCA in the US. The neighborhood that I live in has its own pool. Lebanon has very low property taxes so you could get more house for your money.

Please let me know if you would like more information.

[CTtoOH]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I haven't looked into Lebanon at all so I will do some research on that area. It sounds like a possibility. I'll also talk to my husband about Lunkin airport, although he tends to like those run-down old airports!

I also wanted to ask about Wyoming - the schools are supposed to be great, but I've also heard they are really competitive and put a lot of pressure on the kids. Like Mariemont, the taxes are high, which could be a problem for us. Any info you have about Wyoming would be great.

Thanks again!

[wastina]

If it's not too late to respond, I'd encourage you to look at Glendale, at the northern side of Hamilton County. It's a great little village which offers nice, older homes, a community feel, and has an excellent, "diverse" public high school, Princeton. Your kids can learn Russian and can graduate from International Baccalaureate while learning social skills to interact with a diverse group of socioeconomic and cultural differences. There's a vibrant housing market in Glendale, too. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!