Dayton OH, Steel Ave. (Xenia, Oregon: for sale, real estate market, foreclosed)

[elmyya]

I am thinking of buying a house @ the 700 block of Steel ave. However I can't find much information on the area.

Anyone that has any info it would be appreciated


thanks:

eddie p.

[Gee]

What type of info do you need? AND more details about the house would be useful

[elmyya]

Originally Posted by Gee

What type of info do you need? AND more details about the house would be useful

Hi and thank you for your response:

I am trying to find out the neighborhood profile, ie: area, make-up, crime, etc.

I don't want to give the address but it is in the 700 block of Steel ave.



Again thanks:

[mnugent]

I'm afraid the property on Steel Av. might located in a not-so-hot part of town. That area is kinda tricky because one block can be the difference between an ok neighborhood and bad neighborhood. I live in South Park, a historical district near by. Its a wonderful up and coming area. Its pretty much certain that if you lived there, you'd have to send your kids to Catholic School.

The Dayton real estate market is very undervalued. You can get a beautiful home very affordable. The job market's pretty good for those with skills. There's all kinds of plans for the city. The future is looking very good for us. However, Dayton does suffer from a high crime-perception problem. I wouldn't live here if I thought it was dangerous.

[JefferyT]

I think thats in that Twin Towers area, near old St Marys. This is, generally, a poor white/appalachian area, which is starting to see some Latinos move in. There is also a trend towards housing abandonment there, too. Based on the 2000 census the blocks around Steele Avenue has vacancy rates of over 15% (though some blocks on Steel are below 5%)

So, as has been said you'd almost have to go block by block, as there are some nice blocks and rougher blocks in the same neighborhood. I know that neighborhood is organized as community crime watches and so forth to tamp down the petty crime , and are being pretty agressive to prevent streetwalking from moving to Xenia Avenue.


Maybe not a ringing endorsement of moving in there.

[mnugent]

Jeffrey: are you form the Dayton area?

My dentist is located in that neighborhood. There are plenty of houses to be had there for cheap, however, I'm don't care of the element in that neighborhood. Its amazing what the space of few blocks now do.

There lots of property for sale in the that area. The million dollar question, if and when the area will pick up? Every day, I'm see more and more foreclosed properties. I wonder if know is the time to buy?

[lyrasstar]

I live just a hop-skip-and jump from Lincoln Elementary School. While I live in "decent" area, I admit that over the last 4 years or so I have witnessed our neighborhood (Twin Towers) decline - particularly the rise in abandoned houses and properties. There are many lovely old houses here reasonably priced, and I certainly agree that the housing market is undervalued here. However, I am shocked to see that even in the near-by historical districts, especially South Park, Huffman, and St. Ann's Hill that more and more houses are being boarded up and abandoned. Millions of dollars of Dayton tax payer dollars have been allocated toward the Wright-Dunbar area, which granted is an area in need of refurbishment, but certainly not at the expense of other neighborhoods, city crime prevention, or city services.

Much needs to be said about the over all health of the public school system here as well...although slowly improving.

However, Dayton has two of the finest colleges in the nation - Wright State and the University of Dayton. Further, it's private schools are tops in the country as well. I read an article that boasted that Montgomery county (were Dayton sits) is the 20th most efficient county in health and human services aid in the US (out of thousands of other US counties). And, the city is hiring and training 40 (?), I believe, new police officers. These are good things...

Dayton was once the center of industry (some 30 or more years ago) - our geographic location (intersected by two major interstate highways and 5 rivers) makes us a prime location for industry. Blue collar jobs are leaving the city in droves, though, as Reynolds & Reynolds and NCR have left, just to name a couple. It's our blue collar job sector that maintains the city's tax base (revenue) here, and with that leaving, our future looks questionable unless great changes are made.

[JefferyT]

^
I was in the Lincoln Elementary area a while back scouting locations for some pix of dowtown and St Marys as that is getting up in the hills there, so there are some good views over the city. I did notice that there are some nice blocks around Lincoln, and the hills do give a sort of picturesque feeling to the place.

I like "Twin Towers" area even if it is falling on tough times. The neighborhood isn't a historic district, but it does have some really old houses: parts of it around Xenia Avenue are probably as old as St Annes Hill and the Oregon.

Xenia Avenue itself should be landmarked as that is one of the few still somewhat intact old commercial streets left in the city. I really like the old buildings on the street, which hasn't been mostly abandoned yet or torn down like what happened to Third Street or 5th Street. I do go down to Smales for pretzels and to Oscar Beigel Jewlers to have my watches fixed. Beigel has to be one of the very last old-time neighborhood stores left in Dayton.

And of course St Marys is a great building. It reminds me of some of those grand old parish churches in Chicago out along Milwaulkee Avenue.

[New to town]

I just bought a duplex on Lawn St (25-50th block). One property manager said the area was "to rough" for him to manage in. I have not seen the property yet. Does anyone know how bad property crime is in that area? Thanks...and great dialog you guys have here. Its nice to have a place to talk about your town.

[rwe]

Originally Posted by elmyya

I am thinking of buying a house @ the 700 block of Steel ave. However I can't find much information on the area.

Anyone that has any info it would be appreciated


thanks:

eddie p.

Eddie, I worked that area for a long time as a police officer. Just like any other area there are good and bad people. The crime rate in the area saw a dramatic decline when the citizens in the area started to take an interest in helping themselves. Yes there are latinos in the area but they keep to themselves. The latinos that I knew from the area were hard working individuals. There are some nice playgrounds in the area if you have children. Just like any other place you live now you have to pay attention around you. Would I live there? With what I know of the area and the people , yes I would. But you have to understand I might be a little biased as it was my area for 32 years.