Moving Back to Dayton Area, Need Some Advice (Kettering, Beavercreek: schools, living in)
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Thanks! We thought about Carriage Trails, but unfortunately it goes to Bethel schools. The elementary and high school have good ratings, but something is up with the middle school. Its rating is ABYSMAL. The only thing I can think of is that, from the information I can find online, they have incredibly large class sizes. One site (maybe it was niche.com) said that they're at 35:1 for student:teacher ratio! That is insane. For ADHD, the smaller the class size the better. Since we're also worried about our incredibly energetic five-year-old also eventually being diagnosed, I don't want to get stuck in a school system that can't accommodate as much as possible. If you know any differently, I'd love to hear it. There are some nice houses for sale in that area--although we'd be careful to get the ones NOT built by Ryan Homes. I've heard so many horror stories that we're trying to avoid it if at all possible, even if the houses are more than a few years old and all of the "kinks" should be worked out.
I know the reason why Bethel's middle school ratings are abysmal, I'll send a PM.
Basically if you get your child supplemental help during those years there you will be OK. I promise.
Just a quick follow-on question for the wonderful people here: Are Kettering, Beavercreek, Bellbrook, or Tipp City overly religious places? .... My husband is atheist, and I'm agnostic, and we're raising our children as non-religious ... I just want to make sure we won't be inadvertently stepping into a more Bible belt type area if we go south of 70 or into a semi-rural small town.
Not being a parent, I can't speak to the social fabric of schools or children's activities, or whether there's rampant prosletyzing on the soccer-field. In the broader society, most people are sufficiently genteel and mutually deferential, so as not to accost strangers in parking-lots and demand to know their relationship with Jesus. Even coworkers who keep bibles prominently on their desktops, are unlikely to spread the gospel at the office. So there is no high-pressure conversion-atmosphere.
However, many social activities for adults revolve around religious worship. Religion is a community-focus and a surrogate for theater. To be non-religious does not mean being shunned by neighbors, but it does mean a paucity of social connections. Towards that end, I recommend Freethought Dayton - a meetup group for atheists/agnostics/etc. It has regular social functions, dinners and the like, book-club, community service activities, even a mental health support group. It's "church" for the non-churched.
Not being a parent, I can't speak to the social fabric of schools or children's activities, or whether there's rampant prosletyzing on the soccer-field. In the broader society, most people are sufficiently genteel and mutually deferential, so as not to accost strangers in parking-lots and demand to know their relationship with Jesus. Even coworkers who keep bibles prominently on their desktops, are unlikely to spread the gospel at the office. So there is no high-pressure conversion-atmosphere.
However, many social activities for adults revolve around religious worship. Religion is a community-focus and a surrogate for theater. To be non-religious does not mean being shunned by neighbors, but it does mean a paucity of social connections. Towards that end, I recommend Freethought Dayton - a meetup group for atheists/agnostics/etc. It has regular social functions, dinners and the like, book-club, community service activities, even a mental health support group. It's "church" for the non-churched.
Thanks for the recommendation. We're fairly introverted by nature and already have a lot of the social interaction we need through a hobby group we've been part of for years that has a local chapter or three--one of the main reasons we were determined to move back was to be closer to those friends, who we only see once or twice a year right now. The Freethought Dayton group does sound interesting, though.
I think it was things like the parking lot proselytizers that I was worried about, as far as the adults go. On the whole we don't even give religion/lack of religion a thought until our school-age kid mentions things like kids saying she's weird for not being Christian. That happened maybe once in Huber vs the dozens of times here in Maryland. It's a more religion-oriented dynamic here, although the adults are better about it than the kids. I worried that maybe the smaller amount of teasing in Ohio was due more to the kids being younger and less aware of what religion even is, in the existential sense.
I'm surprised to hear of such experiences in Maryland, unless this were in the Appalachian part of Maryland. Indeed, I would need to revise my opinion of Ohio upwards, as perhaps this part of the nation is more theologically progressive than might have been thought on first blush. How far were you from DC? I "grew up" in Northern Virginia, just across the Potomac from Maryland. While churches dotted many street corners, as a secular person I felt little imposition of their influence. When I was a schoolboy, there was no religious pressure, whether from fellow students or adults.
I'm surprised to hear of such experiences in Maryland, unless this were in the Appalachian part of Maryland. Indeed, I would need to revise my opinion of Ohio upwards, as perhaps this part of the nation is more theologically progressive than might have been thought on first blush. How far were you from DC? I "grew up" in Northern Virginia, just across the Potomac from Maryland. While churches dotted many street corners, as a secular person I felt little imposition of their influence. When I was a schoolboy, there was no religious pressure, whether from fellow students or adults.
Nope. Central Maryland near Ft Meade. I was surprised, too. I think it might have more to do with the political climate these last few years and what kids are hearing at home, though. Adults know how to be neutral on topics outside of their inner circle (usually), but kids have a difficult time understanding the difference. I certainly didn't expect this in blue-dominant Maryland, but I guess you never know. Hopefully I'm worrying over nothing as far as the Ohio communities go.
Merewenc, your experience compounds the evidence that local variations are perhaps stronger than national ones. The bad news is that it becomes more imperative to be choosy about school district, suburb/borough, subdivision and so forth. The good news is that being relegated to the Heartland need not mean a uniformly agrarian, blue-collar, benighted milieu. Perhaps much of my own negative bias towards the Dayton area is the unfortunate result of my specific locale (a very rural region SE of Dayton-city). In sum, prospects for your relocation are evidently good. But optimal choice implies extensive research and local reconnaissance.
We're in the middle of our house hunting week and have made an offer. Our top three houses ended up being in Tipp City. We actually have an accepted offer on our #1 with inspection happening by the end of the week! It's so exciting. The house is fantastic. And if the unexpected happens and something is found in the inspection that totally sinks the deal, I could be almost as happy with either #2 (we have two ties for runner up right now). We were easily able to get a spot in the school-affiliated daycare for our younger child, and over all the area has what we're looking for between proximity to friends, amenities, and houses that fit our needs.
After all of my research and then going around looking at houses, here's some observations:
- The residential areas of Beavercreek are more cramped than I realized from visiting mostly commercial areas all those years ago. Even though the lots, especially in older areas, are usually at least .25 to .5 acres, right in our desired range, everything seems so tightly packed. I thought I would want stuff close together for convenience, but I didn't like it so much after all. Also, the Beavercreek roads are almost all very narrow. Having more than a few friends over could be hazardous for other drivers. And in the older areas there aren't a lot of sidewalks. The parks are nice, but I'd worry about walking to them because you can never trust drivers to obey the speed limits!
- I expected Kettering to be cramped, so it wasn't as much of a surprise. Lots there are generally smaller, and many of the areas are older with no room for new developments. I did love the overall feel of Kettering, but the age of the houses limited which ones fit with what we were looking for. In the end, by the time we actually started looking in Monday, the only two that would have worked were pending. So that was a wash anyway. But many of the neighborhoods were adorable and well-kept.
- I75 and I70 make the drive from the Tipp City area seem shorter than the drive from Bellbrook, even though the time is around the same. There's something about more rural roads that makes everything drag on longer in our minds. Also, we worried about how well they're plowed in the winter vs the interstates.
- We're just more comfortable with the "feel" of the area north of 70. I don't know if it's because my husband is from Wyoming and I'm from Northeast OH, where you don't necessarily see houses packed tightly together except in the more urban or less affluent areas, but one way or the other, thatsthe vibe we get. We're just not south if 70 people, I guess!
- Tipp itself doesn't have a ton of amenities, although it does look to have some great small businesses, but Troy is minutes away and has everything we could need. I think it will be a good area for us, a slightly slower pace than we saw in Beavercreek and Kettering.
- Bellbrook is a LOT tinier than I thought, and doesn't actually have as much character or charm as any of the other towns, even Tipp! That surprised me from everything I've ever heard about it. If we're going to drive that distance to work, I'd rather have some character to where I'm living. Also, housing prices are about in par with the other nice areas, but property taxes there are outrageous!
- We're just more comfortable with the "feel" of the area north of 70. I don't know if it's because my husband is from Wyoming and I'm from Northeast OH...
- Bellbrook is a LOT tinier than I thought, and doesn't actually have as much character or charm as any of the other towns...property taxes there are outrageous!
Bellbrook and its surrounding township, Sugarcreek, has no local income tax; by way of compensation, property taxes are higher. This benefits a more affluent couple living in a more modest house. Bellbrook itself is rather small and nondescript... more of a one-traffic-light town (literally). Its appeal is the more rural residential options, whether older houses on larger tracts of land, or McMansions. The other appeal is the quality of the schools.
From what I gather, north of I-70 one finds more blue-collar, socially conservative, traditional Midwestern places. NE OH evidently more resembles the East Coast. Thus even if the amenities and town-layout looks more familiar, the cultural vibe may not be.
Have you considered Centerville and Washington Township?
Congrats on the offer, OP! I think you will be happy in Tipp. It is the best overall of the northern suburbs, IMO. I am surprised you didn't look at Centerville, but I think you would find it not much different than Beavercreek or Kettering. If not more so along its southern and western edges towards Miamisburg and Springboro. Development there has taken off resulting in more dense development.
FWIW, Troy has the best "downtown" of any of the older suburbs. The popular Strawberry festival helps this. I think I would throw Miamisburg third for its quirkiness and different small businesses and Centerville third for its charm, though it is a little small and right on top of busy roads (OH-48 and OH-725).
Further out small towns with cute charm that also might be worth exploring include Yellow Springs (hippie vibe and active granola crunchers) and Waynesville (antiquing and Sauerkraut festival).
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It's a more religion-oriented dynamic here, although the adults are better about it than the kids. I worried that maybe the smaller amount of teasing in Ohio was due more to the kids being younger and less aware of what religion even is, in the existential sense.
