Relocating to Dayton Area - Best Suburbs?

[hensleya1]

I concur with the majority of the above posts here - if you're looking for a suburb with good schools, a general rule of thumb is to look along the I-675 corridor to the south and east of Dayton. That isn't say there aren't any options elsewhere, but that's where the majority of the best suburbs and school districts lie in the Dayton region.

Some day I'll have to write a thread on Ohio's disaster of a tax code and ask a mod to sticky it.

[weatherphotographer]

Originally Posted by hensleya1

Some day I'll have to write a thread on Ohio's disaster of a tax code and ask a mod to sticky it.

Sounds like fun! :P

[Magicalmoe]

Best suburbs are Centerville, Bellbrook, Beavercreek, Kettering and Miamisburg. In that order. I would say Springboro but that's getting far out.

[PerryMason614]

Originally Posted by hensleya1

Some day I'll have to write a thread on Ohio's disaster of a tax code and ask a mod to sticky it.

Tax code has little to do with schools. It's mostly family situation and genetics. Stable families with high paying jobs are generally higher on the intellectual scale and on the self-discipline scale and it is kind of a circular cause and effect. People with better-paying jobs can afford nicer homes. School districts with nicer homes tend to have better school achievement.

Otherwise, all the teachers go to the same colleges and they teach out of the same textbooks. There is no other difference unless you're one of the kids stuck in a bad school who has the aptitude to perform well but is stuck in the same building with a bunch of bums.

Going to a better school does have one other difference and that is that you are exposed to the children of a more successful group of people. That has its pluses and minuses. One of the minuses is that those parents are often more permissive and kids like this have the money to buy drugs and alcohol.

My preference is Christian schools and Catholic schools myself.

[Schmooky]

Originally Posted by hensleya1

I concur with the majority of the above posts here - if you're looking for a suburb with good schools, a general rule of thumb is to look along the I-675 corridor to the south and east of Dayton. That isn't say there aren't any options elsewhere, but that's where the majority of the best suburbs and school districts lie in the Dayton region.

Some day I'll have to write a thread on Ohio's disaster of a tax code and ask a mod to sticky it.

Please do! This tax stuff is so confusing and you explain it with remarkable concision.

[Mandy H]

Originally Posted by SWOH

...Pheasant Ridge / Forest Ridge area of Dayton / Fairborn / Huber Heights / Riverside might be worth a look... it'd be a decent central location and the neighborhood feel is what you're going for).

I've lived in Forest Ridge for several years, and nearby in Huber Heights for years before that. I highly recommend Forest Ridge or Pheasant Ridge. The homes are very well built, overall well taken care of, and very reasonably priced. Our 4+ BR, 2900 square foot two-story was a bit pricey for the area at $145,000; most seem to be a bit lower than that, but similarly sized. Oh, and that included a very generous back yard and two car attached garage.

Being near the air force base, we do get some of these larger homes being rented out to families. You might try that for a while to see how you feel about the location. I enjoy that it's just a few minutes from I-70, then a couple more minutes to I-75. It's a quiet, safe neighborhood where lots of different types of people jog, walk their dogs, and use the community pool and other resources.

FYI, Huber Heights is on my (and many people's) "s--- list" because of the lack on quality in its construction. I've been told by various contractors that the reason my doors weren't a standard size, for example, is because the man who built up the area wanted to skimp on that one additional row of bricks that would have brought them to the correct height. I also had HORRIBLE problems with windows leaking, plumbing backups for no apparent reason, and other issues. If you look at a home in that area, just make sure to check out the history of how often and how recently it's been sold before, and get separate, GOOD inspections for all parts of the house.

Good luck!

[gentlearts]

I am a huge booster for Centerville. My grandchildren are just finishing up high school there. Super school system, great people, great sports programs for kids, and a park or two in every neighborhood.
The property taxes are a bit high, but you get a lot for your money. They pay $5000+ for a $225k house.

[GemCityWatcher]

Honestly give Vandalia a look. You're pretty much 20 minutes from the downtown area....have easy access to Miller Lane (aka Restaurant Row, over 60 restaurants) and Vandalia has a solid public school district with a new middle school and high school.

It's also surrounded by huge MetroParks. On the west border of Vandalia is Englewood MetroPark, a massive park with a lake in the middle, waterfalls, hills, forests, and stunning views. On the East border of Vandalia is the Taylorsville MetroPark, another massive park with a river, trails, ponds, abandoned villages in the woods, massive hiking trails.

They also have multiple large parks in Vandalia, including the Sports Complex which is huge, has like 16 baseball diamonds, 10 soccer fields, multiple playgrounds, long jogging paths, and a Rec Center that has rock climbing, an aquatic center with water slides and olympic pools, a two story workout/gym area with state of the art equipment, a daycare, and classrooms for yoga, zumba, ect...

Vandalia is also more affordable than the southern suburbs but has the same quality you'd get in Centerville or Kettering. Kettering has some lowkey trashy parts, even. Vandalia doesn't. It borders with Butler Township which also shares the school district and has beautiful new and older neighborhoods. The town has plenty of festivals including the Air Show Parade (Air Show comes to Vandalia every summer), the Homecoming Parade (School Board throws this), the Star Spangled Celebration (4th of July Festival), the Summer Farmer's Market (it's huge), the Dayton Corporate Challenge (baseball tournament for Miami valley businesses), the Dayton Home and Garden Show (lasts two whole weekends), and A Taste of Vandalia (Foodie Festival), and the St. Chris Festival (tons of rides, beer, vendors, and contests).

It's a midsized city/area with Vandalia having a population of around 14k and Butler Township being around 9k. You're close to shopping in Huber and Englewood which are on each side of the town. And just north one exit up is Tipp City which has a historic downtown that has tons of amazing shops and restaurants with an old school feel.