Any first hand experience with Dayton Historic Neighborhoods? (Oregon, Grafton: fit in, real estate)

[Giesela]

From a google search it seems the main 4 historic neighborhoods are
South Park
Oregon
Huffman
McPherson Town
oh and is there a St. Anns or something?

Has anyone ever lived in any of these areas or had close friends that did?

(I have not ventured into the downtown area, its very hard to read a map and drive at the same time and Dayton is a very confusing city to make your way around in)

I'm wondering if there are places to rent (perhaps buy) where you actually have a garage and/or yard (so far most of the places in ads seem to have on street parking)

What the future may hold in terms of resale if one were to buy.

What living there would be like, what's the difference in the neighborhoods etc.


Thanks!

[OhioianBrier]

Like all other cities within Ohio the property values have gone down considerably due to so many mortgage foreclosures, so for a buyer that is good news. For the seller however it keeps the owners from putting any more money in their historic homes. Twenty years ago when looking for a home in Dayton we discovered many historic home owners who found that every improvement they made had to be passed by the historic assoc. One owner had a two car garage and replaced the rotten heavy spring lift doors with a very expensive Pergo (simulated wood) garage doors with automatic openers. It looked very nice with the keyhole windows and just the right color of cherrywood. He didn't run this past the association and he was required to remove them and replace with exactly the same type of heavy spring lift doors that fell off. He was fed up and selling out and had to forewarn the next buyer of the problem.
If you like an 'overlord' with any future improvements, you'd better have a good sized pocketbook for custom wood windows/doors and woodwork.
Needless to say, we steered clear of the historical areas.

[Teri L]

I'm helping someone move into South Park. They chose South Park because of the "vibe" they got there- their words- even though they looked at Huffman, Grafton Hill, and the Oregon District.

South Park has just been named the "Neighborhood of the Year" so there is going to be some continued activity as far as housing prices goes, and the people I know who live there are committed to making South Park a damn great place to live.

I have to respectfully disagree with OhioianBrier. Property values in Dayton never ramped up outrageously so they have not "gone down considerably due to so many mortgage foreclosures". We do have a lot of foreclosures, but compared to some other parts of the country, where you can get foreclosed property for .25- .50% of what it sold for 2 years ago, you will not see that in all parts of Dayton.

Real estate is very local. Dayton and Ohio do not fit into the same real estate matrix that most of the country does so when you see or hear nat'l real estate trends, the chances are that they may not apply to many parts of Dayton.

Historic assn vary from district to district in terms of how strict their rules are. As long as you are aware that you may have to clear changes with a district prior to construction, then you can make improvements with your eyes open.

McPherson Town, Oregon, and South Park have distinct physical boundaries that help keep the districts enclosed. South Park and Oregon are very convenient to shopping, entertainment, food, etc. The others are less so.

The homes in Huffman, St Anne's, Grafton Hill are larger and more ornate, I think. South Park has some large homes, but most are more modest in comparison.

Wright-Dunbar is a newer historic district (is that an oxymoron?). The preservation Dayton website has some information. ...I do ramble. Hope some of this helps. All the best!

[Hartwell Girl]

As a child, I lived at 312 Park...the area has really changed for the better and I am so happy about that. Just seeing this post made me jump onto the auditors page to see what our old house looks like now (and the neighbors)...its so pretty and I am glad to see these old homes preserved for years to come. Congrats South Park!