Anxious Brit moving to Dayton - advice, please. (Cincinnati, Kettering: violent crime, hotels)

[ianewk]

Originally Posted by JefferyT

This is a cool area! Did you know it used to be part of Hills and Dales Park? That area has some of the most interesting landscape as its so hilly.

I didn't know that...but I can definitely see how. I looked all over when trying to find a house (Beavercreek, Centerville, Washington Township, Oakwood) but fell in love with the twisty-turny streets and the topography of the area I'm in. AND THE TREES!!!

I have roughly 0.7 acres, the south side of my yard slopes downward, the north side slopes upward, the back view is elevated and the front view I can't see my neighbor's house across the street because it's higher up than my roof.

The previous owner actually counted the trees on the lot...over 100! Which I'll not be so happy about come fall.

For me it really came down to bang for the buck. I didn't want to go over $300K and that wasn't going as far as I wanted it to in some of the other areas. Plus, coming from San Antonio I was so done with subdivisions with five different houses to choose from and eight feet between houses.


To our soon to be British (temp) ex-pat,

I don't know what area you're working in, but my area of Kettering is only 20-25 minutes away from my work. I work in area B and it's 20 minutes (on average timed with GPS) from lot to lot. Not bad at all.

I'm testing the bike route via the trail system tomorrow. I can almost ride all the way to area B on the trails. SWEET!!!!

[wrightflyer]

Ah, the bike trails... I miss them so much. Columbus has its share, including the one that runs by OSU on the Olentangy, but the system in the Dayton area beats it by miles.

I know there was a spur into Kettering off of County Line near the Armory. Don't know if anyone knows how far that goes into Kettering now? I use to ride my bike on the path towards Patterson Rd in Dayton and then cut across to Oakwood and made it all the way to the John Patterson memorial coming from the far side of Beavercreek. It's a wonderful ride, especially in the summer with the foilage.

Tell me how the ride from your part of Kettering goes. Who knows, maybe in the summer will unknowingly pass each other?

P.S. Pretty much all these communities, Kettering, Yellow Springs, Beavercreek, Centerville (don't know about Washington Twp. but they probably have some paths) have bike paths for both enjoyment and sometimes commuting purposes. Through Beavercreek, there are surface street routes the city has set up through local neighborhoods. Eventually, there will be a bridge crossing I-675 to connect Wright State/Wright-Patt/Fairborn to the rest of the system.

[ianewk]

My plan is to ride Patterson to Carillon Park and take the trails to Eastwood Metropark and then finish the ride into work on Springfield Street. I'm guessing around 12 to 13 miles total.

I'll let you know.

If I'm out there training , you'll see me in my team kit (PeakFitness Racing...red, white and black)...and probably on my team bike. If I'm commuting it's anyone's guess what I'll be sporting but I'll likely be on my Moots or my Redline cyclocross bike.

I can't wait to settle into the riding/racing scene here. I was a little spoiled by a 10-month season in Texas.

[cwilloughby78]

ellyagnes having been born at Wright-Patt, raised in Huber Heights and now living south of town in Miami Township I have to tell you there aren't many bad parts of the suburbs surrounding Dayton. Huber Heights has some nice homes being built of bellfountaine rd. which is less then a 10 minute commute to WPAF. A hugh bonus to garden lovers these newer houses are built on what use to be farmland, nice fertile soil. Down south Centerville and Kettering are nice but if you want to avoid city tax then look at Miami Township, the area around the dayton mall, the "city" services such as police, fire, street maintaince are all excellent, without the city tax. Yellow Springs is another great area it's a little farther from base, but the houses are pretty pricey and I'm not sure about the rental properties out there. Don't worry about tornados to much. Xenia had one about 8 years ago but it was out in the farmland and didn't do much damage, another formed over Centerville about 11 years ago but never touched down, much of the damage in this region from severe storms is caused by straight line winds with can approach catagory 1 hurricane strength on rare occations. Good Luck in your move and welcome to the Buckeye State (full of worthless nuts!) just kidding.

[wrightflyer]

Originally Posted by cwilloughby78

A hugh bonus to garden lovers these newer houses are built on what use to be farmland, nice fertile soil.

Not to call you out, but I find that most developers, when they "reconfigure" the landscape, slice off the fertile top soil and leave plain old dirt and rock beneath. At least that's been the case for 99% of the developments I've seen.

Just be aware of what the landscape looks like when buying a house. Don't do what my friend's parents did and buy a house without any grass! When they saw the house, the lot was covered in snow!

Also, buying in a new development, don't buy the last lot or two in a phase, as this is were they tend to dump rocks and sometimes concrete. This becomes a problem when they pile the dirt for the house on top of it, causing a situation where it may be difficult to grow certain things. We had this problem and its not an easy one to fix, but it is an easy one to avoid. Also, nowdays, developers usually have concrete washouts to dump all that crap into so they aren't leaving that on some poor soul's new lot.

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by cwilloughby78

...but if you want to avoid city tax then look at Miami Township, the area around the Dayton Mall, the "city" services such as police, fire, street maintaince are all excellent, without the city tax....

Gotta agree with you, CWilloughby78, on the township tax situation! We live in Washington Twp next to (Miami Twp) and share services with Centerville. We, too don't pay city taxes (but our property taxes are a little higher than Centerville's. Washington Twp just fought off a "hostile takeover" by Centerville and we Twp residents like the status quo just fine! (I wish we had more bike paths down here, too!)

[GaGirl2]

Originally Posted by ellyagnes

We're relocating from quiet, rural England to Dayton (WPAFB), for 2-3 years, probably.

Have found posts re: neighborhoods helpful as crime stats are truly alarming. (As are reports of tornadoes on Wikipedia.)

We're 50, childless, with pets, and love gardening, art museums and wildlife and aren't party types.

Can anyone recommend a very safe neighborhood very close to base?

Can anyone estimate how long a commute from Yellow Springs would be (sounds a nice place).

Are there many rental properties in safe neighborhoods? Does one have to live in a gated community to feel safer? Do you have door and window bars?

Hoping for more reassurance, I'm departing homeland reluctantly as it is .

Thanks in anticipation.

Welcome to Ohio....we just retired here in June 08, our last assignment was England. We live in the Englewood/City of Clayton area and I like it here, nice and quiet.

[prfcttimeofday]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but there are a handful of British stores around Dayton that import the goodies from your homeland. I know there is Basically British downtown on E. 3rd St. located in the Cannery building. Also, there is a British grocery store in Huber Heights. . .and isn't The Pub at the Greene supposed to have a UK influence?

I just thought I'd throw that out there. . .and welcome to Dayton!

[KMSFLA]

Originally Posted by JefferyT

...That area has some of the most interesting landscape as its so hilly.

Generally, what is the terrain like around the Dayton area of Ohio? My company is expanding its operations in the Dayton area and is looking for people to relocate. I'm from the upper Midwest and miss the change of seasons. Plus, it would be nice to have a place on some land and to have a basement once again . Is the terrain hilly with lots of trees or flat open farmland?

Thanks.

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by KMSFLA

Generally, what is the terrain like around the Dayton area of Ohio? Is the terrain hilly with lots of trees or flat open farmland?

YES! The terrain around Dayton varies from fairly flat to gently rolling hills. We have plenty of trees as well as a fair amount of farmland once you get out of Dayton and it's close-in suburbs. I think you'll like it here; four distinct seasons, low cost of living and plenty to do if you are willing to go out and find it!