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Can someone give me an idea of the COL in Beavercreek? We're looking to move there from a very high COL area (Washington DC). What would be the average price for a 4 bed 2 bath house? Can you get a decent house for $150-200K?
What sort of income do you think you'd need to live comfortably in the area?
Can anyone give me an idea of utility costs?
How are the schools? I'm going to have a kindergartner next year.
Personally, I think it's one of the lowest COLs in the country after living here for 2 years now - formerly from the metro Detroit area.
I just bought a 3 bed, 2 bath house that was completely renovated for less than the low end of your price range in Miamisburg Schools, which are quite good like Beavercreek. Overall, housing is cheap here compared to most areas of the country. I definitely think you can find a 4 bed, 2 bath house in a good school district in your price range.
Hard to say what income since everyone's lifestyle is different but assuming one or two kids a combined income of $75K-$100K should allow for a moderate and comfortable lifestyle for a family. I don't have kids though, so I'm taking a wild guess at those costs. There's certainly a lot of folks in the Dayton area that make far less than that and I'm sure many are able to live totally comfortably as well.
Utilities again vary a bit, but I think DP&L (electric provider) has very reasonable rates as did Vectren (natural gas) when I had gas service. Cable/satellite/internet/phone are pretty standard anywhere in the country, so that shouldn't be much different for you. Water/sewer is the only thing I'd consider high in this area - even when I was single living in an apartment I'd pay $40 a month combined. Trash varies according to the municipality; in Miami Twp. where my house is it's funded by our property taxes so I pay nothing additional out of pocket for trash pickup or recycling.
Schools are very good in the area - specifically Centerville, Bellbrook (district is Sugarcreek Local), Beavercreek, Oakwood, Sprigboro, Miamisburg, Kettering. That's all the East/South suburbs. If you want to go North, many people are very happy with Tipp City and Vandalia but I'm not as familiar with that side of town. As with any school system, a lot of the quality stems from parent involvement and although I don't have kids it appears from things I've read and seen that the 'good' schools in the area do very well in that regard.
Awesome info, thank you. I'm excited about how cheap the houses are. Here in D.C. even $400K won't buy you much except a very old house or an old shabby townhouse.
How far away is Columbus? I'm thinking of going back to school and my husband will be working in Beavercreek. It looks like it's an hour away? Is there a good "in between" spot between the 2 cities? Commutes don't really freak us out after living in D.C. My husband currently has a 15 mile 90 minute (yep, you read that right) commute to work and back.
Awesome info, thank you. I'm excited about how cheap the houses are. Here in D.C. even $400K won't buy you much except a very old house or an old shabby townhouse.
How far away is Columbus? I'm thinking of going back to school and my husband will be working in Beavercreek. It looks like it's an hour away? Is there a good "in between" spot between the 2 cities? Commutes don't really freak us out after living in D.C. My husband currently has a 15 mile 90 minute (yep, you read that right) commute to work and back.
Yeah, it's quite cheap here and definitely magnitudes less than most anything on the East Coast. If you're looking at housing a wonderful site (I was using it religiously a few months ago) is the Dayton Area Board of Realtors search, it's probably the most comprehensive out there - http://dabr.com/home_search.html. I've also been a fan of Big Hill GMAC's search because it lets you specify things like 'has 2-car garage' where that's not an option with DABR - http://www.bighillgmac.com/listings.
From the Beavercreek area, Columbus is about 1:15. It's an easy drive (albeit boring and flat) and I-70 is now 3 lanes most of the way there. I often fly out of Columbus because airfares can be ridiculously cheap there and I just about always made it there that fast.
Seriously, the commute here is a piece of cake. From my new house it's 13 miles to work (up I-675) and I can make it in 15-20 minutes or sometimes 25-30 if it's around 5:30pm when traffic's heavier. And by heavy traffic 99% of the time that just means it takes an extra cycle or two to get through the lights leading to and from the highway. It's very rare to see any backups on I-675 and traffic pretty much always goes the posted speed in all 3 lanes. I know I-75 is a little worse and backs up more due to the heavy construction through the downtown area but it doesn't sound like you'll have to travel that stretch of road anyway.
Some folks I know have lived in between here and Columbus, but honestly there's not much out there. Springfield is the only big city and I don't think the schools or anything there are too great. Other than that, it's just some small villages and towns for the most part.
One other thing worth mentioning about the area is the extensive recreation system, especially the bike paths. From the Beavercreek are in particular there is excellent access to a whole trail system built mostly on old abandoned railroad beds. You can seriously ride all the way to Cincinnati if you want to. Check out http://www.miamivalleytrails.org for more information. Aside from that, there are a ton of state and local/metro parks, campgrounds, and plenty of lakes (though not nearly what I'm used to from Michigan, and most here are man-made for flood control) for other outdoor activities.
Last edited by stdatwmu; 06-10-2009 at 09:45 AM..
Reason: added rec. info.
For the same price you can get a nice closet in a scary neighborhood in DC, you can buy a nice brick ranch in western Beavercreek ($150,000-175,000). Up your range to 2 or 3 hundred thousand, and you can get homes that are downright classy. Heck, you can even get a mansion in Grafton Hill or Dayton View for $150,000, so yeah, cost of living is way cheap.
Before thinking of commuting to Columbus for school, check out what Wright State, University of Dayton, and Sinclair have to offer.
Wright State is a local state university of about 16,000 students, many of which are commuters from the Dayton area.
Sinclair is the local community college in downtown Dayton, and one of the better community colleges in the country. Just be aware that for reduced tuition at Sinclair, you must live in Montgomery County, but that's not at all a bad situation.
Univeristy of Dayton is a private Catholic University in Dayton on the border with Oakwood with 11,000 students. It has a highly ranked Engineering program and is well respected in research.
Many local teachers that I know get their masters from either Univeristy of Dayton or Wright State. That and the commute to the major univeristy in Columbus (The Ohio State Univeristy) charges an arm and a leg for parking and the highway to campus is under major contruction for the next year or two (key off and on ramps to the school will be closed).
But, if you have your mind set on going to school in Columbus, I recommend living in Ceaderville. It is a small town with good schools. The commute to Columbus would take you up scenic US Route 42 to I70 into Columbus. It would be about an hour commute from Ceaderville to central Columbus. Beavercreek would be about 30 minutes away. As stuatwmu said, it is really easy to come from the east coast and find what you are looking for in a neighborhood.
A disclaimer: I am originally from the DC metro and have loved living out here all due to the COL and QOL. I have family back in the DC metro that enjoy visiting us and would love to live out here, but their jobs tie them down to DC. Anyway, good luck with your move and hopefully you'll find what you are looking for in the Dayton area.
Columbus is the only school that has my major (atmospheric science). Cost isn't really an issue since the government will be footing the bill (I'm a veteran). And commutes certainly don't scare me after living in this God-awful place lol. I've waited so long to go back to school I really wouldn't care if I had a 2 hour commute to school. I'm sure I could adjust my schedule so at least I wouldn't have to do it every day of the week.
Columbus is the only school that has my major (atmospheric science). Cost isn't really an issue since the government will be footing the bill (I'm a veteran). And commutes certainly don't scare me after living in this God-awful place lol. I've waited so long to go back to school I really wouldn't care if I had a 2 hour commute to school. I'm sure I could adjust my schedule so at least I wouldn't have to do it every day of the week.
Just have a backup plan for winter storms (i.e. Priceline/Hotwire) as that stretch of highway can be rough a few days each winter.
I live in Beavercreek, but do a lot of work in South Park, which is Dayton's largest historic district located about a mile or so from the city center.
Typically the homes in Dayton and the inner rings will be older, but have much more character to them. They also tend to be cheaper (more so outside the official historic districts). But if you're going to be going to school in Columbus, I don't think you'll want the extra 15 minutes of drive time.
As for Beavercreek, there's something for everybody because it is very geographically spread out. From 50s ranches to million dollar golf course homes and everything in between. For the newer stuff, you'll mostly find tract homes done by the national builders, Ryland, Ryan & Drees, to name a few. You can get a LOT of house for the money, if you don't mind living in the 6th beige brick house on the right (meaning, they're a bit cookie cutter).
I can't personally speak for Beavercreek Schools because we sent our kids to Catholic schools and they are all in the 20s now. Beavercreek does appear to be a very good school system, but it struggles with passing levies. Also, the property taxes in Beavercreek can be some of the highest in the state, but we do not currently have a city income tax. We have two malls - although the Greene (aka the "fake downtown") has hurt the Fairfield Commons as mostly it just shuffled existing stores rather than bringing new ones to the area.
We've lived in B'Creek since 1995 because both of our businesses were located here. We lived in Summerfield but hated the quality. Now we live in a custom home and love our neighbors, but I'm also the neighborhood social coordinator and tend to be the glue that holds it together. We lived in Summerfield for 9 years and couldn't tell you anyone's names. We've lived here for 5 years and I know everyone's pets names.
Overall, the Dayton region is a great place to live. We're 10-15 minutes from downtown - it takes longer to get to 35 from our home than it does to get from there to downtown. Downtown is the arts district in the area and we enjoy a truly amazing arts & cultural scene for a city our size.
And there has been a LOT of conversation about the 3C&1D train corridor - a passenger train that will connect Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati. Riverside is trying very hard to get a stop at the Air Force Museum so that could be very convenient for you down the road.
I think you'll love the region as it has something for everyone. Unlike DC where you have to move away from the City Center to find affordable housing, we're just the opposite. The most affordable housing is located closer to the core and gets more expensive as you move away from it. There truly is no valid reason for sprawl here in the midwest, but we do love our cars. Not having the Metro may be culture shock for you, but you'll find it very easy to get around by car.
No matter where you end up in the region - welcome to Dayton!
Also, another option I forgot that sits somewhat inbetween Columbus and Beavercreek is Yellow Springs. Just south of Springfield, it is the complete opposite of Ceaderville in terms of lifestyle (but both are still small towns). Ceaderville is conservative while Yellow Springs is liberal. Also, most housing in Yellow Springs is going to run 50K-100K higher than say the same home in Beavercreek. I've never figured it out as to why that is (the schools aren't as good as Beavercreek, good, but not as good), but I'm going to guess it is because they limit development in the town. But if you want a funky 1950's or 60's home with a modern flair in a "hip" town, you are much more likely to find it in Yellow Springs than Beavercreek.
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