Relocating to Ft Wayne, IN or Cinci/Dayton OH??

[Beavercreek33]

Hello, yls. Welcome to the Ohio forum!

Ohio has a lot to offer, especially in the SW Ohio area. I just moved to the Dayton area a few years ago from Philadelphia, and me and my wife love it here. The lifestyle is very nice, the people are friendly, and Ohio takes care of its many resources. For instance, Ohio has one of the best state park systems in the country, and there are parks everywhere, and are extremely diverse. Just a few weeks ago we went to Hocking Hills State Park and took photos of the fall colors, and the parks up by Lake Erie, etc.

Also, Ohio has one of the best library systems in the country. Being the 7th largest state in population, but having the 4th largest library system says something. I am on business all the time across the country, and just got back from Cleveland yesterday and couldnt get over how large their library was. Consisting of two buildings, one 4 stories, and the newer addition is 11 stories! It was amazing. No matter where you go, you will find a good library in Ohio.

The Cincinnati/Dayton area is a very good area to raise your kids. There is an abundance of suburbs to choose from. And if you want "country" living, then you have countless choices. The best part is, your no longer than 3 hours drive from 3 big cities.

I live in Beavercreek which is an eastern suburb of Dayton. Their school system is consistantly ranked one of the best school systems in the Midwest, and Beavercreek was recently named one of America's top 100 best places to live. But that isn't the only place in the Cincy/Dayton area that is ranked highly on best places to live. Blue Ash (Cincinnati suburb) was also on that list. Mason and Lebanon are both growing, but you can find some beautiful land on the outskirts of the area, and both have really good school systems.

As far as hospitals go, there are plenty. There are more than one in the area that are ranked among the best in their seperate categories of care. I wish I knew what the new one by Downtown Dayton is called that they are building, but overall, there are a lot of hospitals in the area that are all really nice.

Development is really taking off in Cincinnati. As many cities across the country slow down because of the recession, Cincy is doing the exact opposite. There are construction cranes dotting Cincinnati's skyline, and so much to do downtown. Lots of great restaurants in Fountain Square. You can also check out many sporting events here in the SW Ohio region. From the NHL (Columbus Blue Jackets), soccer (Columbus Crew), NFL (Cincinnati Bengals) and baseball (Cincinnati Reds) and each of these teams has award winning sport venues that are some of the best designed in the country.

Sorry, I am writing a book here lol.

Trying to say this, you would really like it here. I think it is what you are looking for. Great schools, lots of culture, lots to do, great countryside, cities aren't too far away, a very diverse job market that is growing and expanding. Its a cheap area to live in too compared to most areas of the country.

And to answer you question about the housing market, its really sketchy right now. But I do know that Ohio's big three C's (Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati) have all experienced some of the best growth in their housing markets that last few months. All three being in the top 20 for growth, and Cleveland being number 1 a few times.

If you need more questions asked, I will be more than happy to help. As someone who moved to the area a few years ago completely clueless, I now love the area.

[malachai23]

Originally Posted by yls

2 more questions on the areas:
1. I have developed bad allergies from being in TX (which is very common from what I heard from other people). I realize this depends on each person, but in general is the allergies really bad up there?
2. I've been talking with realtors. It seems like the housing market is depressed, like most of the country. So there can be good deals BUT the question is if the prices will keep falling.....then it'd make more sense to maybe hold off a bit more. Obviously no one has a crystal ball, but are there any current predictions Any ideas or feedback on the local real estate market?

Hi again!

Unfortunately, yes, a lot of people have BAD allergies around here. I had never had allergies in my life until I moved here!! But it *does* depend on the person - so it's hard to say if the type of allergens that are bad around here will affect you.

As far as real estate goes, yes, this area got hit pretty hard recently - but so did a lot of other places in the US. I'd say probably *most* places! That being said, I just got an email update from Zillow the other day that said my house did not change in value. I get these updates every month or so, and for the past year or so, the Zillow updates have told me my house value has been going lower and lower by the month. So even though "value didn't change" doesn't sound that great, it sounds wonderful to me!! I know Zillow is not the be-all end-all of real estate values, but I think it is a good mapper of trends. So, it is my personal opinion that values will soon be going back up. You could look at it this way - now is a good time to buy in this area because you can get some really good deals!!

[yls]

THank you both. What we were initially planning is to rent for a year while we scout out areas....but we were thinking IF there is a good relocation package (a big IF), it might make sense to buy. But if the prices stay the same or actually even drop a bit, it'd make more sense to wait.
I was afraid about the allergies. It sounds like the area here where people didn't have problems until they moved here! Was hoping for an improvement but it seems like the area is green and probably lots of pollen,etc.
We are just working out details on when to visit the area. it sounds really nice!

[stdatwmu]

Allergies are quite bad here. I've heard it's one of the worst, if not the worst, locations in the country due to the terrain. The valley and topography combine to kind of keep things 'sitting in the bowl' and that wreaks havoc for allergy sufferers. My hay fever type allergies that I had as a kid had essentially gone away but when I moved down here it was like I was 10 again. Needless to say, I get by with Allegra from April to August now.

All that said, I still wouldn't let it discourage you from moving here when there's so many other great things around!