Looking for rural town 30 minutes to Cincinnati. Details follow. (Newport: how much, house)

[nico7]

In the interest of simplicity, I'm going to use the moderator's post as a template:

-Where you are working
Cincinnati, Oakley area (45209)

-How much you are willing to spend on housing
Would like to spend $100-125k for very small house (1 person only!) on 0.5-1.0 acre.

-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate
Ideally, 20-25 minutes. Realistically, 30-35 minutes.

-If you have kids: Private school or public school?
No kids.

-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: small town feeling? small city excitement? suburbia delight?
I want cows for neighbors. But preferably no roosters. =)

-Community amenities important to you
A gas station and a restaurant within a 5 minute drive.

-Pie or cake?
Strawberry rhubarb pie, heavy on the sugar, please.


Some additional background: The reason I want a rural place is to avoid the noise and dirty air of the city. I love a house that I looked at in Morning View, it's perfect. The only problem is, it's about 45 minutes from where I work. If I can't find something similar that's closer, I may accept the extra long commute.

[censusdata]

Look south of Alexandria in Campbell County

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by censusdata

Look south of Alexandria in Campbell County

Yep, and the first towns that come to mind are Grant's Lick on US 27 and California off the AA Highway southeast. Those will still put you within 30 minutes of downtown Cincinnati and keep you rural.

In fact, I don't see an encroachment of suburbia into those places for another 25-30 years; the nearest "sprawlburbia" ends in Alexandria, about 10 miles north of the towns, and no real growth has occurred south of Alexandria for...well, ever.

Also consider Walton and Verona in Boone County, Crittenden in Grant County, or areas along KY 17 or KY 16 south of Independence in Kenton County.

[lexingtongal]

My sister lives in California and I can't think of any restaurants (or much else) within a 5 minute drive. It is a pretty area though.

[nico7]

Thank you, everyone. I will check out Grant's Lick and California -- south of Alexandria, in general. I was thinking about Walton and especially Verona in my original search, but I think they are too far, and I would have to go through the 75/71 traffic when commuting. So I think I have to rule those out.

[censusdata]

There is very rural land even just 2 miles east of downtown Alexandria. As for shopping, there are two large shopping centers in Alex'a: one with a Wal Mart and fast food restaurants and one with a Meijer's store. Both are located on US 27 near the AA Highway intersection. I have a sister who has lived both in Alexandria and Grant's Lick so I am very familiar with this area.

5 miles from I-275 is a really nice urban shopping area called Newport on the Levee.

If you're interested about commuting traffic here are two road videos, one of I-75 from Walton-Verona to Downtown (I shot this one) and another one of US 27/ I-471 into Norwood OH


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43EPRtvPVB0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQtnQK7J93k