Anyone from Dayton? (Springfield, Hamilton, Kettering: relocating, house hunting, getaway)

[MelissaK]

If you want a nice, safe community with good schools you should look into Bellbrook. Bellbrook is right next door to Kettering, Centerville, Beavercreek and even Xenia. There is still a small town feel but if you travel 10-15 minutes you can get to any major mall (3) in the area. People still wave when you drive by as they are walking their dogs. The schools are excellent and rated in the top 5 in Ohio. It is middle-upper class with few apartment complexes although there are some condos. There is very little crime here. I have driven through Kettering and Dayton every night for the past 6 years to get to work and have never had any problem with crime. There are parks everywhere. There are lots of recreation places. I am completely happy in Bellbrook. As for the racism question, I have not seen any form of racism here(although I did experience some of that in Xenia around 10-15 years ago). Good luck with your moves!

Melissa K

[receptionist]

Nice discussion, I am moving away from Dayton (specifically Kettering) in 3 months and you are all convincing me to stay!

Born and raised here, know every part of town and all the outlying areas very well. For the soon to be retired AA couple, I think you are making a wise choice to come here. Great communities where you will find diversity and good amenities are Englewood, Yellow Springs, Kettering, Beavercreek, and Centerville. The latter 3 have a lower African American population, however you will find people are friendly, and the amenities are all here...rec centers, shopping, etc.

I lived in Belmont until in my 20s and the guy who said folks on the East Side will steal anything that isn't tied down is right. Someone stole a freaking fern off our front porch! Whatever!

Now for honest assessments:

Germantown and Brookville are nice, Miamisburg and W. Carrollton are bleh, Tipp is great, Vandalia and Huber Heights..bleh, Oakwood is upscale and property values are very high, Kettering and Centerville are very livable, people who live in Englewood have a weird love for it that I find inexplicable and they are always having to drive to the malls. Nice town full of nice people tho! Nicest DMV in the county, also the best all around medical facility...Samaritan North. Bellbrook, Sugarcreek, and Springboro good, Franklin bad.

For people who are going to work or be stationed at Wright Patt...avoid Fairborn! Beavercreek or Enon, people! trust me on this. Xenia...oh Xenia. Well, you drive past it to get to the outlet mall. Not much more to say about it.

Historical Society neighborhoods in Dayton, South Park, Oregon and St Anne's Hill...the houses are amazing. BUT, you will have to drive to the burbs to do all your shopping, including groceries. The only retailers in Dayton right now are drug stores.

I've seen Dayton change from a vital city to a dangerous dump in my 47 years and it's heartbreaking, but I would not live within the city limits, not even for an amazing house.

[Ohiogirl81]

One good reason to live in Dayton?

Milano's on Brown Street.



When Milano's moved down the street a few years ago, I wonder if anyone found the earring I lost under the jukebox in 1978 ...

[noname]

We moved to Dayton a while ago. It's a great little city.

We bought in Oakwood. Home prices in Oakwood are expensive relative to Dayton ($250,000 to $300,000 for an updated 3 bedroom house), but reasonable for high-quality housing stock, walkable neighborhoods, and private school- quality schools. You can find anything you want in Dayton from $250,000 to $300,000... new, old, huge, charming, whatever.

The good news is that you can spend as little as $125-150,000 and still have a decent house, even in Oakwood and Centerville.

People are friendly. Much nicer than people in Toledo, Cincinnati or Columbus, on average. It feels more like a small town.

Downsides: Dayton (including the suburbs) is old. If you are used to modern suburbs, where everything is new and crisp, Dayton will look very worn and outdated -- like visiting your old aunt's house. The homes are generally build very well, but it doesn't look like a beautiful city.

[the_pines]

Try out some Marions pizza for starters if you're into pizza. Its pricey but you might like it alot. Its a different style of pizza. Very famous to the area.

[wrightflyer]

Noname, you bring up a good point in the Dayton region's age. Suburbs such as Englewood, Huber Heights, West Carrollton, Trotwood, Oakwood, and Kettering have seen little growth in the past decade. Some of this is from landlock (Oakwood and Kett.) but the rest is from stalled development. That can usually be traced back to the city's school performance. Fairborn and Riverside have seen upticks in new homes, but many are small and their schools still pale in comparison to 'Creek, Oakwood, and Centerville.

Still, other suburbs (and parts of historic and downtown Dayton) continue to see plenty of new or potential development. The south and eastern suburbs, despite some aging homes, seem to be in a race for who can have the newer and bigger toys (shopping centers, offices, schools, homes).

Expect the growth (in the suburbs and hopefully Dayton) to pick up due to the BRAC decisions (assuming Sen. Brown cares as much about it as DeWine did).

[SteeltownKid]

Originally Posted by receptionist

Nice discussion, I am moving away from Dayton (specifically Kettering) in 3 months and you are all convincing me to stay!

Born and raised here, know every part of town and all the outlying areas very well. For the soon to be retired AA couple, I think you are making a wise choice to come here. Great communities where you will find diversity and good amenities are Englewood, Yellow Springs, Kettering, Beavercreek, and Centerville. The latter 3 have a lower African American population, however you will find people are friendly, and the amenities are all here...rec centers, shopping, etc.

I lived in Belmont until in my 20s and the guy who said folks on the East Side will steal anything that isn't tied down is right. Someone stole a freaking fern off our front porch! Whatever!

Now for honest assessments:

Germantown and Brookville are nice, Miamisburg and W. Carrollton are bleh, Tipp is great, Vandalia and Huber Heights..bleh, Oakwood is upscale and property values are very high, Kettering and Centerville are very livable, people who live in Englewood have a weird love for it that I find inexplicable and they are always having to drive to the malls. Nice town full of nice people tho! Nicest DMV in the county, also the best all around medical facility...Samaritan North. Bellbrook, Sugarcreek, and Springboro good, Franklin bad.

For people who are going to work or be stationed at Wright Patt...avoid Fairborn! Beavercreek or Enon, people! trust me on this. Xenia...oh Xenia. Well, you drive past it to get to the outlet mall. Not much more to say about it.

Historical Society neighborhoods in Dayton, South Park, Oregon and St Anne's Hill...the houses are amazing. BUT, you will have to drive to the burbs to do all your shopping, including groceries. The only retailers in Dayton right now are drug stores.

I've seen Dayton change from a vital city to a dangerous dump in my 47 years and it's heartbreaking, but I would not live within the city limits, not even for an amazing house.

hey receptionist...

Informative stuff. Thanks. My wife and I are relocating to Englewood from Canada and we just had an offer accepted on a house. Very affordable and great value compared to the soaring prices in Southern Ontario, btw.

So is there anything else you can tell me about Englewood? It seemed like a pretty nice place when we were house hunting...Metro Park, amenities, etc... You mentioned people have a weird love for the place...do you not particularly like it? I was a little concerned about proximity to Trotwood, which I was told was a little on the sketchy side.

Anyways, thanks in advance. And to anyone else with some opinions on the place, I'd be happy to hear what you have to say. Cheers.

A future American

[wrightflyer]

Steeltown, first, congrats on the house and good luck with the citizenship.

I've been to Englewood a couple of times, and if my memory serves me right, its a typical suburb with tract homes, yet I believe that Englewood also has an older "downtown" district. It's been a while, but I think that's the case. As far as Trotwood, your opinions serve you well, but Englewood doesn't suffer from its neighbor's problems. I don't know about Clayton (older former Randolph Twp. between the two). Great schools, great football, great band. The further north, the newer the development (i.e. Union).

IMHO, Englewood's biggest downside is the absence of a credible mall. Salem Mall (Trotwood) was torndown a few years ago to make way for an "upscale townecenter". It'll be interesting to see if that works. Otherwise, there are plenty of big box stores and restaurants right down I-70 at I-75 and in Huber Heights. But the closest mall is probobly Fairfield Commons which can be a drive across town.

I hope that helps with your concerns. I've been there a couple times, but I'm pretty sure that's the jist of it. Again, good luck on the move and citizenship!

[SteeltownKid]

Many thanks, wrightflyer. We're not super concerned about the mall thing...not the consumer I was as a youngster. Having said that, we did go to the Greene, which was interesting...like its own little city. And driving through Kettering, we found the Dorothy Lane market, which we both thought was totally impressive in terms of grub and libations.

probably the biggest concern is that the few people we chatted with were very nice. We lived in Western Canada for seven years and the people were top notch...say hi walking down the street, help when you need it, etc... In Ontario, things are so congested and busy that no one gives a crap about each other, especially on the highways. The 401 and Queen Elizabeth Way highways around Toronto are actually considered the busiest in all of North America, and that's including places like LA. It's little wonder most people are asses.

I'm hoping we'll have a pretty good experience in Ohio. Looking forward to it.

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

One good reason to live in Dayton?

Milano's on Brown Street.



When Milano's moved down the street a few years ago, I wonder if anyone found the earring I lost under the jukebox in 1978 ...

We've never tried the Milano's on Brown Street but ate at their new Springboro Pike location, AWESOME! I loved my seafood salad and we even split a small pzza; GREAT meal!