Moving from London to Cincinnati (Mason, Washington: apartment complexes, for rent, condo)

[Zara20]

hi All,

I will be moving from London UK to Cincinnati for work within the next couple of months. I wanted some tips/advise about places to live for a young single female. Im used to a fast paced city with lots of people, public transport, shopping, clubbing, meeting new people and really like diverse multicultural palces.
Do you know of any areas that could meet some of these ?
Im also looking to make new friends as I will be relocating to the US for good so any place thats has a lot of young single people would be great.

thanks,

[motorman]

The best advice I can give you is prepare yourself for culture shock...

[sandasene]

What is your budget and how big of a space do you want/need?

Where is your employment in Cincinnati and how far to do want to travel to get there?

You might want to look at the Gateway Quarter of the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood near downtown.

[abr7rmj]

By far, you're going to feel most at home in the downtown area, the Gateway district of Over-the-Rhine or Mount Adams, but even those are going to pale in comparison to London. But in fairness to Cincinnati, there isn't anything in the U.S. besides New York and maybe (maybe) Los Angeles that can match up well with London. Cincinnati's downtown area is where most of the nightlife and entertainment is concentrated. We don't have any Piccadilly Circus-type places here, although, like London's Notting Hill, we do have some vibrant, beautiful and quirky pocket neighborhoods such as Mount Lookout and Clifton Gaslight.

We also don't have anything remotely close to the London Underground or any of the other amazing urban rail transit systems that you find throughout Europe, unfortunately. Our modest above-ground streetcar system remains in the planning stage, hopefully to start construction soon.

Both London and Cincinnati have a Hyde Park, though

Welcome to Cincinnati and the USA!

[Zara20]

Thanks for your responses
I know Cincinnati isnt London but was trying to see the closest thing to a busy vibrant palce to live>
i will look up Mnt Adams / Lookout since it seems to pop up everytime i search about cincinnatti for the type of place im looking for.
Regarding budget, at the moment im thinking of renting and still negotiating my pay and benefits with work so cant say- and want to travel up to 30mins to work which is in Mason.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by Zara20

Regarding budget, at the moment im thinking of renting and still negotiating my pay and benefits with work so cant say- and want to travel up to 30mins to work which is in Mason.

One big consideration, Zara20--transportation. If you plan to live in one of Cincinnati's urban areas (Mt. Adams, etc.), but work farther out (Mason), you must consider driving. So far, you've mentioned use of public transportation, but not said anything about a car. Although you can rely on buses to transport you around the inner suburbs, traveling to & from an outer suburb such as Mason may not be as easy. Yes, buses do run there (especially express buses using I-71), but Cincinnatians rely mostly on their cars and expressways to travel long distances quickly. As abr7rmj has already observed, many of our cities (other than our very largest) lack the sophisticated public transportation options so readily available in Europe, and especially in London itself. Please consider a car!

[kjbrill]

If you are to work in Mason, bus service to just about any place you would desire to live near the city is likely nonexistent or very minimal schedule. Mt Lookout and Mt Adams are not the most convenient places to get to/from Mason.

I also echo you will need to consider a car. I would also recommend you consider one of the larger and modern apartment or condo complexes closer to Mason having amenities such as pool, workout facilities, and an easy drive to work. Definitely rent to start until you become more accustomed.

You will fnd out very quickly Cincinnati's topography, which is very hilly with the Ohio river cutting through it, dictates much of how areas are arranged. There is hardly a straight street over a few blocks long anywhere near the city.

I have only been to London twice. My first visit we stayed in a very old hotel along the Thames River not far from Windsor castle. I just remember everything was quite flat compared to Cincinnati. The hotel was very picturesque, but also very old with horrible amenitites - cold showers, heat which didn't work. Since it was my first trip to London, we asked the people we were contacting to advise some good places to get authentic English cuisine. You might guess it was a business trip. The entire time we were there our contacts kept taking us to French motif restaurants, saying we would not enjoy English fare. You will find some of these same attitudes in Cincinnati.

You will undoubtedly get many types of advice on moving to Cincinnati. For a young single female, if I were working in the outer suburbs I would also consider living there to make daily commutes easy. You can plan your excursions into the city itself for the nightlife, clubbing, etc. you are drawn to. If you are just bent on a location with a more daily dose of surroundings, then look at Hyde Park. It is safe, has a lot of closeby access to what you desire, and the commute is a reverse, North to Mason in the morning when the majority are going South and the reverse in the evening.

You have not mentioned your employer in Mason, but if I had to guess I would say you are a young professional securing a job with one of our more global oriented outfits. There are more than one, but the significant names are P&G Global Health Care and Luxottica.

Others will say different, but I advise stay away from OTR with a ten-foot pole. The Banks is a happening place and should be safe. If it is not Cincinnati is in big trouble. But I stil advise consider living closer to your employment. Ask your employer where the majority of their new hires with circumstances like yours are locating.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

If you are to work in Mason, bus service to just about any place you would desire to live near the city is likely nonexistent or very minimal schedule. Mt Lookout and Mt Adams are not the most convenient places to get to/from Mason.

I also echo you will need to consider a car. I would also recommend you consider one of the larger and modern apartment or condo complexes closer to Mason having amenities such as pool, workout facilities, and an easy drive to work. Definitely rent to start until you become more accustomed.

You will fnd out very quickly Cincinnati's topography, which is very hilly with the Ohio river cutting through it, dictates much of how areas are arranged. There is hardly a straight street over a few blocks long anywhere near the city.

I have only been to London twice. My first visit we stayed in a very old hotel along the Thames River not far from Windsor castle. I just remember everything was quite flat compared to Cincinnati. The hotel was very picturesque, but also very old with horrible amenitites - cold showers, heat which didn't work. Since it was my first trip to London, we asked the people we were contacting to advise some good places to get authentic English cuisine. You might guess it was a business trip. The entire time we were there our contacts kept taking us to French motif restaurants, saying we would not enjoy English fare. You will find some of these same attitudes in Cincinnati.

You will undoubtedly get many types of advice on moving to Cincinnati. For a young single female, if I were working in the outer suburbs I would also consider living there to make daily commutes easy. You can plan your excursions into the city itself for the nightlife, clubbing, etc. you are drawn to. If you are just bent on a location with a more daily dose of surroundings, then look at Hyde Park. It is safe, has a lot of closeby access to what you desire, and the commute is a reverse, North to Mason in the morning when the majority are going South and the reverse in the evening.

You have not mentioned your employer in Mason, but if I had to guess I would say you are a young professional securing a job with one of our more global oriented outfits. There are more than one, but the significant names are P&G Global Health Care and Luxottica.

Others will say different, but I advise stay away from OTR with a ten-foot pole. The Banks is a happening place and should be safe. If it is not Cincinnati is in big trouble. But I stil advise consider living closer to your employment. Ask your employer where the majority of their new hires with circumstances like yours are locating.

While I definitely agree with kjbrill that you'll want to get a car regardless of where you end up living, I don't think Mason is the place to live for young, active single people who enjoy the attributes of being in a city - particularly if you're coming from a city like London.

The first time I moved to Cincinnati I actually moved into one of those vacation-like apartment complexes off of Fields Ertel Road with a big balcony that overlooked the pool. I was miserable for about a year. I eventually ended up moving to Pleasant Ridge and later Mount Washington for a few years before moving out west. Although it was relatively quiet (being close to Kings Island and I-71 can't ever get that quiet), it was also excruciatingly boring. There weren't any places nearby that I wanted to chill at or that I considered fun to go to (Tabby's in Landen was OK ... is it still there?) and I found myself heading into the city to meet friends almost every other night. Mason is a completely unwalkable area and it's not at all bike-friendly either. And the traffic was borderline insane and not just during the morning/afternoon drive times. In short, Mason is a typical American big-city suburb with all the benefits and drawbacks that come with them: not much crime; great schools; car-friendly/pedestrian-unfriendly; lots of chain restaurants that close by 10 p.m.; every single large retailer you can think of that caters to middle class home owners; quiet at night; not much diversity; and lots of kids. It's about as polar-opposite from what you're used to in London that you'd be able to find.

[Traveler87]

Mason never striked me as a vibrant community. Cincinnati doesn't have very good public transit, so getting a car is going to be a must. If you work in Mason, try other places to actually live in like West Chester which is on I-75 and will be an easy commute into the city. Traffic in Cincinnati is going to seem like a breeze compared to London. Or some of Cincinnati's suburbs that are inside the 275 loop are really nice. Historic with a lot of great ammenities.

[Zara20]

I will be driving (just going to be hard driving on the wrong side of the road!) but Im used to a lot of traffic and diving for about 40mins in London so It doesnt really matter to me driving 30 -40mins every day. I just want a vibrant busy place with other single young people. So far I'm researching downtown, Mt Adams, Cliffton Gaslight, Mt Lookout and also avoiding over the rhine!
I have been online looking at apartments for rent and really amazed at how big the apartments are and also how cheap vs. London.
KJBrill - I am working for P&G
thanks again everyone who replied - I will be moving there within 2-3months.