Starting Anew, Please Help (Cincinnati, Montgomery: rentals, townhouse, neighborhoods)

[clarkbody]

Originally Posted by goyguy

Now that your offspring are all past high school, there's no need to stress over that aspect any more. And that's a huge advantage because Cincinnati - like most cities - has a lot of excellent liveable neighborhoods BUT a mostly mediocre school system.
Often I'm the only "regular" in this forum tooting the horn for this particular part of town, and here I go again: one of Cincy's "hidden gem" sections (IMHO) is Roselawn, specifically its central and southern sections. The main street through there (Reading Rd) has a sadly large amount of blight in the commercial zones, but there's a night-and-day effect once you turn right OR left and go no more than a block. To the west lies the "Garden District," so named for its well-shaded streets and lovingly tended yards. You'll find an appealing mix of large brick or Tudor homes there, along with more modest but surprisingly spacious Capes and similar dwellings along its southernmost street (Kenova.) East of Reading Rd is the "Gaslight District," where the streets are illuminated by guess what after dark. (Well, they're replica gaslights, but still...) Every street that runs west-east has a name ending in "Place." A new listing on Brookcrest Dr just hit the market with an asking price of less than half what a similar house would go for in a "good schools" neighborhood: expansive 4-BR Colonial nicely set back from the street and perfectly maintained, for <$200k. A "quirk" about Brookcrest is that its entire west side is lined with duplexes and 4-families, in good shape but apartment houses all the same, until near the corner of Section Rd where the Roselawn Center Building (offices and retail) wraps around the intersection. OTOH the east side is almost solely single-family homes including this "hot" new listing. (BTW the listing is a "short sale," with all the good and bad that entails.)
I've dubbed this area "Woes Lawn" even on C-D because the neighborhood does have some issues to deal with. Kroger vacated their local store last year. (Rumor has it that a different chain store, Save-A-Lot, may be taking over the space. They unfortunately seem to have a bad reputation for being a "ghetto grocer," however.) The community council is trumpeting another market's having open, but the sense I get from reading between the lines is that it's prettier than your everyday 7-Eleven but not much above one.
More importantly if only for symbolic reasons, the Catholic church which anchors the Gaslight District closed in 2009 a few years after its attached parochial school did. (The school has found new life as a charter school - "Cincinnati Leadership Academy" - that like all too many institutions of its type has quality ratings near cellar-level. The church still sits vacant.)
The human composition of the vicinity doesn't seem to have been affected all that much. Roselawn was for many years one of the most heavily Jewish communities in Greater Cincinnati. It didn't hemorrhage families during the turmoil and panic of the late '60s, exactly, but the demographics did gradually shift to where the overall population is now 80-85% AA. Although the Catholic church was shut down because of its dwindling congregation, a good number of the parishioners hadn't lived within easy walking distance to begin with. There may no longer be any Jewish businesses or houses of worship inside the neighborhood boundaries (save for the "fringe" Orthodox center on Summit), but the faithful who remain aren't far from the numerous synagogues of Amberley Village. All of which is to say that the sight of someone possessing one skin tone is no cause for alarm on the part of someone who possesses another.
There's a style of apartment house, ubiquitous in Cincinnati and inner suburbs, that I call a "brick box." Built in the mid-20th century mostly, as a rule they're either large duplexes or contain four 1-BR units. (Some are on a bigger scale but follow the same principle.) The brick's in many different shades, and often some borders or designs in a contrasting color of brick were added to set one building apart from others. Many of these buildings to this day often still have the same front doors, or faithful reproductions, that they did originally. There are frequently neat little details to be found in terms of how the handles or windows are shaped - some all but scream "Art Deco." Not to go all Architectural Digest here, but there's a reason this feature of Cincinnati housing is being brought up. Brick boxes are literally all over town, from Mt Lookout to Westwood, and in "marginal" sections like Roselawn this isn't always a positive thing. During the post-WWII housing shortage the demand exceeded the supply, but tastes changed ahead of demographic shifts. Today a goodly number of brick boxes are Section 8 buildings. Summit Rd is an unbroken string of them for several blocks from Reading Rd, and that's brought on the decline of the area north of there. Though fairly small, the clusters of brick boxes - and some complexes from as recently as the '70s - have become crime incubators. Most of Summit is more or less "aging gracefully," but along Stillwell and Crest Hill buildings are rotting, abandoned, burned out, you name it. Strangely enough, in the way of many urban communities, the Garden and Gaslight districts with their manicured lawns and "spiffy" houses could just as easily be four miles away as the quarter-mile they actually are. But the pocket of "contemporary" + Cape + split-level + Colonial houses beyond the decayed zone is suffering the effects.
Enough negativity! Though retail is all but extinct in Roselawn itself, shop-a-holics are well situated. Less than fifteen minutes away, the Rookwood + Kenwood + Tri-County store "collections" await. Downtown is about the same time and distance down nearby I-75.
An underlying reason for my going on about Woes Lawn is that Summit Behavioral Health Care (scaled down from a former "state hospital") is at its southwest boundary. Nothing beats rolling out of bed and into work.

BTW I'm not one to say "lock up your daughters," but most of the night life in Roselawn is in the - uh - keepin-it-real vein. (Armed security guards who aren't always effective, shootings, drugs, etc.) Two clubs in particular have brought the neighborhood into the headlines for the wrong reasons all too frequently. There are a couple of "reputable" spots, though, namely Celeberties (actual spelling) and Phat Daddy's. In the Roselawn Center Building you'll even find the Gospel Coffee Shop - but they're closed "before your bedtime."

ALL that aside, I strongly second the reco for Pleasant Ridge in particular and would like to put in a plug for another "hidden gem" - in some areas - namely Madisonville.

WOW! You have said a mouthful, goyguy and it is greatly appreciated. I think in my posting I was a bit too general about the word "apartment". Some of the apartments that I have seen so far are apartment buildings which I am not trying to be apart of. That is just too many people crowded in one building for me. I think we will be looking for a small home or a Townhouse of sorts. Also, Roselawn doesn't sound like any where I would want to live. If that were the case, I could certainly move back to Chicago. lol. At any rate, thanks so much for your post and if you have any information on Madisonville, Kennedy Heights or Oakley I would love to hear it. Thanks again.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by clarkbody

WOW! You have said a mouthful, goyguy and it is greatly appreciated. I think in my posting I was a bit too general about the word "apartment". Some of the apartments that I have seen so far are apartment buildings which I am not trying to be apart of. That is just too many people crowded in one building for me. I think we will be looking for a small home or a Townhouse of sorts. Also, Roselawn doesn't sound like any where I would want to live. If that were the case, I could certainly move back to Chicago. lol. At any rate, thanks so much for your post and if you have any information on Madisonville, Kennedy Heights or Oakley I would love to hear it. Thanks again.

There are people here who're more familiar with the neighborhoods you asked about than I am. With that caveat, Oakley is where a lot of younger folks who are priced out of the very fashionable and somewhat pricy Hyde Park area are migrating to. That's driving property prices up a bit, even in this relatively down market. Madisonville has more than its share of drug dealing and violent crime. That's not to say it doesn't have some nice streets and homes, but it wouldn't be high on my list. Especially not for a newcomer to the area. Comparing any of these three to Pleasant Ridge, I'd stick with Pleasant Ridge.

[clarkbody]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

There are people here who're more familiar with the neighborhoods you asked about than I am. With that caveat, Oakley is where a lot of younger folks who are priced out of the very fashionable and somewhat pricy Hyde Park area are migrating to. That's driving property prices up a bit, even in this relatively down market. Madisonville has more than its share of drug dealing and violent crime. That's not to say it doesn't have some nice streets and homes, but it wouldn't be high on my list. Especially not for a newcomer to the area. Comparing any of these three to Pleasant Ridge, I'd stick with Pleasant Ridge.

Sounds good. Thanks, Sarah. I have read a lot of post by you on different threads and they have been very helpful also. Thanks for those too. lol

[goyguy]

Most of the apartments in P-Ridge, Madville, and Kennedy Hts fall into the brick-box category. But here's an easy way to check out the variety of options within the area all of us "agree on" so far. Go to Homes for Sale - Comey & Shepherd Realtors, then set the search engine to ZIP code 45237 and select whatever price range works for you. You'll find everything from newly built condos to rentals of older houses.

45237 not only encompasses all of Roselawn and some of Bond Hill to the south, it also takes in Pleasant Ridge and uber-prestigious Amberley Village as well as portions of other communities.

I don't mind rambling wildly about a certain place b/c when somebody else posts the same question down the line all I have to do is use the URL to my ramble in my response.

[progmac]

fyi, most of pleasant ridge is 45213

[Sarah Perry]

It's super easy to search by neighborhood name at Coldwell Banker West Shell - Coldwell Banker West Shell Real Estate and Homes for Sale - CBWS.com

[clarkbody]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

It's super easy to search by neighborhood name at Coldwell Banker West Shell - Coldwell Banker West Shell Real Estate and Homes for Sale - CBWS.com

Thanks, Sarah. This is good. I'll take a look.

[clarkbody]

Originally Posted by progmac

fyi, most of pleasant ridge is 45213

Ok, Thanks, Progmac.

[clarkbody]

Originally Posted by goyguy

Most of the apartments in P-Ridge, Madville, and Kennedy Hts fall into the brick-box category. But here's an easy way to check out the variety of options within the area all of us "agree on" so far. Go to Homes for Sale - Comey & Shepherd Realtors, then set the search engine to ZIP code 45237 and select whatever price range works for you. You'll find everything from newly built condos to rentals of older houses.

45237 not only encompasses all of Roselawn and some of Bond Hill to the south, it also takes in Pleasant Ridge and uber-prestigious Amberley Village as well as portions of other communities.

I don't mind rambling wildly about a certain place b/c when somebody else posts the same question down the line all I have to do is use the URL to my ramble in my response.

Thanks, Goyguy. I'll put this info to good use. I have been looking and most of what I have seen is as you described "brick box style" apartments. That's is not what I'm looking for.

[progmac]

i think that there are a lack of high quality townhouse style apartments in most of our neighborhoods. that seems to be what OP is looking for. there is in pleasant ridge, something going on on the south end of lester. it looks like the conversion of a shell of a few non-spectacular buildings into maybe 8 or 10 townhomes. i assume they are to be rentals because the styling is a little blah. they aren't finished now and perhaps not for another six months. does anyone know anything about these?

there are very nice townhouse rentals in the eden park area of walnut hills - this is right adjacent to downtown and is a pocket area that is solid - search the forum for more info. this might be worth checking out.