Please convince me to move to Cincinnati (Findlay: neighborhood, live)

[progmac]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

Post one property address. Just one.

i was thinking the same thing. isn't most of mariemont a protected historic district?

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by progmac

i was thinking the same thing. isn't most of mariemont a protected historic district?

There is no chance that anything in Mariemont has been "torn down" for any reason, much less $400,000 McCondos. Zero.

[Sarah Perry]

Ohio Girl might be thinking about those rather fancy looking new condos right near the square. I'm kind of vague on what happened there, perhaps they're a rehab project?

Maybe somebody can explain this to me, since I haven't been in Mariemont in a while:

http://oakley-mariemont.fox19.com/ne...ariemont/71724

and http://www.mariemontlifestyle.com/

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by progmac

i was thinking the same thing. isn't most of mariemont a protected historic district?

It's listed as a district on the National Register of Historic Places, but that alone doesn't afford protection against building modification or demolition. A common misconception.

There may be some other type of local government regulations which do that I'm not aware of, though.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

Ohio Girl might be thinking about those rather fancy looking new condos right near the square. I'm kind of vague on what happened there, perhaps they're a rehab project?

That's exactly it. Thanks for posting those links, Sarah. I didn't realize the apartments on Thorndike Road were being taken out as well, just the ones on Madisonville Road. Wow.

Wilson, if I had my address book handy, I'd give you the precise address of the four-unit apartment building on Miami Road where my former neighbor lived until she was booted out by developers a few years ago.

The disease has now spread to the apartment buildings on Madisonville Road.

I'd provide you a link, but you're a smart guy. Google it yourself. The Enquirer has written plenty about it.

Granted, those square, brick apartment buildings were nothing special to look at, but they were affordable to older neighborhood residents who wanted to stay around Mariemont, but no longer wanted to own their own homes. Now Mariemont is forcing the lower-income renters out. No doubt to boost the village treasury as well as line the developers' pockets.

Where does it end? No doubt Mary Emery's vision, as the developer is always crowing about, did not include excluding people from lower income brackets.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

It's listed as a district on the National Register of Historic Places, but that alone doesn't afford protection against building modification or demolition. A common misconception.

There may be some other type of local government regulations which do that I'm not aware of, though.

I know that Griewe proposed to do something in the triangle north of the square, but did not know that had actually built anything there. If that was actually built, I stand corrected. One of my clients sold Griewe some or all of the five four families on Murray Ave. which were not old people and really not even considered Mariemont by most people I know. The four of five row hoses along Madisonville Road may have housed twenty residents and I suppose some of those could be old folks.

In any event, if it was built, it is a great improvement.

[progmac]

From the link:

The third phase of Greiwe Development’s condominium project in the Village of Mariemont is set to begin with the demolition of six apartment buildings on Monday, June 20. This will clear the site for the construction of the next condominium building

I stand corrected; had no idea!

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by pbertin

We are young professionals who are planning to start a family soon. I would love to live somewhere 'walkable' with some nice coffee shops, restaurants, parks, etc...I don't like too much 'sprawl' / big box stores /chain restaurants, but I'm fine with living in a small town (actually have never really lived in a large city/urban environment before). What I dislike about our current town is the lack of young people, lack of unique restaurants/coffee shops (we are forced to hang out at Starbucks...seriously) and the general 'conservative' vibe.

Sounds to me as if you want to live in some "college town". Big university that drives the local economy. You get that small town feel with big city amenities.

[Matthew Hall]

LONDON!? What on earth does that have to do with life in cincinnati. Many commentors here have clearly seen one half of the world and are not aware of the existence of the other half. They are clearly familiar with the worldly cosmopolitian extreme of human existence in london, nyc, paris, etc. and thus they see cities like seattle or boston are some how typical american cities midway on a spectrum of american cities to which cincinnati would be placed at the other end. They are apparently ignorant of the existence of the other half of humanity that lives in places like omaha, lubbock, reno, pittsburgh, raleigh, St. Louis, nashville or kansas city, for example. Ignoring this half of human existence would put cincinnat at one end of a cosmopolitan spectrum with NYC,etc, at the other. An ackowledgement of ALL of human existence would put it right in the middle. I've live in Omaha, Baltimore and St. Louis. Cincinnati if fine, even great, compared to any of them. cincinnati felt like Paris after three years in omaha and had a certain sociability that st. louis and baltimore never could match. Everything is relative. My summer in Atlanta and my periodic visits to Austin showed me surprisingly self-conscious, uninspiring places were 'culture' was largely people showing off their street cred (Austin) or hairdos and face lifts (Atlanta) to each other. Viewed in this much more realistic perspective, cincinnati has some real positives. It sounds like some people here have a lot of learning to do about the full human experience and not just its exceptional extremes. Don't feel bad, this experiences are good for you and make you a better person!

[home4frog]

I decided that I would post from my POV of having lived here for the past 6 years, because I think that I can shed some light on what you are asking, primarily because I have spent most of it house-hunting. If you move to Cincinnati, you will definitely have to make some compromise. For example, you cannot have new, large lot, and amenities in walking distance, especially if you want those amenities to not be chains. The other thing you have to take into account here are the hills. Say you don't care if you have a flat yard, you may need to consider that your husband will still have to drive to work in winter. Granted, Cincinnati is prepared for bad weather and if they are expecting the bad weather will prep the streets, but that doesn't mean that the snow will have been cleared on your path to the main roads by the time he has to leave for work in the morning.

In Cincinnati proper, or even within the I-275 Loop, you can find many new subdivisions, and you can spend from $250K up and have a great house, but you will not have a yard. I was used to having an acre of land before coming here, and now it would be amazing to have a quarter acre, especially on a new house. The best compromise would be eastern Cincinnati. The housing inventory in Cincinnati is very old, 100 year old houses are very common. And, they are tall. The more stately homes, are usually three stories with the laundry in the basement. Sometimes they have been modified, and the basement is finished or they have been moved to an upper floor. But many are not. But, in Mt. Washington, or Anderson Twshp, you have a better chance of finding something between 15-30 years old. Clermont County generally, you could probably build new on a larger piece of land, and be a short drive from amenities, but quite a drive to work. The easy part is finding a basement. Most houses here have a basement.

I would agree with the comment that Cincinnati is a very large small town, but not necessarily in a good way. It tends to be very cliquish. I guess it's because it's not one of those places where people say, "Just wait, when I grow up, I'm gonna move to Cincinnati." People who come here from elsewhere come for the job, not for the excitement of coming here. I don't want to live in Disneyland, and my husband and I very purposefully chose living here over Orlando, Florida, because we didn't want the vibe that goes with being the vacation place. But, it is very difficult to make friends here, because, as you can see from the previous posts, the people who are from here, love being here. They have big extended families, and don't need new friends because they have plenty, probably knowing them from high school if not grammar school.

I would also agree that if your husband is happy in his job where he is, maybe you should stay there. That's why we stay here. My husband has a great job. He spends the majority of his waking hours at that job, and the hours we spend as a family are much more enjoyable, because he is happy with those other 40-60 hours he spends there. To that end, Cincinnati has whatever you want to do as a couple with no kids, and as a family. There are plenty of parks and nature areas. There are plenty of professional sports: baseball, football and hockey. If you want to watch college basketball, you have two teams from which to choose, three if you count NKY. If you want professional basketball, or intense college football, that's only two hours away. They have great amusement parks, a nice aquarium, and a fabulous zoo.

On the restaurant side, there is no food scene here. And, I'm not talking about the couple of 5-star chefs they have in town, because most of us don't have the dough to do that on a regular basis. But, I'd like to be able to have Mexican one time, Mediterranean another, Thai, then Ethiopian, then Vietnamese (I almost thought reading through this whole thread would be worth it when I saw the recommendation for the Vietnamese restaurant till I read the menu, but maybe I'll try it anyway). I am not impressed by the fact that there are 30 or 62 or whatever when they are mostly chains, or pizza places or what passes for ethnic food around here, when the food is mediocre at best and almost always over-priced. And although I have been to San Francisco, NYC, Chicago and Seattle (where I was able to have very nice Ethiopian food in all), I am comparing Cincinnati to places like Albuquerque, St. Louis, Kansas City and Madison, WI.

I will have to disagree with Dantown12 on the Cincinnati chili, though. I have to admit I also like my fast food/ diner food, and I am enjoying the nuances there. I just wish Cincinnati could do more than chili. And, I have to say that although I find La Rosa's pizza to be rather blah, I love Donato's. And, I have found a few holes in the wall that are great. Each neighborhood usually has one or two, like Alabama Fish in OTR. They do have some good neighborhood bakeries, if you stumble across them in the area. The locavore scene here is great! So, if you like to cook, you have lots of opportunites for local meat and produce, access to spices and specialty shops. In the summer, there are farmer's markets everywhere. They also have a few restaurants that do this well (Slim's in Northside to name one), and I think that Northside has some great restaurants and it's a cool neighborhood. Melt is our favorite restaurant there.

So, as with every place, ups and downs. And, if you are okay waiting several years to make friends, usually parents of other kids the age of yours, and are happy to spend most of your free time with your spouse, then it's likely ok to move here.