Traffic (Mason, Wyoming, Oak Hill: high schools, college, live)

[Wilson513]

I did not post to this thread earlier because I really thought there must be some mistake. First, to most of us, North Bend, Ohio is little more than a wide spot in the road. A nice wide spot, with attractive homes in the price range you are talking about (almost 300% of Ohio average) and good income (family income 50% higher than Ohio), but there is no business in North Bend Ohio that one would re-locate for. City Data lists 2 pizza shops and a UPS store as the major businesses in North Bend Ohio. I assumed that this would sort itself out and we would be starting over but apparently North Bend is correct and of course I will not pry into what exactly your husband will be doing there. Maybe he will be the Village Administrator in which case he ought to live in the Village, IMO.

In any event, North Bend does not have the schools you are looking for. It does have nice houses. I am sure you could find one that would suit your needs. But then you would be looking at private and parochial schools for 5.

Of course, Mason makes no sense for any reason and why you started there is anybody's guess, but you won't find any support for that choice from me. Schools there are good but not worth the hour commute and prices will be higher generally than what you want to spend for a really nice house with 1/2 acre.

I think your choice should really be driven by the schools and where you can get the 3 year old into a special needs school where he won't need all that ancillary therapy and tutoring. My special needs son got it all for one tuition cost at The Springer School but I think they limit enrollment to LD and restrict physical impairment and autism. I guess Summit School (not to be confused with Summit Country Day School) is the next choice for a comprehensive special needs school.

I doubt you will find very good public special needs pre-schools but it is worth calling the top school systems in the area. I'm no expert, go to the Ohio Department of Education web site for ratings. Or is it called "greatschools.org"?

[sfmom5]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

I did not post to this thread earlier because I really thought there must be some mistake. First, to most of us, North Bend, Ohio is little more than a wide spot in the road. A nice wide spot, with attractive homes in the price range you are talking about (almost 300% of Ohio average) and good income (family income 50% higher than Ohio), but there is no business in North Bend Ohio that one would re-locate for. City Data lists 2 pizza shops and a UPS store as the major businesses in North Bend Ohio. I assumed that this would sort itself out and we would be starting over but apparently North Bend is correct and of course I will not pry into what exactly your husband will be doing there. Maybe he will be the Village Administrator in which case he ought to live in the Village, IMO.

In any event, North Bend does not have the schools you are looking for. It does have nice houses. I am sure you could find one that would suit your needs. But then you would be looking at private and parochial schools for 5.

Of course, Mason makes no sense for any reason and why you started there is anybody's guess, but you won't find any support for that choice from me. Schools there are good but not worth the hour commute and prices will be higher generally than what you want to spend for a really nice house with 1/2 acre.

I think your choice should really be driven by the schools and where you can get the 3 year old into a special needs school where he won't need all that ancillary therapy and tutoring. My special needs son got it all for one tuition cost at The Springer School but I think they limit enrollment to LD and restrict physical impairment and autism. I guess Summit School (not to be confused with Summit Country Day School) is the next choice for a comprehensive special needs school.

I doubt you will find very good public special needs pre-schools but it is worth calling the top school systems in the area. I'm no expert, go to the Ohio Department of Education web site for ratings. Or is it called "greatschools.org"?

To answer some of your questions---Mason made sense to me as a starting point because upon initial information gathering it seemed to be within 45 minutes of my husband's work site and it has such a high reputation for it's schools, something that is top priority for us. Now, it seems that the commute would be more like an hour. I think we will have to come and do the drive a few times to time it to see if we think it would be worth it.
Also, after looking at maps more closer, my husband's work site is outside of North Bend (outside of the 3 employers you listed! . He is a Chemical Engineer in management roles within his company. I'll leave it at that.
Also, we will be doing the supplemental therapy regardless of how good the special needs preschool is. Without giving a huge report on therapy/research, I'll just say that the outcomes for a little one with autism that receives 30-40 hrs of individual ABA (applied behavior analysis) therapy are much greater than those children who do not receive this level of therapy. We have already accepted that regardless of where we live, we will be providing this for the next few years to supplement preschool services.

So, to be Mason makes sense on some level, but I agree the commute is a major factor.
Thanks for the help!

[Wilson513]

Mason is a very familiar and popular areas to many relocated P&G employees (I am a former P&G person as are three of my family members) so I think I am beginning to put two and two together.

Forget Mason. Its too far. Exhaust the choice of Oak Hills SD and then re=load, IMO

[sfmom5]

Thanks for your input, but just so you know my husband's employer is not P&G--not that that matters, but it seemed that's what you were implying.

I'm sure we will know better once we go there and see the various areas, again my opening question really was just about what level of traffic to expect in this route, not looking for anyone's stamp of approval.

[unusualfire]

Well I-75 is about to go under construction so it will be bad for the next 8 years or so on 75 and 71.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by unusualfire

Well I-75 is about to go under construction so it will be bad for the next 8 years or so on 75 and 71.

LOL. Lather, rinse, repeat.

[kjbrill]

The OP started a separate thread entitled Relocating-Questionaire Answers. If we can all confine our responses to that thread it will be much less confusing.

[Bhiggins]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

The OP started a separate thread entitled Relocating-Questionaire Answers. If we can all confine our responses to that thread it will be much less confusing.

Yes back on topic...

IF it is simply schools you are looking for, definitely stick with Mason.

Schools in Miami Township are decent for grades 1-8 but high school (Taylor High School, and Oak Hills) are pretty crappy/trashy. You may hear people saying Oak Hills SD is great and it really is but the high school is the thing that ruins it.

Cincinnati tradition: Sending your kids to private high schools or grade schools.

The Westside definitely around Green/Miami Townships have AMAZING grade schools, as a matter of fact, my son and daughter attend St. Ignatius and it is about the size of a typical Mason grade school in terms of attending students, but this shouldn't be a deciding factor.

What I am trying to say here is... IF you are looking for a great atmosphere for your kids to grow up in along with schools as a bonus, DEFINITELY I would not blame you for wanting to head up to Mason, people bash it and hate on it all the time but it is alot better than sending your kids to Cincinnati Public Schools or having them grow up in a dangerous area.

Even though I say this, do not count out Miami/Green completely. Both are safe areas, Green is starting to change but I used to hate on it alot but now realize most of the problems it has are focused on its borders near Covedale and Mt. Airy which is definitely understandable and they are doing what they can to push the crime out and it seems like they are really doing something about it.

The Westside has Rost which is a special needs school and I do not know much about it to be honest but it would definitely work for your child.

If you had to pick a place based on bang for your buck, I would not head to Mason, taxes are crazy on new housing but you definitely do get what you pay for (Low Crime, Great Schools/Community, Great Atmosphere Overall). But a new house there for $600,000 in Mason would cost about probably $450,000 in Miami Township and $500,000 in Green.

Sorry if I overdid it, just really trying to help you because I like how you are very dedicated to ensuring your kids are well off, we need more people like that who care about their kids so much.

[insightofitall]

Originally Posted by Bhiggins

Schools in Miami Township are decent for grades 1-8 but high school (Taylor High School, and Oak Hills) are pretty crappy/trashy. You may hear people saying Oak Hills SD is great and it really is but the high school is the thing that ruins it.

I'm sorry, but I really don't understand what you mean. How is OHHS crappy/trashy?

And Taylor is in a totally separate school district and not related to Oak Hills at all. Oak Hills is in Green Township, not Miami.

[Bhiggins]

Originally Posted by insightofitall

I'm sorry, but I really don't understand what you mean. How is OHHS crappy/trashy?

And Taylor is in a totally separate school district and not related to Oak Hills at all. Oak Hills is in Green Township, not Miami.

I know that they are in desperate districts I just didn't make it clear apparently.... Although its kind of obvious. I kinda live right near Oak Hills.

Not to be blunt, but Oak Hills is kinda what I would call a "culinary school" it's a joke with me and my friends. All of the people I know whose sons/daughters went to there and have recently graduated or dropped out ended up working at Taco Bell or Skyline for a normal job and not going to college (this is the culinary school joke).

But that's not only why, my friend who has a son said to me that his son constantly complained about how there was a drug bust every month or so and a fight literally every week or 2. Obviously, unless his son is making this up I can't really say I disagree since a good amount of vandalism in Bridgetown is always done by Oak Hills kids.

As for Taylor, didn't really mean what I said since I honestly don't know much about Taylor. I do know much about Oak Hills though

But does Oak Hills from that students standpoint sound top of the line "Rated Excellent" school it is claimed to be?