Young married couple moving to Cincinnati (Toledo, Kent: apartments, rental, insurance)

[luckeynite70]

My wife and I are moving to Cincinnati from suburban/rural Toledo area (Perrysburg/Lake Township) and were looking for advice on an area to live.

-Working in Eden Park area.
-Willing to commute up to 30 min. one way.
-Area needs to be clean and safe, not even remotely sketchy.
-Looking for a 2 bedroom, 1000 sq ft., for $850 or less.
-We do not mind a place that is cookie-cutter with less character, but character in the area would be a plus.

I have taken the advice of a couple of friends and one lives in Hyde Park and is admittedly biased, but I know the price range of that area is way out of our means. Another of my friends lives in West Chester and truly loves it, but he said the commute to downtown can be a pain. Our top priorities are definitely space and safety. Oakley and Mt. Washington seem to fit our price range with the space, but using websites like spotcrime.com seems to show a lot of criminal activity in the area. Although the crime does not seem to be violent or "bad" it is still a major turnoff towards the areas. Any advice would be great.

[Wilson513]

I think you can live in Hyde Park for $850. Commuting won't help you unless you are trying to reach a school system in a remote but affordable suburb. If you choose a commute of 30 minutes, why not add $200 a month to your rental budget and live in Hyde Park. It might even be more than that to commute 30 minutes each way. Let's see, that would be about 20 miles, compared to 3 miles. 35 extra miles/day, $.60/mile=$21/day x 23 days = $273/month to live 30 minutes away. That says nothing about accidents, travel time, having to have a better car, etc. Nor the fact that you might take a bus from HP to the Eden Park area.

I'd rethink those priorities a little. HP is by far the best place for a person working near Eden Park to live.

[insightofitall]

Check out Fort Thomas or Highland Heights, across the river in Northern Kentucky. Both are a very easy, and short commute to the Eden Park area.

[progmac]

"not even remotely sketchy" and two bedrooms and $850 a month = suburbs. wilson has a good point about commute costs. they add up and the commute can be soul-draining. it may be worth it to up your budget to $1200 and go for mt adams or $1000 or so for hyde park. there is a chance you can find something for $850 in oakley, but it might put you in the remotely sketchy parts.

regarding suburbs -- look east for the least worst commute into walnut hills. anderson township, etc. newtown is a cool old town that might be an option.

if the job is a long-term thing, you might consider making a go of a life in the city, since you'll be working in the middle of it.

[luckeynite70]

I appreciate everyone's suggestions, I really wish I could find something in Hyde Park for $1000 even, but everything my wife and I have come across is in the 1300 to $1600 range. We do not mind the suburbs, in fact that is kind of what we are looking for, just with decent access to downtown. I really do not mind commuting and really like Anderson Township Area along with the Blue Ash area to the north. Another place we thought about was Mt. Washington, I have been told it can be a sketchy area, is this true or are there parts that are better than others. Again, thank you.

[progmac]

Much of Mt Washington is very quiet, very suburban. It could be an option.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by luckeynite70

I appreciate everyone's suggestions, I really wish I could find something in Hyde Park for $1000 even, but everything my wife and I have come across is in the 1300 to $1600 range. We do not mind the suburbs, in fact that is kind of what we are looking for, just with decent access to downtown. I really do not mind commuting and really like Anderson Township Area along with the Blue Ash area to the north. Another place we thought about was Mt. Washington, I have been told it can be a sketchy area, is this true or are there parts that are better than others. Again, thank you.

I'm not especially familiar with the Mt. Washington area, although I think it's similar to many places in Cincinnati, where the inner-ring suburbs are at least somewhat run-down and transitional--whether that qualifies as sketchy is kind of subjective. However, there are many parts of Anderson Township which should be quiet and safe. Problem is, the farther out of town you go, the longer your commute will be.

I'm a huge fan of Blue Ash, except your rush-hour commute on I-71 is not something I would wish on anyone. Blue Ash is pure suburbia, but in the best possible way, and it actually has a nice little walkable commercial district, left over from when it was an actual town not surrounded by development. It also has a well-off city government and nice recreational facilities, thanks to a solid tax base from its large office park.

On the way to Blue Ash you might consider the closer-in communities of Deer Park, Dillonvale and Pleasant Ridge, as well as the Kenwood area. They're older but the first two especially are quiet and safe. Kewood is very commercial but has some nice apartments. Pleasant Ridge has good and less good parts. Deer Park was recently discussed on another thread--do a search if you want to read that coversation.

[kjbrill]

Coming from Perrysburg, that is definitely the outskirts of Toledo. If that is the kind of atmosphere you like then the little further out suburbs here is where you should be. I concur with Sarah concerning Blue Ash, specifically because they have a very stable tax base on which to build their city services, and that includes police. There are pockets of Kenwood which is township just to the south of Blue Ash which is also residential and quite safe, but mixed with commercial retail.

Anderson Township is a nice area, but being township is not well defined. It kind of sprawls around. My main dislike is there are no good main roads into the City, and the existing ones become quite clogged. Mt Washington is a neighborhood of the City of Cincinnati. While a little closer in I would go the extra distance and look in Anderson Township.

Deer Park and Dillionvale are safe enough, but basically single family, smaller homes. The apartments there are likely to be the 4-family 2-story boxes prevelant when they were built out. Inexpensive maybe, but very boring and varying considerably in condition depending on the owners and their objectives.

[kjbrill]

Luckeynite70... Another strong suggestion.

You mention you have friends in Cincinnati, one in Hyde Park and another in West Chester. So take advantage of that. Come here and visit and look around. You are in Toledo, not the other side of the world.

Do what you can on the internet, that is great. You mention so far everything you see in Hyde Park is too rich for your blood. I can understand that.

Wilson makes a good argument on the cost of commute. I may question his $.60/mi figure. If you are driving at $4/gal at 10mpg that alone is $.40/mi for gas, but if you get 40mpg it is only $.10/mi for gas. I assume he got his figure off some site factoring in depreciation on the car, normal wear and tear maintenance and repair, insurance, and everything else it takes to operate a vehicle. That is a very valid way to look at it, and likely today at least $.60/mi.

Take advantage you have friends here. Come and look around. Sponge off them for a night's lodging.
If you plan it right you can cover a lot of ground in a weekend trip here. Drive down early Saturday morning, stay over, and drive back Sunday night. Just don't make a firm commitment until you have done the walk. Many people relocating are not able to do this, but you are. Because of my nature it would probably take me a couple of weekends to make up my mind. The first one would just generate more questions. But that is OK also. Be comfortable in your decision.

[restorationconsultant]

Maybe outside of Cincinnati might be a better idea. Maybe Harrison (easy interstate access) about as plain Jane , non confrontional as you can ,get might work? They have old historic homes newer tract homes and city is still convenient for entertainment. Just a thought, I have some friends there who seem pretty happy.