22 Yr. Old (Single) Moving to Cincy (Cincinnati, Norwood: safest neighborhood, construction, living)

[upstater2013]

Hi I'm 22, and thinking about moving to Cincinnati within the next few weeks to pursue my Master's degree at Xavier.

I lived for the past few months in DC, and would prefer to live in a lively area with people my own age.

I looked into Mt. Adams, the downtown area, the Gaslight district, Clifton, CUF and Oakley. I am not really familiar with any of these areas, but Mt. Adams seems to have the best nightlife from what I've read and it seems to be safe. Over-The-Rhine looked pretty cool to me, but I've heard it's not that good of an area.

So with all that being said, I'd like to live in an area with people my age (21-28). I lived in a pretty pretentious area in DC, so I would love to avoid that...Anyone familiar with Georgetown knows what I'm talking about.

I'd also like to lay out a few other parameters:

-Want to pay $400-$900
-Would like to live close to downtown and within the city limits (no suburbs.)
-Good nightlife
-Would like to be in walking distance to a grocery store/gym, if possible.
-Don't want to live amongst the pretentious or preppy crowd.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[progmac]

Mt Adams is 'the preppy crowd' and also older professionals. Ditto for Hyde Park. And Oakley to a lesser degree. It is no coincidence that these are also the three of the safest neighborhoods in the City.

I'd look closely at Northside, CUF, and Clifton. I'd recommend OTR, but at this point i think it is out of your price range.

[Sarah Perry]

Good suggestions from progmac. I don't think Cincinnati has anything on a par with Georgetown, so don't worry about pretentious. And you're probably going to have to drive to a grocery if you choose an area which meets your other criteria. That's assuming the one in Clifton continues to only promise reopening, which has been the situation for a year or two now.

[kjbrill]

How about the new multi-use complex near Xavier? But the construction just really got rolling in July so it may take too long for something to be available. But being brand new it should be nice.

[SportsMHNut]

Norwood has some of what you want but not all. Youd be sacrificing nightlife there but anywhere within a few blocks of Montgomery and below the Lateral is walkable to everything you would really ever need except nightlife. The bus routes through Norwood are good and its within an easy bike ride to Xavier. I will add that it is technically a suburb but it doesnt act like it. It is surrounded on all four sides by Cincinnati City Neighborhoods including Evanston where Xavier is located. Believe me I hate suburbia but I dont have a single issue with Norwood. Theres nothing really suburban about it. You can stay within your price range there as well. The only sacrifice would be walking to nightlife. If you dont mind riding the bus or cab to nightlife in order to have everything else within walking distance at a reasonable price and be close to your campus, take a look at Norwood or at least keep it in mind as a backup. Oh and as for proximity to downtown you wouldnt want to walk it but its an easy trip through Evanston Walnut Hills and youre there.

[kjbrill]

^^ I certainly like the suggestion of Norwood. Oakley is a good site, but I feel you will rapidly exceed your price point unless you double with a roomie, which is another idea. Oakley definitely has walkable nightlife but is further to Xavier and what I would want to be walking on a steady basis. In fact I wouldn't want to be walking from most of Norwood to Xavier, bicycle maybe but not walking.

A lot of it boils down to whether you intend to have a car or not. If not, I would stick around Oakley or Norwood which have decent bus service when weather is bad. When weather is decent you can bicycle it and be proud you are living the ecological life.

[upstater2013]

Thanks for the advice. I'll look into the areas of Norwood and Oakley. I probably won't have a car so I'll have to keep that in mind.

[neilworms2]

Becaue you don't have a car, look into the metro-plus service which just happens to run through norwood, while it only runs on the weekends, it makes getting to places along the route (including XU) a lot easier.

[progmac]

Originally Posted by neilworms2

Becaue you don't have a car, look into the metro-plus service which just happens to run through norwood, while it only runs on the weekends, it makes getting to places along the route (including XU) a lot easier.

What are you talking about? Metro Plus runs all the time I thought. Maybe NOT on weekends?

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by progmac

What are you talking about? Metro Plus runs all the time I thought. Maybe NOT on weekends?

I believe that is correct, it is currently a weekday service. Every 15 minutes from 6am to 6pm, every 30 minutes 6pm to 10pm.