East Side and Safety (Madison, Wilson: house, place to live, restaurant)

[cincydave8]

Hyde Park - I live here. House prices are more for less yard. Paying for living here. Extremely walkable. 10 minute commute to downtown. Plenty of local shopping in the square (plus mt lookout and oakley) and plenty of big box shopping with Rookwood, Hyde Park Plaza and Oakley. Tons of great resturants.

Mt Lookout - Not much difference. Somewhat cheaper homes. Mt Lookout Square has more bars (which is good or bad depending on who you are). Much more hilly than Hyde Park. Also extremely walkable.

Mt Adams - Nothing but UC and XU students at the bars until 2:30am. No yard but Eden Park.

Anderson - Insert cliche suburb comments...nice, cheaper homes than city, not walkable, longer commute, applebees.

Madeira - Don't know enough.

Montgomery - Drag is nice, has a really good pizza place at the southern end. It's also nice and walkable.

Mariemont - Eh, I've never been a big fan. Basic things like a La BullBoxer31 and Greaters. Plus a hotel. Dilly's is very popular though.

[Wilson513]

Hyde Park and Mt. Lookout - the only two places I'd live.

All others - reasons to live here range from not having to pay for private schools to cheaper houses. OK, compromise is necessary sometimes.

[SalamanderSmile]

Do you care about schools? Are you buying or renting?

[veetzvino]

We would be buying and I do care about schools. We have a 2 year old child. Budget is kind of a wide range because of some variables with selling our house but probably looking around 500k.

Are some of the areas around the square in Hyde Park more of a College area? I got that vibe a few times when going there but didn't have anything to back that up.

[Wilson513]

No, Hyde Park is truly eclectic. Singles, families, retired, all kinds of folks with no real concentration and certainly not of students. Convenient to the City, walkable, all of the best parks and amenities. There is really no better choice.

[progmac]

Originally Posted by labarbmb

We would be buying and I do care about schools. We have a 2 year old child. Budget is kind of a wide range because of some variables with selling our house but probably looking around 500k.

Are some of the areas around the square in Hyde Park more of a College area? I got that vibe a few times when going there but didn't have anything to back that up.

I agree with Wilson - Hyde Park all the way. It sounds ideal for your situation. It is not a college area, although some college students live there. Something I like about the better City neighborhoods is that you have lots of types of people around at all different stages in life.

[Wildview]

Originally Posted by labarbmb

We would be buying and I do care about schools. We have a 2 year old child. Budget is kind of a wide range because of some variables with selling our house but probably looking around 500k.

Are some of the areas around the square in Hyde Park more of a College area? I got that vibe a few times when going there but didn't have anything to back that up.

I wouldn't consider HP a college area at all. If you're concerned about schools it wouldn't be my first choice unless you're willing to pay tuition for private school. Mariemont, Wyoming, Madeira, Sycamore, Indian Hill and Forest Hills would be the best public school districts outside of CPS that come to mind.

Many here will defend CPS and mention that Walnut Hills is nationally ranked, it is. However as WH draws from all of CPS based of an entrance exam for admission, there are many students from a rougher walk of life who attend and I've heard horror stories from parents whose children had a very hard time adjusting.

There are numerous private schools in Cincinnati that offer an excellent education if you are willing to pay the tuition. $3000 for elementary per student, per year is probably an accurate average. High School is normally between $11000 to $22000 depending on your selection. Many private schools have tuition posted on their website.

I look forward to the reponses from this post.

[mimi in cinci]

I agree, it sounds like Hyde Park is a good match for you.

Do some real research on Cincinnati Public schools as well as the tuition costs of private schools in the area. You will be hard pressed to find a private grade school for under $8,000.00 per year. The majority of the private schools are Catholic which is a problem for some.

Our children attend Hyde Park School. You can read more about it in today's newspaper.
Foundation targets beautification needs

School earns highest score

Hyde Park School has earned the highest Performance Index Score in the state of Ohio for 2013-2014.
The school’s score of 117.4 out of 120 points was the highest among 3,391 schools in Ohio as measured by the Ohio Department of Education’s annual report card.

Hyde Park School Principal Tianay Amat and school staff were recently honored by the Cincinnati Board of Education for this accomplishment.

[Wilson513]

Also visit the Kilgour site. Kids in HP that don't go to Hyde Park School or private schools go to Kilgour.

Kilgour School

[WillM]

OMG ! I work in the Hyde Park area a lot...and my goodness...I've lived around the country and have never seen so many walkers and joggers in my life. I guess that's a good thing.