East Walnut Hills/Evanston relo? (Cincinnati, Norwood: sale, 2015, house)

[mimi in cinci]

Originally Posted by runbaber

Mimi, why would you give Fairfax as your north border? Wondering as there are a couple of houses up that way for sale.

I drive through on a very regular basis since it's an easy cut through to 71 and have witnessed drug deals at Wold & Fairfax (by the church) as early as 10 AM and some threatening behaviors, weapons in waistbands (Wold & Hewitt). There were shots fired on Fairfax near the Academy of World Languages over a drug deal last month.

Sadly, Evanston isn't showing any signs of turning around.

[t45209]

As far as real estate in Walnut Hills is concerned, I think the situation is far more optimistic than portrayed above. For example, my neighbors recently purchased a fully renovated 1890s Victorian for around $240k. They are thrilled about moving within walking distance to DeSales Corner. He's an attorney and she's a Kroger corporate employee, so they could have pretty much chosen to live anywhere.

I have other friends who live on Cleinview, Hackberry, and off of Taft as it goes down the hill and none of them paid over $300k. They all love it. Upland is a great street with real architectural gems, quietly situated behind Ursaline. Some of those old houses have been broken up into spacious condos and can be bought in the $100s.

Also, the other side of the neighborhood offers possibilities as you get closer to Eden Park. Park Avenue, Windsor, St. James, Alpine, Fulton, and Sinton are worthy of a look, although they are a bit further from the action.

I agree that there is little impetus for Evanston to ever be much more than it is.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by runbaber

Diversity is important to us. We have a multiracial family. Hyde Park may be diverse, I just don't have enough experience with it to judge.

Sadly, East Walnut Hills is a highly stratified area economically. Even more so than most of Cincinnati. There is what I would call a bimodal distribution of families based on income. Well heeled white folks living in the turn of the century mansions for which EWH is so famous, and minority families living in the down on the heels older homes on the way to Evanston, Norwood, Walnut hills and Clifton.

I lived in EWH in 1972-1978 and it is essentially unchanged.

There, as in most of Cincinnati, it is hard to find diversity in a safe area if one defines that to be a presence of a significant percentage of non-minorities on the block. The reason for this is not racial animus, prejudice, redlining, or any evil manipulation. The reason is income stratification. The vast majority of minority residents on Cincinnati are what I would call "poor." There are also a lot of non-minority residents who are also poor. Therefore, one can find some neighborhoods where there is a generous diversity. Lower price Hill for example, but they will not be safe areas because they are poor areas. In Cincinnati poor = not safe. You may not like to hear that, but it is a fact. What causes that fact in Cincinnati is beyond the scope of your search. Leave it for the sociologists.

So, when one seeks out an area with "diversity: one will be looking for an area like Pleasant Ridge or Kennedy Heights where there will be a few non-minority families and bi-racial families on a block in what is basically a black neighborhood, or one will have to settle for the rest of Cincinnati where there are are mostly safe, mostly white neighborhoods with minority and bi-racial families sprinkled about.

No one much else is willing to say the foregoing, but it is utterly true.

Like I said, come to Hyde Park. No one I know cares what color you and your spouse are as long as you cut the lawn and leave the appliances inside the house.


BTW, your 14 year old daughter would be perfectly safe roaming around Hyde Park at 9pm by herself. She will join the other comfortably safe folks who live and work here.

[cincydave8]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

So, when one seeks out an area with "diversity: one will be looking for an area like Pleasant Ridge or Kennedy Heights where there will be a few non-minority families and bi-racial families on a block in what is basically a black neighborhood, or one will have to settle for the rest of Cincinnati where there are are mostly safe, mostly white neighborhoods with minority and bi-racial families sprinkled about.

Pleasant ridge is basically a black neighborhood?

59.7% White, 35.8% Black, 3.19 Mixed.
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

[Wilson513]

[quote=cincydave8;38615558]Pleasant ridge is basically a black neighborhood?

59.7% White, 35.8% Black, 3.19 Mixed.
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site


What I said was that if one wanted diversity one would look in Pleasant Ridge "where there will be a few non-minority families and bi-racial families on a block in what is basically a black neighborhood."

I didn't say Pleasant ridge was a black neighborhood in its entirety which you have sublimated. In fact much of Pleasant Ridge is entirely white with less diversity than Hyde Park, essentially being the northern extension of Norwood.

But, when one looks for diversity there, one will go to the streets immediately off Montgomery Road which are, in fact, mostly black with a sprinkling of white and mixed race. Kennedy Heights has a similar distribution.

[progmac]

But, when one looks for diversity there, one will go to the streets immediately off Montgomery Road which are, in fact, mostly black with a sprinkling of white and mixed race. Kennedy Heights has a similar distribution.

I live four houses off of montgomery road. wilson, your portrayal is absurd. The point you are trying to make, I think, is that street-by-street segregation occurs in many neighborhoods. Fair enough. But I really feel like you've gone off the rails with hyperbole (i hope that's what it is) in this case.

Regardless, the racial composition of pleasant ridge is not at all the topic at hand.

[progmac]

Originally Posted by t45209

As far as real estate in Walnut Hills is concerned, I think the situation is far more optimistic than portrayed above. For example, my neighbors recently purchased a fully renovated 1890s Victorian for around $240k. They are thrilled about moving within walking distance to DeSales Corner. He's an attorney and she's a Kroger corporate employee, so they could have pretty much chosen to live anywhere.

I have other friends who live on Cleinview, Hackberry, and off of Taft as it goes down the hill and none of them paid over $300k. They all love it. Upland is a great street with real architectural gems, quietly situated behind Ursaline. Some of those old houses have been broken up into spacious condos and can be bought in the $100s.

Also, the other side of the neighborhood offers possibilities as you get closer to Eden Park. Park Avenue, Windsor, St. James, Alpine, Fulton, and Sinton are worthy of a look, although they are a bit further from the action.

I agree that there is little impetus for Evanston to ever be much more than it is.

I have a lot of friends (late 20s, early 30s) moving to the Evanston side of Obryonville. Fixing up houses, that whole thing.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by progmac

I have a lot of friends (late 20s, early 30s) moving to the Evanston side of Obryonville. Fixing up houses, that whole thing.

Some people are gluttons for punishment, I know I was one. I bought my 1st house in Madeira for $7,000 below what was considered fair market value. At the time, fair market value was right around $22,000 and I bought my abused house for $14,500. What was important to me was the 34% I paid under market value. Now I did spend some money immediately on having the hardwood floors refinished before moving in. I was also lucky to have a father who was a painting contractor, brought his crew in, and washed and painted the entire interior in addition to the exterior as a gift to the wife and I. From that point the major items were my labor, which I considered less valuable than my money.

Lived in that house 13 years and sold it for $40,500 or 180% more than I paid for it. Now it was not quite that simple, as over the 13 years I had replaced the oil-fired furnace with a natural gas one including central air. I also had dug and poured a rear Large patio where there originally was none. Due to my nature I poured a foundation under the patio. The house may fall down but that patio is going nowhere. The original house was plastered but had no interior trim, just plaster up aqainst flat steel door and window frames. The floors just had a toe strip, no baseboard or anything. So naturally there were cracks everywhere. So I used my trusty drill to put holes in the frames and countersink the sheet metal screws I used to attach wood trim. Guarantee anyone trying to remove any of that trim will shred it before they get it off.

When I sold the house I was extremely happy. My father was an old school guy who always said "Remember Son there is a cost associated with living in a house, you are consuming its resources". This is a view which somehow got lost in my opinion.

I certainly hope those investing and rehabbing property in Evanston enjoy the fruits of their labors. I know it was probably the best decision I ever made in my life.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

I certainly hope those investing and rehabbing property in Evanston enjoy the fruits of their labors. I know it was probably the best decision I ever made in my life.

There is a lot of wisdom behind this hope. When you bought in Madeira 50 so years ago it was already a great neighborhood. It is a great neighborhood today.

Evanston is pretty much of a dump today, as it was 40 years ago, and it will be 40 years from now. It has nearly no charm, adjacent to horrible neighborhoods, and no infrastructure. For a while there it was the one of the most violent neighborhoods in Cincinnati until they tore down the St. Ledger Apartments. Where did all of the residents go to?

Good luck to those who are pioneering. I really do wish them well. But they have ignored the most important three factors in smart real estate purchase or investment: location, location and location.

[runbaber]

Just to clarify: I am looking for racially, culturally, and socio-economically diverse. I am divorced and have a nuclear (and extended) family of varied race, culture, economic status. We are WAY past "will we be accepted by white people" -- that's a non-issue. I'm not offended by the broad assumptions made in a previous post (I'm white and professional with a black husband, etc.) but don't want them to get in the way of my actual request.

I'd like an area where Walnut Hills HS or Clark Montessori would be an option for my high schoolers. I want to live in a house, with a yard, that is well within my means (e.g., far less than 300K). I would like to retain walkability as I believe it fosters community. I would like the aforementioned diversity, with the understanding that it might be a little less safe and a little more messy, therefore requiring urban good sense like not leaving cars unlocked or 14-year-olds roaming around at late hours.

If there are other neighborhoods worth a look that fit the above, suggestions are more than welcome.

Y'all have already been a tremendous help. Thank you!