Accepted job offer in Cincy. Looking to buy a house - where should I look? (Cleveland: apartment complexes, rental)

[hot pocket]

I would second Ft. Thomas as an option. Very close to downtown, with a nice shopping district, and easy access to the highway. Schools are some of the best in KY as well.

[Wilson513]

+1 for Ft. Thomas.

[mimi in cinci]

+2 for Ft. Thomas or Villa Hills in KY. No way to West Chester, Mason etc. unless you love sitting in traffic every day.

[motorman]

+3 for Ft. Thomas.

[SalamanderSmile]

Originally Posted by GratefulDawg

I was a little surprised there were no votes for West Chester. Is that because it is too far out and would typically be more than my 35 minute "limit" for the commute? Based on Zillow searches West Chester seems to have a lot more inventory meeting my house criteria than the other places mentioned here.

We live in Mariemont which is a straight shot into downtown on 50, 20min, 30 in traffic. Now that DH works in Mason his commute (per google traffic) should be 32min but it is never less than 45. So take the maps with a grain of salt.

Also there is nothing vintage in West Chester, so you get mediocre schools and 80s90s suburban "safety" with your retail life revolving around stripmalls. If that is what you want (an exurb) then pull the trigger on Mason which has much better schools.

For half an hourish to downtown in OH you need to stick inside 275, and be a few stoplights away from an i71s on ramp.

If you are looking seriously at West Chester you should also look at Anderson Twp. - low taxes, nothing vintage, strip mall retail, decent schools, lots and lots of parks, can feel rural, 30min from downtown. Anderson was Cincinnati's first exurb. So the housing stock is 60s-current McMansions but the destination has stayed its course is trying to redirect from stripmall centered to having a real center, so they now have a bike path and an amphiteater thing and maybe even a rec. center

FWIW Blue Ash also has alot of recreational amenities.

[ms12345]

I don't think Mason is unreasonable since he said he will work an early work schedule starting at 7AM. If you are on I-71 by
6:15 - 6:30 you can drive into downtown with no delays. 20 or so minutes.

[GratefulDawg]

Thanks again for the great replies all. I'm intrigued by all the votes for Ft. Thomas. How is Ft. Thomas safety-wise? It's pretty close to downtown, which in my Cleveland-heavy frame of reference raises a big question mark.

We got a bunch of listings from a realtor, 80% of which were probably West Chester. We're going to all but rule out West Chester based on what sounds like a too-long commute. We got a couple listings for Blue Ash that we like. It's sounding like that could be the sweet spot for us in terms of the schools/commute/affordability/house-and-lot-size matrix. Maybe Sharonville also.

Also didn't get a lot of feedback on Milford. What are your thoughts? The commute may be a bit longer than I'd want, but I feel like if I'm commuting out to a more rural area like Milford it would be more worth it, vs. a long commute up a busy highway then into a super busy congested suburb/exurb.

Thanks again!

[jlawrence01]

^^^

Anderson Twp. is very similar to North Omsted WITHOUT a large shopping mall in the middle and has similar housing. One positive is that there are NO LOCAL INCOME TAXES. A number of my professional clients put their home and offices in Anderson to avoid paying any local income taxes.

Oakley is like the West park area of Cleveland with similar quality of schools Most of my friends in Oakley send their children to parochial schools so that is less of an issue.

[Wilson513]

If you work downtown, you pay Ohio and Cincinnati income tax wherever you live. You get credit for taxes paid to another city, but you don't save any money living in Anderson.

[cincydave8]

Fort Thomas is incredibly safe. I grew up there. Your kids will be able to walk and ride their bikes all over town without have any problems. Most car and house doors are unlocked during the day. Great schools, 2 okay business districts (restaurants never seem to last) and a strong sense of community. If you have more specific questions just ask.

Also, just as a reminder if you live in Oakley your kids would either go to Kilgour or Hyde Park Elementary. Kilgour is very highly rated and Hyde Park looks to be very good too, but it's only a few years old. The idea that you can't send you kids to CPS schools if you live in Oakley is antiquated and untrue.