Please compare these areas (Cincinnati, Hamilton: best neighborhoods, sales, brokers)

[md_2009]

hey everyone. i am just beginning my house hunt and have found this forum very helpful so far. i was just hoping for a little advice regarding nice neighborhoods to live in. i am a mid 20s female who will be working at university hospital. my #1 concern is safety, with a short commute being right behind that. i have heard good things about hyde park (of course), but does anyone else have any ideas about neighborhoods that would likely fit my needs? i have read that oakley, norwood & st. bernard may work, but i was hoping for some more input regarding these areas. if anyone has any other ideas, i would appreciate those as well. i would rather buy than rent, and my budget would probably be somewhere between 170-220k. thanks in advance to everyone!

[goyguy]

Add Northside and Winton Place - both affordable, nice neighborhoods adjoining Clifton that even have bus service to the medical area. (Having a "Metro" line near you is not a given, trust me on that one!) St Bernard isn't far from University Hospital, but you'd have to pass through a scraggly part of town - whether by bus or car - which isn't all that "bad" crime-wise but not one I'd amble along Vine St in after dark. Norwood and Oakley are within 5 miles of the hospital and would involve a bus transfer but only about 15 minutes' drive.

Each locale, with Norwood and St Bernard being separate communities from Cincinnati, would definitely have good small houses on the market within what's affordable for you. My personal favorite Web sites for realtors are sibcycline.com and comey.com, both of which allow you to narrow your search by all sorts of criteria and show all brokers' listings without your needing to "subscribe."

I like minimizing the amount of time required to commute and run errands, and all of those places would work for me. But Northside would be the most fun area to go out for a good meal or some after-work drinks in, followed by Oakley. St Bernard and Norwood are more "family oriented," though there are some cool joints like the Quatman Cafe in Norwood. Winton Place (I, like most if not all Cincinnatians, are no way going to start calling it "Spring Grove Village") really doesn't offer much in the way of entertainment that you can walk around the corner to.

If I could change my gender and halve my age (lol) I'd rank Northside #1 out of the bunch. The part which lies east of Hamilton Ave - towards Spring Grove Cemetery - is a tad bit nicer, but the farther from Schwab Middle School the better.

[longshot3000]

I am a sales rep for a new home builder in Colerain Twp. According to Mapquest it would be a 17 min drive to UC. New homes starting in the 190's. Thanks!

[YoMikey617]

I wouldn't be eager to spend more than $100K in Norwood or StBernard.

Clifton is always a strong investment.
Northside will be the next Clifton and it probably has the highest flip-potential, but it changes street by street (as do many of the best neighborhoods).

[Onalark]

Having lived in what I was told was the "Nice" area of Norwood, I'd count it out. I don't think it's unsafe, but I've found it unpleasant. One of our neighbors is great - a local businessman with a wonderful family - and the other neighbor is loud, annoying, and possibly dealing drugs. I think that's what you get in Norwood - a mixed bag. Unfortunately, just a few bad apples like that can spoil the whole neighborhood.

[Mike Dunn]

Lots of great communites near the University. Consider Pleasant Ridge, Amberly, Kenwood, Clifton, Northside and College Hill too. Don't rule out Northern Kentucky either.