Tell me what you know about Hartwell : )

[Serendipity34]

If you notice the poster is from Cambridge Massachusetts and must have outdated information. I have lived in Hartwell for over 10 years and Curzon is one of the nicest streets in Hartwell. As for crime, that's ridiculous, Hartwell is the safest community in District 4, I attend the local meetings with Hartwell board monthly and our neighborhood officer, Jodi Edwards, relays this everytime.

In addition, several years ago the streets of Curzon and Wiswell, with help from residents from Anthony Wayne, started a Blockwatch/Neighborhood watch program not only for their streets but also for the whole community and have driven down the crime that mainly increased from the bad economy, as in many places. I know Curzon and Wiswell are active Blockwatch streets with several other streets following suit.

Curzon is only a block from Wyoming, the street that borders it, Millsdale, is where the divide between Wyoming and Hartwell lay. As for that area bordering Lockland, there isn't much going on over there as you can see it's just a construction company for a mile down Anthony Wayne until Wyoming Avenue.

Comparing Anthony Wayne to Curzon is ridiculous, it's a larger street that borders the community like Galbraith and the residential neighborhood is safely tucked inside those streets.

In addition, the neighbors are very close over there and the annual community block party used to be hosted by that street, years ago before it was moved to a central location.

Bottom line, no area of Hartwell is particularly better than the other although just like the Westside/Eastside debate, it's funny residents do the same thing about their quadrants.

[Serendipity34]

Hartwell mainly suffers and benefits from being relatively unknown. It's basically a quiet, residential community central to everywhere in Cincinnati. It's not as known as East side areas like Pleasant Ridge but homes are larger and it's far from the West side.

True there are train tracks in that sector but you get used to the sound of the trains. The same train tracks go through Wyoming! And there is none of the traffic problems like on the East Side in Hyde Park and Norwood, to me that's much worse.

I was raised in the suburbs of West Chester and moved to Clifton for school (I also graduated from UC). I didn't want to return to the suburbs, when I got married I wanted to be in a quieter community with diversity and a home that was not cookie cutter. And the access is great, you can be everywhere inside 275 in 15-20 minutes.

I would buy again for sure here. It is definitely different living in the outer rim of the City verses living in a bubble in the suburbs. Like I lock my garage and house at night. I've never been a victim of crime but I stay vigilant, just like I did at UC. As for a comparison, it is much safer than Clifton (except of course the Gaslight district). And I really love my surrounding neighbors, we have game night with some of them, others have watched my pets, and it's a tight knit community. About half of the people are young professionals, married with or without children. The other half grew up here, and their families have lived here for generations. The people keep to themselves and the older folks mainly worry about grass cutting and beautification projects.

As for schools, Hartwell Elementary was recently remodeled and it is Cincinnati Public. The teachers are great but there is open enrollment in CPS and Lockland also has open enrollment and some parents send there kids there for high school instead. There are a lot of wonderful private schools nearby that many send their kids to as well.

Before writing off the neighborhood, talk to residents on that street, NOT people who don't live there anymore or never did

[goyguy]

Haters gonna hate.

[Kahooli]

Thanks for both of your replies! I really do appreciate the information.

Do you mind mentioning where in Hartwell you live? I work in West Chester and have no desire to live that far out. Hartwell and Reading were high on the list for close access to everything.

I've been through the area about four times now just trying to get a read on it. The southern end with the circle and churches has the highest crime according to stats sites.

I like that I would have grocery and a rec center nearby. Not all areas really have that. I don't want to be required to get in my car to do anything. If I want to jog and get a coffee on Sunday I don't want to have get in my car to do it! If my job wasn't out in the burbs I'd probably start taking the bus.

[Serendipity34]

I live in that Curzon/Wiswell/Woodbine/Millsdale sector so I can speak for it to be honest. The notion that it is a bad sector is outdated. You can see from the first posts in the first pages some people preferred this side of Hartwell when they were looking at homes years ago. The side with the circle has a high concentration of beautiful churches, some of which have had problems with minor property theft (air conditioning, copper). That side of Hartwell borders Carthage instead of Wyoming and Lockland, but as I said before, it's a small neighborhood and a tight knit community so together people all through the neighborhood keep an eye out for trouble on both sides of Galbraith. We do not have a security system as we have always felt safe. We use common sense and don't go walking alone at 2am down Vine Street. Again, this is the City, but it feels to us like "the City suburbs," it has a unique combo of an urban and suburban feel being the furthest from the City center and residential but still an urban area. But my opinion aside, here's the truth, we are the 7th safest neighborhood in Cincinnati out of 52. Below is the link which also links to the reference for this and database.

//www.city-data.com/forum/cinci...hborhoods.html

There is a wonderful coffee and breakfast shop called Half Day Cafe, along with a butcher, Italian restaurant, pastry shop (where you can also grab coffee), drycleaners, gas stations, CVS, the Wyoming Library, fast food, and a little boutique deli and fresh produce market (Country Fresh Market) all within walking distance from my sector closest to Wyoming and Lockland, among other things. Lots of dog owners who walk their dogs and many joggers enjoy going up to Burns. In the Spring Hartwell streets are really beautiful and lined with flowering purple and white trees. Anthony Wayne is on the bus line I believe.

If you are expecting an active nightlife within walking distance, you may want to look in areas like Oakley instead. However, husband and I are young and we just drive 10-20 minutes to be virtually anywhere for entertainment from Reds games to bars to the movies to clubs. I mean the access to the City and suburbs with our location couldn't be better honestly, we go to Hyde Park, downtown, Covington, West Chester, Kenwood and Blue Ash all the time and those communities are less than 20 minutes away by car.

Hartwell has several festival type events such as Light Up Hartwell, which is a Christmas celebration, and an annual picnic, many church events, and event center activities with a pool. Wyoming has a lot of cute little festivals, community events, and a weekly farmers market.

It is a mixture of white collar professionals and blue collar hardworking folks, families and retirees, mainly homeowners and some long term renters. A few single people too of course but it's a quiet residential neighborhood without a big nightlife or traffic. A hidden gem still relatively unknown by many people in Cincinnati but you can't beat the value when considering the accessibility, house for the money, and relative low crime and safety for being in the City.

[Serendipity34]

I hope that helps. Reading is ok, they have their own police as does Arlington Heights, as does Wyoming. Yet the areas of Arlington Heights and Reading, in my humble opinion, have not done as well historically for return on investment BUT this is just an opinion. You should look into those threads for more info on those areas.

[Zinzinnati82]

I live in Hartwell and I have for many years now. I enjoy living here and was originally attracted to the area for its convenient access and friendly neighbors. Does Hartwell have problems? Does Hartwell have crime, sure does? Every community has problems, but I think it is how the residents deal with them that is what determines the feel of the community. Hartwell residents care for each other and the community. Here an example about Hartwell caring, a few months after moving into the neighborhood, our dog escaped through a hole in the fence, snagging its collar on the fence on the way out. An hour later a neighbor we had never met before from 2 streets away stopped by and asked if our dog was missing. They had seen me walking the dog before and thought they would check to see if it was our dog before taking it to the shelter.
The access is great, I work downtown and I can take me-75, I-71 or surface streets to work in the morning and it takes between 15-30 minutes. With the three options with similar drive times accidents or slow areas are easy to bypass.

[Marathon28]

I like living in Hartwell, I think it is a good place to live with nice neighbors and I am close to everything here. I agree with Serendipity and Zinzinnati, who say they currently live here. The poster "goyguy" doesn't even live anywhere near here and never has lived here. I think he should post on his own town, he doesn't know what he is talking about. I don't even know why he is spending his time on a Hartwell site, he doesn't seem to have enough to do in his life. He should stop hiding behind his computer and find something more positive to do in my opinion.

If you are thinking of moving to Hartwell talk to the people who live on the street. People take pride in this community and look out for one another. My family has lived here for four generations and we have stayed for the many reasons already written about.