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I live in Hartwell and love the neighborhood--as if my screenname doesnt give that away already. I have lived here for almost 7 years now and love our old victorian and bringing her back to her origional beauty. It was a multi family when we bought it. I love my big yard and all the beautiful gardens around the neighborhood. The school district is Cincinnati Public and Hartwell School is K-8. The school is slated to begin a remodel this summer (as well as the Hartwell Recreation center across the street from the school). I love that I can pretty much get anywhere in the Cincinnati area rather quickly due to being just off the Galbraith exit off I-75 but also due to Cross County/Ronalg Regan highway and the Norwood lateral. There is a Hartwell web site that has more info Hartwell Oh, and did I mention I love my neighbors and feel very safe living here.
I work in Hartwell and it is a wonderful neighborhood. I love the houses there, Hartwell is filled with wonderful Victorian houses.
I do a lot of business in Hartwell and have never been scared there. I would guess that it has one of the lowest crime rates in the city. Hartwell is very centrally located, like Hartwellgirl said. Quick and easy access to I75 and Cross County Highway. You can get to anywhere in the city fairly quick from there.
I took a drive through yesterday (Friday), but only on one side of Hartwell. I drove through the part of Hartwell that has a street called Avalon. I have mixed feelings about that side of the neighborhood, although I did see a good handful of homes that had quite a bit of yester-year, charming character
I would like to drive through the other side of the Hartwell on the other side of Galbraith Rd. (same side as Hartwell School) tomorrow.
Thanks for sharing,
Cincynurse
Quote:
Originally Posted by nightrider127
I work in Hartwell and it is a wonderful neighborhood. I love the houses there, Hartwell is filled with wonderful Victorian houses.
I do a lot of business in Hartwell and have never been scared there. I would guess that it has one of the lowest crime rates in the city. Hartwell is very centrally located, like Hartwellgirl said. Quick and easy access to I75 and Cross County Highway. You can get to anywhere in the city fairly quick from there.
Really? Mixed fillings about the Avalon side, that is actually the side houses seem to sell more quickly. That is the side with Parkway Circle and some of the earliest homes on Parkway & Kearney. On the other side of Galbraith is the old streets where the town hall used to be and the jail and firehouse...along with an Opera house on great streets like Curzon & Wiswell. But there are many grand victorians which are very well preservered all over our neighborhood with large lots and big mature trees. The smaller houses are from what I have been told the old homes where railroad workers lived. Hartwell was built by offering a year train pass to anyone who built a home in Hartwell and the name Hartwell came from the old vice president of the CH&D railroad John Wesley Hartwell.
As for the current Hartwell, the community is very diverse and has a great neighborhood school. We are in Dist 4 of the Cincy police and the fire station closest to us is in Carthage less than 3 minutes away. Hartwell has many old churches, the Methodist & Presbyr. on the circle, a Korean Presbytrian, and 4 baptists churches. We have our own recreation center which is getting a remodel/large addition this fall and provides b4 and after school care for the children who attend Hartwell elementary across the street. The Hartwell k-8 school is a great school. The remodel for that begins in August and once back in school, the children will enjoy top notch technology and the school will be a uniform only school. Many families also send their children to St. James of the Valley Catholic school down the street in Wyoming.
As for the location...its great. We still have our own neighborhood Kroger store and the business district is getting a study done to find out what new businesses can be substainable in our area. What many people dont know is that Vine street is actually Hartwells border...one side of Vine is Hartwell (the side with the school) and the other side is actually Springfield Twp.
Hope that answers some more questions. I do encourage you to look elsewhere than the realtors when trying to find a house in Hartwell. I know a lot of people who wont put their house on the market right now. Craigslist has a few but those are some fixer upers...but that is exactly what we bought and we love transforming it back and making it ours.
As for location...that selling point speaks for itself
Last edited by Hartwell Girl; 05-18-2008 at 08:10 AM..
You don't have to go with a big ol' Victorian either, since the streets off Vine and Galbraith to the north of that intersection are crammed full of well-kept 1 1/2 and 2-story houses. Most of them date back to pre-WWII. Hartwell Girl's territory also has a mix of home styles - a good many more modest dwellings are tucked in among the "Painted Ladies." DeCamp Ave, in the southeastern part of the community near the fairgrounds, has some bungalow-style houses that are on the market for insanely low prices. But that immediate neighborhood has suffered from the opening of the relocated Ohio 126 (better known as the Cross-County Highway to us old-timers but officially called the Reagan Highway.) Sound barrier or no, who wants an expressway bumped up against their back yard?
From personal observation and instinct, my advice would be to tread carefully in the section bordered by the city of Lockland to the north, Anthony Wayne Ave to the east, Woodbine Ave (along RR tracks) to the west, and Galbraith Rd to the south. The massive old factories in Lockland which were the economic engine for that town and eastern Hartwell are a thing of the past. Many of the houses which haven't been torched or demolished are either rundown or at best shabby looking. Apartment buildings that were put up during the 1960's and '70s to either replace deteriorated housing or that destroyed by the tornado which tore through there in 1969 are mostly "not nice" today. This is "painting with a broad brush," though, since pockets of nicely maintained homes on quiet streets can be found in this quarter too.
I'm rooting for Hartwell as it strives to make a good thing better. The keys to its successful turnaround are how well the revamped school does and what ends up happening with the commercial district along Vine St. Beloved businesses such as the Vogue Cafe and Hug Jewelers help to counterbalance the presence of fast-food outlets and the noticeable lack of much else other than chain pharmacies. Once the long-empty former Hardee's (and before that, Burger Chef) at the important Compton/Sheehan/Vine intersection is sold and torn down we could see retail take off around there.
The "feel" of Hartwell is that of a relatively safe community, particularly for a city neighborhood. My aging parents, who live in the area just north of there, show no hesitation over making a Kroger run or a trip to the self-serve car wash on Vine at any hour. Note to a single woman, though: Hartwell does have its corner boys, always has; they now happen to be more likely Hispanic or AA than from White Appalachian families but their character is exactly the same. Get to know one and you're in good with them all, remain a stranger and the worst that'd probably happen is whistling and catcalls and comments if you're attractive. They mostly hang on corners, yes, along Galbraith or at the rec center's basketball court. If they posed an actual threat you'd see it reflected in crime stats, and those stats are quite low so there you go.
Really? Mixed fillings about the Avalon side, that is actually the side houses seem to sell more quickly. That is the side with Parkway Circle and some of the earliest homes on Parkway & Kearney. On the other side of Galbraith is the old streets where the town hall used to be and the jail and firehouse...along with an Opera house on great streets like Curzon & Wiswell. But there are many grand victorians which are very well preservered all over our neighborhood with large lots and big mature trees. The smaller houses are from what I have been told the old homes where railroad workers lived. Hartwell was built by offering a year train pass to anyone who built a home in Hartwell and the name Hartwell came from the old vice president of the CH&D railroad John Wesley Hartwell.
As for the current Hartwell, the community is very diverse and has a great neighborhood school. We are in Dist 4 of the Cincy police and the fire station closest to us is in Carthage less than 3 minutes away. Hartwell has many old churches, the Methodist & Presbyr. on the circle, a Korean Presbytrian, and 4 baptists churches. We have our own recreation center which is getting a remodel/large addition this fall and provides b4 and after school care for the children who attend Hartwell elementary across the street. The Hartwell k-8 school is a great school. The remodel for that begins in August and once back in school, the children will enjoy top notch technology and the school will be a uniform only school. Many families also send their children to St. James of the Valley Catholic school down the street in Wyoming.
As for the location...its great. We still have our own neighborhood Kroger store and the business district is getting a study done to find out what new businesses can be substainable in our area. What many people dont know is that Vine street is actually Hartwells border...one side of Vine is Hartwell (the side with the school) and the other side is actually Springfield Twp.
Hope that answers some more questions. I do encourage you to look elsewhere than the realtors when trying to find a house in Hartwell. I know a lot of people who wont put their house on the market right now. Craigslist has a few but those are some fixer upers...but that is exactly what we bought and we love transforming it back and making it ours.
As for location...that selling point speaks for itself
Hartwell Girl,
Thank you very much for sharing this - I can't believe you took time out of your day to explain this to lil ol me Well, because of your encouragement I did go back and take a pretty thorough tour in my car of the other side of Hartwell (behind Hartwell School). I really like the end of the neighborhood that leads into Wyoming. Speaking of Hartwell School, my mother-in-law is a retired school teacher (for two years now) and she actually taught at the school for her last years of teaching - at least 10 years I think (?). My 10 year old daughter (one of five : ) said she likes the neighborhood. I ended up on Anthony Wayne (?) on the Lockland side and that wasn't pleasant at all. Maybe the time of day had something to do with it - it was late afternoon and I guess many of the older children (teens) were just "chillin" on the street corners after school. On the other hand, as I drove through Wyoming the students walking home from school seemed to be walking as if on an exciting mission with things do, places to go, people to see....the contrast to the Lockland youngsters I saw was quite interesting. Hartwell at that time of day was just still, peaceful, and quiet as a mouse Younger children were happily playing at the beautifully placed neighborhood playground
Cincynurse, you are very welcome. I love to talk about this neighborhood! Anthony Wayne IS our problem street. It has gotten a lot of attention from our neighborhood council in the past few years and the property owners are feeling the pressure. Strict code enforcement on that street and direct patrols by the police seem to be doing the job. I know there is a sweep planned for that street again next week from City of Cin Buildings & Inspections and they address blight, litter, housing codes, tall grass, etc. Most of the properties on that street to the north are rental and that seems to be the biggest problem, landlords who are not maintaining their properties. I know you checked out Avalon but there is a house over there that ou can find on craigs list which is a GREAT DEAL right now. The owners bought one of the older victorians in the neighborhood and need to sell their other house and I think they are accepting a short sale. Its a cute place and worth checking out. It is not listed with any real estate companies (not that I could find). If you do find a house that you like, you are more than welcome to send me a message and I will let you know what I know about that street. Mostly, I would recommend all the streets but A. Wayne at this time.
The old Hardees (then Jimmys BBQ) on the corner of Vine & Compton now has a large banner outside saying "coming soon...Penn Station". The Vine Street Cooridor study for Hartwell begins this September too..it will be great to see the City finally getting a plan together for neighborhood friendly (and substainable) businesses for the neighborhood. So many exciting things for Hartwell.
Well...unless you're talking about the big train depot in NYC, Penn Station is a fast-food chain that sells sandwiches and subs. (Much like Subway; funny how these places are named suggesting rail transportation.) With Lee's Famous Recipe and Frisch's and Dragon Inn and Wendy's and Capri Pizza and Empress Chili, Hartwell soon can more than ever claim fame as being the take-out food Mecca for its entire area. At least there are far worse things to be a destination neighborhood for!
Kudos for finally landing a tenant for that building. It'd stood vacant way too long at that high-visibility street corner.
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