Looking for a diverse neighbourhood with good schools. (Cincinnati, Kent: appointed, sale)

[danielle2459]

I am from Yellow Springs and lived most of my life there. From the sound of it it is this would be a wonderful place for you and your family. It is very liberal so you'll have no problem there and for being such a small town it's very diverse. The entire community is multi-cultural and the school district has been awarded for "National School of Excellence!" I would highly recommend Yellow Springs for your family and you!
http://www.45387.org/

http://www.yellowsprings.com/

http://www.yellow-springs.k12.oh.us/

http://www.yso.com/


Btw, Dave Chappelle really love in yellow Springs!! Cheers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Chappelle

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=4698236

[kitnguye]

To piggyback Cincylifer, I'd also like to plug Sycamore Schools. We moved here from Savannah GA about 9 months ago, and diversity and school district were paramount in our decision making process. I'm Asian, husband is Af-American/caucasian biracial and we have three kids. We initially looked in Anderson Township (more house for the money) but were dismayed by the lack of diversity in the two weekend trips we spent house hunting. We also liked Wyoming, but it is awfully pricey. We settled in Montgomery and couldn't be happier. The school is very diverse and the academics are excellent. However, Montgomery isn't inexpensive either. I don't think it is as expensive as Wyoming, but it you definitely don't get as much square footage for the dollar amount as Anderson Township. However, not only are the schools excellent, but Montgomery has a strong sense of community, particularly for families interested in youth activities (soccer, swimming, etc). Good luck house hunting.

[underwaterchico]

Thanks again guys. You are really helping us with our decision. Right now Sycamore is on the top of our list. Does anyone have any info about Faifax, I found out that it is in the Mariemont school district which was rated as being excellent. Please be advised we are trying to spend under $175,000. What about areas up north like fairfield etc.

[kitnguye]

When we were househunting, we were looking in Anderson (dropped that quickly), Wyoming, Madeira, Mariemont and Sycamore. When I mentioned Fairfax to our realtor, she kind of gave a "Meh....." look. She implied that it was the worst elementary school in that district because it is the only one labeled "effective" and not "excellent". You can download data on individual schools at:

http://ilrc.ode.state.oh.us/

Fairfax's individual report card is:

http://www.ode.state.oh.us/reportcar...ILD/010959.pdf

When I did my research, I went to:

http://ilrc.ode.state.oh.us/Downloads.asp

and downloaded "School Rating Data". It's an Excel spreadsheet and it shows all schools in the entire state. I filtered out only the school districts I wanted and then sorted by test scores within each district and across all districts. I probably still have my spreadsheet saved on one of my computers and can dig it up if you want to PM me.

Re: Fairfield, I didn't look there either because 1) I didn't like their school numbers or 2) it wasn't a close commute to downtown for DH's work. I can't remember which, honestly. I think your biggest obstacle in some of the better school districts is the $175K budget. With Sycamore schools and that budget, Montgomery is very tough, Blue Ash a little easier, Symmes -- doable with some hard work.

Good luck! We are originally from Indianapolis, and housing is so much more reasonable there. We had to up our budget a couple times when we settled on Montgomery.

Kim

[kitnguye]

Oh, I also wanted to mention that the spreadsheet at:

http://ilrc.ode.state.oh.us/Downloads.asp

can also give a wealth of information about other school districts. When I initially began the process, I sorted by county so that I only got Hamilton. I then looked at all the "excellent" districts in Hamilton county. When I narrowed down which district I wanted, then I went to sibcycline.com - advanced search - and searched by school district.

Kim

[cincylifer]

Fairfax has very small houses, and you dont get a lot for your money...also, there was an article in the paper that they are thinking about closing Fairfax elementary due to decreasing enrollment...now that does mean the students would then go to Mariemont elementary, so you are still in the district....

I am not a realtor, but I would check Moderator cut: realtor website, because you can search for houses by school district. I am not sure how many bedrooms and etc, you are looking for, or if you are open to a condo. There are plenty of nice condos in sycamore school district for less than 175k, I just looked on the site myself..but if you are looking for a house in that price range, you probably wont get 2 baths, and Blue Ash will be your best bet, it is still in sycamore school district..

As far as fairfield is concerned....they have a had a TON of problems with regards to fighting school levies, and they had cut some of the busing last year..now that may be reinstated, I am not sure....and I dont know where you work, or have to drive, but if it is downtown, your commute will not be pleasant..You can probably go to cincinnati.com and do a search on Fairfield schools, and you will see a ton of articles about the levies.

[underwaterchico]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who responded.You have made the decision making process alot easier. I have used your advice and it looks like my choices may be limited to Blue Ash with my budget.Does anyone have info on blue ash? Are there any areas to stay away from in terms of crime etc...?

[cincylifer]

Crime is pretty non existent is Blue ash, Its a great neighborhood, with a nice community recreation facility......blueash.com, will give you some info also the front page of this website,not the forum area, and type in blue ash, and it will give you all of the pertinent stats, median income, etc....

[Nur Jemal]

Sorry, but I've gotta pitch living in Union KY / Florence once more. The Ryle school district (inside Boone county, KY) here is excellent! There are plenty of houses you can buy for $175,000 or less! We just bought our first house for $165,000! Yay! And the tax millage rate is only 12 mills! We're only 15 miles from downtown, and there is *no dangerous area anywhere near here.

I highly suggest you think about tax rates
Look up a house that's listed for sale in Blue Ash..then check out the property tax rates on http://www.hamiltoncountyauditor.org/realestate/ (broken link)

vs. a house listed in Florence or Union, KY for the same price at
https://www.boonepva.org/login.aspx

You will be able to afford less of a house in blue ash, and it will definitely be an older home with more things that will need to be repaired, whereas here in the Florence/Union area you can get a new home comparable to those being built in West Chester or Mason, but for less purchase price and less taxes!

When you say you can buy for 175K or less are you factoring in the taxes for a 175,000K house
in blue ash?

It will cost you $2,560.01 yearly for property taxes to live in Blue Ash if you buy a house for $175,000! That's $ 213.33/month extra! If you buy the same priced house here in Florence or Union, you'll only pay 2100 annually $175/month in taxes. It'll be an even lower $1575 annually if you live in non-city areas like Burlington/Boone-City, which is also a fantastic school district and booming with new homes in subdivisions like Oakbrook and Pebble Creek.You can't find a tax rate that low in or around Cincinnati and have this quality of life. There is more diversity here than anywhere else we could find in or around Cincinnati. All of the stereotypes about Kentuckians being racist etc. aren't true here, Northern KY, especially this area I'm speaking of around Florence and Union, is really not KY. Definitley if you drive down south past Crittenden then you're going to heavily experience the "Kentucky factor", but not here.

I invite you to come down here for one day and I will personally show you around! email me at rockinhejabi@yahoo.com

Good luck in whatever you decide!

[pommom]

I can't believe I only saw Lakota mentioned a couple of times in these posts! They have an EXCELLENT school district & the area is very diverse! We actually just moved to SC in the fall (because of husbands' job), & we really, really miss our home up there (which is still on the market). We lived in a small subdivision (38-40 homes) in West Chester, less than 2 miles (3-5 minutes) from I-75, 20-25 minutes straight shot to downtown Cincy. Our subdivision was quite diverse, several bi-racial families, over half minorities, and we all had great times together, ie: block parties, Christmas progressive dinner parties, Halloween parties & bbq's. The absolute best neighbors ever, don't think we'll ever be able to replace them. They still keep an eye on our home there (mowing, clearing newspapers in drive, going in turning out lights when the realtors leave them on, checking sump pump when they have a lot of rain, etc). Like I said, best neighbors ever, after 12 years there, it was really hard to leave them all, probalbly harder than leaving family!! You really should check out the West Chester area, it's growing by leaps & bounds (Ikea is scheduled to open there next spring), has just about everything you could want as far as shopping & dining, with more coming everyday!! Schools are great, every sport your children could wish to participate in, plus much, much more. Home prices vary, but you can easily find homes in your price range (ours actually is in that range!!). Please take a look at the area, I think you might be glad you did! Good Luck1