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Well said Cincy Rider. The reason I like Westwood more so than any of the eastside neighborhoods, is because of the park-like atmosphere you described among the subdivisions and sidestreets. Large parts of Westwood are beautiful. Incredibly huge trees, lots of green-space, etc... It does have a park-like feel to it.
You go to Oakley and places like that and everything feels extremely compact, at least to me. Everything seems on top of the other. You have congested traffic, limited green space, etc... We all have our preferences. Some may prefer the nightlife and bar scene of that side of town and others the tranquility of Westwood.
I don't really want to get pulled into a debate, but your comments make me feel compelled to respond....
Convince me to move to Westwood (Why? )
My fiancee and I are thinking about leaving the east side and moving west. I know this is unheard of in Cincinnati, but it's true.
Asinine.I guess you didn't get my tongue in cheek rebuke of those who say this never happens. I was hoping to avoid the whole boring east vs west debate.
We currently live in Oakley and love it. We love it for the fact that it's safe, walkable, tons of bars and restaurants, convenient to everyplace we want to go, and more. We have a small but cozy house on a gaslit street.
As mentioned in the post above, the area of Westwood bordering Cheviot is as walkable as what you described. I live in this neighborhood. Very tranquil, large houses on large lots, very wooded best described as "park-like". It's also the farthest from any riff-raff in the far south/east section of Ww. Houses are quite ornate and charming, if not the exquisite, grand homes abundant in other sections of Ww.
When I say walkable, I mean we walk to Kroger, the post office, library, restaurants, hardware stores, Aglamesis ice cream, you name it, it's within a comfortable walking distance. I didn't mean to imply you couldn't walk down a nice street.
What we don't like is that it has become horribly expensive to live there. Taxes are through the roof, and have gone up faster than our incomes can compensate for. This has us strongly considering moving.
What we've realized is that Westwood has beautiful homes, and we could sell our little Oakley tudor style home, and literally buy a 14 room mansion in Westwood with money left over.
Oh the irony...any 14 room mansion that you could afford isn't going to be in the prime areas of Ww. So you'd have to be in the dicey area to have such a house. Or if it's in a nice section will need some restoration=$$$ PLUS $$$ to heat/cool a "mansion"
No irony, look at the home for sale at 3427 Cheviot Rd. You couldn't touch this place in Oakley. Plus, taxes on this place would be double or more in Oakley, Hyde Park, or Clifton. I could pay for a lot of heating bills by paying half the taxes. Plus, 5 houses on my street have sold in the last 3 months for nearly $100,000 more than this nice Westwood house.
Owning a historically significant house is a strong desire of ours, but we simply can't afford Hyde Park, East Walnut Hills or Clifton. We like that Westwood has had some people really active in historic preservation, and want to be part of something like that.
Our problem with Westwood is that we can't get comfortable over there. We've walked the neighborhood in the day and night, and are just left feeling uneasy about things. Oakley definitely has its sketchy areas (omg someone actually said it, lol. Glad someone could take their blinders off), but nothing like what we see in Westwood. In walking around one of the houses we have been looking at in a "would be" historic district,
(It either is or it is not--don't see the point here)
We were told by locals that one area we had be looking at had been considered, but turned down because of infill mutli-family structures. By the way, please spare the attitude about sketchy areas in Oakley. You're making me think the westside has bigger snobs than the east.
we were alarmed by the fact that the next door neighbors had their yard completely lit up with riot lights (what is a "riot light", google had nothing but a rock band), and just a few doors down was a house apparently abandoned, and just a ton of run down looking apartments.
Riot lights are those large mercury vapor commercial lights. They had them mounted on trees in the back yard, and at least two or three along the side of the house. Wish I could remember the name of the street, but it was actually a rather nice and large house.
There is only one section that has a combination of abandoned homes + apartments. How you missed the other 85% of Westwood is pretty wild.
You might have been in East Westwood (yes, this is it's own Cincinnati neighborhood).
As I mentioned in an earlier post, most everything we looked at was bounded by Werk, Harrison, and Boudinot, although we did venture as far east as LaFeuille, and further west down Harrison toward Cheviot and Bridgetown (we wish Wassler's Meats was still at Findlay Market!)and drove around in the area behind the Methodist church (Epworth??)
We asked a local about places to hang out and eat and the SERIOUS response that we got was "hey, we got a new Chipotle!" That's the last thing we want, (+1 !) and other than Henke Winery, there doesn't seem to be any place to go in the area. (See above re: Cheviot) We're used to places like Habits, Allyn's, Oakley Pub and Grill, Arthur's, Dewey's, The Echo, RP McMurphy's, and on and on. (There are similar places on Harrison between Boudinot and say Robb, and on Glenmore. Sounds like the social/party thing is more important than the house thing.) No, but it sure is nice to be able to walk a couple of blocks to have a beer or grab dinner at a nice neighborhood place. I'm not sure how that makes us party people. We drove around on a Saturday night to see what was happening around the neighborhood and except for a few roving bands of unscrupulous looking youths, it was dead! Not what we're used to. You were in a sketchy section for sure. The truth is it's very common to people talking, walking their dogs, jogging, etc. at night.
Is Werk Road Sketchy? Is the area around the library sketchy? The business districts were basically dark and uninviting. In fact, other than what I mentioned above, we really didn't start seeing a whole lot of people and activity until we started heading back east down Harrison through Fairmount.
Westwood is around 4X larger than Oakley, alot more green space and trees, larger yards, not to mention it borders Mt. Airy Forest to the north/east. It's more spread out and less centralized.
Absolutely agree. That's one of the things we like about the neighborhood.
C'mon everybody, grab a whip!
Grow up. If we move to Westwood, we hope you're not our neighbor.
Well said Cincy Rider. The reason I like Westwood more so than any of the eastside neighborhoods, is because of the park-like atmosphere you described among the subdivisions and sidestreets. Large parts of Westwood are beautiful. Incredibly huge trees, lots of green-space, etc... It does have a park-like feel to it.
You go to Oakley and places like that and everything feels extremely compact, at least to me. Everything seems on top of the other. You have congested traffic, limited green space, etc... We all have our preferences. Some may prefer the nightlife and bar scene of that side of town and others the tranquility of Westwood.
Mostly agree with you about the greenspace, trees etc, but we thought the traffic felt much heavier in Westwood. Everything seemed like a through street with a lot of cars...Boudinot, Harrison, Werk, Ferguson, Montana, LaFeuille, etc. It felt a lot more congested than streets like Paxton (which I used to live on) Erie, Delta, Observatory, even Madison. Edwards and Ridge get pretty bad because they are easy in and out on I-71. Madison may compare favorably to Harrison because it's mostly a wider road.
And again, appreciating a collection of nice establishments to sit and have a beer and burger or nice dinner on a patio does not make us party people.
Mostly agree with you about the greenspace, trees etc, but we thought the traffic felt much heavier in Westwood. Everything seemed like a through street with a lot of cars...Boudinot, Harrison, Werk, Ferguson, Montana, LaFeuille, etc. It felt a lot more congested than streets like Paxton (which I used to live on) Erie, Delta, Observatory, even Madison. Edwards and Ridge get pretty bad because they are easy in and out on I-71. Madison may compare favorably to Harrison because it's mostly a wider road.
And again, appreciating a collection of nice establishments to sit and have a beer and burger or nice dinner on a patio does not make us party people.
I grew up in Oakley and live in Madisonville now. I don't know a whole lot about the ins and outs of Westwood, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more walkable area than Oakley. There's a crazy amount of places to go for a beer, dinner, or both. Oakley Pub, Habits, Hyde Park Tavern, The Oak, Animations...
And thats just the list of pub places for dinner and beer. The library is great, I like that Red Tree coffee shop, Hyde Park Plaza has the Kroger, Ace Hardware, more more more...
I miss being able to walk 15 mins, more like 30 now, so now I just ride my bike to those places if I need to be timely.
I grew up in Oakley and live in Madisonville now. I don't know a whole lot about the ins and outs of Westwood, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more walkable area than Oakley. There's a crazy amount of places to go for a beer, dinner, or both. Oakley Pub, Habits, Hyde Park Tavern, The Oak, Animations...
And thats just the list of pub places for dinner and beer. The library is great, I like that Red Tree coffee shop, Hyde Park Plaza has the Kroger, Ace Hardware, more more more...
I miss being able to walk 15 mins, more like 30 now, so now I just ride my bike to those places if I need to be timely.
Oakley even more than Hyde Park, I must admit, is a walkable little town. The best local store, Fresh Market, the best hardware, Loesche's, and the best car repair, Schirmer's, best pizza, Dewey's, best food, from Fatburger to Boca. All around a little square. How many friendly bars are there in Oakley that I'd be willing to walk into at Midnight on Friday? I can't even count them all. The housing stock in Oakley is marginal, but the lifestyle is as good as it gets.
I don't really want to get pulled into a debate, but your comments make me feel compelled to respond....
Sorry, I missed the tongue-in-cheek "rebuke", it's all too easy to mistake the tone intended on a message board.
I get it on walking. The point is that there are decent places within a few blocks. Not walking to Kroger's though, I try to get groceries for the week, so that's out. Skin's Place, 2nd Street Saloon, Roswell's, Fogarty's, Westsider, Smokin' Monkey, Black Sheep Bar & Grill, Rooties, Maury's Tiny Cove, Santorini, Imperial, Vitor's Bistro, Stone's, etc. are all within a few blocks. Graeter's, LaRosa's, and Krogers on the south side. You also have just about anything you could want on Glenway.
Interesting what 'restoration consultant' posted, the businesses will follow as the demand increases (more folks like you move in)--not the reverse. The "Westwood Business District" leaves a lot to be desired...the store fronts on Montana & Harrison could be so much more, they are in desperate need of a pioneering shop or two to anchor it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by t45209
No irony, look at the home for sale at 3427 Cheviot Rd. You couldn't touch this place in Oakley. Plus, taxes on this place would be double or more in Oakley, Hyde Park, or Clifton. I could pay for a lot of heating bills by paying half the taxes.
Nice house, not close to 14 rooms but looks like a steal. Go for it, that also puts you into a more walkable section.
Quote:
Originally Posted by t45209
...please spare the attitude about sketchy areas in Oakley. You're making me think the westside has bigger snobs than the east.
Just pointed out that Oakley isn't all Pleasantville like some think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by t45209
As I mentioned in an earlier post, most everything we looked at was bounded by Werk, Harrison, and Boudinot, although we did venture as far east as LaFeuille, and further west down Harrison toward Cheviot and Bridgetown (we wish Wassler's Meats was still at Findlay Market!)and drove around in the area behind the Methodist church (Epworth??)
Is Werk Road Sketchy? Is the area around the library sketchy? The business districts were basically dark and uninviting. In fact, other than what I mentioned above, we really didn't start seeing a whole lot of people and activity until we started heading back east down Harrison through Fairmount.
C'mon everybody, grab a whip!
Grow up. If we move to Westwood, we hope you're not our neighbor.
Wassler's is great. Probably was Epworth north of Harrison. Epworth is amazing closer to Mercy HS. Werk can be sketchy where close to the "brick box" apartments, IMO.
The area around the library is decent for my standards.
Lastly, I try a lot harder to be a real, good neighbor than a good keyboard commando.
How many friendly bars are there in Oakley that I'd be willing to walk into at Midnight on Friday? I can't even count them all. The housing stock in Oakley is marginal, but the lifestyle is as good as it gets.
Man, that does sound great. There are no bars or streets I'd be afraid to walk to @ midnight in Westwood. The two neighborhoods were just settled and evolved from different purposes.
Cheviot is an eminently walkable neighborhood, with probably more goods and services available in its retail core than Oakley. There's plenty of additional retail within easy driving distance. But Cheviot has a very different feel from Oakley. For example, if you like Habits, there's a high probability you won't like Skin's Pub at all. I have zero interest in getting into a snarky conversation about east side vs. west side, but the fact is that this stereotype, like most stereotypes, has a basis in fact. The more I read of the OP's posts, the more convinced I become that the move they're considering would not be a good one for them. To find a home with lower property tax vaule, better to look in one of the gentrifying parts of Madisonville, which is still an easy drive to the neighborhoods where they feel comfortable.
Cheviot is an eminently walkable neighborhood, with probably more goods and services available in its retail core than Oakley.
Hehe. You do know that on the west end of Oakley is Rookwood Commons, on the East end is the Sams, Meijer complex, the southern boarder of Oakley is Hyde Park Plaza and 1000 feet to the north is Highland Plaza. Then, Oakley has Madison Road running down the middle of it with about 150 businesses.
I've been to Cheviot, my in laws live there. They come over to Rookwood Commons to shop.
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