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I would not exclude Oakwood from your list, unless you want a new house. No offense to the Centerville, Beavercreek or Springboro folks on this board, but Oakwood is a unique community. The others are like suburban communities in any city -- great places to raise a family and live, but you could easily be in Cincinnati or probably even Salt Lake City.
Oakwood has a real sense of community, some of the best schools in the state, walkability, and, as someone else said, excellent city services.
Two other things:
Be sure to visit older Ryan neighborhoods (built 5-10 years ago) before buying a new Ryan home. We looked at a resale house in a Ryan built neighborhood and thought the neighborhood was 15 or so years old -- it was actually 5 years old. Not the highest quality construction, and not the best designs.
We love bakeries too. I think Boosalis Bakery is the overall best in the area, especially the croissants. Dorothy Lane Market has very good specialty desserts (cakes, individual desserts, gooey brownies and lemon bars) but tends to be a bit sweet. At the downtown farmers market on Saturday, there is a commercial baker that sells his bread to the public (normally just sells to higher-end restaurants) -- I think the name is Rahn Bakery or someone similar, but he bakes the absolute best bread in the area. There are a few good donut shops, but I am partial to hot Krispy Kremes. Ashely's bakery in Oakwood is pretty good too, but experience and not the best in any one area. There also is a local pie shop (Mehaffies on Linden Rd) that sells every type of pie you can imagine -- not the best, but good enough when you really want a fresh coconut cream or peach pie.
I would not exclude Oakwood from your list, unless you want a new house. No offense to the Centerville, Beavercreek or Springboro folks on this board, but Oakwood is a unique community. The others are like suburban communities in any city -- great places to raise a family and live, but you could easily be in Cincinnati or probably even Salt Lake City.
Oakwood has a real sense of community, some of the best schools in the state, walkability, and, as someone else said, excellent city services.
Two other things:
Be sure to visit older Ryan neighborhoods (built 5-10 years ago) before buying a new Ryan home. We looked at a resale house in a Ryan built neighborhood and thought the neighborhood was 15 or so years old -- it was actually 5 years old. Not the highest quality construction, and not the best designs.
We love bakeries too. I think Boosalis Bakery is the overall best in the area, especially the croissants. Dorothy Lane Market has very good specialty desserts (cakes, individual desserts, gooey brownies and lemon bars) but tends to be a bit sweet. At the downtown farmers market on Saturday, there is a commercial baker that sells his bread to the public (normally just sells to higher-end restaurants) -- I think the name is Rahn Bakery or someone similar, but he bakes the absolute best bread in the area. There are a few good donut shops, but I am partial to hot Krispy Kremes. Ashely's bakery in Oakwood is pretty good too, but experience and not the best in any one area. There also is a local pie shop (Mehaffies on Linden Rd) that sells every type of pie you can imagine -- not the best, but good enough when you really want a fresh coconut cream or peach pie.
We love living in Washington Twp. but dayton_ohio makes a very good case for Oakwood. As much as we'd love to live in Oakwood, there just wouldn't have been enough money left over for our "fun budget" if we'd bought there. The commute, as wrightflyer noted, would be about 15-20 minutes, but you'd be taking a major four-lane state route most of the way and against the normal commute pattern.
We must warn you that the bulk of Ohio's school funding comes from property taxes. The courts long ago ruled that illegal. But there has been no effort to change, so property tax levies are a necessary evil here. Oakwood has the highest property taxes in the area. But most that live there feel they get excellent city services for their money.
Oakwood has the highest property taxes in the area. But most that live there feel they get excellent city services for their money.
Not trying to be picking hairs here, but I think Trotwood now has the highest property taxes out of all the areas in the Dayton metro. Oakwood is a close second though, so I guess the difference is minor. Still, thought that was interesting since Trotwood and Oakwood are much night and day different from each other in most people's minds.
I would not exclude Oakwood from your list, unless you want a new house. No offense to the Centerville, Beavercreek or Springboro folks on this board, but Oakwood is a unique community. The others are like suburban communities in any city -- great places to raise a family and live, but you could easily be in Cincinnati or probably even Salt Lake City.
Oakwood has a real sense of community, some of the best schools in the state, walkability, and, as someone else said, excellent city services.
Two other things:
Be sure to visit older Ryan neighborhoods (built 5-10 years ago) before buying a new Ryan home. We looked at a resale house in a Ryan built neighborhood and thought the neighborhood was 15 or so years old -- it was actually 5 years old. Not the highest quality construction, and not the best designs.
I agree 100% with this post. We would have moved to Oakwood too if we could have afforded it. My parents again recently thought about it, but with my brother and I out of high school, the taxes didn't make sense. Still, I'd think it would be worth it, but I don't get that final say.
If you couldn't tell, I'd move to Oakwood in a heart beat. Not that I don't like where I'm living or grew up, it just would be something different. I'm a sucker usually for older pre-WWII homes (or modernist 1950's-70's ones that can sometimes be found Yellow Springs). What holds me back right now is costs.
I also agree with the Ryan homes comment. While the homes are decent sizes for the money, quality can be spotty at times. My parents live in a neighborhood that spans almost 20 years now with many local and national builders who have come and gone. Ryan was one of them. While they built with a local builder, many of their neighbors are in Ryan homes and some were really upset when drywall went awry and rampant leaking occured around windows and in basements. Even with the local builders though, it seems they don't care less you paid over 500K for your house. They had leaking problems in a back bay and around some front windows, and some basement leaking (no flooding, thank goodness). Little was done by the builder and many of these problems occured after the warrenty ended. Sad thing is our house is only 12 years old. Still, with proper upkeep, homes can still look nice. I think my parents' biggest problem is neighborhood yards not getting treated (they like green, cut lawns).
Still, with older homes, at least get a thorough inspection to make sure the home is still in good condition. Most Oakwood homes are, but better to be on the safe side than close and find a major problem. You just never know when buying a home, new or old.
Be sure to visit older Ryan neighborhoods (built 5-10 years ago) before buying a new Ryan home. We looked at a resale house in a Ryan built neighborhood and thought the neighborhood was 15 or so years old -- it was actually 5 years old. Not the highest quality construction, and not the best designs.
I'm going to third this - while I don't own a newer Ryan home myself, I have friends who do and have seen/heard enough horror stories that I'll never buy anything from them. Things like giant cracks developing in the foundation of a new home under construction that were never fixed properly, etc.
Yes, I know other people who have had good luck with them but I'd prefer to not have to worry about that when I'm spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on something.
Wow! Thanks for the honesty. When we originally started looking at places in Dayton, Oakwood was first on our list. In Salt Lake City, there is an area comparable to Oakwood called Harvard and Yale. (All older charming homes, well kept, tree lined streets, nice parks...) If we were staying, we would eventually move into this area. But, as with Oakwood home prices are out of our range currently. So, we'll still drive through Oakwood and maybe even find something in our range...maybe.
As for the new developments...what was intriguing about the Dayton area, (Centerville, Bellbrook and Beavercreek), was these areas seemed to be a mix of older and newer homes. Here in Salt Lake, they started building homes way out west, so you only have new developments stacked on top of new developments, surrounded by big box stores and the like. Traffic is also horrible commuting into the city. Not my cup of tea.
But it seemed like if you choose to build in C-ville, Bellbrook or B-Creak you still have a good mix (old and new) of homes, local shops, parks, restaurants etc. Or at least if you're in the burbs you're still close to the Urban parts. No?
As for the Ryan Homes, we'll definitely check out the older developments first. Probably won't go with them after reading the rants here. Any recs. for good, reputable builders in those areas?
But it seemed like if you choose to build in C-ville, Bellbrook or B-Creak you still have a good mix (old and new) of homes, local shops, parks, restaurants etc. Or at least if you're in the burbs you're still close to the Urban parts. No?
As for the Ryan Homes, we'll definitely check out the older developments first. Probably won't go with them after reading the rants here. Any recs. for good, reputable builders in those areas?
Thanks!!
What you say is true. Much of the suburbs you mentioned have newer and older developments next to each other. It's more new developments on the fringes of town. For Bellbrook, that would be Kables Mills north of town. On a side note, Bellbrook/Sugarcreek heavily controls the types of developments around town to keep densities low. For B-creek, it usually is out in the township east of town, especially around Beaver Valley and New Germany-Trebein Rds. C-ville has concentrations of new developments south and southwest of the traditional town center.
Now, as you pointed out, this doesn't mean there is in-fill developments surrounded by older ones. There are a few places that come to my mind in B-creek, I can send you a PM if you want more info.
One local builders I think people like includes Gold Key Homes (building in Centerville/Washington Twp & Bellbrook/Sugarcreek Twp). Another local builder in Beavercreek include Huddleston Homes.
If you don't need to build a new home, there are plenty of homes under 5 yrs of age that where built by local/regional builders. Again, there are older Gold Key developments in Beavercreek, Centerville, and Bellbrook. Another development that was completed during the housing boom is Autumn Springs off Shakertown Rd in Beavercreek. Backs to Valley Elementary and connects with older neighborhoods. Most homes where built by local builders or Inverness (a regional builder). The homes appear to be aging pretty well.
One last question, and this is to anyone. What does everyone think of Inverness Homes? They built a lot of homes in the last 5-10 years in B-creek. Is the fact I never here anything about them a good thing? To the OP, you could look into their developments as well.
Oh, another piece of advice. Try to hire your own inspector instead of using the realtor's or builder's. Not that they are trying to make a quick buck on you, but sometimes they are. I'm sure people here could give you recs on that front.
But it seemed like if you choose to build in C-ville, Bellbrook or B-Creak you still have a good mix (old and new) of homes, local shops, parks, restaurants etc. Or at least if you're in the burbs you're still close to the Urban parts. No?
From most of the South Suburbs (Centerville, Washington Twp. Bellbrook and parts of Kettering, it's about 20 minutes or so to downtown Dayton. About 45 minutes to downtown Cincinnati (barring bad traffic and/or accidents).
I-75 has two major construction areas around Dayton; the redo of the OH 4/I-75 junction; otherwise known as "Malfunction Junction" to U.S. 35, which is downtown and the addition of ramps at the West Carrollton Exit. (Between OH 725; Exit 44 and Dryden Road; Exit 50A)
We have lived in Oakwood for a year (and our budget was far lower than yours, we bought 4bdr 2baths under 200k) and LOVE it. The kids walk to school and the schools are excellent. The community center is awesome and so are the parks (Orchardly Park has a "splash pad" that is very nice for smaller kids, there are basketball and tennis courts for the older kids. And we're getting a dog park soon too) people walk everywhere and are friendly. The "downtown" corridor is nice with cute specialty shops and Dorothy Lane Market is very nice to shop at. Ashley's bakery, which is in another stretch of cute shops near the city buildings, is my bakery addict husband's favorite place to stop in for a treat.
The homes are older so updating and upkeep will take time and money yearly, but the character and diversity of the homes is preferrable, to my mind, to the cloned McMansions of the newer 'burbs. Plus you get mature trees! There is a new development too, not sure where they are in the process but they do have a model home up Pointe Oakwood at Sugar Camp (http://www.versantgroup.com/PointeOakwood.html - broken link)
Centerville is another place we looked before choosing Oakwood. Again, a quaint "old town" feeling in the older sections but there are McMansion developments too.
We were just drawn to the schools in Oakwood. I don't know that there are better in the area. I understand that people think the taxes are high here (coming from MPLS St Paul my husband and I find that amusing because by comparison they are quite moderate) but the city services are amazing. They clear the sidewalks, pick up your trash from your back yard with little carts, take away brush monthly, and maintain the public/common areas better than any other place I have been.
Good luck with your search
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