Ideal neighborhood for the formerly hip familiy (Cincinnati, Dayton: crime, houses)

[reluctantsuburbanite]

Hi all!

My family has recently moved to the Dayton area and I'm looking for "our" part of town. We moved here from Cincinnati because my fiance got a job at Wright Patt, bought a house in Springboro for good schools and proximity to family, aren't crazy about the area, but are looking to make the best of it. We won't be buying another home for at least a few years, but I want to start learning about the area and at least exploring our options and finding some cool places to hang out in the meantime.

Background on former neighborhood: we have a 2-year-old now, but until she was born, we lived in the super-hip Northside in Cincinnati, just north of downtown. We moved when we couldn't afford a bigger place when our daughter was born. I grew up in the suburbs and I hated it. Honestly still do. I either want to be in the city or in the country. Before we moved here, we were looking for homes in the Madeira/Mariemont/Newtown areas in Cincinnati, if anyone is familiar with those neighborhoods.

We like older, walkable neighborhoods, diversity (I have never been somewhere as white as Springboro, Ohio), dog-friendliness, and respectable but down-to-earth people. I guess we are looking for a happy medium where it is a little more grown-up than the hipster neighborhoods but a little more laid-back than somewhere like Oakwood (which I've heard is kinda old and conservative, but we love the homes.. not so much the property taxes). We're into local restaurants and diners, REAL coffee shops, breweries/pubs, front porches, gardening, and ideally other like-minded families with kiddos. We're liberal. We have a Prius. But we've also spent our entire lives in Ohio, so we aren't radical or incapable of fitting in somewhere that isn't just like us.

My main problem is that I love old houses with a lot of character and I can't find ANY around us (Centerville, Springboro, etc.) It's all 1970's ranches and bi/tri-levels. But all of the cool houses are in areas with really bad public schools. How do families in Dayton Public Schools district navigate that? There is a magnet/lottery system in Cincinnati, but I have no idea how it works here.

If any of this sounds cohesive enough to warrant any association with a particular neighborhood, any help is greatly appreciated!

-L

[wrightflyer]

Beyond the property taxes you pointed out, I think Oakwood deserves another look. It might still have the stigma of old-money pretentiousness, but Oakwood, especially the cheaper east of Far Hills (that is OH-48) section, can have what you need. If anyone is pretentious in Oakwood anymore, it may be the soccer moms going around saying they live in Oakwood. While there is some truth to that, it isn't as bad as everyone thinks. A number of University of Dayton professors live there, and the closer to Brown Street you are, the more progressive I would imagine it to be. But yes, those taxes, property and income together, can be a tough nut to chew.

Dayton doesn't have close to the revitalization efforts in its urban neighborhoods as Cincinnati. But it has picked up in recent years. Downtown is seeing development. St. Anne's and South Park may be good options. And I always hear McPherson Town brought up a lot. But keep in mind, DPS does not have the save all Walnut Hills. So I would weigh sending your child to private school if you can. I'd recommend C-J HS (Catholic) as it is right downtown. The Miami Valley School is also good, but is in Washington Township and expensive. Either you pay the money for private schools or you buy in Oakwood and pay the taxes for a top public school.

As you have previously noted, much of the Dayton suburbs with good schools tend to be 1960's to Present Day ranches, two-story colonials, and bi/tri-levels. The only suburb that I would recommend you check out is Yellow Springs. Not sure why you chose Springboro, less you needed to be between Cincinnati and Wright-Patt, but YS is much closer to WPAFB than Springboro, but further from Cincinnati. Basically, get off the first Fairborn exit (20) and go right and drive until you hit the center of Yellow Springs at US-68 and points south. Trust me, you will like it. Is/Was a hippie haven, but is probably more granola crunch liberal now than anything.

[bigdipper80]

I think South Park would be a really good fit for you guys. Still a bit rough around the edges like parts of Northside, but it has a very strong sense of community, there are lots of families with a wide range of opinions, careers, and backgrounds, and people take pride in their house and their gardens. It's also home to Southpark Tavern, which is a great divey place, as well as Ghostlight Coffee, which is probably the best coffeehouse in Dayton.

St. Anne's Hill is very similar to South Park, and it's home to Fifth Street Brewpub, and its homes are generally a bit more fixed up, but it lacks a bit of the "edge" that I feel South Park has.

The Oregon District is the main entertainment hub in the region, and there are some gorgeous homes, but you can get similar homes in South Park or St. Annes for a fraction of the price. It's hip and still relatively gritty (possibly even grittier than Northside, in both good ways and bad) and home to plenty of bars and restaurants.

You mentioned you were looking at places like Madeira or Mariemont - obviously the closest match would be Oakwood, as well as the "Hills and Dales" sections of Kettering. The areas centered around Southern Boulevard and Adirondack Trail are very similar to what you'll find in Oakwood, but being in Kettering tend to be a bit cheaper. Within the city limits, you might want to check out Grafton Hill and McPherson, although you don't often see a lot of listings in either of those neighborhoods. I used to live in Grafton Hill and loved how it was relatively peaceful and leafy but you can still see downtown from the neighborhood. I currently live in the Wright-Dunbar neighborhood, which is incredibly family friendly and very affordable, but I wouldn't call it as "hip" as any neighborhood east of the river. It's very quiet (we really only have two restaurants on the Third Street strip as of now) and crime is relatively low, but things get dicier if you cross the train tracks to the west.

You might also want to consider Yellow Springs, as Wrightflyer mentioned. It's pretty isolated relative to the rest of the metro, but I know a lot of folks who commute to the base from Yellow Springs, and it's a really great, tight-knit community. Probably the second-most liberal city in Ohio after Oberlin, with more of a hippie vibe than Oberlin tends to give off. Good food, good pizza, and good beer at Yellow Springs Brewery, and it has the Dayton region's best parks and bike trails.

[OHNot4Me]

All of these recommendations sound great...for three years. Live wherever you like.

However, once your kiddo reaches kindergarten age, run, I mean RUN, to a local suburb (or Oakwood) with the best schools you can possibly afford.

I'm sure that your child's education will be of paramount importance and will certainly take precedence over old houses.

[joe from dayton]

I would echo the South Park and St. Anne suggestions. Dayton residents who can afford it navigate the poor public schools by sending their kids to private schools.

The comments about Oakwood are out of touch with the present reality of Oakwood; the old money conservatives that built the reputation of the city have died off. Oakwood has a lot of young and politically diverse couples/families.

If you want quality public schools, look at Oakwood, Centerville and Kettering.