Bellbrook Ohio or brookville? Schools, neighborhoods ,rentals? Prices? (Dayton, Springfield: big house, theater)

[joe from dayton]

Between the two choices you posted, I would go with Bellbrook or Sugarcreek Township. Washington Township is near Centerville, so you will get C'ville schools while not living in the city itself. If you want the best local school, nice city parks, and a very walkable neighborhood, Oakwood is the way to go.

[Amandarthegreat]

Originally Posted by Crazymomma21

Yikes just mapquested and the commute is 45 mins, that's to far. We were looking 30 mins or less.

It's not that long--I live in Dayton proper and it doesn't even take me 45 minutes to get there. And that's taking the surface streets rather than 675--which is what the commuters use.

As for a realtor/buyer's agent, contact Tammy Murphy: (937) 838-0997 and tell her that Manda and Alex sent you. She's an excellent person to work with.

[SWOH]

Originally Posted by Crazymomma21

Cedarville didn't do very well on the 2014 report card :-/ maybe waynesville is a option as long as it's truly 35 mins and not 45... Any recommendations for a realtor up there who really knows all areas and won't bs me?

Really? Normally their schools (Cedar Cliff Local) have superior rankings. I wonder what's up?

I would take this year's school rankings with a grain of salt because the evaluation system is new. The former one judged schools based on a pass/fail of 27 metrics, and the new one accounts for more factors. I don't know all of its ins and outs, but my guess would be that Cedarville does not do as good of a job educating students with special needs like mentally handicapped, special ed, etc. I know my former district, which I graduated from a few years back, was of similar size to Cedarville and had the same issues because any of those students had their education "outsourced" to a special school ran by the county. And that leads to lots of points deducted on the score sheet. But regardless, Waynesville would probably be a better spot to look first since it would meet your needs very well and it's closer to all the shopping and commerce of the Cincinnati/Dayton metro.

Also, as far as big-box shopping goes, for Waynesville your closest Kroger/Walmart would likely be in Lebanon, and Target/Costco/Kohl's/Home Depot, etc. would be in Bellbrook. Closest mall would be tied between Dayton Mall and the Mall at Fairfield Commons by the base. For Cedarville, your closest Kroger/Walmart would be in Xenia, Target/Kohl's/etc. would be tied between the ones in Beavercreek and by Upper Valley Mall in Springfield, but you be closer to the Jeffersonville outlet mall (20 minutes) if that's something you like:
Tanger Outlets | Jeffersonville, OH | Directory


Amandarthegreat's suggestion would be a good choice for a realtor.


EDIT - here's some "performance indicators" for the schools. Again, my views on this ranking system are in this thread:
//www.city-data.com/forum/dayto...-rankings.html
So I'm not a fan. But here's the ones for your schools of interest:

Bellbrook: 108.6 of a possible 120.0
Bethel: 103.2 of a possible 120.0
Brookville: 104.4 of a possible 120.0
Cedar Cliff: 105.7 of a possible 120.0 (Cedarville)
Greenon: 101.1 of a possible 120.0 (Enon)
Miami East: 102.9 of a possible 120.0 (east of Troy/Tipp)
Tipp City: 105.5 of a possible 120.0
Valley View: 102.4 of a possible 120.0 (Germantown)
Wayne Local: 106.0 of a possible 120.0 (Waynesville)
Twin Valley: 98.6 of a possible 120.0 (West Alexandria)
Xenia Community: 93.3 of a possible 120.0 (Spring Valley)
Yellow Springs: 101.8 of a possible 120.0

Source: http://reportcard.education.ohio.gov...rictIRN=046235 for each district.

I bolded Greenon because I didn't realize their schools were that good. OP, it would be worth a look! Because it is very country and very close to the base and shopping in Beavercreek and Springfield.

[Crazymomma21]

Originally Posted by OHKID

Really? Normally their schools (Cedar Cliff Local) have superior rankings. I wonder what's up?

I would take this year's school rankings with a grain of salt because the evaluation system is new. The former one judged schools based on a pass/fail of 27 metrics, and the new one accounts for more factors. I don't know all of its ins and outs, but my guess would be that Cedarville does not do as good of a job educating students with special needs like mentally handicapped, special ed, etc. I know my former district, which I graduated from a few years back, was of similar size to Cedarville and had the same issues because any of those students had their education "outsourced" to a special school ran by the county. And that leads to lots of points deducted on the score sheet. But regardless, Waynesville would probably be a better spot to look first since it would meet your needs very well and it's closer to all the shopping and commerce of the Cincinnati/Dayton metro.

Also, as far as big-box shopping goes, for Waynesville your closest Kroger/Walmart would likely be in Lebanon, and Target/Costco/Kohl's/Home Depot, etc. would be in Bellbrook. Closest mall would be tied between Dayton Mall and the Mall at Fairfield Commons by the base. For Cedarville, your closest Kroger/Walmart would be in Xenia, Target/Kohl's/etc. would be tied between the ones in Beavercreek and by Upper Valley Mall in Springfield, but you be closer to the Jeffersonville outlet mall (20 minutes) if that's something you like:
Tanger Outlets | Jeffersonville, OH | Directory


Amandarthegreat's suggestion would be a good choice for a realtor.


EDIT - here's some "performance indicators" for the schools. Again, my views on this ranking system are in this thread:
//www.city-data.com/forum/dayto...-rankings.html
So I'm not a fan. But here's the ones for your schools of interest:

Bellbrook: 108.6 of a possible 120.0
Bethel: 103.2 of a possible 120.0
Brookville: 104.4 of a possible 120.0
Cedar Cliff: 105.7 of a possible 120.0 (Cedarville)
Greenon: 101.1 of a possible 120.0 (Enon)
Miami East: 102.9 of a possible 120.0 (east of Troy/Tipp)
Tipp City: 105.5 of a possible 120.0
Valley View: 102.4 of a possible 120.0 (Germantown)
Wayne Local: 106.0 of a possible 120.0 (Waynesville)
Twin Valley: 98.6 of a possible 120.0 (West Alexandria)
Xenia Community: 93.3 of a possible 120.0 (Spring Valley)
Yellow Springs: 101.8 of a possible 120.0

Source: Pages - District-Report for each district.

I bolded Greenon because I didn't realize their schools were that good. OP, it would be worth a look! Because it is very country and very close to the base and shopping in Beavercreek and Springfield.

Does brookville Cedarville or waynesville have a movie theater ? Or anything for kids to do? I've read a few things saying bellbrook is super snobby , is this true? I would like some land but most important is that school systems .. So if sacrifice the land for a better district .. I don't want suburbia but I don't want .. Remote farm island LOL.. Any od these a comfortable "in between"

[SWOH]

Originally Posted by Crazymomma21

Does brookville Cedarville or waynesville have a movie theater ? Or anything for kids to do? I've read a few things saying bellbrook is super snobby , is this true? I would like some land but most important is that school systems .. So if sacrifice the land for a better district .. I don't want suburbia but I don't want .. Remote farm island LOL.. Any od these a comfortable "in between"

I don't think any of them have a movie theater within a 15 minute drive, but there's a lot of other stuff to do.

Cedarville is in a university town, so there's a lot to do tied in with it. Added benefit it Cedarville is a very religious, very conservative university, so basically anything they offer is family friendly. Here's what there is to do in town from their page:
Life in Southwest Ohio | Undergraduate Admissions | Cedarville University, a Christian College
In particular this video:
http://www.cedarville.edu/Media/Vide...tionTechnology
One notable aspect of their school not mentioned in the video is the frisbee golf course on campus.
Also I assume a number of teens who have cars hang out at the outlet mall in Jeffersonville, bike on the trails, and go to John Bryan SP to rock climb, kayak, canoe, etc.

Brookville is also on a bike trail and near a state park (Sycamore SP) which is known for its horseback riding. http://parks.ohiodnr.gov/sycamore
I also think it has decent places to hunt and fish.

Waynesville is known for its downtown antique shops (there are a lot):
Antique & Specialty Shops
It's also very close to Caesar's Creek SP:
Home Page

[RDriesenUD]

Unfortunately, you aren't going to be able to get all of what you want. You will either be able to get a really small town like Waynesville or get the other things you are looking for in some of the other places mentioned. Most cities around here are very nice, but they are also very similar thanks to all of the growth that has happened between Dayton and Cincinnati.

[Amandarthegreat]

Originally Posted by Crazymomma21

Does brookville Cedarville or waynesville have a movie theater ? Or anything for kids to do? I've read a few things saying bellbrook is super snobby , is this true? I would like some land but most important is that school systems .. So if sacrifice the land for a better district .. I don't want suburbia but I don't want .. Remote farm island LOL.. Any od these a comfortable "in between"

There's the state parks and the proximity to Centerville, where you'll find theaters, the mall, the Chaos Room, and so on. Brookville has the problem of new people moving in and building $250k+ houses in a community that is very modest, so there is a division between the two groups. When I first saw your posting, I was concerned because your children would possibly be stigmatized by income level.

Have you maybe considered Beavercreek if Waynesville is too rural for you?

[SWOH]

Originally Posted by Amandarthegreat

Have you maybe considered Beavercreek if Waynesville is too rural for you?

I can't speak for the OP, but I get the impression the opposite is the case. If anything Waynesville might be too developed.

[woxyroxme]

If Bellbrook gets a lot of new subdivisions and strip malls it will be ruined the same way all the development ruined Lebanon, which was much better off before cornfields morphed into subdivisions on every road going out of town in the last 20 years. Reckless developers and their projects were nothing but a detriment to the area.

Waynesville I hope will remain a nice small town, the bike trail goes through Corwin which is on the other side of 42, it is also close to Caesar's Creek state park which has more than most people realize. Waynesville has a small grocery store, Lebanon has Kroger and Walmart just as you come into town on 42, Springboro has a Kroger and KMart on SR 73. The Stone House Tavern in Waynesville is excellent.

[Amandarthegreat]

I'd honestly say that she should look into Yellow Springs. Yeah, it's pretty liberal, but it has wonderful parks, walkable downtown, close to Young's, great schools, and everything else she's looking for. It's not like the residents want to convert conservatives or anything--they just like art, knitting sweaters for trees, and emphasis on community.