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I recently found out my family and I will be moving to Dayton and are looking to buy a home. I will be working in the medical field and splitting time between Kettering Med Center, Miami Valley, and Good Sams. We have two young children and are looking for an area with great public schools in the suburbs.
-Where you are working? Kettering Med, Miami Valley, Good Sams.
-How much you are willing to spend on housing? Preferably below 250.
-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate. 20 Minutes, could be a little more to one of the hospitals if needed.
-If you have kids: Private school or public school? Public.
-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: small town feeling? small city excitement? suburbia delight? Definitely the Burbs, but with shopping, entertainment, and dining close by.
-Community amenities important to you? Being close to some nice parks and/or youth sports facilities would be a big plus.
-Pie or cake? Pie!
Thanks for your help, we are looking forward to our move!
If you're looking to triangulate a position between the three that meets your criteria, it's *probably* not going to happen (although Pheasant Ridge / Forest Ridge area of Dayton / Fairborn / Huber Heights / Riverside might be worth a look... it'd be a decent central location and the neighborhood feel is what you're going for).
Offhand, with that price range and criteria I'd look in Miamisburg first, in particular just west of the new Austin Landing interchange. This would put you in a decent location to get to all three hospitals, the public schools are good, and there's a lot of options below $225k. While you're poking around there, take a look at Centerville and Springboro in that area for houses in your price range (parts of Settler's Walk immediately come to mind). This will put you right around 20 min to MVH and Kettering, and probably 35min to Good Sam (depending on how you go, the benefit to Miamisburg is the backroads that go straight to Good Sam).
Next up I'd look carefully around Kettering. Really anywhere within Kettering should be good, and a lot of it is within budget. This will put you closer to the hospitals too, but the suburbia feel might not be right for you (it's a bit more "urban-suburban", which I prefer and is definitely good for families, but it won't be cookie-cutter, mass produced suburban a la most suburbs). It also has preferable community amenities to the other places mentioned, aside from Centerville which is probably on par, and the schools are better too than everywhere mentioned except Centerville.
Beavercreek will have a lot of options for you and good schools, but the drive will be longer than 20 minutes for all three hospitals for most spots in town. Not a bad option otherwise to satisfy your criteria though.
And last (but certainly not least) is my favorite suburb, Oakwood. There's always a few options east of Far Hills and west of Shroyer that are nice and within that budget. And the public schools are the best in Southwest Ohio, aside from Indian Hill and Wyoming by Cincinnati.
I would focus on Kettering itself. Portions of Kettering I would look at specifically would be south of Stroop and west of Far Hills. The homes tend to be older and rather small cape cods and matchbox ranches to the north of Stroop and east of Far Hills. Far Hills Avenue may also be referred to as OH-48.
While the above is a general rule of thumb, there are portions of NE Kettering that may be decent as well. Areas around Kettering Middle School, the Kettering Rec Center and areas immediately west of The Greene (over County Line Road in Beavercreek), come to mind. Home prices will be relatively reasonable for your budget, but it will be on the older side of housing stock. Think 1960's to 1980's ranches, tri-levels and two-story colonials. Many of the neighborhoods are still suburban, but have a more matured look with grown trees and shady lawns. Sidewalks may or may not be present depending on the particular plats age.
As was mentioned, Miamisburg may also come to mind, but I think Kettering's schools and municipal services (parks, rec, police, fire) are better. Especially Kettering Recreational options. Spirngboro would be pushing the commute time into MVH.
Portions of Kettering's southern border bleed into Centerville / Washington Township, and the only difference that you encounter there is the street signs change from burgandy (Kettering) to blue (Centerville) or white or green (Washington Township) Both Centerville and Washington Township are served by the excellent Centerville School District. I would expect the only difference from a relocation perspective here would be the street signs, and the $20K-$50K more for a similar home in Centerville Schools versus Kettering-Fairmont Schools.
Keep in mind that the City of Centerville is a part of Washington Townships jurisdiction, even though it is a separate city government under Ohio law. Some government services for Centerville are available only to Centerville residents and some Washington Township services come in lieu of a city provided service (i.e. fire may be Washington Township but police is Centerville PD).
One other area I would look at would be Miami Township, specifically east of OH-741 (Springboro Pike) and north of OH-725 (Miamisburg-Centerville Road). This area, just like Kettering's southern border, bleeds effortlessly into Washington Township's western half. Again, homes may be older, but will be cheaper too. This area is usually served by Miamisburg City Schools, but there may be some streets also assigned to West Carrollton City Schools. I would avoid West Carrollton and stick to the portions zoned for Miamsburg.
Kettering Medical would be the closest hospital to these areas and is reachable in 5-15 minutes depending on which area you are in and how you hit the surface street lights. MVH will have more traffic as you are closer to downtown and University of Dayton. I'd expect 10-20 minutes depending on where you are. Good Sam is well NW of downtown Dayton and isn't in the best area nor is it easily reachable by freeway. Expect 20-30 minutes depending on traffic along Salem Avenue and through downtown (whether on I-75 or surface streets).
Shopping areas for these locations will be either Dayton Mall for department stores and inline mall stores (JC Penney, Macy's, Sears, Elder-Beerman... same as a Bon-Ton, Younker's, etc.). Other inline stores on the slightly higher end includes The Greene (Von Maur department store) which also has a number of mid to up market chain restaurants (Cheesecake Factory, McCormick & Schmick, Fleming's). Cornerstone of Centerville is still in development, but Costco and Cabela's are open as well as some of the out lots with food and retail. There will be a Kroger Marketplace there as well. Smaller centers around south Dayton suburbs include Town & Country (recently redeveloped with TJ Maxx, Petco, and some inline stores), Cross Pointe Center, and Wilmington Pike corridor (big boxes south of Cornerstone development such as Kohl's, Walmart SC, Lowe's). Further afield would be Austin Landing at Austin Blvd and I-75, Mall at Fairfield Commons and the Fairfield Road corridor at I-675 and N. Fairfield Road, Cincinnati Premium Outlets in Monroe off I-75 and Liberty Center at I-75 and Liberty Way / OH-129 (a newer and slightly larger version of The Greene by the same developer. That developer also produced the large Easton complex in Columbus).
Thanks a lot SWOH, that's exactly what we were looking for! We were already starting to look around Kettering and Centerville and also Beaver Creek, but we don't know the area too well. Would you say that most of the public schools south of Dayton (Miamisburg, Kettering, Centerville) are fairly good? Thanks for the advice!
To answer the school question as well. Yes. Centerville, Kettering-Fairmont, Beavercreek, Sugarcreek Local (Bellbrook) and Springboro would be the top qualifiers for school merit. Miamisburg is good, but probably just under the other schools. Perfectly fine none-the-less. I would say it is on par with Troy or Brookville in the northern suburbs.
I would focus on Kettering itself. Portions of Kettering I would look at specifically would be south of Stroop and west of Far Hills. The homes tend to be older and rather small cape cods and matchbox ranches to the north of Stroop and east of Far Hills. Far Hills Avenue may also be referred to as OH-48.
While the above is a general rule of thumb, there are portions of NE Kettering that may be decent as well. Areas around Kettering Middle School, the Kettering Rec Center and areas immediately west of The Greene (over County Line Road in Beavercreek), come to mind. Home prices will be relatively reasonable for your budget, but it will be on the older side of housing stock. Think 1960's to 1980's ranches, tri-levels and two-story colonials. Many of the neighborhoods are still suburban, but have a more matured look with grown trees and shady lawns. Sidewalks may or may not be present depending on the particular plats age.
As was mentioned, Miamisburg may also come to mind, but I think Kettering's schools and municipal services (parks, rec, police, fire) are better. Especially Kettering Recreational options. Spirngboro would be pushing the commute time into MVH.
Portions of Kettering's southern border bleed into Centerville / Washington Township, and the only difference that you encounter there is the street signs change from burgandy (Kettering) to blue (Centerville) or white or green (Washington Township) Both Centerville and Washington Township are served by the excellent Centerville School District. I would expect the only difference from a relocation perspective here would be the street signs, and the $20K-$50K more for a similar home in Centerville Schools versus Kettering-Fairmont Schools.
Keep in mind that the City of Centerville is a part of Washington Townships jurisdiction, even though it is a separate city government under Ohio law. Some government services for Centerville are available only to Centerville residents and some Washington Township services come in lieu of a city provided service (i.e. fire may be Washington Township but police is Centerville PD).
One other area I would look at would be Miami Township, specifically east of OH-741 (Springboro Pike) and north of OH-725 (Miamisburg-Centerville Road). This area, just like Kettering's southern border, bleeds effortlessly into Washington Township's western half. Again, homes may be older, but will be cheaper too. This area is usually served by Miamisburg City Schools, but there may be some streets also assigned to West Carrollton City Schools. I would avoid West Carrollton and stick to the portions zoned for Miamsburg.
Kettering Medical would be the closest hospital to these areas and is reachable in 5-15 minutes depending on which area you are in and how you hit the surface street lights. MVH will have more traffic as you are closer to downtown and University of Dayton. I'd expect 10-20 minutes depending on where you are. Good Sam is well NW of downtown Dayton and isn't in the best area nor is it easily reachable by freeway. Expect 20-30 minutes depending on traffic along Salem Avenue and through downtown (whether on I-75 or surface streets).
Shopping areas for these locations will be either Dayton Mall for department stores and inline mall stores (JC Penney, Macy's, Sears, Elder-Beerman... same as a Bon-Ton, Younker's, etc.). Other inline stores on the slightly higher end includes The Greene (Von Maur department store) which also has a number of mid to up market chain restaurants (Cheesecake Factory, McCormick & Schmick, Fleming's). Cornerstone of Centerville is still in development, but Costco and Cabela's are open as well as some of the out lots with food and retail. There will be a Kroger Marketplace there as well. Smaller centers around south Dayton suburbs include Town & Country (recently redeveloped with TJ Maxx, Petco, and some inline stores), Cross Pointe Center, and Wilmington Pike corridor (big boxes south of Cornerstone development such as Kohl's, Walmart SC, Lowe's). Further afield would be Austin Landing at Austin Blvd and I-75, Mall at Fairfield Commons and the Fairfield Road corridor at I-675 and N. Fairfield Road, Cincinnati Premium Outlets in Monroe off I-75 and Liberty Center at I-75 and Liberty Way / OH-129 (a newer and slightly larger version of The Greene by the same developer. That developer also produced the large Easton complex in Columbus).
Excellent analysis right here, nice work wrightflyer!
Thanks a lot SWOH, that's exactly what we were looking for! We were already starting to look around Kettering and Centerville and also Beaver Creek, but we don't know the area too well. Would you say that most of the public schools south of Dayton (Miamisburg, Kettering, Centerville) are fairly good? Thanks for the advice!
Great question!
I'd agree with wrightflyer and say Miamisburg Schools are maybe a notch below Kettering/Centerville/Beavercreek, which in turn are a notch below Oakwood, but they are definitely good. I wouldn't hesitate to send a child there.
Miamisburg Schools are also a bit smaller than the other districts mentioned except Oakwood, which is smaller than any of the other options mentioned. Think 300-350 students in the grad class instead of 450 students Oakwood Schools are similar sizewise to Bellbrook (which is well outside of your commuting range). If I remember correctly it's about 250 students per grad class.
There isn't really anything else I would add. I would look in the areas around The Greene and Cornerstone of Centerville (This covers quite a few cities/townships as they kind of blend together). Those are probably your best options for location/price. I would also look at the area around Kettering Medical Center if you can find something for the price you are looking to spend.
Definitely familiarize yourself with Ohio's byzantine municipal income tax system, with variances in rates and residential tax credits depending upon the community of residence. If you work in three different municipalities, you may have some aggravations dealing with your required municipal income tax returns.
This is an example of the cumbersome Ohio municipal income tax system, and, additionally, a few school districts levy income taxes in lieu of higher real estate taxes.
Regarding real estate taxes, see effective tax rates at the county treasurer website for the county where a prospective residence is located; rates vary widely. See post 111 and forward here.
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