Hispanics in Oakwood? (Dayton, Northridge, Wayne: lawyers, houses, neighborhoods) - Ohio (OH) - City-Data Forum

lookingforhappyendings · 10-30-2009, 09:38 AM

HI! We are a professional, educated Hispanic couple moving to Dayton. We like older houses, small town, walkable feel, close to the city. We have 2 kids, Oakwood seems ideal, but seems to have ZERO diversity. Does anyone have an idea as to how we would be recieved there?

willabee · 10-30-2009, 11:12 AM

//www.city-data.com/city/Oakwood-Ohio.html

Races in Oakwood:

White Non-Hispanic (96.6%)
Hispanic (1.2%)
Two or more races (0.7%)

Personally, I think Oakwood is very snobbish.

I think this says it all.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/05/04/ddn050408grocersinside.html (broken link)

Some more links that may be helpful.

HispanicTips » » Dayton-area Hispanic population grows more than 46 percent – Ohio (http://www.hispanictips.com/2007/09/23/dayton-area-hispanic-population-grows-more-than-percent-ohio/ - broken link)

Greater Dayton Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Hispanic Heritage Festival this Saturday in Dayton, Ohio

(I took my family to this festival - had a great time and plan to go again next year)

Thought these links may be helpful to get you started. I live in east Dayton and can say that there are a lot of latinos in the area. Also, several Hispanic grocers in the area too. (indicative of Latino community). Not sure where I live fits the bill for you. It's very urban. Some areas you may like that are nicer are Saint Anne's Hill, Huffman Historic District, Linden Heights, Walnut Hills, South Park. You may sacrifice some of the small town feel for urban living but you will find a lot more diversity in Dayton proper. People will tell you how bad the schools are. Please read this.

//www.city-data.com/forum/dayto...on-public.html

It seems that Dayton fits the bill for you all except small town. You may want to consider compromise. Welcome to Dayton!

Daytonnatian · 10-30-2009, 01:09 PM

^The neighborhoods are more small town-ish than many of the towns, and some neighborhoods like South Park have both excellent charter and public schools within walking distance.

willabee · 10-30-2009, 01:22 PM

Good point.

wrightflyer · 10-30-2009, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daytonnatian

^The neighborhoods are more small town-ish than many of the towns, and some neighborhoods like South Park have both excellent charter and public schools within walking distance.

Just curious and in no way trying to be negative towards Dayton Public, but which public schools in South Park would you consider "excellent", either by the state report card standards, or by word of mouth?

I'd totally recommend South Park. It is urban living, as opposed to old inner-ring suburban Oakwood, so that would be a compromise. There are plenty of shops and restaurants on Brown Street, though it can seem a little college oriented due to the proximity of University of Dayton. My recommendation though would be the catholic grade school at UD and than CJ High School or a charter school, such as Dayton Early College Academy. As someone who deals with admissions at a major university, I can tell you that scholarship aid based on merit and the general admissions practice does look at a high schools competitiveness. Whether you like that practice or not, it's what they do.

Daytonnatian · 10-30-2009, 02:18 PM

^Sorry, my wording was bad.

I was trying to say that there are excellent charter schools within walking distance, and there are public schools which I assume are above-par for DPS and probably right on par with places like Mad River, Northridge, Wayne, etc. I do not have any info supporting this, although I do believe a poster was floating around a link for the Ohio schools report card issued by the state.

dayton_ohio · 10-30-2009, 02:42 PM

I live in Oakwood and don't know of any Hispanics living around our street. That said, you'd be welcomed in Oakwood, but you wouldn't be living around a lot of other Hispanics.

Oakwood is not exactly snobbish, except for pockets west of Far Hills (the old money section of Dayton). East of Far Hills residents are primarily progressive, educated middle class professionals who care deeply about education -- college professors, younger professionals with families, lawyers, small business owners, doctors, etc.

Oakwood is cliquish, but there are a lot of different cliques (church-based, street-based, parents with kids in the same grades, Rotary Club, etc.).

This is NOT aimed at Daytonnatian, but anyone recommending city of Dayton schools over Oakwood schools has another agenda. Oakwood has some of the best-performing schools in Ohio. That's not the case for Dayton city schools, which are some of the worse-performing in the state.

willabee · 10-30-2009, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dayton_ohio

Oakwood is cliquish, but there are a lot of different cliques (church-based, street-based, parents with kids in the same grades, Rotary Club, etc.).

Yes, I'd agree. I feel like an outsider there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dayton_ohio

This is NOT aimed at Daytonnatian, but anyone recommending city of Dayton schools over Oakwood schools has another agenda. Oakwood has some of the best-performing schools in Ohio. That's not the case for Dayton city schools, which are some of the worse-performing in the state.

I'm not sure anyone has recommended Dayton schools over Oakwood schools. Your statement sounds rather absolute to me. What would be my agenda for enrolling my son in pre-school in DPS over Oakwood? I'm just not tracking with you at all. Please clarify.

dayton_ohio · 10-30-2009, 03:10 PM

Your agenda is that living in your City of Dayton neighborhood is more important to you than the absolute quality of your kid's schools. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not a choice someone would make if they want the best possible education for their kids.

willabee · 10-30-2009, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dayton_ohio

Your agenda is that living in your City of Dayton neighborhood is more important to you than the absolute quality of your kid's schools. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not a choice someone would make if they want the best possible education for their kids.

Well, your wrong. I'm gonna give DPS a try. If it is complete FAIL then I will pursue other alternatives. (Charter schools, Private schools, home schooling) Your point of view, at least to me, is rather narrow and judgmental. You don't know me or the importance I deem my kid's education to have in his life.

Let me make my agenda plain. It's to share my experiences from living in Dayton. I thought this would be one of the places to do that since this is a Dayton forum. I moved into Dayton from one of the northern towns last July and city-data forums offered very little help unless I wanted to move to one of the ever so highly esteemed suburbs.

Furthermore, I find your logic nonobjective. Here's what I understand from what you have posted. "Children should have the best education. I think Oakwood offers the best education system based on state report cards. Therefore, for children to have the best education and their parents to deem education important they must attend Oakwood schools over DPS or their parents have an alternate agenda they value more than their kid's education."

Look, I'm not trying to be offensive. It's just that I take exception to your comments about what you think I value in relation to my child. Maybe you shouldn't assume that you have a good bead on someone without knowing them first. Is this what one could expect from Oakwood?