My family is moving to Cincinnati this summer. I've only visited once, and I won't have a chance to visit again until the house-hunting trip. Thanks to wonderful internet resources like urbanohio, I have a general idea of what I'm looking for. But needless to say, any neighborhood advice would be very helpful!

 

Looking for: Single family home (or maybe a large Condo with a view.)

Budget: Around $400k

 

We've been looking online at the following neighborhoods: Hyde Park, Oakley, Mt. Lookout, Mt. Adams, Walnut Hills, Clifton, North Avondale, Columbia Tusculum, Kenwood, and Montgomery.

 

We're looking for a vibrant urban neighborhood that's close to retail and dining, but also SAFE. My wife needs to feel comfortable walking a dog at night by herself. We also both value a neighborhood where people actually keep up their landscaping and homes.

 

My wife has already vetoed Downtown and Mt Auburn for perceived safety issues (real or otherwise). I've already vetoed Mason/Westchester/etc. for being way too suburban. I'm concerned that Kenwood and Montgomery might just be bland suburbs too. I'm also concerned that Walnut Hills, Clifton, and North Avondale might have too much perceived crime for my wife to feel safe. Any thoughts?

 

The realtors and corporate relocation people have been shoving Hyde Park down our throats. It's all they will freaking talk about. Is it really that awesome, or are there negatives to the whole Hyde Park/Oakley/Mt Lookout area that no one is telling us about??

 

Thanks for any opinions and advice you might have...

Gaslight Clifton would be great choice.  Kenwood and Montgomery are bland suburbs and should be totally avoided.  Mt. Lookout is nice as well, as is Mt. Adams.

Gaslight Clifton is plenty safe and you'll get more house for your money than in Hyde Park/Mt. Lookout. Both are great neighborhoods and there isn't really a dark side to either one. Strong upper middle class neighborhoods with walkable business districts. All three are very safe. Those are residential and basically family oriented neighborhoods. Mt. Adams is great but getting expensive and more professional without kids type. If you are coming with one of the big boys (P&G, Kroger, Macy's), they'll tend to sell Hyde Park as the management neighborhood. A couple other places you might look, Amberley Village, Wyoming, and Pleasant Ridge. All are in the core, safe and walkable.

I'm not going to lie to you dude, the reason the realtors are shoving Hyde Park down your throats is because you've got $400,000 to spend and your parameters (city living, skittish wife who wants to walk) essentially dictate Hyde Park/Mt. Lookout.  These neighborhoods will work for your conditions.  Taking a quick glance at one of the local realty websites it seems like you could get some really nice houses in Hyde Park for you budget.  I wouldn't bother with a condominium in that area. 

 

North Avondale is great, but your wife's safety perceptions may be an issue.  You're going to have the same perception issues in East Walnut Hills as well.  Columbia Tusculum could work if you want something a bit more urban.  I don't know how many Appalachian families are still in the area, and to be quite frank I always found those folks to be more disconcerting than black folks, but I don't think that's the norm for most people.

 

If you feel like you're getting ripped off in Hyde Park/Mt. Lookout, or you just want to see something different, then I think the neighborhood that's going to make both of you happy is Pleasant Ridge/Kennedy Heights.  Wyoming is a good choice as well, but it's a bit further from the center.  If I were you, I'd tell the realtor to take you to Hyde Park/Mt. Lookout, Pleasant Ridge/Kennedy Heights, and Wyoming.  Possibly a couple houses in Amberley as well, but that neighborhood isn't really as walker friendly as the others I mentioned.  Welcome to the neighborhood.

Best for appreciation, safety, view, walkability, park, arts institutions, walkable to CBD and river = Mt. Adams.

 

Having said that, I'd ask your wife to reconsider downtown. It now has the lowest crime rate in the city.

E. Walnut Hills by the O'bryonville business district is awesome. Clifton is great but it doesn't seem like there's many people with kids. Mariemont is pretty suburban but it has a lot of character and it's walkable.

Suburban: Mariemont

Your Budget, in City: Mt. Adams, Downtown, or (with a lawn) Hyde Park or Mt. Lookout.

downtown downtown downtown.  safe as you can get.  tell your wife to reconsider for sure.  and in terms of an investment, i think downtown would be your best bet as well, as its always on the up and up 

My wife has already vetoed Downtown and Mt Auburn for perceived safety issues (real or otherwise).

You may want to look at Mt. Adams.  It is in your price range, safe, close to downtown, views of river and or city.  My wife and I moved from Mt Adams to probably the same streets that you are looking at in Mt. Auburn and feel absolutely safe but Mt. Adams may be best for you.

E. Walnut Hills by the O'bryonville business district is awesome. Clifton is great but it doesn't seem like there's many people with kids. Mariemont is pretty suburban but it has a lot of character and it's walkable.

 

I see tons of people with kids in clifton but they tend to be very young

There are plenty of kids in Clifton (gaslight that is). The further away you are from the Ludlow strip the more family oriented.

JoeL:

Here's my take...and I speak from a similar experience.  Mt. Adams is one of the highest price per square foot in the immediate area, so you would get a lot less for your money. When we moved here from out of state (almost 5 years ago), we looked at Clifton, Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout and North Avondale and nothing else.  Similar range to yours, and we have two kids.  We would have preferred Clifton, but there was not a lot on the market that we liked.  And yes, we know many familes with kids in Clifton.  We looked at a ton of houses in Mt. Lookout and Hyde Park, but you got progressively less and less (as you moved to HP) for your money.  We were doing relo, and she showed us a lot of houses in Hyde Park that were like....no thanks.  We were amazed at what we could get in North Avondale for the money, and the neighborhood is incredibly safe.  We live on the Rose Hill side, and the neighborhood is very protected just by the topography and the way the streets are laid out.  East Walnut Hills is a little different in that respect, but those houses are spectacular as well.  Nevertheless, things like leaving keys in the car and doors unlocked is perhaps too commonplace at our no-security house, but it is what it is.  Crime is not an issue....Columbia Tusculum also would be nice but everything I ever saw was new construction, which did not appeal.  Oh, and I can tell you that people are constantly walking their dog(s) at night (and in dark mornings, like, um today) by themselves (or en masse) in our neighborhood.

 

send me a message if you want additional info.  My wife's a realtor so I hear about this all the time...I realize you're already locked in with relo-realtors, but she knows these neighborhoods well, as that is her focus, and is happy to offer advice.

Considering your preferences and your budget...you guys would probably LOVE Hyde Park and/or Mt. Lookout.  Both are absolutely fantastic places with excellent neighborhood business districts, very walkable, safe, lots of joggers/dog walkers, great parks nearby, and good schools.

 

I love Downtown as much as anybody...and normally sell that to people, but it sounds like your wife may prefer the Hyde Park and/or Mt. Lookout lifestyle.  Downtown is a different breed...great, but indeed different.

Thank you to everyone for all the great advice! Please feel free to keep the comments coming - all the posts were extremely helpful.

 

-I'm actually interested downtown, but to be honest the cost seems fairly high for what you get - especially with the competition from other great urban places. There seems to be a whole lot of 2 bedroom, 1000-1400 square foot condos for roughly the same cost as an absolute mansion in these other urban neighborhoods. At that point, we might as well pay just a little bit more for 2000 square feet in Mount Adams, right? Also, a "reverse commute" to jobs and basic retail also defeats some of the ideological purpose of downtown urban living for me. Is there a comprehensive listing of available downtown housing somewhere? The realtors only list maybe half a dozen projects or less - but I don't know if there are other projects that aren't using the MLS. Maybe I just haven't seen enough of the right projects yet.

 

- What about Northern Kentucky? There appear to be some great historic neighborhoods in Covington and a couple other places, but we've generally ignored NKY because we hear that the traffic is absolutely awful to try and cross the river. Is this true or overblown?

 

- (This last question might be a little too off topic, so my apologies, but ...) Which neighborhoods have good Indian and Thai restaurants?

If you live in Covington or Newport you will use one of the local bridges to go downtown, not the interstate bridges, but if you work outside downtown you will use the interstate bridges.  Covington and Newport each have a lot of nice townhouses, but drug activity picks up south of 12th St in Covington and immediately south of 5th St. in Newport.  The Bellevue riverfront and hillside condos are all nice and Bellevue has an active business strip with constant pedestrian traffic and some new trendy places opening up but there is also a lot of drug activity and white trash nonsense going on south of Fairfield Ave. and all around the very active railroad tracks (20 trains per day with numerous whistles for grade crossings).  Wealthier areas near low-class black neighborhoods and all that goes with it in Cincinnati are mirrored in Northern Kentucky by low-class Appalachian white urban neighborhoods.     

 

Ft. Thomas and Highland Heights are very nice hilltop middle-class neighborhoods with larger homes interspersed.  This area is still very convenient to downtown but depending on your exact location can be in the Lunken Airport flight path.  The small planes are actually very loud and disruptive.   

The best Indian is in Clifton - 5 along a two mile or so stretch of Ludlow including three within about 10 ft. of each and I'm not really exaggerating. The best Thai is harder, but Mt. Adams has one of the best in Teak. Hyde Park has a couple decent ones as well, it (well Oakley) has a branch of the best Clifton Indian places as well.

 

As to NKY, there are some great neighborhoods that are very close in. Park Hills is beautiful, but many of the older city neighborhoods have survived in Covington and Newport. Wallace Woods in Cov is great. Traffic-wise, if you are close in and can use a bridge other than the Brent-Spence (I75-I71), you are in good shape. It is just those folks who live further out, like Florence that have to rely on the expressway bridges that are more problematic. There are more services on the NKY side than in downtown or Mt. Adams. NKY has a different vibe than Cincy. It is more close-knit, though the growth of Toyota and Delta has mitigated that somewhat.

Pleasant Ridge is also a slept-on neighborhood with a nice business district, grand homes, diversity, and "safe."

Pleasant Ridge is also a slept-on neighborhood with a nice business district, grand homes, diversity, and "safe."

 

Diversity...wasn't that an old wooden ship used during the Civil War?  :laugh:

ha.  Thats what I like best about you rando, you know your anchorman

Ft. Mitchell and Ft. Wright are very good, Catholic neighborhoods in NoKY.

Prospect Hill is more affordable than Mt Adams and has many nice single family homes in the 400K and up range. There are many young children and the neighborhood is very active.

 

http://www.prospecthillcincinnati.org/?q=node/11

JoeL,

If I was you this would be the house for me.

 

http://comey.com/displaylist.asw?listnum=1098844&mls=cincy

I prefer this one

 

http://comey.com/displaylist.asw?listnum=1079192&mls=cincy

I'd go with the N. Avondale house. I want a jacuzzi!!!!1 North Avondale is a beautiful neighborhood but it's too isolated for me. I like having places to eat in walking distance. FYI Crime in North Avondale is relatively low but it is in the Cincinnati Public School district, most of the people who live there probably choose private schools.

How old are your kids and what is your school preference? (Public, Parochial or Private) There are safe streets and families in all of the areas that have been mentioned, but the age ranges/genders of children nearby and school proximity can really make a neighborhood work for you. i.e. - Mt. Adams is has a number families with kids, with most under six years old. There isn't any neighborhood school, but lots of great options nearby.

 

 

Bear in mind that Cincinnati Public has plenty of magnet programs.  You don't have to worry about sending your kid to a neighborhood school.  Also, from what I've heard you can opt to have your kid go to the magnet school outside of your district if it helps achieve racial balance.

In North Avondale you can get a 12 bedroom mansion for under 500 G's.  The Rose Hill area is nice.

Bear in mind that Cincinnati Public has plenty of magnet programs.  You don't have to worry about sending your kid to a neighborhood school.  Also, from what I've heard you can opt to have your kid go to the magnet school outside of your district if it helps achieve racial balance.

 

the old supreme court struck down that one. 

 

there is also the possibility if your neighborhood school is bad enough to get vouchers and go to any school you want.

 

some of the magnet programs like the montessori and fairview german language are good

 

and some of the magnet programs like walnut hills and scpa are excellent

and some of the magnet programs like walnut hills and scpa are excellent

 

Walnut Hills and SCPA aren't technically magnet schools, even though they draw from the entire district.

I prefer this one

 

http://comey.com/displaylist.asw?listnum=1079192&mls=cincy

 

I don't know your back yard is a cemetery, and thats kind off creepy.

and some of the magnet programs like walnut hills and scpa are excellent

 

Walnut Hills and SCPA aren't technically magnet schools, even though they draw from the entire district.

Correct.  Walnut Hills, which my older son attends, is constantly ranked in the top 35 public high schools nationally, and is an amazing resource for the city....and it doesn't hurt that it is exactly 2 miles from my driveway in North Avondale.  In addition, The New School (which my younger son attends) is a private montessori elementary school nestled in the heart of North Avondale in the old Mitchell mansion....walking distance for many.  An amazing school, albeit private.  Just down the street, however, is highly respected North Avondale Montessori, a public school where many of my neighbors send their kids....so no.  I don't think school options are limited if you live in North Avondale....in fact, it's quite the opposite. 

I just wanted to drop a quick note, and thank everyone who responded to this thread. All the advice was extremely helpful.

 

We haven't found a house yet - but we saw lots of great options on our trip the other week. I look forward to becoming a Cincinnatian (?) this June!