College Hill, Cheviot, Westwood, Madisonville, Oakley? (Cincinnati, Springfield: section 8, real estate market, crime)

[jersey_too_expensive]

Hi. My girlfriend and I want to get married and buy a home -- unfortunately, that's far too expensive of a proposition here in New Jersey (housing prices + taxes = no middle class anymore).

We were wondering about towns on the west side -- like College Hill, Cheviot, and Westwood. Towns on the east side -- like Oakley and Madisonville interest us, too...

Can anyone provide any advice on these areas? Seems like housing prices have declined in these areas over the past (2) years -- and I've read various reports about how some of these areas have been transformed over the past decade or so from nicer, family-oriented areas to neighborhoods of poverty and crime with a growing non-English speaking illegal immigrant population.

We're a bit confused and would like some help figuring things out.

I am a web developer and will be working from home (keeping my job). My girlfriend has a Master's degree in counseling and is currently employed here in NJ as a guidance counselor at a middle school. We are a bit worried about her being able to find a job since we've read reports about the ratio of students-to-counselor in Cincy being something like 900-to-1 (or worse). Yikes.

Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

[klosk]

Hi, I grew up in Cincy and although I have not lived there in 38 yrs., I still have friends there. I think if you looked on the west side in the Delhi Hills area you should be alright. You may also look in the Cleves Area both are close by. All my friends still live in the Delhi Area and I had an uncle who lived in the Cleves area. I hear Price Hill and Western Hills are going down. But, to tell you the truth Why on earth would anyone want to move to Cincy. True it is a party town!!!! But It is also a violent town from what I hear. Personally I can't take the traffic.

[jersey_too_expensive]

Klosk-

Thank you for the reply. We don't know much about Cinti -- visited it for a couple of days about a month back and liked (most of) what we saw. Yes, there are bad areas -- but there are bad areas of just about every community in the country (unless you're a member of the super-rich and can insulate yourself from it via your wealth).

Traffic a problem in Cincinnati? Ha! Come on up to NJ, my friend -- then you'll see what bad traffic is!

[lydunn]

Party town?????????? where I have lived in 13 years it's boring town to me...I go to Chicago and New York for fun

[lydunn]

how much are you looking to spend or what part of town are you going to work at....give some more info and I can help

[wastina]

Hi,

I don't know much about the areas you're interested in, but the real estate market in Cincinnati is generally dead and in decline (if not panic), which means that you can find whatever you want somewhere around here. Don't necessarily read the downward trend in housing prices to be a reflection of anything else. Yes, there are bad parts of town, but if you're coming from NJ, you can likely afford much more than you think you can. To the best of my knowledge, and I was in West Wood tonight, no non-English speakers have taken over any particular part of town. If you're coming from northern NJ, you'll think CIncinnati to be totally white bread compared to where you are now!

As for employment, I'm a sub at a public school system in northern Cincinnati. I'm not sure what the need is for counsellors is right now, but would be happy to give some off-line thoughts to your girlfriend about school systems. or other thoughts.

I just returned to town after 15 years overseas, and find Cincinnati to be hugely variable. You can find whatever you want. And comparing it to what my Newark friends scrimp for, you'll love the quality of life here. You've obviously got a reason to pick Cincinnati over other places (like Des Moines, Louisville, Kansas City, Boise).... Cincinnati is a great place to raise a family and to put down roots. You can find what you want, even as your wants change. There's a 20,000 ft sq. place in northern KY available for 2.2 mil (what would THAT cost in Jersey??!!)

Rent while you look, or buy and flip it when you find something better. The real estate market is so dead that you'll find more than you anticipate!

[jersey_too_expensive]

Lydunn-
Yeah, Cincinnati doesn't appear to me to be any sort of party town (which is fine with us because we're rather quiet people). We're looking to spend up to $175k or so...

Wastina-
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. During our brief visit we encountered pretty much what you said -- we just get a little scared off when we read about how much lower the prices are on the west side than the east side and how many of these west side towns have had their SES (socio-economic status) decline steadily in the past 10-30 years. We don't want to uproot ourselves only to find that we've moved to an area that will only continue to decline.

It is my hope that these areas will stabilize and/or reverse this trend. There is a comprehensive report for 2004 data (we wonder how much has changed since then) regarding socio-economic status of Cincinnati neighborhoods available online (with links to PDF versions) at: http://www.socialareasofcincinnati.org/report.html

The market does seem quiet -- yet many homes that we've looked at (online) have gone under contract, too -- so I guess it just depends on the area and the property.

I've read that the Cincinnati public schools system is a bit of a mess -- and that most families opt to send their children to one of the magnet schools -- or, pay to send them to private schools. That is a bit troublesome.

*sigh*

If only I could predict the future and see which way Cinti is leaning...

[joyeaux]

You hit the nail on the head with your statement that Cinti public schools are a mess. But there are many other school systems in areas that border Cinti within the I-275 loop. Finneytown, Northwest (Colerain township), Oak Hills, Wyoming and Princeton are all very good to excellent. The towns they support are stable, not in decline, and an easy commute to "urban" Cincinnati. Cheviot, College Hill and Westwood have beautifully crafted homes, but I believe now's the time to be getting out of there, not moving in with kids. Sadly, in 15 years I've not seen a true revival in any area once it goes into decline. I've seen people lose out because they thought they would be the pioneer revitalizer. Some downtown buildings may be the exception, but you're not going to want to raise a family there. Woodlawn, Springdale (along with expensive Glendale) have just built brand new elementary schools in the Princton district. The first 2 towns have very reasonable homes with $175K buying a nice 3 bedroom. The part of Springfield Township that is within the Winton Woods School District & "south of the lake", is a great area for a family. When I moved here from NYC, I was charmed by the prices and the beauty of the areas you mentioned. Today, I'm thankful not to have gone to the Westside. And yes, Delhi is nice, just not my style.

[jersey_too_expensive]

Joyeaux-

Thanks for your sincere reply; you've given us alot to think about. We hear different stories from different sources, but rarely do we hear anything good about Cinti public schools. For us the schools matter because of what they mean to a community, to property values, and to how easy/difficult it would be to get a job there -- we don't have any children (and aren't necessarily thinking about starting a family). You're right about the well-crafted homes -- it's hard to fathom that yet another area of historic architecture will be cast aside by the citizens of this country -- I'm born & bred here, and it pains me to say that America does a poor job of honoring her history when it comes to areas of architectural significance. The east side seems (at least areas such as Terrace Park and Hyde Park) seems much like here in northern NJ -- very well-to-do people in high-priced homes driving fancy cars and paying lots of taxes. If we want that, I suppose we could just stay here...

We will look into some of the other towns you've mentioned -- although I'm afraid we won't find as many interesting structures (since most of the homes in those areas were built more recently, I believe).

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

[kenwood45227]

i lived in westwood for 13 years. my street was taken over by section 8 housing and drugs and drive by shootings. i would look out farther from cincy.i lived in kenwood for 7 years and the crime is creepying up there to. i have since moved down to mariemont.