Moving to Dayton (which neighborhood???) (Cincinnati, Kettering: apartments, rental, lofts)

[YoungProfessional001]

Hi, I'm a recent college graduate moving to Dayton for a job that is too good (for me) to pass up. It's not exactly (understatement of the year) Seattle or Boston (the known 'cool cities') but I'll work to make the most of it. Can you please advise me on where to live?

-Where you are working? Downtown Dayton
-How much you are willing to spend on housing? Not certain, but it has to be a rental (apartments?)
-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate 20 min to half hour
-If you have kids: Private school or public school? I'm a single young professional (no kid!)
-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: small town feeling? small city excitement? suburbia delight? Uh....safe, walkable streets (I like to take walks after work), not too far from health food stores (or Trader Joe's?), near other young professionals?
-Community amenities important to you? Health food stores, parks, clean air, other young professionals, maybe freeway access so I can drive over to Cincinnati in quest of other single young professionals to hang out with
-Pie or cake? Whatever, just avoid the artificial flavors

Also, yes, I will totally be checking meetup.com so I can actually have friends post-move.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide!!!

[SWOH]

Read through this thread: https://www.city-data.com/forum/dayto...live-what.html.

It provides a good frame of reference for what there is to do here. It's my old thread, and I followed up on what was said, that pointed me in even more directions, and I found there is a lot to do in the Dayton area for a YP.


So, my best advice I can give to you is to do the same. There's a lot to do in Dayton and in the Dayton area, you just have to know where to look. For a good initial step, I'd reach out to UpDayton updayton. .

Good Luck!

[joe from dayton]

Do you want to live in the city or a surrounding 'burb?

There is a Trader Joe's in Kettering (which is south of Dayton).

What kind of rent budget do you have?

[YoungProfessional001]

Hi guys,

I don't know enough about the city to know if I want to live there. I did hear it has crime though so I'd prob prefer to live in a surrounding burb! As for rent budget I haven't decided yet as I don't know what the norm is for one person living alone there. Preferably less than $1K though!

OHKID, how did you go about meeting other YPs? Thanks too for sharing your thread link. I'll reread it.

I'll give a call to UPDayton though I don't see on the website anything about actually connecting YPs together..

Thanks guys!

[joe from dayton]

You can buy a house in Dayton for less than 1K a month. A lot of crime in Dayton is property crime or drug dealers killing each other. If I was young and single I'd look at The Cannery lofts downtown but Kettering or Centerville has more of what you are looking for. Oakwood is an option as well but it has a much more limited rental stock.

Cannery link Home Page

[Tarheel8406]

You might find something in the Oregon District or South Park. It's kind of difficult to find decent apartments to rent there though. (They tend to be houses or duplexes.) The same goes for a few other neighborhoods around downtown, like Grafton Hill, McPherson Town, and St. Annes' Hill.

If you're considering The Cannery, check out the reviews first.

[hensleya1]

YoungProfessional001--

Been meaning to chime in for a while here, so here goes nevertheless: Try living in the CBD itself - if you don't mind a 20 minute walk (or driving half a mile to work).

Dayton Landing

First Place

I've heard mixed reviews from both the Cannery and St. Clair Lofts - namely that they've gone downhill in recent years.

You could also try Jefferson Place (at the corner of Jefferson and 1st) but the ground floor has had several windows boarded up for some time - probably the same kind of issue there.

[Natural510]

Suburbs like Kettering and Centerville are best for someone who prefers manicured lawns and doesn't mind driving everywhere. Downtown & nearby neighborhoods are best for someone who wants to be able to walk/bike to nightlife and amenities. There are new restaurants & especially brewpubs popping up in both. Only main issue, besides high crime in certain sections of the city, is lack of quality grocery stores in-town.

[SWOH]

Originally Posted by YoungProfessional001

OHKID, how did you go about meeting other YPs? Thanks too for sharing your thread link. I'll reread it.

I'll give a call to UPDayton though I don't see on the website anything about actually connecting YPs together..

Thanks guys!

Good question!

Honestly, for meeting other YPs, I haven't yet. I'm still in college, at a traditional college about 50 miles away from Dayton. I still have a lot of good friends in the area, so I would probably start by hanging out with them and getting involved in UpDayton.

I think UpDayton meets once a month in the evening at Brixx Ice Co. in Webster Station. I'm assuming that is more of an informational meeting to inform members of different initiatives in the community UpDayton is becoming involved with, new idea proposals, social events, etc. The historic districts have neighborhood groups too which do things, although the population there is not going to be strictly YP. Five Rivers Metroparks has an active volunteer program which I think I lot of YPs do to get involved.

Besides that, getting in contact with the Downtown Dayton Partnership (which UpDayton is connected with, I believe) would be another good avenue to go, especially if you have special interests you would like to pursue with others in the area (like archery or model railroad building, for instance).


And on top of all of that there is always the opportunity to form your own if nothing exists in the area yet. Admittedly this takes a lot of work and I would highly recommend building some social connections first before attempting (Daytonians aren't the most adventurous or outgoing people, generally speaking), but if you have something you really like to do that no one does around here yet, it is worth giving this a shot.



There are lots of YPs that go to the bars and clubs downtown, so between these groups, I think you will be making at least your best effort to meet them.

Good Luck!

[wrightflyer]

Perhaps places that have live music similar to the OP's taste would be a good start for meeting people? Not sure what the OP considers good live music, but I have always felt for a metro its size, Dayton has a somewhat decent live music scene. Maybe that's just me.

Also, go to hang out spots like Ghostlight Coffee, especially if hipster is more your thing. I think getting suggestions like this from residents and people in-the-know about Dayton can help the OP find a place.