Oxford vs Hamilton - grad student with kids (Cincinnati, Fairfield: transplants, rent)

[Ohiogirl81]

Congratulations, and enjoy your new home!

[rrtechno]

Glad you decided on something. That wondering time can be really frustrating. There are some really neat things in Oxford and I'm sure you will enjoy it.

[joe from dayton]

As another poster stated, you might be able to find something outside of the city in Oxford Township, that way you will still have easy access to Oxford and MU while retaining a little bit of elbow room.

[Sunnydee]

I'm glad you opted for Oxford. I think you will like it much better than Hamilton and you've significantly reduced your commute time, which is always a good thing when you have kids.

[middyDJ]

Originally Posted by rrtechno

While I have never lived in Hamilton myself, we have made many trips there since 98 when our first son moved there, and I must say I have not seen a very large percentage of residents there who fit the description just given. No more than any other area. Hamilton has an MU branch, the Fitton Center for the Arts, Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, etc. There are some nice old historic areas, populated by professionals (lawyers, doctors, architects, etc.) who are working to restore these areas.Would a community that is as "bad" as you have painted it support those things. Apparently Hamilton wasn't for you and you decided to leave. As you say, it was your choice. We have also decided that Hamilton is not our first choice when we move to SW Ohio, but that is because it is too big for us. We are more "small town folks".

I stick with my original suggestion to the OP. Go in with an open mind and check out both areas. There are good and bad spots in both places. I just feel that the chance of finding something nice at a reasonable price, without student neighbors may be better in Hamilton

Thank you rrtechno. Your post was on point.

Wow some people..

[kjbrill]

Do some of you actually read the responses? The OP responded to have made a decision to try a location in Oxford. I personally think this is a wise choice, but would like some feedback on the result.

Sometimes, when I read the responses to these threads, I wonder whether some recognize the date/times or just respond by their own colloquialisms.

[PhillytoCincy]

Originally Posted by mabulati

Thanks to everyone for their helpful comments and suggestions. We've decided on Oxford. I like the small town appeal, being close to campus, and the cultural aspects. While I think that Hamilton is a good place to live, based on the qualifications in my OP, Oxford is going to work out best for my family. I'll be sure to post our assessment once we've moved in and acclimated, so that future readers with the same question can benefit from our experience.

Welcome to Oxford! Best of luck with the move, and keep us posted!

[boyntonbob]

I'm glad you made it to Oxford. It's about as nice a town as there is with the beautiful campus of Miami University. But it's much larger now than when I was a student there in the late 50's. At that time the population of Oxford was about 5,000 compared to today's 20,000 plus, and Miami's enrollment was nearly 5,000 where today it is 16,000. But Oxford still feels rather isolated near the Indiana border about equidistant from Dayton and Cincinnati.

[Tinawina]

Oxford was a good choice I think. I live here now. Maybe we know each other!

[mabulati]

Hello again, I wanted to post a follow up. As I mentioned before, we decided to find a place to live in Oxford instead of Hamilton or one of the other townships near by. My family and I arrived late December, and within a few days had found a great house to rent that met our needs perfectly, and for an affordable price. 3 bedrooms and 2 baths is plenty big for our growing family. We are living in the SW part of town, and there are no frat houses nearby, which was one of my original concerns.
I have nothing but nice things to say about Oxford. The town is clean and the people are friendly. After looking all around town, I came to the conclusion that there are no really "shady" parts of Oxford. The perception I got, was that most everyone living in Oxford, is living in Oxford because they WANT to, not because they are stuck in Oxford. The small town feel is great, and there appears to be a good deal of community involvement and things to do, although it is kind of dampened by cold weather right now. The library is very nice.
I was a little worried about the town being too small, but now that we are here, we really like the feel of the community. The town has a bus service which I take advantage of to get to school, and the bus stop is just 2 blocks from our home (so is the grocery store). We live close enough that when its warm, I can bike to school in 10 minutes, a much better commute than coming in from out of town every day. Given the close proximity of the grocery store and school, we don't use much gas for transportation except for when we visit Hamilton or Cincinnati. The neighborhood is great, my neighbors have stopped by to greet me and get to know me, and the area feels very safe. I feel very confident that my family will be safe and happy in our new home. There are not a lot of stores in town besides walmart, but there are enough to easily meet the normal week in week out family needs. We've discovered that Hamilton (~20 min drive) has more variety of stores to choose from, and even more so in fairfield (~+10-15 min), but we haven't had to drive there much. I've only been in class for two weeks so far, but I really like Miami University already, and I think Oxford is a great place to live. Very happy with our choice.
side note-
As I mentioned, we've made the trip town to Hamilton since moving in. I have to say, I did not find east Hamilton to be all that "ghetto", shady, or scary. I did find some neighborhoods with homes that appeared to be owned by lower income families and individuals, but they were definitely not as bad as I was expecting based on some opinions I have read on the web. Oxford was definitely a much better choice for my family, but I can't help but think Hamilton gets a bit of a bad rap. I did meet some "rednecks" at the stores in Hamilton, and they were friendly. I do not refer to them as rednecks though, just honest blue collar folk.

lastly, a few FYI items that out of state people should be aware of:
1. Oxford water is extremely hard. This means especially during really cold spells, we need lotion to keep from getting cracked skin.
2. Winter temperatures get pretty cold, and there seems to be plenty of snow, maybe 2-3 inches in a week, then it melts, then we get 2-3 inches again. repeat.
3. parking is hard to come by in town, you're better off to walk, ride a bike, or take the bus. Leave the car parked at home.

well, that's all I can think of. Hope this proves helpful to someone in the future, and thanks again to all who provided much appreciated info to help us make this decision.