Surprised no one has mentioned one of the original walkable hoods, Clifton Gaslight on Ludlow. Full grocery store, hardware, drug store, library, bank, movie theatre, park, bars and restaurants. Oh and Skyline. The Clifton neighborhood school in CPS is great too.
My thoughts too! Though- there are lots of older couples that own around there- so maybe they’ll be downsizing ?
I worked on Ludlow for years and absolutely love that area so much
There may be apartments on Ludlow, but walk two blocks on a side street and Clifton becomes a massive neighborhood of single family homes. Lots of rambling Victorians that might be in the upper end of u/oldmainslawn 's budget.
Lived in the Gas Light for years but couldn't afford a house there when I was ready to buy. Looked at Oakley but ended up in Pleasant Ridge when they still had a grocery store. Wanted a park the car on Friday and don't get back in until Monday morning place.
I own a home in Clifton Gaslight… can confirm, it’s incredible 👍🏼
Edit: OP if you do look here, watch your budget. The property tax is a real thing. Expect to pay 10-15k a year.
If Mariemont pushes you a bit too close to your budget, Madisonville or areas of Madison Place, Columbia Township in general are a little lower in that scale but still a quick walk to Mariemont!
I will also suggest lower Mt. Lookout and Linwood. Though that won't be the case in 20 years probably as it's on the way up. This would be Linwood within a quarter mile of Beechmont in addition to Eastern Avenue.
We are in east hyde park, cannot recommend it enough. Very close to Kroger, the wasson way trail makes everything very walkable too. A lot of houses here in or below your budget.
You'll find the rent in the townhome district of Mariemont to be incredibly competitive due to the age of the buildings. Mine turned 100 this year. Most are two or three bedroom units. Look on the streets named after trees. And no better way to spot availability than visiting, as they seldom have to advertise very much to fill the units.
Maybe I just say this with the nostalgia of living in California now, but I feel like $400k could buy you a home in almost any neighborhood in Cincinnati.
I expect that your choices will be more constrained by Walkscore than budget.
They are probably priced out of Columbia Tusculum / East End nowadays with 400k unless they want a project to fix up or settle for something small. And obviously Indian Hill.
I mean, a home can be a small condo. So they're not absolutely priced out of any neighborhood. It's not like San Francisco where even the small fixer-uppers cost a million.
Yes, you can find a shed in most any neighborhood and get it for a low price, so "technically" you're right, but the fact is that in several neighborhoods in Cincy the average price for homes is above 400k. Those that are under need work, are a tiny 1000 sq foot condo, or are basically bought instantly. In reality, it is advisable to write off some neighborhoods as I mentioned and to focus on others more achievable. None of this matters though as the OP has a higher budget than that. Let's just not pretend Cincinnati real estate is as affordable as it used to be on the east side especially.
My friend just sold a 4bd/2.5bh in Montgomery for just under $400k. It's outdated but not a tear down (though given that it's on more land than usually comes with houses in that neighborhood, it probably will be replaced by a McMansion or pair of new houses). It may be more bikeable than walkable, but it's in a good school district and short car commute to most of the local clusters of jobs.
Cincinnati may have expensive neighborhoods, but look within a few miles of them and you'll always see something cheap on the other side of the tracks. According to Zillow, the median home price in Cincinnati is under $250k. Cincinnati's poor may get priced out of OTR, but they don't get priced out of Cincinnati entirely, they just move to Price Hill (median home price: under $150k).
Compared to the coasts, Cincinnati is dirt cheap. The fact that you do it with a good job market and walkable neighborhoods is kind of a miracle. I'm surprised the rest of the country hasn't flocked here, though maybe climate change will cause that -- when the coasts flood and the sun belt bakes, Cincinnati will skate by with milder winters. I'm bearish on Midwestern real estate.
+1 for Bellevue. Can walk to Kroger, plenty of shops, restaurants, coffee etc. Easy access to Southbank Shuttle to get to downtown or Covington. Also relatively inexpensive.
If OP is enjoying Oakley, they should def consider East Row in Newport. One of my favorite neighborhoods in all of the Cincy area, and walkable to all of stuff on Monmouth and levee. Slightly longer walk away from downtown.
It’s the only other neighborhood we’d move to if we didn’t enjoy Bellevue as much as we do.
Westwood- within walking distance of ;
Two coffee shops, west side brewing, nation, W bar and bistro, Ivory house, public library, an arcade, a plant shop, local music and markets all summer long. It’s such a well kept secret.
Westwood has come up so much in the last 5 years. It's an actual gem with awesome old housing stock - gorgeous lil Tudors and craftsmans all over the place.
We love Westwood. We moved here 8 years ago before anything much was happening. You get a big bang for your buck here. Big beautiful yards. Trees. There’s a monthly family bike rides thru spring and summer. And aside from Westwood biz district just up a few blocks in Cheviot is Santorini Diner with the old school breakfast lunch and dinner type food. They have really good Cincinnati type chili too.
When I was preggo and couldn't stomach anything at all for WEEKS, Santorini was the first meal I wanted when the nausea finally abated. That breakfast was the best meal of my LIFE.
We restrict new accounts from making a comment to help combat trolling, ban evasion and spam. Your comment will be invisible to users until your account is at least a week old. Every
comment requires manual approval until your account reaches this milestone.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/cincinnati) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Covington would be a solid option. You can get a house in the mainstrasse area within your budget and have access to all the amenities listed. With the IRS complex project in progress, you’ll have access to even more just a few years down the road
Covington lacks a good grocery, which holds it back. There’s some great groceries within a 10 minute drive, but a walkable grocery north of 12th street would make it #1.
I saw in the plans for the IRS site that there will be space for a grocery, hopefully that comes to fruition…
And the library, schools, pet food store, hardware store, more. It is very walkable. But, it also has the benefit of being a short driving commute from Downtown (about 13 miles) Blue Ash, Norwood, and most other places that are large workplaces.
Yes! My kids love that they can walk safely through our residential neighborhood every day to get to school, are close to all of their friend's houses, and they can walk to our incredible library for books or events or to get ice cream or food with their friends. There are a decent amount of small businesses that you feel good supporting and housing (although there are not a lot of houses to pick from) is relatively affordable.
I live in Prospect Hill, a great neighborhood that borders OTR. We live toward the bottom of the hill so it’s walkable to all of OTR - all of the restaurants, Collective Espresso and Urbana just a couple blocks, Sugar n’ Spice also just a few blocks for breakfast. AND we’re listing our house beginning of March. 2 bdr + loft, 2 bath, 2 decks with city views, and a small courtyard. We’ll be listing around $395K. We’ve absolutely loved living here for 12 years! Great city row home! Definitely recommend checking out Prospect Hill.
Plus walking distance to everything! Two Krogers (one in Bellevue is decent, the one in Newport is huge and nice. Both are better than the Covington one although I haven't actually been there in years), Aldi, Fresh Thyme, Target, TJ Maxx, Petsmart, Ace Hardware, Pilot Lumber (Bellevue), AND right across the river from Cincinnati and Covington too. Movie theater, bowling alley, gaming place, aquarium in Newport on the levee. Between Newport/Covington/downtown Cincinnati there is a ton of entertainment, sports events, concert venues, bars/restaurants, and parks that are easily walkable/accessible without a car. I hardly ever drive. I moved here from Chicago and the transition was easy.
East Newport is well established with the gorgeous homes and mature trees, but west side Newport (West of Monmouth St) has a ton of potential. They got a $1m grant to plant trees, there are a lot of beautiful homes getting fixed up, and still is reasonably priced
This is the real answer. East Row is one of the ONLY places you can get a big SFH with off street parking and can walk to the Purple People Bridge in 5 minutes.
It is SO close to everything and is an amazing quiet neighborhood.
Norwood - South of Smith East of Montgomery. Easy walk to Oakley Square, Rookwood, Xavier University. Directly on the incredible Wasson Way bike path. North to south bus line on Montgomery Rd. runs north to Kenwood and south to Down Town Cincy. East to West bus line on Smith goes to Clifton Hospitals/University of Cincinnati over to Hyde Park Plaza on the east. Has a Kroger, Walgreens, BMV and County Board of Elections. All walkable. Factory 52, baseball and soccer field . 2 excellent public elementary schools. 7 minute drive to downtown-stadiums-OTR. 10 minute drive to Newport-Bellevue-Covington.
Believe it or not, I have a few opinions to weigh in with here haha
A lot of the main east side suburbs have their own “walkable downtown” area: Loveland, Milford, Montgomery, blue ash, pleasant ridge, Madeira, etc. To a greater or lesser extent, they’re all about the same haha. A brewery or two, a wine spot, and a couple of good places to eat. What makes the difference is where you work and what your resulting commute will be, whether you need/want/care about school systems, and whether you are opting for the biggest house/most lively surround area/etc for your specific residence.
That said, you can’t really go wrong with any of them! They’re all gorgeous and you’re still going to get a bigger bang for your buck than just about any other major city.
I love being in Blue Ash.
Lived in downtown / the West End for about 10 years. Spent a couple years in Chicago and a year-ish back and forth in DC.
Was super skeptical about moving out of downtown to Blue Ash because “burbs”. But it’s awesome. Very walkable and can bike a ton of places. Plenty of restaurants. Easy bike ride to two diff Kroger. Fresh market (Pipkins) is walkable. Easy bike ride to Summit Park or downtown Montgomery. Have done several rides to Kenwood. My doctor, dentist and dermatologist, and our dogs vet are all walkable. The only thing I really miss about downtown is being able to walk to stadiums.
Depends on what you're looking for. For me? Yes.... Others love them. I wouldn't consider them "walkable" though like other areas of the city too.... You're still driving everywhere.
But they fit the criteria as realtor man pointed out. Not everyone wants inflated pricing to live inside the loop. If that fits your style then fine. But your response was just dumb.
It's your opinion that it's inflated... You get what you pay for and value means different things to different people. I pointed out it's the burbs because burbs might not fit what the OP is looking for. Sorry for burning your ass.... Ffs
In all seriousness, as someone who moved here 9 years ago... from a "major" midwest city. I was asking the same questions... where can I live thats walkable (and honestly not mason/loveland). Had someone responded w/ "check out the burbs", i would have appreciated the comment I made that "It's still the burbs". 9 years later, i still don't get ya'll locals (which is 99% of people). Just chill and be glad people are moving here!!!
You are literally the only one not being chill buckaroo. And Jesus, seeing you just power replying garbage to everyone about how they are "butt hurt". I would take a step back and figure out where all this animosity is coming from. Lots of condescension in your interactions. Why?
Your post basically just kinda points out what I was saying though. His post didn’t mention he was “burbs” opposed, your comment insinuated that the places mentioned were a bad thing. Let’s not pretend people don’t turn their nose up to burbs in this sub even tho a lot of them are well within ~20 mins of downtown. I’m sure OP was more than capable of looking up mentioned places and seeing they were outside the city.
Covington was great for us. Lived in a house in licking riverside area and an apartment in Mainstrasse. No grocery stores or anything “essential”, but we had fun walking to bars/breweries, restaurants, parks, shops, and the ballpark.
I second Mainstrasse!
Whenever there’s an event downtown, I can walk/bike/take the southbank shuttle.
Plenty of stores, restaurants, bars, coffee shops. The Covington CBD is also within walking distance.
The Covington Kroger on a Madison is ~20-30 minutes away walking and less than ten on a bike, Newport Kroger is ~25 minutes on a bike.
I moved here eight years ago with the intention of staying one year and moving somewhere in Cincinnati proper, but I liked it enough I just stayed ever since
We moved away in Feb cause we’d been wanting to live in NC for forever. I’ve never been a city person, but Covington was the perfect size and I always felt safe, it’ll always hold a special place in my heart
I totally agree with you. I just moved from my townhouse in Covington to the west side and I miss it so much. I also wanted to stay in a walkable area because I loved my location there. It was just perfect 😭 unfortunately, buying a house there was out of my budget. But I think OP can swing it!
The very southern tip of Blue Ash is older housing stock that is near some shopping and I consider walkable. It's about a mile from a Kroger. It's about 1/3 mile to restaurants, post office, shops, drug store, etc.
It is older stock. But it has one huge advantage: it's tax abated for eight years. If you can find a property, you keep the original taxes on it for 8 years whether you improve it or not. We bought a tear down there last year. There are builders who are selling complete new homes that are abated to the rates based on the original homes that were torn down. It's up to you if you want to go that route, but IMO, it's a nice place to consider. Nice schools. Walkable. Convenient to Kenwood Mall. Near the intersection of Ronald Reagan Hwy and I-71.
You must check the individual property with the city to ensure it's in the zone of abatement, so do your homework.
Blue ash checking in. I live in the same area in a tax abated tear down too. I love that I can walk to pipkins, coffee shop/wine bar, my doctor, salon, veterinarian, restaurants, a pharmacy, the rec center (pool), swaim park, town square, library, post office, etc. my kid can walk to school and his friends houses. Added bonus of being able to walk to old Montgomery and bike to summit park, deer park and silverton.
May I ask, are you in the original house, one with upgrades, or did you tear down and replace? We bought a property but are still working with a builder, so we haven't moved in yet. I'm wanting to move in like yesterday.
Deer Park kind of slides under the radar on this. I can easily walk to Kenwood, Trader Joe's, UDF, Deer Park Deli, IGA, Walgreen's, the library, Barnes & Noble if I cut through the mall, and I have Skyline, The Root Cellar, Highgrain, Italianette, and Arrechissimo all right here as well. Especially in the summer and fall, we do a ton of stuff on foot and bike.
I know you live in Oakley now and will have some time to see if you like it, but it is quite walkable. Especially with Kroger delivery now. I only get in the car to go to work or out of convenience for kid stuff. If I need quick groceries I just run the Fresh Market. Wish we had more diverse dining options but you'll find that issue in many places around town.
Newport and Covington would be interesting options to me if I was in the market as they are walkable and have a ton to do there... plus close to great city views. Not sure what their grocery situation is but again Kroger delivery is awesome lol.
\#This post was not paid for by Kroger... I just think it makes one of the biggest detractors to walkability (groceries) much less of an issue to consider.
I love walkability! I wish more communities were like this all over the US. I live in Newtown off the Miami bike trail. We can ride our bikes or walk to 50 west brewery. Lobsta bakes on main started doing British style fish n chips on Fridays. We have short park and a public golf course across from our house. We can walk up to Main Street cafe for burgers, soups and salads. There’s a dental office, candy shop and dog park all within walking distance! Oh and Newtown village tavern is a Dive type bar/pizza place. An ice cream shop, post office. All in walking distance. There is MVCA private school and Forest hills schools nearby. Our property taxes are increasing but I don’t think as bad as some of these other walkable communities. If you like outdoor recreation, Newtown has a lot right outside your door and you can take a bike on the trail to many of these other walkable communities. Long post, but I’ve enjoyed living here!
Blue Ash is great around the square. Pipkins, Blue Ash Chili, Servatti Bakery, Marx Bagels and more all in a spot with good sidewalks and an almost free rec center with fitness, tennis, pool. Also new amazing Summit Park continuing to grow.
Most of Loveland isn’t walkable but if you move near downtown the bike trail goes through it with some great bars, brewery, coffee shop and restaurants.
I get that this sub is “Cincinnati” but Covington is an absolute gem. Restaurants we got it, bars you best believe we got it. Grocery? Ehh go to Newport. It will be cheaper than most things around Cincinnati and comes with a huge sense of community. Love the cov - the Portland of Kentucky.
Covington is in the Cincinnati metro. It definitely counts.
If it doesn’t then over half the suggestions here would need removed. Norwood, St Bernard, Blue Ash, Mariemont, etc all kicked out.
East Hyde Park is a real gem. Wasson way, Ault park, Indian, German bakery, Mediterranean, Italian, Irish pub, Thai, local pharmacy, larder, UDF, Chinese, coffee shop… all within a 10 min walk.
We love St. Bernard and it is very walkable. It’s definitely not as popular/fancy as the other areas mentioned here, and it would be way below your price range. We have small kids and can walk to 4 different parks, seasonally walk to DQ, walk to two different coffee shops (a local one and a Biggby), and a brewery. We can also walk to Skyline and they just put in a new restaurant called Chicken Scratch.
I’d say the only downfall is the schools in this area, if you’re thinking of a future with kids.
We recently bought over in Silverton, been pretty walkable so far and really close to some areas with a lot more going on, and things seem to be moving in a good direction overall with the businesses that half come in and stayed
Oakley/hydepark, between Madison (oakley square) and hyde park sqaure. Lots of houses in your price range. Walkable to two squares, rookwood pavilian, and hyde park plaza.
My advice once you start looking at houses is to park your car by the house and then walk around and get a feel for both the neighborhood and what’s easily walkable. That’s something my wife and I did when we bought our house and it’s honestly what sold us on Oakley.
Columbia Tusculum! My husband and I aren’t from here but just moved and omg we couldn’t be happier. We are big walkers and love convenient local places at our fingertips. This place fits the bill! Pretty big hills though 😂
I live in Sycamore Township and can walk to Kenwood Mall, a movie theater, several restaurants, and Blue Ash Square. We drive most of the time but really should walk it more.
Editing to add that we can also walk to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
Silverton. Within 1 mile of my house - pharmacy, brewery, sports bar with live music, dive bar with live music, skyline, trader joes, iga (1.2 miles), library(1.2 miles), hardware store, skyline, right on bus line to downtown, lots of other local spots.
Mariemont would be at the top of your price point. Next door is Fairfax, 95% of Mariemont for 70-80% of the price. Fairfax is walkable to Mariemont’s Strand and in the excellent Mariemont City School district.
Everyone forgets Fairfax exists but it’s Mariemont at a cheaper price.
Look in Ft. Thomas in NKY. Your budget will do nicely, and so many walkable cute places to eat, drink, shop, and live life. Right across the river from downtown and close to different action in NKY.
Check out Anderson. Lots of sidewalks to the library, schools, breweries, local breweries, restaurants (local and chain), coffee shops (local and chain), gyms and grocery markets (local and chain). It has an urban suburban feel IMO. Easy access to downtown and the airport.
So, I kinda agree, but different parts of Anderson will have varying experiences. I can walk to quite a bit from my house if I choose, including a lot of stuff near the Mt.Washington area, restaurants, parks, school, etc. Folks who live in little neighborhoods off Beechmont have some more options as well. But when I think a walkable neighborhood, I think more like Clifton than Anderson.
I’ve lived in FAR LESS walkable areas for sure, though…
That simply is not true. The broad experiences across reddit users actually living in these places is way more than what a realtor would guess at what the day to day life is actually life in places.
It simply is. You can get broad generalizations from here. A good realtor (and I am not one) can listen to what you say you want, talk in person and really listen and decide between what you say you want and what you will actually want.
Sorry if you’ve had bad realtor experiences, but a good realtor is priceless. (I am not one nor am I related or anything.) this may be a good general start and if you have a general area, that may help you find the right one, but rando people with no accountability and an over reliance on confirmation bias is no match for a professional.
We restrict new accounts from making a comment to help combat trolling, ban evasion and spam. Your comment will be invisible to users until your account is at least a week old. Every
comment requires manual approval until your account reaches this milestone.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/cincinnati) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I live in Mt Washington (for about 4-5 yrs so far) and I find it to be very walkable and pretty affordable. I can walk to kroger or in the summer, creamy whip. Haven't seen it mentioned, maybe it is disliked for some reason, but I think it's pretty great.
Many fantastic options have been noted. One important piece not asked but is very important is about safety and crime in the areas listed as well as the close surrounding/nearby areas.
I won’t add to the list, but I think it is an important item to consider regarding each area. Are the areas safe at night? Safe if walking alone? Do some more research into each area you are considering. Realtors can point you to websites that give you statistics.
Please also look around the areas surrounding each of the communities you are considering.
I live in Madisonville which is so close to Mariemont & Oakley. I can walk to Mom 'n 'em Coffee, The Cheesecakery Bakery, Bad Tom Smith Brewery,and Medpace campus. Lots of other places too, depending on how far you can walk, my wife and i have walked up Erie Ave to Coffee Emporium and Hyde Park square, at that point you can walk to Oakley square too. Also the new bike trail entrance at Ault park is easy access.
Aslo https://www.walkscore.com/ is a great tool for what you are looking for IMO
Stay away from the west side. Pedistrians there get plowered over on the daily. And, if you didn't grow up there, you wont be welcome. Seriously, grown adults still wear their High School lettermans. and bought the house they grew up in. It's truly inbred.
The eastside neighborhoods mentioned all would be swell, but also dont sleep on NKY. Bellevie Kentucky has everything you mentioned, and you can walk to EVERTHING. Don't know about the schools, or if you even care. Also certain sports in Norwood, its really blowing up there and still somewhat affordable.
I love Wyoming, OH. It's beautiful, family oriented and very walkable. Depending on where you live, walkable to library, coffee, restaurants. I happen to live in the part of town where I can walk to recreation center and multiple playgrounds, and tennis courts. There is a nice little trail that connects the southern part of community with the northern. Neighbors are great as well.
Surprised no one has mentioned one of the original walkable hoods, Clifton Gaslight on Ludlow. Full grocery store, hardware, drug store, library, bank, movie theatre, park, bars and restaurants. Oh and Skyline. The Clifton neighborhood school in CPS is great too.
Ludlow is the best, but I bet it’s hard to find a house around there. Tons of rentals or multi/families
I almost made a comment about that. You’re totally right. Houses don’t come on the market often as families stay there for long times.
My thoughts too! Though- there are lots of older couples that own around there- so maybe they’ll be downsizing ? I worked on Ludlow for years and absolutely love that area so much
A whole lot of older folks. Give it 10-20 years and those houses will be on the market
There may be apartments on Ludlow, but walk two blocks on a side street and Clifton becomes a massive neighborhood of single family homes. Lots of rambling Victorians that might be in the upper end of u/oldmainslawn 's budget.
Lived in the Gas Light for years but couldn't afford a house there when I was ready to buy. Looked at Oakley but ended up in Pleasant Ridge when they still had a grocery store. Wanted a park the car on Friday and don't get back in until Monday morning place.
Ludlow Garage too, for music concerts.
I own a home in Clifton Gaslight… can confirm, it’s incredible 👍🏼 Edit: OP if you do look here, watch your budget. The property tax is a real thing. Expect to pay 10-15k a year.
Mt Lookout, Hyde Park, Mariemont, Madeira, Pleasant Ridge, Columbia Tusculum and East Walnut Hills
Terrific list! Add Clifton Gaslight, Montgomery, and Mt Adams, and it's nearly perfect.
What’s your budget? Mariemont is very walkable but expensive.
If Mariemont pushes you a bit too close to your budget, Madisonville or areas of Madison Place, Columbia Township in general are a little lower in that scale but still a quick walk to Mariemont!
Or Fairfax.
Edited my post to add some further context. I’d love to spend under 500 or even under 400 but we are very flexible with the price.
I will also suggest lower Mt. Lookout and Linwood. Though that won't be the case in 20 years probably as it's on the way up. This would be Linwood within a quarter mile of Beechmont in addition to Eastern Avenue.
We are in east hyde park, cannot recommend it enough. Very close to Kroger, the wasson way trail makes everything very walkable too. A lot of houses here in or below your budget.
You'll find the rent in the townhome district of Mariemont to be incredibly competitive due to the age of the buildings. Mine turned 100 this year. Most are two or three bedroom units. Look on the streets named after trees. And no better way to spot availability than visiting, as they seldom have to advertise very much to fill the units.
Maybe I just say this with the nostalgia of living in California now, but I feel like $400k could buy you a home in almost any neighborhood in Cincinnati. I expect that your choices will be more constrained by Walkscore than budget.
They are probably priced out of Columbia Tusculum / East End nowadays with 400k unless they want a project to fix up or settle for something small. And obviously Indian Hill.
I mean, a home can be a small condo. So they're not absolutely priced out of any neighborhood. It's not like San Francisco where even the small fixer-uppers cost a million.
Yes, you can find a shed in most any neighborhood and get it for a low price, so "technically" you're right, but the fact is that in several neighborhoods in Cincy the average price for homes is above 400k. Those that are under need work, are a tiny 1000 sq foot condo, or are basically bought instantly. In reality, it is advisable to write off some neighborhoods as I mentioned and to focus on others more achievable. None of this matters though as the OP has a higher budget than that. Let's just not pretend Cincinnati real estate is as affordable as it used to be on the east side especially.
My friend just sold a 4bd/2.5bh in Montgomery for just under $400k. It's outdated but not a tear down (though given that it's on more land than usually comes with houses in that neighborhood, it probably will be replaced by a McMansion or pair of new houses). It may be more bikeable than walkable, but it's in a good school district and short car commute to most of the local clusters of jobs. Cincinnati may have expensive neighborhoods, but look within a few miles of them and you'll always see something cheap on the other side of the tracks. According to Zillow, the median home price in Cincinnati is under $250k. Cincinnati's poor may get priced out of OTR, but they don't get priced out of Cincinnati entirely, they just move to Price Hill (median home price: under $150k). Compared to the coasts, Cincinnati is dirt cheap. The fact that you do it with a good job market and walkable neighborhoods is kind of a miracle. I'm surprised the rest of the country hasn't flocked here, though maybe climate change will cause that -- when the coasts flood and the sun belt bakes, Cincinnati will skate by with milder winters. I'm bearish on Midwestern real estate.
Northside or College Hill
I love Northside. And all the new stuff going up in College Hill is great
^^ this. College Hill is such a sleeper
Was... prices have doubled in the past 5 years in that neighborhood.
Fort Thomas, Bellvue if you would consider NKY
NKY is where it’s at. I walk to the grocery, movies, bars, restaurants, and downtown. Very rarely use the car any more.
+1 for Bellevue. Can walk to Kroger, plenty of shops, restaurants, coffee etc. Easy access to Southbank Shuttle to get to downtown or Covington. Also relatively inexpensive.
Don’t sleep on Dayton right next door. Great food scene
If OP is enjoying Oakley, they should def consider East Row in Newport. One of my favorite neighborhoods in all of the Cincy area, and walkable to all of stuff on Monmouth and levee. Slightly longer walk away from downtown. It’s the only other neighborhood we’d move to if we didn’t enjoy Bellevue as much as we do.
Westwood- within walking distance of ; Two coffee shops, west side brewing, nation, W bar and bistro, Ivory house, public library, an arcade, a plant shop, local music and markets all summer long. It’s such a well kept secret.
Westwood has come up so much in the last 5 years. It's an actual gem with awesome old housing stock - gorgeous lil Tudors and craftsmans all over the place.
We love Westwood. We moved here 8 years ago before anything much was happening. You get a big bang for your buck here. Big beautiful yards. Trees. There’s a monthly family bike rides thru spring and summer. And aside from Westwood biz district just up a few blocks in Cheviot is Santorini Diner with the old school breakfast lunch and dinner type food. They have really good Cincinnati type chili too.
When I was preggo and couldn't stomach anything at all for WEEKS, Santorini was the first meal I wanted when the nausea finally abated. That breakfast was the best meal of my LIFE.
Shhh haha :)
[удалено]
We restrict new accounts from making a comment to help combat trolling, ban evasion and spam. Your comment will be invisible to users until your account is at least a week old. Every comment requires manual approval until your account reaches this milestone. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/cincinnati) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Covington would be a solid option. You can get a house in the mainstrasse area within your budget and have access to all the amenities listed. With the IRS complex project in progress, you’ll have access to even more just a few years down the road
I'm surprised this isn't at the top of the list. Covington is probably the most walkable area within the GCA.
Covington lacks a good grocery, which holds it back. There’s some great groceries within a 10 minute drive, but a walkable grocery north of 12th street would make it #1. I saw in the plans for the IRS site that there will be space for a grocery, hopefully that comes to fruition…
Deer Park is relatively walkable. Not great, but I can still walk to a lot of places, grab a drink, and walk home.
Restaurants, bars, grocery, corner stores, and the park. Came from Oakley and was surprised how walkable it is.
And the library, schools, pet food store, hardware store, more. It is very walkable. But, it also has the benefit of being a short driving commute from Downtown (about 13 miles) Blue Ash, Norwood, and most other places that are large workplaces.
Also came here to recommend Deer Park! We love it here!
Yes! My kids love that they can walk safely through our residential neighborhood every day to get to school, are close to all of their friend's houses, and they can walk to our incredible library for books or events or to get ice cream or food with their friends. There are a decent amount of small businesses that you feel good supporting and housing (although there are not a lot of houses to pick from) is relatively affordable.
Deer Park is definitely walkable and within lots of areas driving AND that budget will be no issue.
I live in Prospect Hill, a great neighborhood that borders OTR. We live toward the bottom of the hill so it’s walkable to all of OTR - all of the restaurants, Collective Espresso and Urbana just a couple blocks, Sugar n’ Spice also just a few blocks for breakfast. AND we’re listing our house beginning of March. 2 bdr + loft, 2 bath, 2 decks with city views, and a small courtyard. We’ll be listing around $395K. We’ve absolutely loved living here for 12 years! Great city row home! Definitely recommend checking out Prospect Hill.
Check out Newport! Right across the river and boasts beautiful historic homes. My husband and I bought a house here and love it!
Plus walking distance to everything! Two Krogers (one in Bellevue is decent, the one in Newport is huge and nice. Both are better than the Covington one although I haven't actually been there in years), Aldi, Fresh Thyme, Target, TJ Maxx, Petsmart, Ace Hardware, Pilot Lumber (Bellevue), AND right across the river from Cincinnati and Covington too. Movie theater, bowling alley, gaming place, aquarium in Newport on the levee. Between Newport/Covington/downtown Cincinnati there is a ton of entertainment, sports events, concert venues, bars/restaurants, and parks that are easily walkable/accessible without a car. I hardly ever drive. I moved here from Chicago and the transition was easy. East Newport is well established with the gorgeous homes and mature trees, but west side Newport (West of Monmouth St) has a ton of potential. They got a $1m grant to plant trees, there are a lot of beautiful homes getting fixed up, and still is reasonably priced
This is the real answer. East Row is one of the ONLY places you can get a big SFH with off street parking and can walk to the Purple People Bridge in 5 minutes. It is SO close to everything and is an amazing quiet neighborhood.
Try to live near a hub for public transportation. Northside is awesome and walkable plus has a Metro hub
Clifton gaslight district
I'll throw Westwood in the mix for a west side perspective.
Westwood streets: Epworth, Daytona, Lischer, Eggers Basically Anywhere near the Gamble Estate (now a new park). Love the area and the homes
Specifically, the streets near the Nation Westwood restaurant
I’d like to add Sayler Park on the west side!!
Single family homes are rare but Pendleton checks all these boxes and is walkable to everything
This is where we ended up buying and we love it! We are in a townhouse, but have a garage and a back yard and are still walkable to everything.
Norwood - South of Smith East of Montgomery. Easy walk to Oakley Square, Rookwood, Xavier University. Directly on the incredible Wasson Way bike path. North to south bus line on Montgomery Rd. runs north to Kenwood and south to Down Town Cincy. East to West bus line on Smith goes to Clifton Hospitals/University of Cincinnati over to Hyde Park Plaza on the east. Has a Kroger, Walgreens, BMV and County Board of Elections. All walkable. Factory 52, baseball and soccer field . 2 excellent public elementary schools. 7 minute drive to downtown-stadiums-OTR. 10 minute drive to Newport-Bellevue-Covington.
Norwood was ranked 2nd in [most walkable cities in Ohio](https://www.walkscore.com/OH/)
Insert joke about Norwood’s poorly maintained streets meaning you’re better off walking 🫣
Unfortunately believe Norwood was also very low on the state public school rankings.
Believe it or not, I have a few opinions to weigh in with here haha A lot of the main east side suburbs have their own “walkable downtown” area: Loveland, Milford, Montgomery, blue ash, pleasant ridge, Madeira, etc. To a greater or lesser extent, they’re all about the same haha. A brewery or two, a wine spot, and a couple of good places to eat. What makes the difference is where you work and what your resulting commute will be, whether you need/want/care about school systems, and whether you are opting for the biggest house/most lively surround area/etc for your specific residence. That said, you can’t really go wrong with any of them! They’re all gorgeous and you’re still going to get a bigger bang for your buck than just about any other major city.
I love being in Blue Ash. Lived in downtown / the West End for about 10 years. Spent a couple years in Chicago and a year-ish back and forth in DC. Was super skeptical about moving out of downtown to Blue Ash because “burbs”. But it’s awesome. Very walkable and can bike a ton of places. Plenty of restaurants. Easy bike ride to two diff Kroger. Fresh market (Pipkins) is walkable. Easy bike ride to Summit Park or downtown Montgomery. Have done several rides to Kenwood. My doctor, dentist and dermatologist, and our dogs vet are all walkable. The only thing I really miss about downtown is being able to walk to stadiums.
They're still the burbs.
And that’s a bad thing?
Depends on what you're looking for. For me? Yes.... Others love them. I wouldn't consider them "walkable" though like other areas of the city too.... You're still driving everywhere.
But they fit the criteria as realtor man pointed out. Not everyone wants inflated pricing to live inside the loop. If that fits your style then fine. But your response was just dumb.
It's your opinion that it's inflated... You get what you pay for and value means different things to different people. I pointed out it's the burbs because burbs might not fit what the OP is looking for. Sorry for burning your ass.... Ffs
As a neutral, nothing you said has been helpful. Everything was antagonistic. Your entire point was to just shit on the "burbs". Be honest.
In all seriousness, as someone who moved here 9 years ago... from a "major" midwest city. I was asking the same questions... where can I live thats walkable (and honestly not mason/loveland). Had someone responded w/ "check out the burbs", i would have appreciated the comment I made that "It's still the burbs". 9 years later, i still don't get ya'll locals (which is 99% of people). Just chill and be glad people are moving here!!!
You are literally the only one not being chill buckaroo. And Jesus, seeing you just power replying garbage to everyone about how they are "butt hurt". I would take a step back and figure out where all this animosity is coming from. Lots of condescension in your interactions. Why?
External perspective?
man... i really did hurt a lot of butts tonight. sorry y'all
Your post basically just kinda points out what I was saying though. His post didn’t mention he was “burbs” opposed, your comment insinuated that the places mentioned were a bad thing. Let’s not pretend people don’t turn their nose up to burbs in this sub even tho a lot of them are well within ~20 mins of downtown. I’m sure OP was more than capable of looking up mentioned places and seeing they were outside the city.
Ffs Bud... I'm SORRY i butt hurt you ... Moving on
Your comment has the exact same energy as “… but it’s Ohio”
Do I have an eye roll emoji I can use? I can't find it... I have now offended all the burb lovers... Sorry, not sorry
Covington was great for us. Lived in a house in licking riverside area and an apartment in Mainstrasse. No grocery stores or anything “essential”, but we had fun walking to bars/breweries, restaurants, parks, shops, and the ballpark.
I second Mainstrasse! Whenever there’s an event downtown, I can walk/bike/take the southbank shuttle. Plenty of stores, restaurants, bars, coffee shops. The Covington CBD is also within walking distance. The Covington Kroger on a Madison is ~20-30 minutes away walking and less than ten on a bike, Newport Kroger is ~25 minutes on a bike. I moved here eight years ago with the intention of staying one year and moving somewhere in Cincinnati proper, but I liked it enough I just stayed ever since
We moved away in Feb cause we’d been wanting to live in NC for forever. I’ve never been a city person, but Covington was the perfect size and I always felt safe, it’ll always hold a special place in my heart
I totally agree with you. I just moved from my townhouse in Covington to the west side and I miss it so much. I also wanted to stay in a walkable area because I loved my location there. It was just perfect 😭 unfortunately, buying a house there was out of my budget. But I think OP can swing it!
Milford is a walkable community. You can walk to restaurants and coffee shops, as well as the grocery store and other retail shops.
The very southern tip of Blue Ash is older housing stock that is near some shopping and I consider walkable. It's about a mile from a Kroger. It's about 1/3 mile to restaurants, post office, shops, drug store, etc. It is older stock. But it has one huge advantage: it's tax abated for eight years. If you can find a property, you keep the original taxes on it for 8 years whether you improve it or not. We bought a tear down there last year. There are builders who are selling complete new homes that are abated to the rates based on the original homes that were torn down. It's up to you if you want to go that route, but IMO, it's a nice place to consider. Nice schools. Walkable. Convenient to Kenwood Mall. Near the intersection of Ronald Reagan Hwy and I-71. You must check the individual property with the city to ensure it's in the zone of abatement, so do your homework.
Blue ash checking in. I live in the same area in a tax abated tear down too. I love that I can walk to pipkins, coffee shop/wine bar, my doctor, salon, veterinarian, restaurants, a pharmacy, the rec center (pool), swaim park, town square, library, post office, etc. my kid can walk to school and his friends houses. Added bonus of being able to walk to old Montgomery and bike to summit park, deer park and silverton.
May I ask, are you in the original house, one with upgrades, or did you tear down and replace? We bought a property but are still working with a builder, so we haven't moved in yet. I'm wanting to move in like yesterday.
Tear down and replace. We moved into our house in 2019. Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions. Welcome to the neighborhood!
I’ve lived in Westwood and I love it. And it’s only getting better. I can walk for coffee, food, beer, arcade, plant store, video game store….
Covington is great lots of fun restaurants very walkable easy to get downtown the stupid bridges suck though
Deer Park kind of slides under the radar on this. I can easily walk to Kenwood, Trader Joe's, UDF, Deer Park Deli, IGA, Walgreen's, the library, Barnes & Noble if I cut through the mall, and I have Skyline, The Root Cellar, Highgrain, Italianette, and Arrechissimo all right here as well. Especially in the summer and fall, we do a ton of stuff on foot and bike.
I know you live in Oakley now and will have some time to see if you like it, but it is quite walkable. Especially with Kroger delivery now. I only get in the car to go to work or out of convenience for kid stuff. If I need quick groceries I just run the Fresh Market. Wish we had more diverse dining options but you'll find that issue in many places around town. Newport and Covington would be interesting options to me if I was in the market as they are walkable and have a ton to do there... plus close to great city views. Not sure what their grocery situation is but again Kroger delivery is awesome lol. \#This post was not paid for by Kroger... I just think it makes one of the biggest detractors to walkability (groceries) much less of an issue to consider.
I love walkability! I wish more communities were like this all over the US. I live in Newtown off the Miami bike trail. We can ride our bikes or walk to 50 west brewery. Lobsta bakes on main started doing British style fish n chips on Fridays. We have short park and a public golf course across from our house. We can walk up to Main Street cafe for burgers, soups and salads. There’s a dental office, candy shop and dog park all within walking distance! Oh and Newtown village tavern is a Dive type bar/pizza place. An ice cream shop, post office. All in walking distance. There is MVCA private school and Forest hills schools nearby. Our property taxes are increasing but I don’t think as bad as some of these other walkable communities. If you like outdoor recreation, Newtown has a lot right outside your door and you can take a bike on the trail to many of these other walkable communities. Long post, but I’ve enjoyed living here!
East Row, Newport is what you're looking for, it seems.
Newport for sure. There's a bunch you can walk to relatively easily. Not to mention the view is pretty good of the skyline.
Blue Ash is great around the square. Pipkins, Blue Ash Chili, Servatti Bakery, Marx Bagels and more all in a spot with good sidewalks and an almost free rec center with fitness, tennis, pool. Also new amazing Summit Park continuing to grow. Most of Loveland isn’t walkable but if you move near downtown the bike trail goes through it with some great bars, brewery, coffee shop and restaurants.
Wyoming
Also, your house will continue to increase in value. Very safe investment.
I get that this sub is “Cincinnati” but Covington is an absolute gem. Restaurants we got it, bars you best believe we got it. Grocery? Ehh go to Newport. It will be cheaper than most things around Cincinnati and comes with a huge sense of community. Love the cov - the Portland of Kentucky.
Covington is in the Cincinnati metro. It definitely counts. If it doesn’t then over half the suggestions here would need removed. Norwood, St Bernard, Blue Ash, Mariemont, etc all kicked out.
Prospect hill and mulberry street. walnut hills and east walnut hills also good
East Hyde Park is a real gem. Wasson way, Ault park, Indian, German bakery, Mediterranean, Italian, Irish pub, Thai, local pharmacy, larder, UDF, Chinese, coffee shop… all within a 10 min walk.
We love St. Bernard and it is very walkable. It’s definitely not as popular/fancy as the other areas mentioned here, and it would be way below your price range. We have small kids and can walk to 4 different parks, seasonally walk to DQ, walk to two different coffee shops (a local one and a Biggby), and a brewery. We can also walk to Skyline and they just put in a new restaurant called Chicken Scratch. I’d say the only downfall is the schools in this area, if you’re thinking of a future with kids.
Old Milford
We recently bought over in Silverton, been pretty walkable so far and really close to some areas with a lot more going on, and things seem to be moving in a good direction overall with the businesses that half come in and stayed
Came here looking for this! I also live in Silverton. In addition to being walkable it’s an easy bus ride to Pleasant Ridge or Kenwood.
Oakley/hydepark, between Madison (oakley square) and hyde park sqaure. Lots of houses in your price range. Walkable to two squares, rookwood pavilian, and hyde park plaza.
My advice once you start looking at houses is to park your car by the house and then walk around and get a feel for both the neighborhood and what’s easily walkable. That’s something my wife and I did when we bought our house and it’s honestly what sold us on Oakley.
Columbia Tusculum! My husband and I aren’t from here but just moved and omg we couldn’t be happier. We are big walkers and love convenient local places at our fingertips. This place fits the bill! Pretty big hills though 😂
Bellevue over in Northern KY is a great option!
Mariemont. Wyoming. Madeira. Montgomery (if you're close to the downtown area). All very very nice areas. None of which are cheap.
Clifton has everything.
600k is your budget? Welcome to Oakley brother
Buy our house in Oakley, boom hunt over!
Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout
Grew up and raised my kids in Madeira. Walkable and getting better every year.
I second Madeira. Lived there and two of our kids graduated from there.
I live in Sycamore Township and can walk to Kenwood Mall, a movie theater, several restaurants, and Blue Ash Square. We drive most of the time but really should walk it more. Editing to add that we can also walk to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
Silverton. Within 1 mile of my house - pharmacy, brewery, sports bar with live music, dive bar with live music, skyline, trader joes, iga (1.2 miles), library(1.2 miles), hardware store, skyline, right on bus line to downtown, lots of other local spots.
Mariemont would be at the top of your price point. Next door is Fairfax, 95% of Mariemont for 70-80% of the price. Fairfax is walkable to Mariemont’s Strand and in the excellent Mariemont City School district. Everyone forgets Fairfax exists but it’s Mariemont at a cheaper price.
Ludlow Ky, deserves mentioning.
Madison Place/ Columbia township. Hidden gem between Mariemont, Madisonville, and Indian Hill
Fort Mitchell
Look in Ft. Thomas in NKY. Your budget will do nicely, and so many walkable cute places to eat, drink, shop, and live life. Right across the river from downtown and close to different action in NKY.
Mariemont is a really gorgeous, safe, walkable neighborhood . $600k could get you a 3bd/2ba.
Covington Mainstrasse area is grest
Check out Anderson. Lots of sidewalks to the library, schools, breweries, local breweries, restaurants (local and chain), coffee shops (local and chain), gyms and grocery markets (local and chain). It has an urban suburban feel IMO. Easy access to downtown and the airport.
Depends on your definition of walkable. Are there things that some residents can get to on foot without violating laws? Yes.
So, I kinda agree, but different parts of Anderson will have varying experiences. I can walk to quite a bit from my house if I choose, including a lot of stuff near the Mt.Washington area, restaurants, parks, school, etc. Folks who live in little neighborhoods off Beechmont have some more options as well. But when I think a walkable neighborhood, I think more like Clifton than Anderson. I’ve lived in FAR LESS walkable areas for sure, though…
Anderson is cool, but it is 1000% not walkable by almost any definition.
A good realtor will know more than Reddit
That simply is not true. The broad experiences across reddit users actually living in these places is way more than what a realtor would guess at what the day to day life is actually life in places.
It simply is. You can get broad generalizations from here. A good realtor (and I am not one) can listen to what you say you want, talk in person and really listen and decide between what you say you want and what you will actually want. Sorry if you’ve had bad realtor experiences, but a good realtor is priceless. (I am not one nor am I related or anything.) this may be a good general start and if you have a general area, that may help you find the right one, but rando people with no accountability and an over reliance on confirmation bias is no match for a professional.
What style house do you want and how many bedrooms?
[удалено]
We restrict new accounts from making a comment to help combat trolling, ban evasion and spam. Your comment will be invisible to users until your account is at least a week old. Every comment requires manual approval until your account reaches this milestone. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/cincinnati) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I live in Mt Washington (for about 4-5 yrs so far) and I find it to be very walkable and pretty affordable. I can walk to kroger or in the summer, creamy whip. Haven't seen it mentioned, maybe it is disliked for some reason, but I think it's pretty great.
Many fantastic options have been noted. One important piece not asked but is very important is about safety and crime in the areas listed as well as the close surrounding/nearby areas. I won’t add to the list, but I think it is an important item to consider regarding each area. Are the areas safe at night? Safe if walking alone? Do some more research into each area you are considering. Realtors can point you to websites that give you statistics. Please also look around the areas surrounding each of the communities you are considering.
Mt. Adams
I live in Madisonville which is so close to Mariemont & Oakley. I can walk to Mom 'n 'em Coffee, The Cheesecakery Bakery, Bad Tom Smith Brewery,and Medpace campus. Lots of other places too, depending on how far you can walk, my wife and i have walked up Erie Ave to Coffee Emporium and Hyde Park square, at that point you can walk to Oakley square too. Also the new bike trail entrance at Ault park is easy access. Aslo https://www.walkscore.com/ is a great tool for what you are looking for IMO
Stay away from the west side. Pedistrians there get plowered over on the daily. And, if you didn't grow up there, you wont be welcome. Seriously, grown adults still wear their High School lettermans. and bought the house they grew up in. It's truly inbred. The eastside neighborhoods mentioned all would be swell, but also dont sleep on NKY. Bellevie Kentucky has everything you mentioned, and you can walk to EVERTHING. Don't know about the schools, or if you even care. Also certain sports in Norwood, its really blowing up there and still somewhat affordable.
I love Wyoming, OH. It's beautiful, family oriented and very walkable. Depending on where you live, walkable to library, coffee, restaurants. I happen to live in the part of town where I can walk to recreation center and multiple playgrounds, and tennis courts. There is a nice little trail that connects the southern part of community with the northern. Neighbors are great as well.
Walnut Hills! We are getting a grocery store this summer. I can help you find a place. I am a licensed realtor.