Moving to Dayton

[Big Donkey]

Just my opinion, but Huber Heights is pretty nice for the most part. It has some questionable parts, but most of it is nice. Riverside is right next door to Huber, so I am fairly familiar with the area, having hung around there quite a bit. I would say it is less desirable to live in the northern suburbs for the most part as compared to the southern suburbs if finances aren't an issue, but there are places to the north of Dayton that are very liveable. If someone were looking for a place in a northern suburb, Huber Heights would be the one I'd recommend. There are some in Miami County, to the north of Huber, that are ok too, but that's probably getting too far away from the Miamisburg/Centerville area if you were to commute there. Huber is right on I-70 and close to I-75, so travel still shouldn't be much of an issue there. It is similar to how Centerville was described in an earlier post in that it has the feel of city and country both; Huber has a ton of retail and most any store you could think of (though no mall, but you're still close to the two we've mentioned earlier in this thread), but there is also quite an area of farmland and open spaces there too once you get away from the I-70 area of town around OH-201 and 202.

[Caseyfan21]

Originally Posted by creek14

Springboro is having school funding issues, which is why I didn't include them on the list.

I have to say Amen to this being a Springboro graduate (last year). Our school district is one of the fastest growing in the state, but a lot of citizens do not want to foot the bill to put us kids in quality schools. Springboro passed a levy to build two new elementaries last year (they will be the two biggest elementaries in Ohio), and now they are trying to pass an operating levy so those schools can be filled out with supplies and teachers when they are finished. Springboro offers pretty much everything the other cities offer, but it's still smaller than the Centerville's and Miamisburg's. That was really the main reason my parents moved to Springboro over Centerville 11 or so years ago.

Springboro is about 10 mins from the Dayton Mall, 45 mins from Cincy, and 25 mins from downtown Dayton, very much centralized.

All I can say having spent all 19 years of my life in the Miami Valley is you probably will not go wrong no matter where you move to.

[creek14]

Originally Posted by eupher

Again, thanks for the valuable feedback.

It sounds like the general consensus is that the southern suburbs are the places to be, particularly in Centerville. This is good, as the commute would be perfect! Anyone familiar with the Huber Heights area? Housing costs seem to be less expernsive in the north area, is it just a less desirable area to live?

Thanks!

I wouldn't send my son to HH schools. When we were looking for a home a few years ago we only looked in the communities I listed above because a quality school district was the most important thing to us. If graduation rate, % who go on to college, test scores, etc are important to you, you need to consider the four I mentioned.

[eupher]

Yes, schools are definitely our top priority in terms of where to settle. Right now our son is 2 years old, but we want to find a place to settle for a while.

As far as schools go, do they do mandatory bussing in the Dayton area? I thought I read that it's done in Dayton public schools, but haven't found anything on whether they do it in the burbs.

[creek14]

Originally Posted by eupher

Yes, schools are definitely our top priority in terms of where to settle. Right now our son is 2 years old, but we want to find a place to settle for a while.

As far as schools go, do they do mandatory bussing in the Dayton area? I thought I read that it's done in Dayton public schools, but haven't found anything on whether they do it in the burbs.

They are getting back to the neighborhood concept in Dayton proper and moving away from busing. They also have specialized high schools (arts, science, etc) but there is no way I would ever allow creek jr to attend Dayton Public. If we had to live within the city limits I would pay for him to go to private schools.

As for the suburbs, it's strictly a neighborhood thing. For example in Beavercreek there are 5 elems, 2 middle, and 1 high school. He attends the elem closet to our house and it will be the same when he moves on to middle school.

[eupher]

Good to know about the busing.

I've heard elsewhere that the Dayton Public Schools are pretty bad.

You mention that Dayton has specialized schools, for the arts, sciences, etc., how do these schools rate, and where are they located? I actually went to SCPA in downtown Cincinnati for several years, and really enjoyed my experience there. Though it was in Over the Rhine, the school itself excelled in the arts (obviously), but the academics were top notch as well.

[creek14]

Originally Posted by eupher

Good to know about the busing.

I've heard elsewhere that the Dayton Public Schools are pretty bad.

You mention that Dayton has specialized schools, for the arts, sciences, etc., how do these schools rate, and where are they located? I actually went to SCPA in downtown Cincinnati for several years, and really enjoyed my experience there. Though it was in Over the Rhine, the school itself excelled in the arts (obviously), but the academics were top notch as well.

I honestly don’t know that much about them. I believe they are in their infancy. I do have a resource and can check it out for you. It will take a couple days.

[eupher]

Originally Posted by creek14

I honestly don’t know that much about them. I believe they are in their infancy. I do have a resource and can check it out for you. It will take a couple days.

No big deal. No worries about spending any extra time on it. I'll see if I can dig some stuff up online.

Thanks!