sijocan

hey all!!!
just wondering if there are any british expats in cincinatti ?
pro's and con's??
currently in London!!!!
thank you all in advance for your input (please be kind coz i'm new here )

jess xx

Bob

Welcome to BE

Have a search through the frapr map that stuck up top...I think there's a few...

clarissageo

Yep, theres quite a few of us around cincy / northern KY - in fact if you have a look at the meet up thread we all met up for lunch before Christmas and had a lovely time

I can't really give you any tips, I've only been here 4 weeks as a PR myself, but I'm sure one of the other locals will be along soon

*paging tamms....paging tamms....
*paging Kaffy.... paging Kaffy.....

christmasoompa

So you're no longer applying for Canada then?

Just a word of warning - the US is much, much harder to get into than Canada so if you don't already have a visa or if your hubby isn't a US citizen then concentrate on whether or not you've got any chance of getting a visa before worrying about what somewhere would be like to live.

As for Cincinatti, my grandmother was from there and she always spoke of it fondly. I never visited her there though as my grandparents moved to the UK when I was little but did the traditional thing and spent winters in Florida each year.

Bill_S

The best thing about living in Cincinnati is the huge liquor store across the river in Kentucky

sijocan

thanks for your input
there would be no problem with us going into US
i wanted to initially explore canada but we're going to cinci now so thats why i wanted to know about it.

tamms_1965

Born and raised in and around Cinci. Live an hour north now but wished I was back. I am biased of course but make sure you research the neighborhood you choose to live in....it is esp. important in Cinci (schools, taxes, crime, culture). There is an invisible iron curtain that separates the east from the west (although it is getting a bit thin now).

sijocan

thanks tamms
how is mason?

meauxna

Is your husband American then?

Kaffy Mintcake

Hi there! I live in Cincinnati currently. Mason is a nice, newer suburban neighborhood. Good schools and you can buy a nice home for the money. One thing to consider would be where you would be working. It's a bit of a nasty commute from Mason to downtown, though many do it everyday.

Cincinnati is a nice size for a city. Big enough to have professional sports, theaters, concerts, etc. but manageable to live in. It has some beautiful architecture as well. One thing I've noticed here (I'm originally from northern Ohio) is that each neighborhood has a rather distinct personality. Many have town squares with little shops, restaurants, etc. as well as their own character.

What else would you like to know about the city? If you describe what you're looking for in terms of a neighborhood I'd be happy to recommend some communities for you to look into. Are you interested in Mason because your job will be there or ??

sijocan

Hi Kaffy
Thanks for your reply
Mason is number one on our list, possibly thinking about blue ask also as a second choice?

What are the expenses like in terms of house tax etc
are there many asian indians around cinci too?

Bluegrass Lass

Used to live in West Chester ourselves, and we liked it quite a bit. Mason is one of the most expensive cities in Ohio, from what I head from a fellow co-worker who lived there. She said taxes were quite high, but the school system was very good.

tamms_1965

Ex sister-in-law lived in Mason, and I considered it as a halfway point between Cinci and Dayton. It has a great school system and a lot of available housing. Home prices are above-average but not too bad for what you get in terms of schools, shops, access to interstate, etc. It depends on what you are used to paying. Traffic can be terrible but I'm sure you learn the 'back way' once you've lived there awhile.

It used to be all farmland 20 years ago, so quaint, older homes with character are hard to come by. It is suburbia at its finest.

Kaffy Mintcake

Just looked and saw that 2.2% of the population in Mason is Asian.
http://www.muninetguide.com/states/o...lity/Mason.php

Slightly larger Asian population in Blue Ash (6.4%)
http://www.muninetguide.com/states/o...y/Blue_Ash.php

Those demographics aren't broken down further, but yes, there is a noticeable Asian Indian population in Cincinnati. I think we have 9 or so Indian restaurants (you CAN find a good curry here!)

We live in Blue Ash right now, so that's a neighborhood I can tell you a bit more about. Blue Ash has about 70,000 "daytime residents" meaning people who come in to work, and far fewer of us actually live here. The perk is that Blue Ash residents get some great benefits from the tax base paid by the businesses based here. Examples? Our recreation center costs about $40/family for a year of use. If you want to sign up to use the outside pool in the summer, then count on $75/year for a family instead. That's insanely cheap vs. gym membership. Other benefits include reduced prices at the public golf course, and good entertainment (i.e. free concerts) throughout the summer. You don't have to be a resident to take advantage of those. They are also planning to build a large park with a performing arts center in the future.

Schools are excellent in Blue Ash too. (Sycamore school district) It's a little more diverse than Mason in terms of ethnicities attending, but I'm not claiming that it's very diverse.

I don't know what your price range would be for houses - but there are some older homes for $300,000 or less, then there's a big jump to about $450,000+. Our neighbor likes to say that we live in poor man's Blue Ash (i.e. we're in the older part).

On the whole, a very good neighborhood that I would recommend. I prefer it to Mason (less traffic to deal with and a closer drive to downtown).

Schools:
http://my.sycamoreschools.org/webapp...l/frameset.jsp

Town website:
http://www.blueash.com/

You can look up the price a home last sold at, as well as its property taxes for any home in Hamilton county. (Blue Ash is in Hamilton county, but most of Mason is in Warren county)

http://www.hamiltoncountyauditor.org/

Here are the neighborhoods at the top of the list when it comes to schools (important for resale even if you don't have kids). In no particular order:
West Chester
Mason
Madeira
Wyoming
Mariemont
Blue Ash/Montgomery/Symmes Township/Sycamore Township (Sycamore schools)
Indian Hills (think $$$$$$)
Anderson (where Tamms is from I think)
Loveland

That may not be all of them - but those are all pretty safe bets.

West Chester is also a nice suburb with good schools. I actually think your money goes further buying a house in Mason or Westchester than closer in to the city.

Kaffy Mintcake

Very good summary Tamms. I used to live near Mason when I first moved to the city. The traffic can be awful - they just kept building and building and the roads never really caught up. That being said, I know some who live in Mason and love it so perhaps they've managed work arounds to that. I also agree that the vast majority of homes in Mason are much newer.