What is Xenia, OH like? (Cincinnati, Dayton: crime, house prices, neighborhoods)

[j_cre]

We just moved to Dayton. I prefer the south east side of the Dayton area. We are looking into Beavercreek, Kettering, and Centerville, but with the house prices being so high, we are considering Xenia. What is Xenia like? How is the place economically? I don't want to move to a place that is dying economically. Are there nice parks and other things to do? How are the schools? Thanks!

[wrightflyer]

Elementary schools are hit and miss and the middle school is just OK, with the high school performing at the below average level. It is not a bad district, but the price point falls off in large part in Xenia and its surroundings due to the district's performance. St Brigid Catholic School serves the Xenia community and Carroll High School to the west at US-35 and Woodman in Riverside, tends to serve as the Catholic high school for the district. I believe the Dayton STEM school can also pull from the community. The Dayton Regional STEM School is a well regarded 6-12 school focusing on STEM curriculum. It is on Woodman Drive between US-35 and Research Blvd in Kettering.

There are some nice parks in town. Shawnee Park is really pretty and hosts community events. Nearby nature preserves would be Glen Helen in Yellow Springs, John Bryant State Park to the north, the Little Miami National Scenic River, The Narrows in Beavercreek, and of course the plethora of bike trails, many of which meet in Xenia's downtown area.

I think the town is slightly isolated from the newer large-scale development that occurs in other parts of Dayton's metro, particularly in its southern reaches (including bleed over into Warren County - i.e. Springboro, northern reaches of Lebanon, Waynesville - which are part of the Cincinnati metro despite commute patterns in those cities trending towards Dayton). While slightly isolated, it still is an easy drive into Beavercreek and the eastern suburbs for stuff to do that cannot be found in town. Xenia is primarily a small farm/industrial town, with its largest factory (Hoover Allison Ropes) having closed decades ago and since been torn down. There are small plants and warehouses in town, but no large swaths of distribution centers like in Northern Kentucky or near the Dayton Airport. The town certainly has a blue collar vibe to most of it along with the farm country that feeds into the school district. The result can be somewhat hickish, which can be good or bad depending on what you are looking for or are used to. People do sight hesitation to move here due to the tornadic history, but in reality, the likelihood is there for a tornado no matter where in the region you live. Just be sure to have a working weather radio no matter where you buy.

That tornadic activity aside, while its downtown was partially torn apart from the 1974 tornado, and the resulting suburban shopping center is an eyesore, the older historic buildings host steady businesses and cafes. I highly recommend The Coffee Hub. I personally also like having the bike paths out of Xenia for recreational purposes. And Yellow Springs cool vibe and funky shops are just 10-15 minutes up US68. Beavercreek's shopping areas along Fairfield Road or The Greene are 20 or so minutes away. There is a small Kroger at Progress and Main Street (Old US 35) on the west side of town as well as a small local market (Dave's Market) on US-68 north of town. Walmart has a Super Center over here and there are some chain restaurants, a new Hampton Inn, YMCA, Lowe's and Rural King at Progress and Main. The larger Kroger Marketplace format can be found at N. Fairfield and US-35 in Beavercreek or at Dayton-Yellow Springs Road and Trebein, just west of OH-235 in Fairborn.

Most of the new development is on the SW side of town of Upper and Lower Bellbrook Roads. I recommend Lower Bellbrook since that has an exit to the by-pass/expressway around town. The newer neighborhoods in SW Xenia lie outside the beltway. Sterling Green is almost complete (or ever expanding) and other neighborhoods are starting to bear fruit as well over here. There has been renewed commercial development at US-35 bypass and Main Street along Progress Drive on the west side of town. Areas I would avoid would be the eastern sides of town with areas west and north of the downtown being decent, though there are some pockets that may have crime issues - check a good and reputable crime map or call the local PD for their input. The general rule is the nicer city limit areas would be considered west and north of US-42. But most money in the district really lies in the farms and rural residences outside the city proper, especially towards Spring Valley and Xenia Townships.

If you are willing to go one district further to the northeast of Xenia, Cedarville and Cedarville Township has a good school district and more wealth, though most homes are on large rural lots outside the village proper. Also, due to the local Baptist university in town, it can feel the polar opposite from Yellow Springs liberal, hippy nature. So in the end, you can have either political spectrum in Greene County

[Natural510]

Xenia’s pretty small and there’s not much happening entertainment-wise, and (thanks to the tornado) it also lacks the charm of a lot of other small Ohio towns (like, say, Urbana). It’s also mostly lower-middle class, but not as much poverty or crime as you’d find in Springfield or East/West Dayton. Overall whenever I visit it feels very “meh”, neither great or terrible, but probably not somewhere I’d want to live if I didn’t already have friends/family there.