Monfort Heights

On the Ohio side of the Cincinnati metropolitan area and with I-74 running along the southern border, East Monfort Heights is never far from the city without feeling like a city. “Monfort Heights is close to everything you need but still feels like a sleepy refuge,” says real estate agent Alicia Stoughton with Keller Williams Advisors. “It’s a true middle-class neighborhood.” Mt. Airy Forest makes up the community’s eastern border, offering plenty of walking and hiking trails, while White Oak to the north features more restaurants and shops for when people want to go out. In East Monfort Heights the community remains residential, but just within reach of anything they would ever need. On the eastern side of the community, Mt. Airy Forest offers over 1,400 acres of wooded space as Cincinnati’s largest park. Hiking trails wind throughout the park and it features a wheelchair-accessible treehouse. Mt. Airy Arboretum is a green haven full of secluded gardens and mature trees. To protect plant life, dogs cannot enter the arboretum but can play to their hearts’ content at Doris Day Dog Park. Kids can play on the playground at Bicentennial Park and folks can try their hand on the pickleball courts. Closer to Mt. Airy, East Monfort Heights features wide streets lined with brick and siding New Traditional homes sitting on open lawns. Trees are more infrequent here, and most homes limit the landscaping to just the spaces around the front decks. Sidewalks run along both sides of the street here. On the other side of the community, streets are narrower with more trees closer to the road and in front of the brick ranch homes, blocking the view of the façade from the street. Homes in East Monfort Heights list between $125,000 and $375,000. Residents can enjoy pulled pork sandwiches and other barbeque classics at Velvet Smoke BBQ. Cloverleaf Pub serves standard pub food, but always has some event going on, from live music on the weekends to free pool and trivia nights. Servatii is a Cincinnati staple founded by a German immigrant and East Monfort Heights residents can find a local chain in White Oak. The bakery serves several sweet and savory treats, but it is known for its Bavarian pretzels. People can pick up groceries at the Kroger along North Bend Road. About 5.5 miles away, they can also shop at Meijer. Touch A Truck is a fun educational tradition in Green Township, encouraging people to get close and personal with vehicles like U-Hauls, tow trucks, fire trucks, tractors, backhoes, ambulances and police cruisers. The event also features free food and other activities, like spraying a real firehose. Green Township also hosts the Independence Day Concert and Fireworks at the amphitheater in Kuliga Park, where people can enjoy the shows on lawn chairs and picnic blankets. In East Monfort Heights, students go to Monfort Heights Elementary School, which Niche grants a B. With a C from Niche, White Oak Middle School also ranks as the 19th most diverse public middle school in Ohio. Colerain High School has an on-site credit union—Cardinal Credit Union—where two students can work each year for hands-on finance experience. Students, families and staff can also open accounts here. The school receives a B-minus from Niche. For an alternative schooling option, La Salle High School sits at the center of the neighborhood, functioning as a private all-boys institution. When getting around East Monfort Heights, buses link residents to White Oak and Mt. Airy Park. North Bend Road can also connect motorists to White Oak and southern Monfort Heights. I-74 allows for easy access to the motorways and downtown Cincinnati, just 10 miles away. Just across the interstate is Mercy Health–West Hospital, accessed along North Bend Road and just under 2.5 miles away. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is on the other side of the Ohio River, about 23 miles away.

"It's the west side's center hub," says Brian Leisgang, a Realtor at Keller Williams Realty who lives in the west side. "Unlike some other areas in the west side, residents in West Monfort Heights have easy access to other big communities like Cleves and major highways." Residents here won't be too far from unique parks, nearby forest land and the shopping corridors that line the eastern edge. Downtown Cincinnati is also a short drive away, making this a convenient spot for commuters and those wanting easy access to the Queen City's major attractions. This location doesn't change the quintessential suburban nature of this community. Midcentury and new constructions sit on spacious, grassy lawns. Trees line the area's streets, adding to this community's calm and classic suburban feel. Alicia Stoughton, a Realtor with Keller Williams Advisors who lives in Cincinnati, says, "It's close to everything you need, while still feeling like a sleepy refuge." Along the residential streets, 1950s ranch-style homes stretch beneath low-pitched roofs, and 1940s Cape Cods stand out for their complimentary dormer windows. These midcentury houses, abundant in the area, typically occupy quarter-acre lots. A selection of Tudors, known for their angular wood paneling and a few stately, symmetrical colonials, are also scattered in the neighborhood, and some streets feature the neighborhood’s newest homes, built in the 1990s and 2000s, which commonly sit on three-quarter-acre lots. These options experiment with steep-sloping roofs and stone accents. Properties here go for anywhere from upwards of $150,000 for a smaller single-story home to nearly $500,000 for a larger, more decorative home. Some streets feature sidewalks, and minimal traffic inside this residential community means that residents can walk on the street in the areas without sidewalks. Attached garages are common in the area, and tall, decorative trees line streets that often spread into cul-de-sacs, complementing the green of the spacious lawns and adding to the peaceful nature of this community. For a day spent outside, the colorful and creative 12-acre West Fork Park is a popular spot that brings people from across the city together. “I love to go there. It’s one of Cincinnati’s most unique parks,” Stoughton says. A gridwork of colorful panels that create a rainbow maze and a treehouse-like playground make this park a hotspot for children. A short hill allows for underground tunnels and sloping metal slides. Sometimes, people come to the park with flattened cardboard boxes in hand to head down the metal slides and steep turf ramps. Nearby, the 1459-acre Mt. Airy Forest offers visitors everything from a disc golf course to a wheelchair-accessible public treehouse, which has become especially popular among picnickers. Locals can walk on trails that wind through the man-made forest’s hardwood and evergreens. Hunters help control the deer population by grabbing their bows and arrows during hunting season. A cluster of restaurants and retail shops sit along North Bend Road, which forms the community's eastern border. North Bend Crossing Shopping Center is home to a Kroger and the famous Cincinnati chain Skyline Chili. Patrons at Thai Namtip can enjoy a catalog of colorful dishes like papaya salad amid an interior filled with leafy pathos plants. Just next door, locals grab American comfort food at Tavern on the Bend, an establishment best known for its selection of mac and cheese dishes, which include a monthly special. Popular among patrons is the chicken and jalapeno option named after the “Kill Bill” star Uma Thurman. To get their shopping in, many locals here head to the nearby Kenwood Towne Centre, which is less than 20 miles away via Interstate 74. Students can enroll in the Northwest Local School District. They’ll be zoned for Monfort Heights Elementary School, which receives a B rating on Niche and is ranked in the top 10% of public elementary schools for diversity. The elementary school is right by the Monfort Branch Public Library, giving kids here easy access to the latest releases. They can then head to C-rated White Oak Middle School, which serves over 700 students and boasts a teacher-student ratio of 18-to-1. They can then attend B-minus-rated Colerain High School. The high school is in the top 11% for best high schools for athletes in Ohio, and its Butler Tech Programs allows students to enroll in career pathways. Private school options, like A-rated Ignatius of Loyola School and A-minus-rated La Salle High School, are also available. Residents in West Monfort Heights can take I-74 to get to some of the city's most popular destinations, many of which are in or along the route to downtown Cincinnati. Football lovers put on their orange and black attire and head to the Paycor Stadium to watch the Cincinnati Bengals play, while baseball fans can adorn themselves in red to watch the Cincinnati Reds play at the Great American Ball Park. The recently built TQL stadium houses the city's soccer team, FC Cincinnati. Lots of people here spend their days off at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. It hosts a Halloween trick-or-treat event and has a holiday light show during the winter months. The continuously operating Finlay Market is the place to go to enjoy local flavors, seasonal produce and specialty events. West Monfort Heights is a car-dependent area, but locals can also take advantage of Metro routes. Many people here commute to downtown Cincinnati for work, which is around 11 miles away via I-74 and Interstate 75. The downtown area is home to some of the area’s biggest employers, like Procter & Gamble and the Great American Insurance Group. Other nearby employers include TriHealth Group Health-Western Ridge, which is just west of this community, and the University of Cincinnati, which is just around 8.5 miles away via I-74. Those who want to explore other cities can take the 22.5-mile drive via I-75 to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).

The community of South Monfort Heights was formed in 1809 and later became a farming community by 1920, when the population sat at 250. After receiving its name from residents in 1926, it has continued to its current population of just over 12,000. Despite this, the neighborhood has maintained its secluded, rural feel, thanks to forested roads that wind from one home to the next. With annual community events and expansive parks nearby, residents enjoy a relatively serene home life and a know-your-neighbor feel, which has cultivated a list of long-time residents. “Monfort Heights is a place where multiple generations have lived,” says Alicia Stoughton, a Realtor with Keller Williams Advisors, who has sold over 70 homes in the northern Cincinnati region. For some time spent outside the house, South Monfort Heights borders the west end of Mt. Airy Forest. In this 1,549-acre park, residents can explore its attached arboretum and the Vasey Garden or relax in the gazebo overlooking Meyer Lake. On the southern end of the forest sits Bicentennial Park, a more traditional style park, where locals go for a round of pickleball or baseball. Many enjoy walks with their pups here and have noted that the park is well-maintained. When looking for a bite to eat, many head to Giovanni’s Family Italian Restaurant, a local favorite known for its garlic knots and laid-back atmosphere. Nearby is Bob Evans, a chain breakfast spot where coffee and some pancakes can be enjoyed before a day of errands. Sitting just south in Western Village is a Kroger for any grocery needs, as well as retail stores like Target, T.J. Maxx and several others. The rolling hills of South Monfort Heights in Green Township, Ohio, take residents on a serene tour of historic brick houses tucked behind neat green lawns, revealing a well-kept residential landscape. “There’s a lot of pride toward being a part of the community,” says Stoughton. A bird’s eye view reveals intermittent spots of blue along each street — private pools built in residents’ backyards. Lot sizes leave room for amenities like inground pools, gardens and trampolines. Decorative dormer windows and cozy front porches are a few assets that add character to the ranch, Cape Cod and new traditional-style homes built through the 20th century. Meanwhile, newer developments constructed in the early 2000s balance modern interests. Those looking to purchase a home in the neighborhood can expect a range in price from $200,000 to $430,000, depending on size and condition. At summer’s end, young students head to Monfort Heights Elementary School, which maintains a B rating on Niche. Older students will attend White Oak Middle School, which Niche has given a C, and Colerain High School, which maintains a B-minus. The home of the Cardinals offers the Family, Career and Community Leaders of American Club (FCCLA), which aims to improve leadership skills amongst students through service-based endeavors and competitions from local to national levels. In April, Veterans Park hosts an Easter Egg Hunt, where the little ones can look for eggs and even get a photo with the Easter bunny. Locals flock to Kuliga Park in July for the Independence Day Concert and Fireworks event. The grand show begins at dark, while drinks and food from local organizations can be purchased throughout the evening. Though parking is limited, planners previously provided a shuttle bus to carry attendees to the park. Those commuting into downtown Cincinnati can reach the city in a 10.1-mile drive south via Interstate 74, while flights at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport sit 12 miles farther along the same route. Closer to home are classes at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, a 4.7-mile trip along Colerain Avenue, and Mercy Health–West Hospital, conveniently located in the northeast corner of the community.