The city has no stand-alone businesses and includes 75 miles of horse-riding trails and several parks and recreational areas.

Township 9 Milford (Butler County)

This Butler County Township is no stranger to the top-50 communities, but it’s the first time that it makes an appearance in the top 10. A high homeownership rate, good schools (primarily Talawanda City School District, with a portion in Edgewood City School District) and relatively low crime make this community of 3,714 an attractive place to live. The median home-sale price in 2018 climbed 46% to $203,000 from $139,000 five years earlier. Township trustees bought the former Marie Schmidt Elementary School (Collinsville School) for $1 from Talawanda and turned it into the Milford Township Community Center, with a playground and picnic shelter. In 2007, trustees bought 12 acres of adjoining land for expansion of the park or township administration uses.

Township 10 Hamilton (Warren County)

High homeownership, good schools and low crime keep Hamilton Township at No. 10 for the second year in a row. The township promotes itself as being a place for “the perfect blend of quiet, rural living and the conveniences of modern life.” It offers almost 600 acres of parks: Big Foot Run Dog Park, Marr Park, Mounts Park, Munitions Park and Testerman Park. A portion of the Little Miami Scenic Trail— the Loveland section—runs through the township. Little Miami Local Schools serves as the primary district, with Goshen Local, Kings Local and Loveland City making up the others. The median home-sale price jumped to $239,150 last year from $171,000 in 2013, a 40% move. The township of 25,996 population sits just east of Interstate 71 at the crossroads of US Route 22/ Ohio 3—also known as the “3C Highway” (Cincinnati-Columbus-Cleveland)—and Ohio Route 48.

Honorable Mentions ADA KUANG

ADA KUANG

price in Montgomery was $432,000 in 2018, up 31% from 2013. That price was the third highest in the region, behind The Village of Indian Hill and Terrace Park. Between 2001 and 2017, the city saw 258 teardowns, in which builders demolish smaller homes and typically build larger ones in place. The 5.3-square-mile city of 10,746 was settled in 1796, when six families moved from Orange County, New York, became a village in 1910 and incorporated as a city in 1971. Dulle Park, Johnson Nature Preserve, Montgomery Park, Pfeiffer Park, Pioneer Park, Swaim Park, Triangle Point Plaza and Weller Park provide 96-plus acres of protected green space, with playgrounds, baseball fields, soccer fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, sand volleyball, picnic shelters and a pool for residents’ recreation and relaxation. The parks are connected by more than 10 miles of sidewalks and bike paths.

8 The Village of Indian Hill

Settled as a farming community in 1795, The Village of Indian Hill became incorporated in 1941. While its population of 5,874 qualifies Indian Hill as a city, it still goes by the name “The Village of Indian Hill” on its website—a pitch for its rural feel and 100% residential makeup. Even the U.S. Census Bureau uses that as the official name. The almost-20-square-mile community ranks highly for homeownership, its education system and low crime. Indian Hill has Rating the Burbs’ No.1 public school system, the Indian Hill Exempted Village School District, which has ranked at the top for four consecutive years. Even though Indian Hill’s median home-sale price, $1.05 million, is by far the top price in the area, that amount was up a modest 8.8%. The Indian Hill Rangers, the police department that dates to 1903, help maintain a relatively low crime rate. 50

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Newtown Last year, we added the Honorable Mentions category to capture communities that did not place among the Top 50 Communities, but did place in the top 25 in at least two categories among the 138 communities of 1,000 or more population. This year, those communities are: Cold Spring, Ky.

Reily Township (Butler)

Evendale

St. Bernard

Franklin

Washington Township (Warren)

Highland Heights, Ky.

Wilder, Ky.

Newtown

Woodlawn

Oxford