SperlingViews - Monroe, Ohio

I have been a PA resident most of my life. I consider myself the type of person anyone would be proud to have as their neighbor. I earn a good living as an IT consultant. I am thoughtful and respectful of others. In the 40 plus years I have been around I have never had any issues with law enforcement in fact I consider myself be a friend to the cause so to speak and believe that police are our friends and neighbors as well and here to protect us from crime. However I recently moved to Monroe Ohio 45050 and now find myself at odds with the oppressive traffic law enforcement practices of local police and county sheriffs departments here. Local police here are authorized to use Laser speed detection devices and they do so on local roads in suburban upper middle class developments. The number of police cars and sheriffs department vehicles I see daily on my 9 mile ride to work averages 4 to 5. Last week I pulled into my development and deep into my development a local officer had one of my neighbors pulled over for not stopping long enough at a stop sign. It seems to me that maybe they don't have enough to do. Don't get me wrong I enjoy a patrol through the neighborhood every once in a while to keep the riff raff at bay so to speak. But intentionally targeting residents with laser speed detection devices and enforcing traffic laws regularly in developments that have no issues and no crime is in my opinion oppressive. The folks here are friendly happy people the area is clean and beautiful but if your like me and prefer to live privately and with some sense of freedom from unnecessary prosecution you may not enjoy it here. I'm finding I don't and will be moving as soon as possible. For reference my last home was in Camp Hill PA near Harrisburg. A very nice place to live. I highly recommend it.[read more...]

Monore is a growing little town that could be the next "Diamond in the ruff" of Ohio. We have lived here for almost 4 years and can see good things happening. Shopping and Eating out In March of 2006 they opened a beautiful Kroger grocery store which has many additional grocery options from your everyday shopping trip. Gourmet deserts, cheeses, meats, large organic foods section, etc. It's a huge store with everything and anything you need. If you are looking farm fresh produce there are farms in Monore that sell seasonal fruits and vegetables(the fresh corn is awesome!). There is a quaint, rustic little restaurant in town called the Brandywine Inn that serves a four course meal. My husband and I ate here and were very pleasantly surprised at how delicious the food was and the ambience was wonderful. Another restaurant that has excellent food is the Red Onion Cafe. More casual dining here. Both in the downtown of Monroe. Monroe is 10-15 minutes going North or South on I75 from additional shopping ie. Target, Kohls, Linens and Things, Home Depot, Lowes, Carters, Michaels, T.J. Maxx, etc. Also several restauarants are in either direction ie. Johnny Carrino's, Panera, Longhorn Steakhouse, Chipolte, Ruby Tuesday's, Olive Garden, Applebee's etc. Schools Monroe has a new school for grades k-12. Our schools are rated excellent. There are preliminary plans to build a 150 store outlet mall to be completed by 2008. Miami University is about 1 hour from Monore and there is a community college MUM in Middletown about 20 minutes from Monore. City Counsel The choices that our city counsel have made for certain building restrictions and allowances have been more wise now than in the past and if they continue to make good decisions property values will rise significantly in the next few years and more people will be drawn here. We'll keep our fingers crossed! Housing All the houses in this town are kept very neat and tidy. The neighborhoods are clean and well kept. Housing is definitely still affordable here! We have a very nice retirement community in the town too. Recreation There are small festivals throughout the summer in Monroe and surrounding towns. Monroe has a small park with baseball and soccer fields and some playground equipment. There is an indoor sportsplex here too. There are several large parks around the area for everyone. A Hamilton Parks pass is a must if you like the outdoors or have kids and want to have a lot to d[read more...]