Montgomery Neighborhood Guide

Community Overview

Montgomery, OH was founded in 1795 and describes itself as a “vibrant, high-quality, family oriented city of 10,000.” If you are local to the area, many people hear “Montgomery” and immediately think of Montgomery Inn, famous for their excellent ribs. Montgomery Inn is just one of the great places that makes up the quaint stretch of Montgomery Road in Old Montgomery. If history is your thing, you’ll be impressed by the dedication paid to honoring and preserving the past in this little town. In fact, 32 different Montgomery landmarks have been designated and a total of 8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

Montgomery does have a dedicated fire and police service for their city. In fact, satisfaction city services is one area where Montgomery really likes to focus on. In fact, according to their website, 97% of residents surveyed said they were satisfied with city services.

As far as natural beauty, Montgomery has been recognized as a Tree City USA town for 17 years running.

Montgomery Schools

Montgomery is part of the Sycamore School District. Sycamore High School has about 2,000 students enrolled and offers a great look at Sycamore “by the numbers” on their website:

• Students come from more than 40 birth countries
• Students speak a total of 30 languages
• 95.6% graduation rate
• 87.8% of students attend college
• 57 organizational activities are offered to students in grades 7-12
• 46 athletic options are offered to students in grades 7-12
• 86% of teachers have a master’s degree or doctorate
• 22 teachers have earned National Board Certification
• 76 teachers have earned Master Teacher credentials
  *information accurate as of March 2014

GreatSchools.org gives Sycamore High School an overall rating of 9 out of 10.

Sycamore Junior High has about 900 students between 7th and 8th grade. GreatSchools.org gives the middle school an 8 out of 10 rating. The state of Ohio also puts out a report card on their districts, and you can view a recent Sycamore report card here.

If your students are into sports, Sycamore has quite a variety. Beyond baseball/softball, football, and basketball – which are fairly standard, you can also join in on sports like lacrosse and water polo. For a full list of sports offered at Sycamore, check out the athletics page.

There are several elementary schools in the Sycamore district:

Blue Ash Elementary School, 9541 Plainfield Road
Maple Dale Elementary School, 6100 Hagewa Drive
Montgomery Elementary School, 9609 Montgomery Road
Symmes Elementary School, 11820 Enyart Road

Sycamore offers Kindergarten as well, both half and full-day. A lottery system is used to determine which students can attend the full-time kindergarten. Tuition for full-day kindergarten in Sycamore is about $3,200 per year (as of 2014). Generally if your child is 5 years old by September 30th they are eligible to register. You will need a copy of their birth certificate and immunization records along with a few other items in order to register. Click here for all the details on kindergarten in Sycamore.

Location

Montgomery is located near where Interstate 71 and 275 intersect, about 15 miles NE of downtown Cincinnati. Without traffic, it is about a 20 minute commute to downtown. With close access to Ronald Reagan highway and the 2 interstates mentioned above, Montgomery gives you convenient access to a number of places across the greater Cincinnati area.

Montgomery Parks and Recreation

For a 5.2 square mile area, Montgomery has plenty of activities to keep you busy and entertained. Here are some of the highlights:

Montgomery Community Pool

The pool is open to more than just residents of Montgomery, but people who live in Montgomery have reduced rates for season passes to the pool. For instance, in 2014 the family full season pass is $255. Non-residents would pay $455 for a family. Here is a link to more information on the Montgomery Pool.

Parks 

Montgomery reports 96 acres of green space in their 6 parks. Many are connected by bike trails, and all of them are handicap accessible.

Montgomery Park hosts the annual Independence Day festival, has a .36 mile paved trail, and is a local favorite when it comes time for sled riding!

Dulle Park has it all. Tennis courts, baseball fields, basketball courts, and a natural .67 mile trail. It has a playground for the kids, and picnic shelter that you can rent.

Pfeiffer Park is the smallest of Montgomery parks, but perhaps the most peaceful. A shaded gazebo, beautiful landscaping, and a fountain are some of the highlights.

Pioneer Park hosts the pumpkin festival every October. It also has come of the most beautiful trails and nature scenes around. Relax on the dock near Sycamore Creek, take a walk through the woods, or maybe catch a youth soccer or baseball game.

Swaim Park has a paved, .39 mile trail. History lovers will also want to check out the farmhouse circa 1832 that is on site. You can also do some fishing on Todd Pond at Swaim Park. This park also plays host to the Harvest Moon Festival each fall, which is fun for the whole family.

Weller Park is great for playing sports like volleyball, baseball, tennis and soccer. It also hosts the Truck Trot where kids can come by and pretend to drive real life fire trucks.

The city of Montgomery also goes above and beyond with their community activities like fitness classes offered in the annex building. They also host a number of youth camps for a variety of interests. You’ll definitely have opportunities to feel part of the community. Click here for more activities offered in Montgomery.

Special Events in Montgomery

As you can tell, Montgomery is a tight knit community and that is also demonstrated in the number of special events they have throughout the year.

Winter

For Valentines Day, Montgomery hosts a free, family friendly concert by the Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra (BAMSO). This is usually held at a local church. Here is more information about Bamso events throughout the year.

Every spring the city hosts “Safety Awareness Day” which is geared towards letting kids have fun while learning safety. The local fire department is there doing demonstrations and some hands on learning for kids of all ages. Live music keeps things both fun an educational.

Summer in Montgomery is full of great events. The “Dive-in Movie and Luau” is so great that they do it twice! Held in June and August, the community pool hosts the event where concession food items are served and everyone can swim and enjoy a family-friendly movie when the sun goes down.

Montgomery Independence Day event features a concert by BAMSO on July 3rd, and then a parade and festival on July 4th. One of the cool things they do is let kids join in the parade by decorating their bike and join the “kids on bikes” portion which begins at the elementary school. The festival is a mid-day event that is highlighted by a little-league all-star game.

Bastille Day is celebrated in July and has a real festive feeling. According to the city’s events page, the purpose of the Bastille Day festival is that it “celebrates our sister city, Neiully-Plaisance, France with this annual fundraising street festival that helps to fund the many activities we do as a sister city.” It is definitely a “can’t miss” event for the people of Montgomery every summer.

Montgomery finishes their annual summer events with “Touch a Truck” which is another kid-focused event that allows people to get up close and personal with fire trucks and the other safety vehicles used by the city. Kids can (pretend) driving tractors, trucks, police cars, and more. The event typically takes place at Weller park on the first Thursday in August.

One of the great fall traditions of the city is Harvest Moon in October. It’s held at Swaim Park and includes a lot of the fall colors and festivities you’d expect. Who doesn’t love s’mores?

Around Halloween time, Montgomery has pumpkin walk for kids to get dressed up in their costumes and have some fun at Pioneer Park. Plenty of candy is available and a number of entertainment options are available to keep the little guys entertained for a few hours.

Farmers’ markets are all the rage these days, but Montgomery boasts a very good one. It was voted the best of the North by Cincy Magazine in 2012 – 2013 and is open on Saturday mornings from May to October. Their website keeps a current list of all the farmers and vendors that will be represented for that season. You can also follow Montgomery Farmers Market on Twitter.

The world renowned “Ribs King” simply had to be on this list. Though they have several other locations, the original still operates in Montgomery. The original location opened in 1951 when Montgomery wasn’t nearly as developed as it is today. The town around it has changed, but Montgomery Inn ribs have been a constant. Personally, I love the smaller, quaint feeling of the original location.

Although Montgomery Inn has risen to national notoriety, they are still a community focused business. They support numerous Cincinnati organizations such as Children’s Hospital and the Joe Nuxhall Community Fund. See more on their work in the community here. 

Founded by Anna and Joe Backer, the Cincinnati School of Music is located in Old Montgomery and will teach music to students of all ages. Their website features a long list of testimonials from happy music students who rave about Joe and Anna as music teachers. For Montgomery residents, you can’t beat the convenience of having professional music teachers just around the corner. Check them out here.

According to their story, Walker Brothers Ice Cream was started in 2012 because a local family, who loved Montgomery, saw the need for an ice cream shop in town. Great ice cream combined with a great patio in the heart of Montgomery make for a place you don’t want to miss in the summer.