Winton Hills

Winton Hills is primarily a low-income housing and industrial business neighborhood. Despite being made up largely of large public housing communities and Procter & Gamble's Winton Hill Technical Center, the community has lots of trees and green space. A lot of the industry is concentrated along Este Ave, which runs just the other side of the Spring Grove Avenue/Vine Street industrial strip. Unfortunately, there's not a lot else the community has to offer except a bad reputation and crime. The crime, while a lot for the area, is typically concentrated in the low-income housing communities.

One of the nice amenities that the community has to offer is the Winton Hills Recreation Center which offers a variety of activities for kids and adults alike, including a fitness center, roller rink, baseball fields, swimming pool, and more. Memberships to the rec center are very inexpensive at $25 for adults and $10 for kids and seniors.

Winton Hills is not a very diverse neighborhood, as the majority of residents are African-American. Recently, because of the low-income housing options, there has been a large influx of Hispanic population.

Winton Hills is conveniently located near Interstate 75 and not too far from the central connector of the Norwood Lateral, which connects West to East and Interstate 71. Winton Hills is located less than 10 miles from Downtown Cincinnati and is within an easy drive of the northern suburbs and easily accessible from the east side of town via Route 562, the Norwood Lateral.

Some Cincinnatinz equate the neighborhood of Winton Hills with Winton Terrace and Findlater Gardens. These two Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority developments do, in fact, occupy a huge amount of the land in Winton Hills; but there's more to the neighborhood than that. It stretches across a beautiful wooded area that spans the hill from bottom to top.

Winton Hills is mostly a community of low income rental residences. You'll also find a few market rate apartments and well kept older homes nestled in the wooded areas at the top of the hill. If you're looking for diversity, the neighborhood may not be for you. Of the 4787 residents tallied in the recent census, only 487 were non African American.

Unfortunately the reputation for high crime in Winton Terrace has tainted the entire neighborhood and even adjoining areas. A few years ago Winton Place, the community next door, reverted back to their previous name, Spring Grove Village, so as not to be tied in with Winton Hills' reputation for criminal activities.

Winton Hills businesses
For years Winton Hills has been the home of the ever-expanding Procter and Gamble Winton Hills Business Facility at 6100 Center Hill Ave. Ferguson Moving, P Jax Inc Trucking and several other businesses are located on Center Hill or along Este Ave. Sun Chemical is on Spring Grove and unfortunately it places a good deal of the Winton Hills/Spring Grove Village area upwind of their chemical emissions.

Recreation
The Winton Hills Recreation Center, 5170 Winneste Ave, is a Cincinnati Recreation Commission facility with a baseball field, computer center, pool, fitness center and more. Members pay a reasonable fee for use of the facilities.

Shopping and Entertainment
You won't find much of either in Winton Hills, but shopping areas in Finneytown are about a 10 minute drive beyond the top of the hill. Northside is approximately 4 miles west of lower Winton Hills. For groceries City Centre Kroger is a 10 minute drive away.

Cincinnati Public Schools
-Winton Hills Academy(winton.cps-k12.org), 5300 Winneste Ave. Pre-8th grade.
-James M. Gamble Montessori High School grades 7-12 (gamblemontessorihs.cps-k12.org), 5425 Winton Ridge Lane. Formerly Westside -Montessori High School/Jacobs High School.
-Parker Woods Montessori School (wintonmontessori.cps-k12.org) - 4750 Winton Rd, grades 1-6. In nearby Spring Grove Village.

Private Schools
-St. Xavier (Stxavier.org) – A Jesuit school for boys in nearby College Hill.
-Roger Bacon (rogerbacon.org) - A co-ed Franciscan high school in nearby St. Bernard
-Bright Horizons- offers pre-school-K programs at a facility on Center Hill

Medical Facilities
Winton Hills Medical Center at 5275 Winneste Ave. offers primary health care for local families. U. C. Hospital and other medical facilities are 15 minutes away.

Winton Hills lies on the northern border of Cincinnati’s city limits, between College Hill, Carthage, and Winton Place. In 1940, Cincinnati’s first housing project, meant for low-income residents, was built in Winton Hills. Today, the housing project still exists, though it’s no longer the racially segregated complex it was in the mid-20th century. The 1- to 5-bedroom townhouses that make up the housing complexes of Winton Terrace and Findlater Gardens have gone through extensive renovation and are clean, tidy, and attractive inside and out. Not only do these homes contain updated amenities, but they also provide residents with access to social services such as the Findlater Gardens Learning Center, the Winton Hills Youth Service Bureau, and the Terrace Guild, which offer tutoring, field trips, computer labs, family counseling, GED preparation, pregnancy prevention programs, and more.

Single-family homes are available in Winton Hills as well. Most properties have an abundance of green space, perfect for those looking for a relative amount of privacy not too far from the city. Speaking of the city, I’d like to add that Winton Hills, though on the northern border of the city limits, provides easy access to the rest of town. A short drive will get you on I-75 South, taking you quickly through the center of the city and branching off into the East and West. For those without a car, metro buses #16 and #47 make stops throughout the neighborhood.

If you have children, Winton Hills provides a number of public schooling options. In addition to the educational options I listed above, you’ll find Winton Hills Academy, which serves PK-8. Nearby high schools include Jacobs High School, which is located within Winton Hills, and others in nearby neighborhoods: St. Xavier High School, Walnut Hills High School, and Roger Bacon High School.

The neighborhood is also known for housing the P&G Winton Hills Business Center, a large complex comprised of 13 different buildings and two pedestrian tunnels, which focuses on the research and development of various P&G products, including baby care, family care, fem care and snacks. The complex, having recently been renovated, also houses a fitness center and numerous testing labs.

Winton Hills, like any neighborhood, has its pros and cons. The townhouses in its two housing projects are relatively attractive, and provide affordable living for many people. Additionally, the community offers many services to residents, especially children. When considering the racially sensitive past of Winton Hills, it’s clear that the neighborhood is rich in history. All in all, this makes for a unique neighborhood, one that may be worth a visit.