COLUMBIA-TUSCULUM – In the early morning light, Mitchell Biles, 29, stands on the deck of his $360,000 condominium. "I like it better here, I admit it," he says. "But I wouldn't trade that year in Lower Price Hill for anything. It made me into a man who's seen life."

Six years ago, after earning a master's degree in business administration from Xavier, Mr. Biles landed a job at Proctor and Gamble and moved to Lower Price Hill. "I didn't really know the downtown area," he reflects. "I grew up in Finneytown. But my apartment was $1500 a month, so I figured it was in a good area." He sips from his coffee mug. "I figured wrong."

At the end of the 1990s, Lower Price Hill experienced a surge of interest from developers and home buyers drawn by the easy access to downtown, skyline view, and cheap land. The interest didn't last. Unlike Mt. Adams, an infrastructure of restaurants, bars, and small businesses failed to appear. Property values plummeted; lavishly refurbished houses lost value.

Mr. Biles signed a one-year lease for a two-bedroom apartment on Maryland Avenue in 1999. He purchased his condominium in Columbia-Tusculum the month before the lease expired. Now, as bicyclists commute to work below on Route 52, Mr. Biles looks out to the river. "The street I lived on, almost all of the cars were at least eight years old," he says. "There was litter. Nodding at my downtrodden neighbors and exchanging occasional pleasantries really helped me understand how different life is on the street."

"I blend in pretty well here, I guess," Mr. Biles says of his current residence. "But if something crazy ever went down, I bet I'd handle it way cooler than Thomas and Samantha next door. People hesitate to mess with me because I've earned the look, you know, the look of street life." Demonstrating, Mr. Biles cocks his head and frowns slightly at nothing in particular.