The vice presidential candidate next door: What JD Vance's Cincinnati neighbors say
Having a famous neighbor can mean an increase in traffic and unwanted attention.
Residents of Cincinnati's East Walnut Hills don't just have a famous neighbor. They live next to one of the most well-known politicians in the country, one who could soon occupy the second-highest office in government.
Sen. JD Vance's neighbors told The Enquirer there are pros and cons to living next to a vice presidential candidate.
The pros: More police, friendly interactions with Secret Service and the novelty of living next to someone who could be second in command of the country.
The cons: More police, traffic shutdowns, people stopping to take photos and the occasional shout from passing motorists.
"Watch out for your couches!" one person yelled at an Enquirer reporter from an SUV passing Vance's house. The phrase referenced the debunked rumor that began on the social media site X.
The Vances live on a busy stretch of road in East Walnut Hills. The Enquirer, for security reasons, isn't naming the road.
East Walnut Hills sits on a hillside just east of Downtown. It has a mix of opulent 19th-century manors and more modest middle-class homes. The median household income for the neighborhood is $67,000, nearly 40% above the city's overall median income of $48,000, according to the U.S. Census.
Vance's house, a 157-year-old white two-story house valued at $1.4 million, is blurred out on Google maps. A Cincinnati-themed subreddit has posted a disclaimer at the top of its page that anyone attempting to post about Vance's home, security or protection will result be permanently banned.
It wasn't always so anonymous.
Details What JD Vance loves about his Cincinnati neighborhood
House brought Vance to the neighborhood
In a 2017 feature on the house, WCPO touted its renowned architect, Cincinnati Music Hall designer Samuel Hannaford, and discussed the house's rumored role as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
A year later, in 2018, Vance bought the house for $1.4 million, according to Hamilton County property records.
Vance, in an email to The Enquirer, said he and his wife, Usha, fell in love with the house and bought it. They knew little of East Walnut Hills at the time.
"Our neighbors are great, and some of our closest friends live within walking distance. We love the natural beauty, especially the old giant trees and the wildlife," Vance said in the email. "It's hard to believe we're a few minutes away from downtown but we see deer and wild turkey every day. It's the perfect combo of proximity to the city and to nature."
Chad Wolf, who lives near the Vances, said the Vances introduced themselves door-to-door to the neighbors when they moved in.
"They sent out a Christmas card and introduced themselves to the neighborhood before we even, before I even knew who they were, which I thought was really nice," Wolf, 35, said. "They left a good impression."
Brief road closures, Secret Service outside home, restaurants
Some on social media have complained about the road closures when Vance comes and goes. Vance didn't say how much time he spends at home but residents say his entourage is seen regularly. The Vances split time between here and Washington, D.C.-area, where Vance owns a house in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Va.
When Vance is returning or leaving home, the road can be shut down for as long as 15 minutes, residents told The Enquirer.
Some residents said they've only seen him a few times. Others say he and his entourage leave daily.
Secret Service and law enforcement from around the country mill about outside his house. Black SUVs line the street. The home's iron fence has signs warning passersby it's a "restricted area."
When he dined on Aug. 24 at Nolia in Over-the-Rhine, Secret Service agents stood outside, screening incoming patrons with a metal detecting wand. Men who appeared to be agents with earpieces also sat at the counter monitoring the crowd.
Neighbors ambivalent
Vance's neighbors, at least the ones who would talk to the press, had ambivalent feelings about the whole thing.
Wolf started noticing more black SUVs and police the day after the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump on July 13.
The day before a gunman shot at Trump in Pennsylvania, Wolf said he saw Vance walking his dog past his house.
"Then all these cars started showing up even before he was officially chosen," Wolf said. "So I think it was just like a security measure for him."
Gov. Mike DeWine had approved the extra law enforcement after the assassination attempt, according to multiple news reports.
Neighbors described that week as the worst as far as the security details. The presence of armed guards was heavy, said Christal Baker, who lives near Vance.
"Our driveway was blocked," Baker, 59, said. "I'm not used to seeing SWAT. And that much police presence with, you know, rifles or whatever, AK 47s, out walking up and down the street ... It was for a neighborhood, it was, it was just a little much."
Two days after the assassination attempt, Vance became Trump's running mate and the security detail hasn't left East Walnut Hills. Cincinnati Police has not responded to an open records request made by The Enquirer on its role in the security detail and how much it has cost the city.
Uncertainty about the future
Jayna Schimberg, 52, was out of town at the end of July and came back to find Secret Service and law enforcement swarming around the entrance of her house. She lives across the street from Vance.
In the first week of August, she noticed Secret Service several times close the road down for 10 to 15 minutes as Vance came and went.
"When he's getting ready to leave it's motorcycles, multiple cops, ambulances, like the whole nine yards," Schimberg said. "And then they block off the street."
She said the Secret Service has been nice and given her their phone numbers in case of any concerns.
It's just a minor inconvenience now. But living next to such a high-profile public figure carries a lot of uncertainty.
"If he becomes the VP, it's going to get worse," Schimberg said. "If we want to have a party, I don't want to have to give them a list of names. I don't know how far that goes when you live across the street from a vice president."