We relocated to Ohio just over a year ago from NC when my husband took a job in Springfield. We bought a house in Fairborn, but our neighborhood is in the Beavercreek school district. Beavercreek has phenomenal schools (all rated Excellent). Beavercreek city has pretty high taxes and utilities are also more expensive, which is why we chose Fairborn. We do pay a school tax since we are in the Beavercreek district, but our taxes aren't as high as if we actually lived in Beavercreek. Our neighborhood is great and it's about 15 min from the ANG base where my husband works. We are a 7 min drive to the mall, about 3 min to a grocery store (less than 10 min to the commissary if you're military), and about 4 min to the expressway. I think our location is fantastic. If you would like to know the name of the neighborhoods that are in Fairborn city but Beavercreek school district, then message me and I'll give you the info. There are several houses in our neighborhood that are for sale right now, and I think they're reasonably priced. We do get some occasional daytime jet noise from Wright Patterson, but it's not excessive.
As for Yellow Springs, I have been there a few times and it certainly has it's own atmosphere. The only thing that I can warn about it is that it does get quite a lot of (F-16) jet noise from the ANG base. So, if that is a concern, you might want to stay away from that area. The reason people say it's "hippie-ish" is because it has a few head shops and natural stores. We didn't look there because of the jet noise issue.
Good luck!