When several prominent businessmen pooled their own money to create a new Cincinnati community more than 100 years ago, the plan was to attract a high class of people to what the developers hoped would become an exclusive area.

They would cultivate exclusivity BY closely monitoring prospective residents, selling only to those they deemed suitable.

Houses would be large and elaborate, businesses would be small and scarce and the community would mimic its namesake, the fashionable Hyde Park area of New York. That was in 1892.

Today, the Cincinnati neighborhood of Hyde Park still bears many of the qualities its founders fostered.

It is an upscale area where stately, well-maintained homes with manicured lawns dot tree-lined streets. Prominent Cincinnatians - business and civic leaders, doctors, judges, the city manager, a county commissioner - continue to call Hyde Park home. Industry remains scarce, and retail outlets are, for the most part, limited to the exclusive shops that dominate Hyde Park Square.

Combine those factors with Hyde Park's low crime rate and its proximity to major arteries such as Interstate 71 and Columbia Parkway, and the east side neighborhood becomes an attractive location for single people and families, middle and upper class.

''Historically, I think it's carried a name and reputation for quality and good life,'' said Pat Shaffer, 65, who has lived in Hyde Park for the last 29 years. ''We have everything we need here, and it's easy to get to downtown, easy to get to the shopping centers. It's just nice living.''

A special charm
Like many city neighborhoods, the boundaries of Hyde Park are loosely defined.

''There is no true Hyde Park map,'' said Ray Bollhauer, president of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Council.

''It just depends on who you ask. We try to be pretty flexible. We want to be inclusive. We don't want to keep anyone out.''

While some - especially those who live in the gray areas near the edges of Hyde Park - appreciate the attitude, there have been occasional turf wars.

Though the city considers Ault Park to be in Mount Lookout, Hyde Park considers the jewel of a park to be its own. The map the neighborhood association keeps has ''unresolved area'' stamped over the park.

Unlike other neighborhood associations, the Hyde Park association does not despair when a resident or a business outside the neighborhood lists a Hyde Park address, Mr. Bollhauer said.

The blurred lines have become more common as more business has crept into the surrounding area, hoping to benefit from the name that has become a powerful marketing tool.

''It's capitalizing on the Hyde Park charm, on the Hyde Park name,'' said Jack Marck, a Hyde Park resident and an agent with West Shell Realty's Hyde Park office.

''It's being associated with what people are perceived as wanting.'' Consider:

Hyde Park Plaza is really in Oakley.

Only the southernmost tip of the sprawling Hyde Park Golf and Country Club is in Hyde Park.

Those apartments advertised as ''Hyde Park, Near'' are really in Oakley or Madisonville or Evanston.

Although many of the businesses - some upscale - in the Rookwood Pavilion shopping center advertise as being in Hyde Park, they actually are in Norwood.

Although the city has erected signs announcing that Rookwood is in Norwood, most patrons and businesses look at the shopping center as an extension of Hyde Park.

''I don't think anyone would perceive Norwood Plaza or (a)Norwood Shopping Center as being upscale,'' Mr. Marck said.

Heart of the neighborhood
Picturesque Hyde Park Square is more than the neighborhood's business district. It is the heart of Hyde Park.

The square itself - a grassy, bench-lined park with a fountain at the center - is on Erie Avenue between Edwards and Michigan roads. Lining the streets around the square are banks, dry cleaners, salons, exclusive clothing shops and gourmet food stores.

''Our preference is to find unique shops that offer the shopper a choice,'' said Dennis Whan, president of the Hyde Park Business Association. ''A lot of the shops provide services you can't get at large chains.''

The area is in constant activity. People jog through the square, families walk the sidewalks with strollers and dozens of others window shop as they eat ice cream from the Graeter's store on the square.

The Echo, a diner that has served home-style cooking for 50 years, is considered an institution even beyond Hyde Park.

''This is our meeting place,'' Lois Paterson of Columbia Township said as she and her husband sat in the restaurant where they met years ago.

''Our life revolves around this place.''

Increasingly, those who shop at the boutiques and dine at the microbrewery (it's in a renovated bank and is aptly named Tellers) and other restaurants are from outside the neighborhood.

''I think the customer base is growing,'' said Mr. Whan, who owns Double Eagle, a golf shop on the square.

''We've been noticing more and more people coming from Northern Kentucky and the west side.''

Many patrons also are visitors who had heard about the square, either from friends or staff at the downtown hotels, Mr. Whan said.

In the last three years, the businesses on the square have spent $2.5 million in renovations, he said. At least 60 percent of the businesses are sporting fresh paint jobs, and the park in the square has gotten a makeover, with flowers and trees.

Stability is a plus

Another attractive aspect of Hyde Park is the stability of the neighborhood, where homeowners are almost guaranteed to turn a profit when they sell, real-estate agents say.

In 1990, the median home value was $132,099, U.S. Census figures show. BY 1994, the value was up to $156,675, and, in 1996, it was $164,927, according to data analyzed BY Claritas, a demographic research company in Virginia.

The only downside to owning a home in Hyde Park, says longtime resident Mike Holbrook, is the house will not be a new structure with modern amenities.

''You have to like old houses, you have to like hardwood floors and high ceilings, because BY and large, if you're going to come to the area, you're going to have an older home,'' said Mr. Holbrook, 52, who has lived in Hyde Park for 15 years.

''But it's still very liveable. The residential values are good, and they keep appreciating.''

Though it is often regarded as an oasis for wealthy people, Hyde Park is more than an upper-class community.

Granted, there are secluded, sprawling million-dollar homes lining Grandin Road and surrounding streets.

But the more visible - and accessible - parts of Hyde Park are filled with older, two- and three-story homes with porches, detached garages and hardwood floors.

Mr. Marck, the real-estate agent, thinks the combination of classes contributes to the neighborhood's appeal.

''I think one of the things people enjoy about Hyde Park is that you can find a house for $120,000, $130,000, up to $1 million,'' said Mr. Marck, who has lived in Hyde Park for 10 years.

''When you're walking down the street here, you don't know if you're with a $1 million-person or a $120,000 person.''