Am I nuts? Considering retiring to Akron area.

[UKUKUK]

Originally Posted by paulamo

Seriously? Why not try a condo in AZ? Way Cheaper and weather much better, except the summers. This year the humidity was horrid!! But thats somewhat unusual. Get housing for under 100G now. I was born & raised in Akron, wonderful in the 60's loved it. So much change. My whole family went to North High School. My aunt taught there. THose were the days. Enjoy your retirement - I've not been back for toooooooo many years to pass judgment, now I'm a fan of the west.

Because not everyone likes living in sterile, car-dependent Phoenix or yuppified Scottsdale. They like places with soul.

Arizona is poised to be the next Detroit. They've made all of the developmental mistakes as Detroit city did except in a far worse magnitude.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by Jan Lucas

I'm Akron bred and born, though I grew up mainly in the eastern suburbs. Graduated from Ohio State and lived in Columbus for a while before moving to the Baltimore-Washington area in the '80s. Now that retirement is a few years off, I'm wondering whether it might make sense to return to the Akron area for my golden years, so called. I'm divorced, have no unbreakable ties to this area, and, frankly, I'm fed up with the crime, the battle for on-street parking in my neighborhood, and the high cost of living. I'm also anticipating the day when I won't like climbing stairs to use the bathroom, mowing the lawn (albeit a tiny one) or shoveling snow. I'd like to sell my rowhouse and buy a 2 BR ranch condo with an attached garage, a housing style virtually unknown here but apparently fairly common (and cheap) in NE Ohio. I think I could stretch my modest retirement income by ditching Maryland for my old stomping grounds, though I know they've changed in 30+ years. Any current or former Akronites itching to weigh in on this?

Whatever floats your boat. I am actually in Hampton Roads, you are probably familiar with it. It is a like a much larger version of Akron. I don't know, I have no interest in returning to Akron, just too small, too slow for me at this moment, but if you were approaching retirement age, I could see why you would consider it. You may want to look at coming down here though; a bit cheaper than the DMV, but more expensive than Akron. But this place is just as slow as Akron IMHO.

Akron hasn't really changed that much since the 80s; there are a few high rises, mid rises, that weren't there before. University of Akron pretty much owns downtown outright, and the hospitals are a lot bigger and taller than they used to be. Other than that it is the same sleepy town it has always been. Crime is up a bit, but nothing in comparison to Maryland. Just stay away from the sketchy areas and you'll be fine. You can still get out of Akron is 15 minutes. It can take 2 hours to get out of this place during rush hour; sometimes the 4 lane roads without a median are refreshing when I go back to Akron. Ninety percent of the arterial roads here are separated with a median, with all of these confusing traffic signals and interchanges you have to make all of these right turns and u-turns just to go down a single block. Not to mention that a block here is like 3 or 4 blocks in Akron.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by Jan Lucas

Yeah, I remember the winters of my childhood, which were far colder and more miserable than anything I've experienced in the Mid-Atlantic. What the locals consider a "blizzard" -- a few inches of gloppy snow-- is laughable. That said, I figured that if I don't have to drive to a job, my car is in an attached garage, and the condo association plows the street, it can't be THAT bad. Renting for a year may be a good idea, though. Thanks for the advice, current and former Akronites!

The Mid Atlantic doesn't know anything about bad weather! I swear, a few inches of snow, the roads aren't plowed I almost went off of the side of the highway

It was cool to see EVERYTHING covered in snow. Sucked when the temperature dropped and everything was ice. They don't use salt around here at all; might be different up in Maryland.

[Jan Lucas]

Most of my family moved to the Phoenix metro area in the '70s and '80s. One brother and his family have become so disgusted with the area that they recently relocated to Colorado. I know housing is cheap there now, but it's just not my style.