A little help ... Wadsworth (Cleveland, Akron: for sale, houses, neighborhoods)

[ClevelandBrown]

Long story short, I'm seriously considering a job in downtown Akron. If I take it, I'd be looking to relocate from the westside of Cleveland (I don't really want to make an hour plus commute everyday). This is where things get interesting. I enjoy city living, but my wife wants to live in a suburban/rural environment. Plus, we have kids who will be enrolling in school and are looking for a city that has a solid public school system.

With all that said, we've made a compromise and looks like our choice will be down to either Medina or Wadsworth. I'm pretty familiar with Medina, but don't know anything about Wadsworth (though it looks like it will be a better commute for me into work).

Hoping there are people on here who know more about the city. This weekend, we drove through there and went past some of the houses that are for sale.

Some of the questions I have are:

1. How do the schools compare to Medina? Just looking at state report cards, it appears that they may even be better. Plus, I know Medina has a lot of financial issues. How do Wadsworth schools fare in that regard?

2. Are there any areas to avoid? I'm not talking crime, because I doubt any neighborhood in Wadsworth has a lot of it, but talking more about resale value on a home. We're working class and looking in the 80,000 range for a home. So we aren't expecting to find a perfect neighborhood, but we at least want one where we can sell the home in say 5-10 years from now for more money than we paid (assuming the market continues to improve). To be more specific, how are these streets:

Water Street: There is a house we like there, but to be honest, that area of town seems a little on the run-down side. Is it fair to say that that street (area) is on the more undesirable side to buy?

North Lyman: The overall area seems nice, especially some of the streets to the east. But again, it seems like there are are some run-down homes on North Lyman itself. Is that another street that locals would avoid?

Ohio Avenue: To me, this seems like a great neighborhood. Kind of reminds me of the area of West Park (Cleveland) where I live. Is there something I'm missing? I'm kind of scratching my head on how the house we drove by on that street was in the same price range as the previous two streets.

Fairlawn: There were a couple of houses on that street for sale. One apparently needs work (though it was significantly lower in price), the other looks ok. Overall, it seems like a nice street. The proximity to the nice-looking park that is around the corner (with basketball and tennis courts) also seems to be a plus.

3. Diversity: Wadsworth seems to be fairly socio-economically diverse (which is a plus), but seems to be lacking racial diversity. Is there a reason why non-whites have decided not to move there?

4. What other Akron area suburbs should I check out that are comparable to Medina or Akron? I'm talking about a suburban city that still has some sort of urban feel: walkability, amentities (loved that Wadsworth has a downtown Save-A-Lot that is in walking distance to any of these streets), neighborhood bars (Wadsworth seems to lack that, but I noticed that there is a Great Lakes bar "coming soon" on High Street ... anybody know more about that?) and parks with basketball courts (the one park by Fairlawn looked to have a nice court and there were a couple other neighborhood parks that had courts too.) I'm no longer a hard-core basketball player, but like to go shoot around and get into a casual game if other people are there.

People have told me to check out Barberton and Cuyahoga Falls. I don't know much about either city, but I may check them out.

Thanks for any help.

[SquareBetterThanAll]

I'm short on specifics but generally speaking I think a lot of that area is somewhat conservative. While there is economic diversity you have that because Wadsworth was a rural community with the typical small town makeup that had been augmented by suburban sprawl due to its proximity to I-76 and access to Akron. So what you've got are newer suburbanites and the original small town folk. I would speculate that minorities would ne more apt ro settle in the area the suburbs that are further along the development curve, already have other minorities, and that you have to drive through to get to Wadsworth anyway like Fairlawn or Copley or other suburbs around the city. I would check out Cuyahoga Falls - it had quite a spread of neighborhood types, is closer to downtown, has great schools, more shopping, and some racial diversity... more than Wadsworth anyway. Although I am biased I don't find Wadsworth's sprawl and relative country-ness appealing.

[htlong]

how about green or canal fulton?

[ClevelandBrown]

Originally Posted by SquareBetterThanAll

I'm short on specifics but generally speaking I think a lot of that area is somewhat conservative. While there is economic diversity you have that because Wadsworth was a rural community with the typical small town makeup that had been augmented by suburban sprawl due to its proximity to I-76 and access to Akron. So what you've got are newer suburbanites and the original small town folk. I would speculate that minorities would ne more apt ro settle in the area the suburbs that are further along the development curve, already have other minorities, and that you have to drive through to get to Wadsworth anyway like Fairlawn or Copley or other suburbs around the city. I would check out Cuyahoga Falls - it had quite a spread of neighborhood types, is closer to downtown, has great schools, more shopping, and some racial diversity... more than Wadsworth anyway. Although I am biased I don't find Wadsworth's sprawl and relative country-ness appealing.

Thanks for the help. I'll have to check out Cuyahoga Falls more. I'm with you on Wadsworth on the sprawl and country-ness, though it's something my wife likes. Like I said, we are trying to find a compromise between city and country.

[ClevelandBrown]

Originally Posted by htlong

how about green or canal fulton?

I'm not an expert on Green, but I've always assumed it was more like a Strongsville or Brunswick, in that it is strictly a sprawl suburb. Plus, I really don't want to go that far south, which would also rule Canal Fulton out as well. Thanks for the suggestions, though.

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBrown

I'm not an expert on Green, but I've always assumed it was more like a Strongsville or Brunswick, in that it is strictly a sprawl suburb. Plus, I really don't want to go that far south, which would also rule Canal Fulton out as well. Thanks for the suggestions, though.

Green was a township that incorporated, so there is no central focal point. Also, most of Green's development has been in the last few decades, so neighborhoods are largely isolated developments and commercial/retail are almost entirely strip malls of varying sizes. There are a few small turn of the century crossroads villages that are still around, as well as some remaining farm houses here and there. Schools are rated excellent but like a lot of the outer suburbs are fairly homogeneous. I think I would choose Green over Wadsworth just because it is a little more "in the mix" being situated off I-77 inbetween Akron and Canton as opposed to between Akron and... fields...

Canal Fulton is more of a small town in setting but is pretty close to Belden Village so civilization isn't far away. But the further south you get the less of a connection to Cleveland you have, if you are trying to maintain it. Generally getting south of Akron starts taking you from "Oh I had a business lunch in Independence a month ago" to "Last time I was in Cleveland was for a Cavs game two seasons ago." Obviously not a scientific study I conducted to come to that conclusion.

[ClevelandBrown]

Originally Posted by SquareBetterThanAll

Green was a township that incorporated, so there is no central focal point. Also, most of Green's development has been in the last few decades, so neighborhoods are largely isolated developments and commercial/retail are almost entirely strip malls of varying sizes. There are a few small turn of the century crossroads villages that are still around, as well as some remaining farm houses here and there. Schools are rated excellent but like a lot of the outer suburbs are fairly homogeneous. I think I would choose Green over Wadsworth just because it is a little more "in the mix" being situated off I-77 inbetween Akron and Canton as opposed to between Akron and... fields...

Canal Fulton is more of a small town in setting but is pretty close to Belden Village so civilization isn't far away. But the further south you get the less of a connection to Cleveland you have, if you are trying to maintain it. Generally getting south of Akron starts taking you from "Oh I had a business lunch in Independence a month ago" to "Last time I was in Cleveland was for a Cavs game two seasons ago." Obviously not a scientific study I conducted to come to that conclusion.

From what you said, Green sounds a lot like a Strongsville, Brunswick, North Ridgeville, Avon, etc. (if you are familiar with the western Cleveland suburbs). Definitely not what I'm looking for. I'm not sold on Wadsworth to say the least, but I do like that at least it has that "focal point" and some neighborhoods with a little bit of character. While it's no doubt a small-town surrounded by sprawl and corn, it seems to me like it was still a decent-sized small town going back 100 years (actually, I was surprised by that ... I really didn't know what to expect, but always assumed it was more along the lines of a Green or Strongsville type suburb). The more we talk, though, Wadsworth probably won't be for us. Medina is pretty similiar, while a little longer drive to downtown Akron, it is a lot closer to the west side of Cleveland where most our family and friends are. And I definitely don't want to lose my connection to Cleveland.

As for your second part, you could actually describe a lot of people from Cuyahoga County suburbs. It's funny, but I have some friends that consider coming to my house as "going to downtown Cleveland" when I'm 160 blocks away. Unfortunately, that doesn't sound like a south of Akron thing.