Potential move to Alliance, help (Canton, Warren: to rent, credit, houses)

[TheYO]

Originally Posted by alybain

Think it may take time to get used to all the different counties!
I had a little virtual drive around Salem on google maps, it looks nice, small place, but seems to have most stuff around that we would need/want.
I will look again at Berlin Center for the school there, my son really is very keen to play football. I asked him at the weekend if he was worried about the move, he said his biggest concern was getting on the football team!

Does he want to play in college?/Is he good enough to play in college? If so, you might want to look at the larger school districts near Canton like North Canton (Hoover High School) and Plain (GlenOak High School). Those are much larger schools than Western Reserve and will give him a better chance of being seen by college scouts.

[alybain]

he does want to play in college, but whether hes good enough is hard to tell while we are here in the uk. Hes only 14, but he plays for 2 teams here, his coaches think hes doing really well, hes very keen. We have a friend who is an American coach, he sees alot of potential in him, he has a good left hand throw, and likes to play reciever.
If he went to a larger school, the competition to get on a team would be harder I would assume? He does worry about the other kids being a much better standard than him. He trains twice a week all year round, but hes very aware that high school kids train more than that.

[TheYO]

It is harder to make the team at a larger school, but if he trains well he should have no problem. Since he can play two positions, that gives him an advantage over guys who only play one. Once you come here and he's on a team, he'll be training a lot more than twice a week, and he'll improve over time. If he's willing to train hard, he should be able to make the team at a large school and earn good playing time there. College scouts focus a lot of their time on the larger schools, so he'll have a much better chance at earning a college scholarship playing at a big school.

Just as an FYI, Ohio has six different divisions for high schools football. The divisions are broken out by the total number of boys in 9th, 10th and 11th grade at that school. Division I is the largest schools, and this year Division was was comprised of schools with 494 or more boys in 9th, 10th and 11th grades. North Canton Hoover High School and Plains GlenOak High School are in Division I. Division VI has the smallest schools, and is made up with schools with 119 or less boys in 9th, 10th and 11th grades. Western Reserve High School is in Division VI. Salem is in Division III, so it's more of a middle ground with between 243 to 326 boys in 9th, 10th and 11th grades.

[alybain]

Thanks for the info, thats really interesting about the divisions for football, a college scholarship is his dream! Ive found a couple of real estate websites that allow you to search by school district so thats helplful, now just fingers crossed for the job!

Is there a big rental market for properties? may have to rent in the first instance, depending on the time we have.

Thanks again for all replies, its so helpful!

[alybain]

so to update all you wonderful people who have kindly replied to my post, husband has been offered a contract and is negotiating pay currently.

We are very excited about the move to the area, but inevitably I have a few more questions if anyone has the time to reply, I would be most grateful.

Firstly, costs of living in the area. Roughly how much are utilities, land line phones and average cell phone contracts. Who gives the best cell coverage? would be looking for decent phones (as we have stalled upgrades in the uk for a looooong time anticipating a move!!)

and how much is gas for a decent car, and for that matter what is a decent car to have?? guessing something that can deal with snow!

and tv packages?? how much is sky tv? is it worth getting? is there any alternatives?
and home contents insurance etc!!

sorry its alot to ask, but honestly any help on the above would greatly help!
thanking you in advance

[South Range Family]

Cell phones are pretty much Verizon, or AT&T. There are prepaids, but I don't know much about them. I pay $225 a month for two smart phones, and three regular phones with Verizon.

Tv would be satellite dish, or cable. Dish Network, and Directv are the only two satellite choices through out the entire Country. Armstrong cable serves my area, and all of Mahoning County. If you happened to pick something in another County, I don't know who would provide cable. I bundle my tv, internet, and landline with Armstrong for $148 per month. Most people completely skip the landline now.

Gasoline is currently$3.45 per U.S. gallon. It was dropping to almost $3 even, but somebody must have burped, or farted on another side of the world causing it to go back up.

There are so many choices for cars that you really can't go wrong with something fairly new that gets at least 30 miles to the gallon.

We have Erie insurance for homeowners, car, and life insurance. There are many insurance companies. The wife says that homeowners just went up to $77 per month. That's for full replacement coverage on a $300k house, all contents, and out buildings.

Our average electric bill is $75 per month. We use propane to cook, and dry clothes. That's about $15 per month. I heat with wood, so I have no monthly bill there. When I first built the house, propane was $1200 per month for heat. That was an extreme. That's why we use wood now.

Some people have all electric houses. Others have a mixture of propane, natural gas, or fuel oil for heating. If natural gas is available, that should be your first choice.

If you are in a rural area, you will have a water well, and septic tank. There are no monthly bills. If you happen to pick in town, there is a city water, and sewer bill. Those get pretty expensive.

If you are a milk drinker, one of our local grocery stores is currently advertising milk for $1.50 per gallon.

If you live in an incorporated area, (Salem, or Alliance would be examples) you will pay a 1% wage tax on top of State, and Federal income tax. Berlin Center, and other rural areas do not pay that tax.

Working in the City of Alliance may cause you to pay that tax no matter where you live.

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by South Range Family

If you live in an incorporated area, (Salem, or Alliance would be examples) you will pay a 1% wage tax on top of State, and Federal income tax. Berlin Center, and other rural areas do not pay that tax.

Working in the City of Alliance may cause you to pay that tax no matter where you live.

Alliance is actually 2%, and you will pay this regardless of where you live if he is going to teach at Mt. Union since it is located within the city limits.

If you choose to live in Stark County/Alliance - Time Warner Cable is the only option for cable; I think AT&T U-Verse also may have a presence now though as well, but not sure if their rates are any better than TWC.

[alybain]

Thanks so much for the replies, its great to have some idea of the costs of things to help plan the budget.
One of his new colleagues knows of a furnished house we could rent to get us off to a good start, but im keen not to have to change my sons high schools once he starts.
Ive looked into a few in the area, anyone got any thoughts on McKinley? would we be able to send him to any around the area like Glen Oak even though its a little way out? and whats the deal with school busses? do you have to be within a certain distance of the school??

[South Range Family]

I don't know anything about Glen Oak. I did a little research, and found them in Stark County, Canton.
GlenOak High School - Home

Canton McKinley looks like a large city school. mckinley.ccsdistrict.org

I get the feeling that neither one of them are what you are looking for.

[dxdtdemon]

When I was in college a few years ago, my roomates (who were not playing sports in college) had gone to GlenOak and had played on their football and baseball teams, and seemed to have liked the coaches there (which may have changed). While they were in middle school, a defensive back named Dustin Fox was playing at GlenOak who later went on to do great things with the Buckeyes and the Minnesota Vikings. Both of them were majoring in mechanical engineering, and it seemed like the math and science curriculum they received had prepared them well.