Potential move to Alliance, help (Canton, North Canton: real estate, rental market, insurance)

[alybain]

Thats interesting about the Alliance schools, the above comments slate them completely, I guess I need to research a bit more into results tables and things, above all though I want my son to settle quickly and get on well in his new school regardless of area or new buildings/facilities, I have no idea what the other kids might think of a British kid turning up, im hoping it will be ok, think im just a worrying mum on that score though!

Mt Union is where DH has applied to work, interviews all going well so far, and he has been invited to campus next week. If the schools are ok, and the areas are good it would be great for him to have a short commute, especially as Im assuming we would have to re-take driving tests again??

We have a daughter who will be 18 if the move goes ahead, what do 18 year olds normally do??!! do they all go to college?? we have no money for her to do that, we assume all colleges are funded by parents?? in the UK nursing is paid for, is that the same in the USA?

again, many thanks for any replies, very much appreciated

[South Range Family]

http://www.ode.state.oh.us/reportcar...IST/043497.pdf

I have no idea how the State can justify giving Alliance an effective rating. They only met 12 out of 26 required indicators. They have a 79% graduation rate. Alliance is a terrible school district, and their record shows it.

Most colleges give free tuition to children of employees, but they usually require that you be there 2 years before being eligible.

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by alybain

Thats interesting about the Alliance schools, the above comments slate them completely, I guess I need to research a bit more into results tables and things, above all though I want my son to settle quickly and get on well in his new school regardless of area or new buildings/facilities, I have no idea what the other kids might think of a British kid turning up, im hoping it will be ok, think im just a worrying mum on that score though!

Mt Union is where DH has applied to work, interviews all going well so far, and he has been invited to campus next week. If the schools are ok, and the areas are good it would be great for him to have a short commute, especially as Im assuming we would have to re-take driving tests again??

We have a daughter who will be 18 if the move goes ahead, what do 18 year olds normally do??!! do they all go to college?? we have no money for her to do that, we assume all colleges are funded by parents?? in the UK nursing is paid for, is that the same in the USA?

again, many thanks for any replies, very much appreciated

If you prefer Marlington or West Branch schools, there are neighborhoods that are less than 5 minutes from Mt. Union in both. The city line is at Beech St. & Mahoning Rd. if you are looking at a map, so all areas south of Beech are in Washington Twp. (Marlington schools) and east of Mahoning are West Branch schools. I would have no issue living in either of those areas. It's kind of funny, because Alliance Middle School is built right on the district line near the intersection of Union & Beech! So kids that are literally 1/4 mile or so away, bus it all the way out to Marlington Middle School which is like a 10-15 minute drive from there. I think the land was donated as to why they chose that location - the building is less than 10 years old if I remember right.

I would have your daughter look into Stark State if she is interested in nursing, it is a reasonably priced community college to get her started, and they have opened up an Alliance location not too many years ago which is only like 2 minutes from Mt. Union. Most schools in the area have a waiting list for their nursing programs anyway, so in the meantime she could knock out some of her basic core classes, and then proceed either at Mt. Union (if tuition is free after a year or two) or just finish up at Stark State. And, no, nursing is not paid for by the country; she may qualify for scholarships though, and there are tax credits to help offset the cost of tuition.

[alybain]

thanks for the replies, been looking around at houses most of the afternoon, Salem seems to be quite cheap, is there a reason for that? is it not a good area?

think our son would be in high schol at 15 years old right?? not sure if that makes a differene to good/bad schools in areas. Are all the schools linked in some way? middle school linked to high school??

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by alybain

thanks for the replies, been looking around at houses most of the afternoon, Salem seems to be quite cheap, is there a reason for that? is it not a good area?

think our son would be in high schol at 15 years old right?? not sure if that makes a differene to good/bad schools in areas. Are all the schools linked in some way? middle school linked to high school??

The further away you get from larger cities the cheaper it gets, to a point. Not that Salem is bad but it isn't an area that is in any danger of suburban sprawl any time soon. The area between Canton and Youngstown is more or less static; not much change either way. Sounds like it may fit what you are looking for. On the other hand, a similar lot/house in Jackson Township would most likely cost more. A similar house in exurban Cleveland would cost more than that, etc.

Generally middle schools feed into a specific high school by default. In a town like Salem (or most areas that would have a lot the size you are looking for), there will probably be only one middle school that feeds into (the only) one high school.

[South Range Family]

I believe K-5 is elementary, 6th, 7th, and 8th are middle school. 9th through 12th is high school. Ohio has recently spent a lot of money building new schools across the State. Many districts have chosen to consolidate their three schools into one big campus. West Branch was one of the first schools to do that around here. Western Reserve built their campus in front of their old high school. South Range moved our campus to the middle of the school district.


Salem is a nice little town. We do all of our shopping there. It's safe. I wouldn't hesitate to walk around there at any time of day, or night. Of course, they roll up the sidewalks at 8PM on a Saturday night. There are some really nice neighborhoods in Salem. There are also a lot of rural areas surrounding Salem. The inner core of a few streets is turning into low income rentals.
There has been an influx of illegal Guatemalans that are working at a local food processing plant.

Their schools are currently rated as excellent, but they had financial troubles a few years back, and I wasn't impressed with them the one year that my kids went there.

Here is something to remember. Addresses mean nothing around here. I have a Salem address, but I don't live in Salem. I don't even live in the same County. I live in Green Township Mahoning County, the South Range school district. Salem just happens to be the nearest post office. Neighbors a few houses down have Canfield addresses.


Mahoning County | Auditor | Search Property Auditor

Columbiana County Auditor

Stark County, Ohio

You can search all of the County Auditor's websites for information about houses you are looking at. School districts, yearly taxes, when it was last sold, sale price, assessed value, size of house, and other buildings.

They also have maps with the property outline. You can search by owner name, or address.

[alybain]

thank you so much for the replies.

its strange about Salem, here in the UK the further you live away from the cities and more rural areas the more expensive the houses are! Its far cheaper to live in the cities in the UK, which is why I asked about Salem, it all seemed very nice, but thought there must be a reason for that!

what are the shops like there? many? are they local small shops or big chains? Very interesting that the addresses are done on post office locations! here they are done by city, our post codes are city related.

[TheYO]

Salem has a big of big chains like WalMart and smaller, local shops. It's a nice small town and pretty quiet. The schools there are rated excellent by the state.

[South Range Family]

The main drag through town is only a mile or two at the most. There are a couple of big box stores on the East side of town. There is a big hospital, and some fast food. Heading West there are huge houses that are over a hundred years old. Some are small businesses. Some are still houses. The center of town is the historical district that has a bunch of small shops. Go to google maps for a satellite view. Salem, Ohio 44460. Try out the street view too.

The main road that runs through Salem continues West to Alliance about 10 miles away. Mount Union is on that road too. There is a lot of rural area between the two cities.

The best bet for your son to get on a good football team, and actually play is still Western Reserve in Berlin Center. The zip code is 44401 for google maps. Ellsworth, and Berlin townships make up the Western Reserve School District.

One thing I wanted to add. Route 62 is the road between Salem, and Alliance. The south side of the road is Columbiana County. The North Side is Mahoning County. As soon as you get to Alliance it changes to Stark County.

[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!