Canton IS improving (Cleveland, Akron, Kent: apartment, lease, crime)

[mkeller234]

I have noticed alot of people really beating up on Canton OH and I want to express my views on the city.

First off is Downtown:
Most of the people who say that downtown is not worth going to have not been there in a while. It may not be an urban paradise but it is much much better these days. Some improvements include:

-The entire refacing of market avenue and the center plaza. Including brick in streets and sidewalks, trees, benches, lamp posts, etc.
-The entire refacing of Tusc. the same as Market ave.
-The northmark building renovations
-The artist complex on 4th street and 6th street
-All of court avenue (fedellis, arcadia grill, fabric shop coming soon, farmers market etc.
-The historic onesto luxury apartment conversion (2nd tallest building downtown. 12 floors?)
-The palace theatre restoration
-Iris (new restaraunt)
-The Metropolitan Centre (old Kof C building)
-The Landmark tavern restoration
-The HUGE hercules factory to be restored
-The powerhouse buiding being redone
-The new millenium Centre
-The William R Day Building being totally redone
-The Frank T Bow building refaced
-4 Victorian homes behind AEP getting total makeover (one moved to cleveland ave)
-The new government campus, 4 city blocks breaks ground next summer
-Muggswigz coffee
-Carpe Diem now has 2 locations
-First Friday events have large attendance.

There are more downtown happenings, but i cant list all of them. Keep in mind, this is a very small area, so all of the projects make a large impact. Is downtown perfect, no. But dont discount the progress.

The neighborhoods arent all good but there are improvements. One is the Summit housing project. I live in the NE end above 17th st near market ave, and while this is considered a bad area, I have had absolutly no problems.

The subject of neghborhoods is very personal. My favorites are Ridgewood, which is a 2min walk for me. (NW/NE Canton $300,000 range), Market Heights (NW Canton 100-150,000 range), Harter Heights (NW Canton 90-130,000 range) and the Summit neighborhood near taggarts which is a little bit rough.
Those are all more historic neighborhoods with brick streets and mostly beautiful homes. Most people say that NW/NE Canton is a pit, I think N Market street is one of the better looking sections in all of Canton, Certanly better than West Tusc.

Perry (where I grew up), Jackson, N. Canton etc do have the nicest neighborhoods, but Canton is not all bad.

The residents of Canton should do something productive instead of tear down the citys reputation publicly. Attend A neighborhood meeting and organize, Pick up trash on the street, Cut down some weeds, Take pride in what is there. Those are all in our control. We cant control the economy, or the lack of jobs as easily but that should stop us from doing what we can.

[mkeller234]

Here are pictures of taken downtown just 8-10 years ago.

[mkeller234]

And here are some more recent photos

[mkeller234]

and some more

[MISS FIERCE]

I was born and raised in Canton and I must say that even though Canton is Improving there is still alot of work to do. The economy here is AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!!! I would never suggest anyone move here. It took me over a year and 30+ interviews(no lie) to find a job afterI graduated from school. Not to mention one that pays more than 8.00 an hour. There is NO entertainment here that is why Ihave dubbed Canton as BORINGVILLE. I'm tired of this place and I can't wait till May 2008 because I will be leaving for good. I have given canton 22 years of my life and I feel like with the limited opportunites that this place has to offer I'm not willing to sacrifice any more of my precious time!! My kids will have NO opportunity in a watseland such as this. Canton is a pitiful little hick town and I'm so glad I'm leaving I don't want to end up like so many of my family members, just sitting around doing the same old things when I could be actually living a life somewhere else that has more to offer me. Like jobs, entertainment, educational opportunities, nightlife, better schools for my girls and loads more so good luck to whoever stays but as for me I'm outtie once my lease is up in May!!!!!!!!! SEE YA!!!!

[Cowboybootnut]

I grew up in Canton in the 1960s to 1980, and it will always have a special place in my heart, and I will always wish the best for it.

The pictures brought back great memories, I went to high school at Canton McKinley when it was located downtown, so sometimes I walked downtown during lunch, or caught the bus in front of the old Sears store. I ate lunch many times at the old Kresge's.

The News Depot was my favorite bookstore as a kid, the owner was always kind to me, even though I had long hair. I think I was last in the store on a visit in 1985, he still remembered me and shook my hand.

Yes, I moved because of the lack of job opportunities, the factories were slowing down and my college degree was better suited for employment in Texas. Entertainment was not too bad for me, I could always go to Cleveland for sports or concerts. Didn't take much to entertain me anyway, when I was a teenager, give me a bat or a ball, and Canton had plenty of playgrounds. Education was not much of an issue, I went to Mount Union, but I could have easily gone to Malone, Kent State, Akron U, all fine places.

I hope Canton recovers and rebounds, but I can only visit occasionally, and think of the past.

[Kennedy327]

Face it, canton cannot fully improve with the horrid job market. With the only new jobs popping up are new walmarts every half a mile, the trash is starting to flow into perry.

Bad job market = poverty = crime

Dannar press is gone, siphol lithography is gone, so there is the printing industry. Rubbermaid is gone, hoover is gone. Republic steel and timken are up and down. Fisher foods is hurting. The automotive industry is hurthing thanks to the global economy and this city is littered with dealerships not able to sell a car. I have been through 6 jobs since graduating highschool from perry in 01. Companys closing there doors or laying people off. Wages going down, cost of living going up. Im one more lost job away from moving, hell I might leave atleast this city if not this state before that happens.

[NEOhioBound]

As you know mkeller, I recently just re-located to the area after being away since 1996.

I think people who have lived here for so long, don't realize that the things they complain about are the exact same things people in other cities complain about. "There isn't anything to do here" "The job market sucks" yadda yadda yadda.

Canton's job market isn't near as bad as everyone claims it to be. Either the people complaining aren't looking hard enough, are only going after jobs they are not qualified for, or are only looking for jobs that make 12.00 hour or more.

Finding a GOOD paying job here has taken me some time, however, far less time than any other state I have lived in- Hawaii, Texas, South Dakota and South Carolina. And actually, Ohio's minimum wage is higher than a lot of states so people really should get over themselves and realize that if you don't have the experience and/or education, you won't be making much more than that

BTW, Nevada's minimum wage is 5.30/hr and cost of living is FAR higher than here. Florida's minimum wage is is 6.69, Texas is 6.55, Hawaii 7.25 (which is still not enough to live there)


And there is plenty to do in Canton, OH. Try living in South Dakota where you have to drive a minimum of 40 minutes just to get to a small grocery store that closes by 5pm and that town only has a post office and a dive bar, nothing else.

[mkeller234]

Kennedy327, get over yourself. I graduated from Perry in the exact same year and I have held a good paying job for years now. As far as Seiple is concerned I guess you don't really know what happened there now do you. Let me break it down for you because I now work with many of the ex-employees including their upper management. Bob Seiple ran that company for years and was from all acounts a terrific man. Bob had no sons of his own but 2 grand sons. Their names are Cy and Mark Schumacher. When their step Grand father died they recieved the company and intentionally scrapped the company. Don't believe me?? Well I was told this direct from men who worked day to day in upper management at that company for 30 years. Canton did not kill Seiple, the Grand sons did. Now Sieple was in GREEN not Canton, I work at Standard printing in CANTON. Standard has always been larger than Sieple, not only in physical size but also employee numbers. Not to mention, we hired the majority of Sieple employees as soon as they closed, as well as Danner. And Danner was LONG ago. Do you really think that Ford and Chevy are hurting because Canton is moving cars the way they used to??? Or could the problem be that those companies built large quantities of SUVs and they cannot give those away with crude oil prices. Companies like mazda, honda and toyota are making a killing with 30 mph vehicles. Not to mention Chevy just announced they will build a new sub-compact at Lordstown, so that is certainly good. Rubbermaid was never in Canton, it was in Fairlawn, and before that it was in Wooster. I know that because I drove there daily for my job, those cities are farther from here then even Akron. Hoover did leave, is that N. Canton's fault or is it a global trend?? Don't try and claim that Canton is the only place affected by outsourcing. The company was sold to TTI, an asian company, so WHY would they keep high paying jobs in Canton. It only makes sense that they would seek the lowest paid labor they could find, they have no sentimental ties to this region. Canton is a city of 79,000 people and a metro area of 400,000. I don't know what kind of entertainment you expect laid at your feet, but there IS stuff to do here. This is not NY so we don't entertain like NY... not to mention if you really want to see some crime and poverty, check out New York. I suggest you travel and experience the reality and hard knocks that every single city on this globe has. Until then I will enjoy the good things that are in Canton.

[mkeller234]

Nice points NEOhioBound. I'm glad someone can appreciate this city for what it is.