Would you live in Southwest Akron? (Dayton, Cuyahoga Falls: crime, cheap house, safe neighborhoods)

[MovingToAkron-GoZips]

I am moving my family to Akron and we are looking for affordable housing. Actually, we're poor to put it bluntly (minimum wage/hourly workers) and are hoping to purchase a very cheap house. I have heard from numerous people not to live in South or West Akron, but these people grew up in Cuyohoga Falls and they were rich. I have driven down Manchester and the surrounding areas while visiting and know there are parts I would live in and parts I would not. Does anyone have information about Berry Ave between Raymond and Mallison? Would it be safe to walk home at night? Would you let your children play in the yard? Are there drive-bys? Are the houses regularly robbed? Ect

If you have any time to respond, please let me know, the house looks livable, but I know nothing about the neighborhood. We just want to be safe ad have neighbors that wave instead of peer from behind closed blinds.

[5Lakes]

South and West Akron are large areas and can be good or bad depending on where you live. The street you asked about is in one of the worst neighborhoods in the city, and I would advise against living there. In that part od town I would avoid anywhere bound by this area: south of Stadelman/Delia/Exchange, north of I-76, and west of downtown. The areas around Summit Lake (east of Manchester) are also nasty.

[CityGrrl77]

Are there (truly) rich people in Cuyahoga Falls?

I am not 'rich' (nor did I grow up in a rich family) but I don't have kids and do not own a home or have a car payment, so I have extra money to play with. That being said, I still wouldnt live in the area you are speaking of. I don't believe there are drive-bys there (atleast none that I have heard of as of recently) but I still don't think it is a good idea.
At the very, very least, stay north of Copley Rd. altho I personally would look north of Delia, as 5Lakes mentioned above.

I hate to paint any part of Akron in a dismal light, but the fact is, there are undesirable areas. It sucks, too, because Akron is such a super cool place - but it's just like anywhere else with its questionable spots.

Have you looked into the North Hill area?

[htlong]

north hill is fading fast, there are a few nice neighborhoods off of cuyahoga falls ave,....but the entire city is being over run by teenage thugs,the only good thing is they cant chase you account of their pants will fall and trip them.
I hate to say it city girl but highland square is fading fast,but I have confidence that the square residents have enough guts to circle the wagons and try to fight off these young punks! good luck to ya!

[CityGrrl77]

Originally Posted by htlong

north hill is fading fast, there are a few nice neighborhoods off of cuyahoga falls ave,....but the entire city is being over run by teenage thugs,the only good thing is they cant chase you account of their pants will fall and trip them.
I hate to say it city girl but highland square is fading fast,but I have confidence that the square residents have enough guts to circle the wagons and try to fight off these young punks! good luck to ya!

Ahahahhaaa!! That was funny about their pants falling and tripping them.

Where is Highland Square fading? Just a few weeks ago my friend and I (we are both girls) walked - at night, in the dark - to MetroBurger and a few weeks in a row before that we walked (same time period) to Angel Falls Coffee. Never have I felt unsafe in my neighborhood. Now, granted, I wouldnt be wandering at night on Rhodes.....
Even more importantly, I am not worried about my vehicle in and around my neighborhood. The safety of my car determines where I live (I take a lot of pride in it and treat it well) and HS still meets the criteria.

[htlong]

I said it is fading fast not gone, I'm glad you feel safe because I dont feel safe anywhere in "the Dons kingdom !"
Highland has a lot of moxie and neighborhood support which is the secret to saving it from the 2 legged one arm animals roaming the streets I lived in the square most of my life but decided to move to the rural part of summit.

[CityGrrl77]

Originally Posted by htlong

I said it is fading fast not gone, I'm glad you feel safe because I dont feel safe anywhere in "the Dons kingdom !"
Highland has a lot of moxie and neighborhood support which is the secret to saving it from the 2 legged one arm animals roaming the streets I lived in the square most of my life but decided to move to the rural part of summit.

The Don's kingdom? (im lost)

[Puddy4LyF]

Originally Posted by htlong

I said it is fading fast not gone, I'm glad you feel safe because I dont feel safe anywhere in "the Dons kingdom !"
Highland has a lot of moxie and neighborhood support which is the secret to saving it from the 2 legged one arm animals roaming the streets I lived in the square most of my life but decided to move to the rural part of summit.

It is what it is. I don't agree that North Hill is fading fast. The area around E. Cuyahoga Falls has always been a little more blue collar going back to its old Italian roots. I lived in North Hill for more than 10 years and to be quite honest, some of the neighborhoods off of E. Cuy Falls have actually improved in the last 5 years and a few have gone down hill. Howard has always been the shadiest part of North Hill and I wouldn't reccomend living between Howard and Cuyahoga Street but east of that is pretty nice.

It's interesting to note that there used to be 2 places to play basketball: 1) Harris Elementary on Pitkin / Dayton and 2) Patterson Park. This is typically where young thugs, irregardless of race or creed, hung out.

When I was a kid, both areas were hot spots for activity - some days and nights just friendly basketball games and conversations, etc, etc but other times fights, drugs, sex, and gang activity. When I was in 9th grade, there was an incident right in front of my house where about 20 gang members were brawling right in the middle of the street. A delivery truck driver had stopped in front of them and was trying to break some of it up. That was about 8 years ago.

When Harris Elementary blocked non-students from using the hoops, almost all of the hot activity completely stopped in the area directly around it and in the neighborhoods directly around it. I don't spend much time, but my guess is that the activity is all around Patterson Park now. Pretty much I would say that the areas that always have been rougher on the edges remain rougher on the edges but I'm not seeing the better neighborhoods of 10 years ago getting worse, and in some cases, like in my example, you can see their improvement.

What I have seen change in is the increase in the amount of african americans to north hill. I have never seen any trouble, however, and in viewing crime maps of the neighborhoods north of E. Cuyahoga Falls Ave, I'm not seeing any crime. In fact, I'd say that the movement has been more interesting than anything -- recently an African American market moved onto E. Cuyahoga Falls Ave.

If you look into North Hill:

1) All of the neighborhoods north of E. Cuyahoga Falls Avenue and East of Main Street are good to excellent. They become better the more north you go toward Cuyahoga Falls/The Gorge.

2) The neighborhood boxed in by Main Street to the East, Howard to the West, E. Cuyahoga Falls Ave to the South, and Cuyahoga Falls to the north is mixed and there is generally a dividing line here that you need to understand. I can't give you the exact perameter but you'll recognize it after a few minutes of driving. Essentially in the box I declared, the northern area is gorgeous (even nicer than the area defined in #1) while the southern part of this box should be avoided.

3) The small neighborhood East of Route 8 between the new Honda Dealership and Roadway is very safe and quiet.

Those are the 3 NH neighborhoods I reccomend if you're looking into cheaper housing with safe neighborhoods.

[Beavercreek33]

What is SW Akron like?

[htlong]

Originally Posted by CityGrrl77

The Don's kingdom? (im lost)

your czar whoops your mayor he does what he wants ,when he wants , for years.
about the recall going on,he has city workers to scared to sign for fear of their jobs.......many have told me horror stories.......the most infamous was his getting the parking lot attendant fired for telling him he couldn't park where he was parked....oh well I may be wrong