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I know this a few weeks late, but I think I can help you out here.
If you have $500-$600 to spend and you have a child, I would recommend not aiming for a house. Reason being is you are going to get much more bang for your buck in a townhouse or apartment as far as neighborhood quality goes.
1.) Adams Street near Forge - it drops off into wilderness back there, but around the hospital can be sketchy. Depending on where you are you'll hit drugs and prostitutes. I'm not saying Adams St. specifically, but the general neighborhood is not that great. You can do better for your money.
2.) Newton near Darrow - This might be decent. Further west Newton is fairly crappy. I wouldn't get too excited about it, but you won't be dodging bullets either. Also, there is a free city pool nearby which is ok - of course, it's free, so you have a lot of kids, etc. GH Metro Park is great.
3.) Park Lane Manor - This isn't a particularly great neighborhood and it's not getting better. Park Lane used to be subsidized war housing back in WWII. All up and down Arlington St. (nearby) is more or less bleh - further up around I-76 is really bad, and Joy Park (projects) is on the other side. Further south on Arlington you've got Wilbeth-Arlington (also projects). I wouldn't spend $600 there, especially to live in an apartment/housing complex.
4.) Orlando near Little - There are some cool looking houses back in there. You also have occasional gunfire and general crime problems. On top of that, if you're sticking around the schools in that neighborhood are some of the worst in the city. As has been said, for the same money you could at least be north of Copley Road (instead of south), but if you want to walk around I'd skip that section entirely.
5.) This is West Hill. Highland Square is considered to be much nicer/safer/trendier (and more expensive) so landlords will try to kinda act like they are sorta kind in Highland Square (but they're not). Just a few blocks north of Balch you get into some decent neighborhoods. But around Balch there are drug and prostitution issues. You'll also be staring at the side of the Red Cross. On a positive note, the houses on Balch have some great woodwork.
Best bang for your buck:
Wallhaven - You probably won't get a house for $600, but you may just be able to squeeze a townhouse or duplex out of it in the vicinity around the Northwest Rec Center / Library on Shatto Ave. It's not perfect, but overall it's a good neighborhood. You can certainly walk around, a large grocery store (Acme) along with a few gas stations, Blockbuster, restaurants, etc. are in the vicinity. The library is nice and new and has a playground, one of which is fenced in for small kids. If you're renting it's a good, fairly safe place to be in the city.
Firestone Park - Choose wisely, as it swings wide in quality depending on the street. But of you can get near Firestone Park (the actual park) it is nice and there is a new library over there and a branch of the Y. Try to stay west of I-77 and around Wilbeth (or south). If not, your crap factor will expand as your price decreases and you go further north, east, or west. If you get closer to Archwood you might be able to swing a house... but again, the further north you go, the crappier it gets.
Chapel Hill - You can probably get a duplex up this way, perhaps off of Independence Ave. It's not bad and crime isn't much of an issue. As a bonus, you'll be near great shopping.
Cuyahoga Falls - Just north of Chapel Hill - it's a separate city, and depending on where you are will define what you get for your money. Overall it's a safe place, I wouldn't worry about being there. And again, depending on where you are, you may or may not be near Chapel Hill shopping.
Barberton - You can find some decent neighborhoods there depending on where you look. Some are crappy. It would take driving around to pick them out, but you could do something with your $500-$600 and be in a walking safe neighborhood.
North Hill - Next to Chapel Hill - again, this all depends on where you are. If you're on the far end of North Main before you hit Cuyahoga Falls it's a decent place to be. If you're on near Howard around Tallmadge, not so much. North and East is key here.
Ellet - Far east side of Akron. You could definitely do a townhouse/duplex ... mayyyyybe even a house if you're willing to go near the expressway where it's a little rundown. Further east and south is better; overall it's a nice neighborhood and safe.
Portage Lakes / Coventry - You could swing a duplex down here. Depending on where you are your mileage will vary as far as how rundown or nice it looks; but you shouldn't have any major crime issues and the lakes are pretty.
I know it's a little vague but I hope this helps you.
Also, it never hurts to use Google Maps Street View (where you get a street level view as if you were driving by) - I would try it out on potential addresses. It gives you a good view of what the vicinity is like and most of Akron is on it.
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. I'm paying less than my friend is and he's living down off E. Buchtel! Those college area slum lords are ripping off UA students every semester.
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