Moving to North Canton/Akron - Couple questions (Cleveland, Stow: high crime, college)

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by newtoakron

One other question I have after reading a little more through the forums. How would living in Highland Square in Akron compare to living in North Canton? Seems to be a more diverse, younger crowd type of place...

Hands down better for a single 25 year old guy. North Canton is a plain vanilla family oriented suburb that would probably fit a 40 year old middle manager white guy with the wife, 2 kids, and a dog.

Highland Square is the funky artsy neighborhood in Akron (city pop 200,000). You have a range of people from broke on section 8 to people living in million dollar homes. Lots of 20-somethings, both professional and the artsy/hippie/hipster type. There are also plenty of grad student types from the U all the way up to families with kids. You won't be out of place, that's for certain.

It's obviously not going to compare to, say, Williamsburg, Brooklyn or somewhere along those lines, but you can't beat it for a small to mid sized city. Architecture is great. You would be able to commute to work within about 35 mins or be in Cleveland in the same amount of time.

Honestly, you would be fine up here. I can't tell you that you would or wouldn't like it better than Atlanta (contrary to some naysayers, it happens more than you would think for people who are transplants - like it, that is) but at the absolute worst it will be OK. You won't be out of place. There is everything and anything you can think of (short of an ocean) in this region - there are 4 million people! The only question I had was on the local Indian community - I know they are here, I just don't know how it stacks up to the community in ATL.

Feel free to toss any more questions out there.

It might help to describe what you are looking for as far as a place to live. What kind of neighborhood do you live in now? You may want to live in a suburban neighborhood, I don't know

[newtoakron]

Thanks, that was extremely helpful and positive!

Well, I definitely like the sound of Highland Square. I've actually lived in all sorts of areas downtown, from the suburbs (Alpharetta) to Buckhead to midtown. I think since I'll be moving to a new city (and region) it may be better for me to stay away from the suburbs and closer to a bigger concentration of people to help me meet ppl.

Only thing that worries me is the 35 minute commute time. Although that isn't a ton, I've always tried to live within about 15 minutes of work (and often within 5) because I hate commuting and traffic.

I do like the idea of being closer to Cleveland, although to tell you the truth I don't know a single person in Cleveland and not sure if I would be going there all that often anyway.

Yeah, the indian community in ATL is huge, so I wouldn't expect it to be anywhere near that, but I was hoping there would at least be some.

Thanks again for the great replies and I'm going to start doing some more homework into Highland Square. Are there any areas in North Canton that are recommended for a younger person to rent in?

Also, what could you expect to pay for a 1/1 in the North Canton or Highland Square area?

One other thing as well, how often would you say it snows up there? 3-4 months out of the year? Its going to be a crazy transition, at most I've seen 3-4 days of snow a year...

Originally Posted by SquareBetterThanAll

Hands down better for a single 25 year old guy. North Canton is a plain vanilla family oriented suburb that would probably fit a 40 year old middle manager white guy with the wife, 2 kids, and a dog.

Highland Square is the funky artsy neighborhood in Akron (city pop 200,000). You have a range of people from broke on section 8 to people living in million dollar homes. Lots of 20-somethings, both professional and the artsy/hippie/hipster type. There are also plenty of grad student types from the U all the way up to families with kids. You won't be out of place, that's for certain.

It's obviously not going to compare to, say, Williamsburg, Brooklyn or somewhere along those lines, but you can't beat it for a small to mid sized city. Architecture is great. You would be able to commute to work within about 35 mins or be in Cleveland in the same amount of time.

Honestly, you would be fine up here. I can't tell you that you would or wouldn't like it better than Atlanta (contrary to some naysayers, it happens more than you would think for people who are transplants - like it, that is) but at the absolute worst it will be OK. You won't be out of place. There is everything and anything you can think of (short of an ocean) in this region - there are 4 million people! The only question I had was on the local Indian community - I know they are here, I just don't know how it stacks up to the community in ATL.

Feel free to toss any more questions out there.

It might help to describe what you are looking for as far as a place to live. What kind of neighborhood do you live in now? You may want to live in a suburban neighborhood, I don't know

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by newtoakron

Also, what could you expect to pay for a 1/1 in the North Canton or Highland Square area?

One other thing as well, how often would you say it snows up there? 3-4 months out of the year? Its going to be a crazy transition, at most I've seen 3-4 days of snow a year...

Don't know of a lot of 1br/1bath efficiencies in North Canton, but I'd imagine for something that small it would be around $400-500/mo? Most 2-3br/2bath run $600-$800/mo., so that's my best guess. Not sure about Highland Square.

I remember going trick or treating at Halloween a couple times and there being a coat of snow on the ground and also playing baseball games in early April w/snow coming down! That said, while there is the possibility of snow between late October and mid April, 90% of the snow falls between say Thanksgiving and mid-March, so yeah, about a 3-4 month window. Trust me, it is drastically different from winter here in the south! But, keep in mind that as I said in my earlier posts, your mid to late-summers are going to be much more pleasant in Ohio than the weather is here from mid-July to late-August.

[CityGrrl77]

Most of the buildings in the Highland Square area are old school brick buildings(built in the late '20s - great architecture, wood floors, large baseboards and crown moulding). The following list represents the general rent range for these types of buildings in the area:
Studio = $400-$420/mth
1 BR = $525-$545/mth
2 BR = $625-$655/mth

I recommend the Seville on W. Market and most of the places on North Portage Path.
Twin Oaks apartment buildings (on the corner of Twin Oaks and N.Portage Path) have 3 and I believe 4 bedroom apartments altho they run upwards of $700+.
Typically, all of your utilities are free with the exception of electricity. To give you an example, my electric bill in the winter is around $15-$20 and in the summer (running a window A/C unit all the time) it runs about $35-$40. I live in a studio apartment - which is under 400 sq.ft. Small, but I love it and it's enough room.

For an alternate (newer but not new) option, there are always the 3 high rises in Highland Square:
~ The Highland Square - I believe their 1 bedrooms start around the $600/mth mark Welcome Home
~ Highland Towers - 1 bedrooms start around $635 (I think?) Welcome Home
~ Tower 80 - Last time I checked their 1 bedrooms started at $635 - and wow did they update their website! Tower Eighty Luxury Apartments

If you check out some of my other posts, you can read a lot of things about Highland Square (just so I don't have to retype all of it again) including the business establishments, eateries, etc...
Everyone on this site is very knowledgable about the area, so if one person doesnt know the answer to a question, usually someone else does-so ask away!

[newtoakron]

Thanks everyone! I'm still trying to decide between the commute fom Highland Square and the benefits of living in a cool community like that or living closer to work. Are there any nicer areas of Noryh Canton you can recommend that are close to places like Costco, groceries, malls, etc and are safe areas? If you have specific apartments in mind that would be great or just general areas would help a lot too!

Thank you all so much for the help so far!

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by newtoakron

Thanks everyone! I'm still trying to decide between the commute fom Highland Square and the benefits of living in a cool community like that or living closer to work. Are there any nicer areas of Noryh Canton you can recommend that are close to places like Costco, groceries, malls, etc and are safe areas? If you have specific apartments in mind that would be great or just general areas would help a lot too!

Thank you all so much for the help so far!

If malls, groceries, and wholesale clubs are all you need anywhere on the far northwest end of Canton & suburbs will work. Belden Village in Jackson Township is the shopping mecca of the area and has just about every chain store, restaurant, shop, salon, etc. that you can think of. There are a bunch of apartments in the vicinity as well that would fit what you're looking for.

Also, you never mentioned where this new job is exactly - a lot of places that list North Canton for mailing addresses aren't really in NC, they are out in office parks in places like Jackson Township or north near the airport.

DeVille Apartments & Builders That's a list of Deville apartment complexes that are in the general vicinity.

Belden Village Apartments For Rent - Belden Village Apartment Living Guide more apts


If you see any that strike you post a link and we can probably give you a rundown on the immediate neighborhood.

[newtoakron]

Thanks! Beldn Village doesn't sound bad. I would actually be working in zip code 44720. Any ideas of nice places near that area?

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by newtoakron

Thanks! Beldn Village doesn't sound bad. I would actually be working in zip code 44720. Any ideas of nice places near that area?

That's a pretty big (geographically) zip code. It runs from about 55th St. up to the Airport and west into part of Belden Village.

Try the links I posted - even those apts not in 44720 shouldn't be any more than 15 or 20 mins commute (tops) depending on location.

[newtoakron]

Thanks! I'm going to be working near the intersection of Mayfair Rd and Mt Pleasant Rd if that helps give an idea.

I like all of the things Belden Village has to offer, any idea of the rent rates around that area? I'm looking for a 1/1 but I'd like a place where I feel very safe and could use a decent gym in the apartment complex as well. I'd also like a place with washer/dryer available in the unit (either included or with connections). Any recommendations?


I saw these townhomes (Centre Court Apartments) that looked pretty nice and don't seem too expensive.
Centre Court Apartments Ratings, Reviews, Map, Rents, and other North Canton apartments for rent from ApartmentRatings.com

Anyone have any experience with those or has seen how that area is?

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by newtoakron

Thanks! I'm going to be working near the intersection of Mayfair Rd and Mt Pleasant Rd if that helps give an idea.

I like all of the things Belden Village has to offer, any idea of the rent rates around that area? I'm looking for a 1/1 but I'd like a place where I feel very safe and could use a decent gym in the apartment complex as well. I'd also like a place with washer/dryer available in the unit (either included or with connections). Any recommendations?


I saw these townhomes (Centre Court Apartments) that looked pretty nice and don't seem too expensive.
Centre Court Apartments Ratings, Reviews, Map, Rents, and other North Canton apartments for rent from ApartmentRatings.com

Anyone have any experience with those or has seen how that area is?

They are probably ok. That area is low crime although you're in kind of the "town-y" section. Your neighbors will probably be either singles or lower-middle-class families (schools are very good there; townhouses are easy-ins for people with kids but limited funds), or mayyybe older singles. NEarby are more apts and an assisted living/nursing home. Close to "neighborhood" shopping like fast food, grocery store, KMart, etc.

However in the immediate vicinity there are no young people things to do - no bars, no clubs, nadda. But it is about 10 mins from Belden Village and probably < 10 mins from your job.

So probably ok but nothing particularly interesting. Safe housing, close to groceries. The end.