Moving to North Canton/Akron - Couple questions (Cleveland, Parma: apartment, to rent)

[newtoakron]

Let me start by saying hello and thank you in advance for any advice you may be able to give me.

A little about me, 25 year old male, Indian background (although born and raised in the US), lived in the south my whole life (Atlanta).

I've got a good job opportunity in the North Canton area and I'm really torn about it. I know the city is much smaller than Atlanta so it would be a big difference for me in that sense. Weather would also be a really big difference.

One thing I'm not sure about is the diversity in this area. Does North Canton/Akron have a large Indian population? While I am sure it would be significantly smaller than the Atlanta area, it would be reassuring to know there is some community there.

Also, any suggestions on where to live for someone with my background? I'd be looking to rent, not buy.

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by newtoakron

Let me start by saying hello and thank you in advance for any advice you may be able to give me.

A little about me, 25 year old male, Indian background (although born and raised in the US), lived in the south my whole life (Atlanta).

I've got a good job opportunity in the North Canton area and I'm really torn about it. I know the city is much smaller than Atlanta so it would be a big difference for me in that sense. Weather would also be a really big difference.

One thing I'm not sure about is the diversity in this area. Does North Canton/Akron have a large Indian population? While I am sure it would be significantly smaller than the Atlanta area, it would be reassuring to know there is some community there.

Also, any suggestions on where to live for someone with my background? I'd be looking to rent, not buy.

Short answer, no, North Canton (or any of Stark County for that matter) does not have a large Indian population at all. I'm not saying that it's non-existant, but if I were to guess, North Canton is about 95% white, and 5% black and other races. That said, I know a couple of people that work at Diebold, and they do have some Indian workers there, so I know that there is a community there, it's just very, very small.

And North Canton doesn't even compare to most of Atlanta's suburbs let alone Atlanta such as Dunwoody or Alpharetta; the best comparison might be to one of the smaller ones on the outer ring of the metro area such as Duluth, and even at that, they're not really that comparable other than looking at populations.

North Canton is one of the, if not the most desirable area to live in (along w/Jackson Township) in the Canton metro area. There are very few places in the city that I wouldn't feel comfortable in, the nicer, newer areas seem to be to on the northside of the city, so I'd look for an apartment out that way - really anything north of Applegrove and south of State Street is fairly nice.

You will be in for a rude awakening come winter time speaking from experience having lived in a comparable climate to Atlanta now in Columbia for 2 years after living in the Canton area the rest of my life before that. Cold, snowy, gray weather sets in about mid-November and lasts until about mid-March generally speaking. The summers are much more pleasant as the temperatures rarely hit 90 and the biggest difference is the nights aren't nearly as humid and sticky as they are here in the south.

Unless you are going to be getting a significant pay increase or career opportunity and/or are sick of Atlanta and are okay w/moving to a colder climate, then I would think very carefully before moving from Atlanta.

Hope that helps some.

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by newtoakron

Let me start by saying hello and thank you in advance for any advice you may be able to give me.

A little about me, 25 year old male, Indian background (although born and raised in the US), lived in the south my whole life (Atlanta).

I've got a good job opportunity in the North Canton area and I'm really torn about it. I know the city is much smaller than Atlanta so it would be a big difference for me in that sense. Weather would also be a really big difference.

One thing I'm not sure about is the diversity in this area. Does North Canton/Akron have a large Indian population? While I am sure it would be significantly smaller than the Atlanta area, it would be reassuring to know there is some community there.

Also, any suggestions on where to live for someone with my background? I'd be looking to rent, not buy.

The farther north you can get the more Indian pop you're going to find, not because of a greater percentage, just greater population to draw from.

Although to eyeball it Canton probably has less either way - it has no large University or other draw for young Indians i.e. international students, etc. The University of Akron would be your closest... just looking it up they have an Indian Students’ Association (Indian Student Organization .... links to a blog)

same with Kent State (Indian Students Association - Kent State University ... hasn't been updated lately though).

also a Facebook group for the group at Case Western in Cleveland - Indian Students Association | Facebook ... lists 205 members.

and Friends of India at Cleveland State University Friends of India | Facebook ... 148 members.

Akron also has enough of a group to support a couple of stores catering to Indians... although the one I can think of most readily near the University lost the eminent domain battle to the U.

If nothing else you could contact a few of the groups and probably get much better information than we can provide.

As far as comparisons, Cleveland is really going to be your comparison city here. Akron is smaller and secondary (to Cleveland) and Canton is really more like Albany or Valdosta or something, just within a larger metro area. It's basically one long chain of city-sprawl that gets smaller as you go south from Cleveland on I-77.

Good luck!

[newtoakron]

Thank you all very much for the advice and information.

I'm not positive now about the move. It just seems like it would be a huge change and not really in a good way. I'm not a fan of the cold, Atlanta winters are plenty cold enough for me. More importantly though, I would really miss the very vibrant Indian community as well.

Is living in Cleveland and commuting down to North Canton a viable option? I know its not too bad based on mileage, but not sure how it would be with traffic...

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by newtoakron

Is living in Cleveland and commuting down to North Canton a viable option? I know its not too bad based on mileage, but not sure how it would be with traffic...

You'd be going against the flow of traffic since most traffic is coming inbound to Cleveland from Akron and even some from Canton in the mornings. Depending on where you are in the Cleveland area it could be anywhere from 45 minutes in the southern suburbs to an hour and a half if you were in the western or northeastern suburbs (not sure where the Indian community actually is in Cleveland).

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by newtoakron

I'm not positive now about the move. It just seems like it would be a huge change and not really in a good way. I'm not a fan of the cold, Atlanta winters are plenty cold enough for me.

If you find Atlanta to be plenty cold enough for you, then I would definitely suggest against the move considering that the other factors aren't really in your favor either. Not only are the temperatures significantly lower, but factor that w/the windchills and you get some icy-cold days that feel like they are below 0 in NE Ohio. A typical winter day will see highs in the low to mid-30s and lows in the teens to give you an idea, and as you can imagine, lots more snow! You'll see more snow in one winter in North Canton or especially Cleveland (they get even more due to Lake effect snow) than you will living a lifetime in Atlanta!

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by newtoakron

Thank you all very much for the advice and information.

I'm not positive now about the move. It just seems like it would be a huge change and not really in a good way. I'm not a fan of the cold, Atlanta winters are plenty cold enough for me. More importantly though, I would really miss the very vibrant Indian community as well.

Is living in Cleveland and commuting down to North Canton a viable option? I know its not too bad based on mileage, but not sure how it would be with traffic...

People do it. If you're used to Atlanta traffic I can't imagine it could be any worse than that time-wise. There are some slow spots but overall it flows ok. I think most around here would advise against it simply because of the distance, but overall traffic is very good here compared to most metros and we are very, very spoiled in that respect. I don't know what kind of neighborhood you live in in GA but you could stay in the Northern Akron/South Cleveland suburbs and be within an easy commute to both Canton and Cleveland.

I wouldn't necessarily be down on what you read here. Touch base with some of the groups I posted before and see what they have to say. Don't necessarily take it from people who have no direct connection to the Indian community (i.e. me). If you touch base with them and they say it sucks, at least you've done your due diligence. I do know there are Indians around - I had a couple of (different) families in my office (Akron suburbs) today, one here via California - but there isn't a specific neighborhood they concentrate in.

Local Indian community leader killed in crash Not a happy article (about the death of a local leader in the Indian Community) but it is indicative of the community presence. And the headline is Streetsboro which is midway between Cleveland and Akron.

Photographs: Greater Cleveland Shiva Vishnu Temple Pics at a festival at the Shiva Vishnu Temple in Parma. Center Profile: Greater Cleveland Shiva Vishnu Temple says it sports Indians from Cleveland, Akron, and Canton.

Global Network of BAPS, Mandirs in usa, Cleveland is the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Temple in Brunswick[SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE].

Welcome - Sree Venkateswara Temple of Cleveland is the Sree Venkateswara Temple in Richfield - that's probably 30-35 mins tops from North Canton.

So it looks like there is a community out there for you.

It does snow here, but it's not like it snows year round or something. But of course this is the midwest and not GA... NY, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit - hey, we're in the north, it snows in the winter. Summers are great though, 70s-80s, not sweltering like GA... good stuff.

There are also a lot of things that are good that are overlooked... i.e., it's cheap. You can live like a king for what you would pay to live a middle or even lower middle class existence in other cities.

[whitmeyer]

Originally Posted by newtoakron

Is living in Cleveland and commuting down to North Canton a viable option? I know its not too bad based on mileage, but not sure how it would be with traffic...

I would not consider commuting from Cleveland. Cleveland is nothing to rave about. I would rather live in North Canton/Akron than commute from Cleveland to North Canton everyday, which would be a nightmare commute. Depending what part of Cleveland you live in, you're looking at almost a 1.5 hour commute to and from work. I would not even consider it.

Unless you're getting a significant pay increase, stay where you are or try and find a different city.

[newtoakron]

Thank you all very much. I'm looking at a decent pay increase (roughly 10%) but I'm not really sure if it would be worth it or not. I really do love Atlanta and I'm just not sure the opportunity would be worth the move.

I definitely think I would be living in North Canton or Akron after reading about the possibility of 1+ hour of commute time from Cleveland. Just not sure how I'd adjust to life in either of these areas...

Thanks for all of the insights everyone has provided!

[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...