What area would best "fit" our families needs? (Cleveland: to rent, low crime)

[mom23laralee]

Hi all,
First off my husband and I have made the tough choice to move from NC to Oh :0). We have a choice of three different places to work within OH. Stow, Suffield, or Green (all pretty close to Akron).
Now to let you know what we are looking for. We have 3 children so needless to say we would like a great school system. We would like certain things within a modest driving distance (say 15-30 minutes or closer) like the library, zoo, museum, theater/ballet (even if it is through a college), parks, lakes,hiking, equestrian center....places such as these (...however, if it is something really worthwhile, we would even be willing to drive an hour or more). We are looking for an area with very affordable housing (when I say affordable I mean pretty cheap....like $130-$160k or preferrably to rent for now $700-$1000 a month) yet descent sized homes about 1800+ sq. ft. and would really like an area that offers basements (and yes we definitely need 2 bathrooms :0) ). We love "country" type settings where it would not be unusual for a home to sit on one or more acres, has a ton of mature trees, and we love being by water. Lakes or rivers or even a creek running through the yard would be very ideal (I know this is starting to sound like an impossible list..hee, hee, hopefully this will work out :0) ). I don't care much for malls so not a criteria, however I would still like to be able to go to a Sams club, Costco, or Wal-mart (within about a 20 minute drive). Also, a very low crime rate is a must! Would really like to be in an area where we will not hear a lot of airplanes flying overhead. My husband would like to keep his commute to under 20 minutes.
Any advice on which of these three areas to look at more would be very helpful and/or any areas within a 20 minute drive of one of these three cities. Thanks!

[ryeager9]

Originally Posted by mom23laralee

Hi all,
First off my husband and I have made the tough choice to move from NC to Oh :0). We have a choice of three different places to work within OH. Stow, Suffield, or Green (all pretty close to Akron).
Now to let you know what we are looking for. We have 3 children so needless to say we would like a great school system. We would like certain things within a modest driving distance (say 15-30 minutes or closer) like the library, zoo, museum, theater/ballet (even if it is through a college), parks, lakes,hiking, equestrian center....places such as these (...however, if it is something really worthwhile, we would even be willing to drive an hour or more). We are looking for an area with very affordable housing (when I say affordable I mean pretty cheap....like $130-$160k or preferrably to rent for now $700-$1000 a month) yet descent sized homes about 1800+ sq. ft. and would really like an area that offers basements (and yes we definitely need 2 bathrooms :0) ). We love "country" type settings where it would not be unusual for a home to sit on one or more acres, has a ton of mature trees, and we love being by water. Lakes or rivers or even a creek running through the yard would be very ideal (I know this is starting to sound like an impossible list..hee, hee, hopefully this will work out :0) ). I don't care much for malls so not a criteria, however I would still like to be able to go to a Sams club, Costco, or Wal-mart (within about a 20 minute drive). Also, a very low crime rate is a must! Would really like to be in an area where we will not hear a lot of airplanes flying overhead. My husband would like to keep his commute to under 20 minutes.
Any advice on which of these three areas to look at more would be very helpful and/or any areas within a 20 minute drive of one of these three cities. Thanks!

Hi! Not sure why you picked those 3 particular areas since they don't border each other, but before I moved to N.C., I lived in Brimfield Twp. (which is between Stow & Suffield) for about 5 years and it was as you described (country) but close to the interstate and shopping. Rent for me was cheap there and I had a basement. I drove from Brimfield to Green everyday for work and with traffic, it was 20-30 min. Nice quiet area...I miss it.

[CortlandGirl79]

Most homes in Ohio have basements so that shouldn't be a problem. I would never buy a home w/out one. I'm not from the Akron area, but there are definitely areas around there that would fit the bill, lots of amenities w/in 20mins and you have all of the cultural activities in Cleveland, Akron and even Youngstown which are all w/in an hour's drive. BTW, what part of NC are you coming from? Good luck on your search, welcome to Ohio!

[mom23laralee]

Thank you both for your replys ! We have picked those three towns simply because those are the towns in which my husband can transfer to. So we are trying to figure out which one we should focus on when we come out there in a few weeks to look around. We are moving from Huntersville, NC. I will do some research on Brimfield Twp. thanks! :0) If anyone has more info. or ideas I would love to hear them

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by mom23laralee

Thank you both for your replys ! We have picked those three towns simply because those are the towns in which my husband can transfer to. So we are trying to figure out which one we should focus on when we come out there in a few weeks to look around. We are moving from Huntersville, NC. I will do some research on Brimfield Twp. thanks! :0) If anyone has more info. or ideas I would love to hear them

A little clarification would help. When you say country, do you mean suburban-country, like my house is a McMansion on an acre next to a golf course, or country country, like my house is a turn of the century farm house next to a pasture?

Suburban-country recommendations: Green, Streetsboro maybe?
Borderline of both types: Northwest/Canal Fulton

I don't know any of the more rural areas enough to comment, but I would say Brimfield is probably a good suggestion.

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by SquareBetterThanAll

A little clarification would help. When you say country, do you mean suburban-country, like my house is a McMansion on an acre next to a golf course, or country country, like my house is a turn of the century farm house next to a pasture?

Suburban-country recommendations: Green, Streetsboro maybe?
Borderline of both types: Northwest/Canal Fulton

I don't know any of the more rural areas enough to comment, but I would say Brimfield is probably a good suggestion.

I just noticed the airport comment, and the airport is in Green.

[mom23laralee]

I would definitely say country - country. Thanks for the info on the airport in Green.

[5Lakes]

Well, many of the rural-ish areas outside of Akron will have what you are looking for. Although, Stow might be more congested and expensive than what you want because it's off the Route 8 cooridor going towards Cleveland. It sounds like you would be happier in the areas south of Akron (i.e. Suffield or Green). The mentality down that way is more rural/country and less suburban than Akron's northern suburbs. Look into Greentown, Suffield, Hartville, Uniontown, Brimfield, and Mogadore as potential places to live. Oh, and there are a few small lakes close to those communities.

[Leighangela]

Of those three choices, Green fits your criteria best. It's affordable and a beautiful area. Suffield would be next, but you can check out Mogadore and Brimfield too.

I used to live in Mogadore and now live in Stow. Stow is not what you're looking for although I myself love it.