Lancaster ohio

[toledoborn]

I currently live in Toledo and I am looking into moving to Lancaster in the next year. I have done some extensive house searching and I noticed several homes for sale in the River Valley subdivision, and I am wondering why so many people are moving out at the same time? Is there a problem with the houses, location, new construction going in around there? If anyone can help me with location for my family (I have a middle school aged child) I would really appreciate it. I am looking to spend roughly $140-150,000 for a home. Any suggestions?

[AmyA54]

My sister and brother-in-law live in Lancaster, and they've told me that the houses in the River Valley subdivision are very poorly constructed. I'd take a look elsewhere in town. I've seen plenty of houses there for under $150K.

[bobcateric]

I grew up in rural Fairfield County outside of Lancaster, and my parents still live there. My mother is a card-carrying Democrat and does get fed up with the more conservative politics in the area. That being said, she's lived there 20+ years now and has no interest in moving. All the good points outweigh the downside of local politics. If she wants to talk politics she has enough friends who are "closet Democrats" that she can commiserate with. I definitely agree that if you're friendly and have a sense of humor it's a non-issue. Only if you're really loud about it do people become annoyed (and that goes for both the loud Dems and GOPers). And Ohio as a whole is a very "purple" state, so even if you feel politically isolated locally, you're vote is very important at the state and national levels.

[JilliO]

personally, I'd buy a house in central Lancaster before buying one in the newer subdivisions. You can WALK places. Neighborhoods are neat, the older houses are well-built.

[mattbward]

I grew up in Southern Lancaster, went to county school and left Lancaster for good in 1998 to move to Columbus then to North Carolina.

Lancaster, Ohio is not very racially diverse. No problems with people having an interacial couple, they don't particularly frown on it, but the older generation might.

In terms of things to do? Not enough options for youth. Used to have a dance club for teenagers way back in the day that gave them something to do called Justeens but it was closed down for some reason.

The town is conservative, but mainly because it has a large older population. Every time I think about my life in Lancaster the thought of living amongst the elderly comes to mind. Now, there is nothing wrong with that, except for the fact that they can't drive, they don't like change, they vote (dammit), they are not open to new ideas (like inter-racial dating), they get ordinances passed (like the noise ordinance put in to place in 2000 I believe making it illegal to play music that is audible from more then 50 feet away inside city limits- Yet Harely's and cars with intentionally loud exhausts are fine). It is hard for youth in Lancaster in my opinion. They are given little options.

Older folks don't want levees to pass because they don't want their taxes to go up (for schools and parks and such) so it's hard to make progress (I think this might be in many places in America.

Oh, but they DID just get a Wal-Mart! Woooohooo!

Lancaster has a lot of potential, it just needs to attract more younger entreprenuers to come in and breath some youthful life back into it.

Now the big positives are the nature that can be seen all around Lancaster. Such as Rising Park (great memories of that places from childhood). This park has a pond in the middle where only children are allowed to fish. To this day I have never found another pond in a park that is like that. Also, anyone that has every lived in Lancaster has climbed to the top of Mount Pleasant (more like Large Rocky Hill Pleasant) but it does allow you to overlook the majority of the city from the top.

Lots of lakes, parks and trails, such as Alley Park a few miles to the south. This park has three lakes all with public fishing.

Good parts of town?
Most of it, you can live in a crime free neighborhood just about anywhere. The only somewhat rough parts of town in my memory was the west side between Pierce Avenue and Memorial Drive then between Fair Avenue and Lincoln Avenue. It's not really "rough" either. It just means that is where the working class that aren't rich live and where police spent much of their time.

Oh, and Lancaster Motel just south of downtown off Broadstreet is pretty crackheadish. Not to mention don't stop for a drink at The Bottle Cap (on the way to Lancater Motel).

I agree about not living in the cookie cutter new suburbs in Lancaster. Those things are depreciating faster then most houses because of the fact that folks can come in and have a house built to their requirements for the same price as buying one that already exists that is not quite what they wanted.... My sister is in that boat living just off Ety Road just south of the Meijer...

[Ygossett2015]

Well im a black female and im considering moving to lancaster i can care less if they hate me or dislike black people its 2015 and i hope to be
Their before Christmas so lancaster here i come!!

[Ray_Velcoro]

I heard the civil war general Sherman's home is here? If so I'd love to take a tour

[schmave]

It is, yes. Right downtown.
Lancaster's a good town. I worked at the local newspaper for five years a while back and will always feel an attachment to the town. Plus I have had family living down there for almost 30 years, and three cousins who graduated from Fisher Catholic.
The biggest thing that's changed since I left there 10 years ago was retail has shot through the roof. The northwest end of town, off 33 west of River Valley Mall, is totally different than it was in 2005. You don't have to come to Columbus for everything anymore, although it's an easy drive. Plenty of nice neighborhoods, although there still are some older ones, especially on the west side.
The thing that has surprised me in the past decade is that growth from Columbus really hasn't connected Canal Winchester and Pickerington to, say, Carroll. I'd have sworn it would by now. As it stands, there's a lot of rural buffer between Lancaster and Columbus.