newbie here...help with youngstown area please (Euclid, Boardman: sale, 2010)

[materbum]

I did check out your listing link, Cort, MUCH better, thanks!!!

Boardmanite, are you still out there?

[boardmanite]

boardmanite here! Yes, Liberty is about 20 minutes from Boardman. Maybe a little less, thanks to the 711 Connector. I know there are houses for sale in Ridgewood Estates (the house next door is), so I'll look and see if I can find a link for them.

[boardmanite]

These listings are in Ridgewood Estates or a few streets away (still a nice area). I hope these links work:

REALTOR.com: Find a Home - Listing Detail

Listings Search: Eaton Group, Inc. GMAC Real Estate

Listings Search: Eaton Group, Inc. GMAC Real Estate

Listings Search: Eaton Group, Inc. GMAC Real Estate

Listings Search: Eaton Group, Inc. GMAC Real Estate

Listings Search: Eaton Group, Inc. GMAC Real Estate

Listings Search: Eaton Group, Inc. GMAC Real Estate

Listings Search: Eaton Group, Inc. GMAC Real Estate

Listings Search: Eaton Group, Inc. GMAC Real Estate

Listings Search: Eaton Group, Inc. GMAC Real Estate

If you do a search for Boardman, a lot of houses will come up in the "Historic District", streets like Jeanette, Oak Knoll, Mill Creek, Hudson etc... This is a beautiful area, sort of like a mini Shaker Heights, but its literally a stone's throw away from some bad areas in Youngstown. Ridgewood Estates is farther south and there is virtually no crime, whereas there is in the Historic District.

Also about the diversity in Liberty, I don't know first hand, but I do know that Ytown's Jewish community is centered around the North Side and Liberty. I also had friends from Liberty in college who were Palestinian, so I guess I just assumed Liberty was diverse.

I just looked up the stats on Liberty High School on greatschools.net. It's not rated as high as other area schools. Here's the link:

Liberty High School - Youngstown, Ohio - OH - school overview

Here is the link for Boardman High School, which is rated significantly higher:

Boardman High School - Boardman, Ohio - OH - school overview

Here is a map of Boardman, with a little green arrow pointing to Ridgewood Drive:

ridgewood drive boardman ohio - Google Maps

Oh, and the map reminded me: The best part about living in Youngstown IMHO is Mill Creek Park! It really is a beautiful park and if you like the outdoors, you'll be able to spend lots of time exploring there.

According to Mapquest, it is 21 minutes from Ridgewood Drive to Belmont Ave and I-80.

Again, hope this helps!

[CortlandGirl79]

Here's an article on school rankings in trumbull and mahoning counties:

State releases report cards

By JENNIFER KOVACS Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — Trumbull County schools followed a statewide trend of showing little deviation from last year’s results as the Ohio Department of Education on Tuesday released state report cards for the 2006-07 school year.

Sixteen of the 19 districts in the county received the same rating as they received in the 2005-06 school year.

One local improvement was seen by Howland, which bumped up to an excellent district from its previous ranking of effective.

Warren City Schools fell into academic watch. Last year, the district was ranked as in continuous improvement.

Maplewood also dropped, but from excellent to effective for the 2005-06 school year.

Rankings run from excellent as the highest mark, followed by effective, continuous improvement, academic watch and, finally, academic emergency.

According to the state, most districts maintained their rankings from the 2005-06 school year, and 80 percent are rated as excellent or effective. No school districts in the state are in academic emergency.

‘‘Overall, results show we are moving in the right direction,’’ said Susan Tave Zelman, superintendent of public instruction. ‘‘Teachers work hard every day to provide a quality education to our students, and these test results provide a snapshot of their efforts.’’

Results in Mahoning County, too, mirrored the state, as Youngstown City Schools remained in its previous designation of academic watch, after rising up from a fall to academic emergency in 2004-05. The Austintown and Jackson-Milton districts stood again as effective.

One factor that prevented many districts from moving forward in this year’s results was the addition of five achievement tests that had not previously been included in the report cards’ evaluations.

For the 2006-07 school year, the state looked at scores of fifth- and eighth-grade science and social studies tests as well as scores in seventh grade for writing.

So while last year’s grades were based on 25 performance areas, or indicators, this year had a total of 30, including achievement and graduation test scores, graduation numbers and attendance rates.

The success of school districts, as well as individual buildings, is measured in four ways:

? The 30 indicators;

? A Performance Index, which averages the scores of the five subject areas tested in schools — reading, math, writing, science and social studies. That average is then assessed on a scale of 0-120, with 100 being the goal. The index represents the achievement of all students;

? A growth calculation, which rewards academic watch and academic emergency schools or districts that have made strong overall improvement;

? The Adequate Yearly Progress, which measures the achievement of all student groups in a district, including major racial and ethnic groups, low-income students, limited English proficient students and students with disabilities.

Kathryn Hellweg, superintendent of the Warren City Schools, said that the additional test scores counted definitely contributed to the district dropping down a ranking.

At the time of testing last school year, the district was still in the process of aligning its curriculum to better match up with what the state expects of students on tests.

But, Hellweg said, also at that time, the social studies and science tests now being included were ahead of where the district’s young students were at.

All of that has been addressed, she said.

‘‘At this point, we have finished that process for all of those areas being tested,’’ she said.

However, also impacting the districts results was the loss of higher-achieving students to the EdChoice Scholarship program, which offers students vouchers to attend alternative schools when their own district has been designated in academic watch or emergency two out of the past three years.

‘‘There was a statistical impact as a result of that,’’ Hellweg said.

And while varying other factors may have affected Warren’s overall ranking, Hellweg said she looks forward to the time when individual student progress is also included in those indicators. That’s something she said the district is proud to report.

‘‘We’re very pleased with our individual student progress,’’ she said.

While three area school districts — Champion, Girard and Lakeview — remained at their previous ratings of excellent, Howland Superintendent John Sheets said he was happy to see his own district join the ranks.

‘‘It obviously reflects that there was some good work done towards instruction,’’ he said.

Sheets, who just took over as superintendent Aug. 1, said that he came to the district knowing that it achieved academic success. But he further credited his staff for this new accomplishment, especially in light of the new tests being included.

‘‘In the first time out, to get that indicator is a good thing,’’ he said.

But even reaching an excellent rating doesn’t mean that there aren’t areas to improve upon, Sheets added.

For example, Howland’s Adequate Yearly Performance was not met, meaning that the district has not adequately progressed as far as the advancement in scores of its subgroups of students and is at risk for falling into what is called ‘‘improvement status.’’

And that is a problem that continues to plague districts across the state.

‘‘Gaps in achievement between groups of students — based on race, poverty, gender, disability and language background — continue to be one of the greatest challenges for both Ohio and the nation. The encouraging news for Ohio is that when 2005-06 and 2006-07 performance is compared, gaps in achievement narrowed,’’ states a report from ODE.

Sheets said he understands that Howland must do its part to make sure student groups’ needs are met to become proficient and that he works in a mode where there’s always room for improvement.

‘‘That is the challenge that is out there for us to continue to work on,’’ he said.

Overall, only 11 districts in Ohio are in academic watch, with 113 in continuous improvement, 347 found effective and 139 are excellent.

[boardmanite]

Boardman also made a jump from continuous improvement back to excellent. Round of applause!!!!

Vindy.com - Boardman scores big on '07 state report card

[bobbie12]

Hi, I am considering a move to the area, housing prices are easy to swallow and many parts of the city are beautiful.

Traveled from Reno to the area and found the people to be very nice. Everyone helpful and just not the hussle of the west coast.

My areas of realestate interest are the North or West Youngstown. Still looking so if anyone has suggestions, please write

[JR_C]

Here's a neighborhood map of Youngstown:
http://www.youngstown2010.com/neighb...boundaries.gif

I live on the west side of Youngstown, in the "Garden District" neighborhood. However, I don't consider myself an expert on the whole west side because I'm not a native Y-towner.

IMO, if you're interested in moving to the west side, stay close to the park. (There are even some houses for sale near me that actually back into the park.) I would also consider any neighborhood southwest of the park. (Kirkmere, Schenley, Cornersburg, "28" and "29." I'd also consider neighborhoods: "20" "21" "22" and "25" to be good.

Others may disagree, or may suggest that there are more good neighborhoods on the west side that I left out.

I don't know much about the north side at all. But I've been told that the neighborhoods north of Crandall Park are good, safe neighborhoods. The north side is generally the most diverse, and "bohemian" part of the city. This isn't to say that the areas south of Crandall Park are bad. The crime rate may be a little higher, but still not like the south or east sides.

[boardmanite]

If you're looking within the city limits of Youngstown, I'd say the West Side, parts of the North Side, and a few neighborhoods on the South Side would be your best bet. On the North Side, the best areas are marked on the map as "5th Avenue/Golf View West". Some parts of North Heights, Golf View East, and 105 are probably decent as well. You'd just have to be more careful in these areas. Many of my professors at Youngstown State lived in those North Side neighborhoods. There are also some nice places in 119, 104 and 102, but here again, you wouldn't be far away from some pretty rough areas.

On the South Side, there are still a few viable neighborhoods. They are marked as Handel's, Pleasant Grove, Boulevard Park, and parts of Brownlee Woods.

I personally don't care for the East Side. It is crime-ridden and blighted.

If you are looking at a house at a specific address and want information about the area, just let us know.

Good luck with your search!

[PSHSBulldogMOM]

If you are looking for a safe, small town, Lowellville is only 10 minutes away from almost anything. It is a great place with excellent schools (New Buildings--only a few years old). Housing is very reasonable. Let me know if you'd like more info, we are selling our Parents home there. If you are interested in a little larger community, I now live in Poland and we love it. Great School system also.

[ntchilders]

We are looking seriously at a house in "Boulevard Park" What can you tell me about the area? Anything you know or think would be helpful. Thanks!