looking for small town in OH to make home (Cleveland: travel, job)

[Naturgal]

Greetings everyone!

I know you're out there. Former Orrvillians who have left and now you want out the rat race. You think back to the good, simpler times you experienced here in Amish country. You miss the small hometown feel, the fall leaves, the farms, the countryside and the clip clop of Amish buggies. Well, come on back home to Orrville.

We are in the midst of a revitalization. Orrville is one of a handful of towns across Ohio that are part of the Ohio Main Street program. We have received grants to revitalize our downtown and improvements are evident everywhere. Our downtown is becoming quite quaint these days. If you are looking to open up a little store, come on back and open one downtown. We have plenty of industry and our own electric company too!

Contrary to some statistics you might come across, Orrville is virtually crime free. It is a very safe town. I am prone to take walks in the middle of the night and have never been accosted in any way. I don't know where they got their statistics from because I'm sure if any serious crime happened it would be the talk of the town. There are no such thing as home invasions here, no carjackings and no murder. I feel completely safe here in Orrville.

We have a beautiful park with a creek running through it that holds concerts in the summer and abound with ballfields. We have great schools, in fact they just built a new school. There is a boys and girls club that caters the youth. Your kids can even go there while they wait for you to get off work. This is a wonderful place to raise children.

You are just 20 minutes away from all the shopping in Wooster and close to Canton, Cleveland and Akron. Orrville is not a mecca for shopping but they like to keep it that way. I can sit on my front porch and watch Amish buggies clipclopping down the street. They come in to go to our grocery stores. A very short drive takes you right into the heart of Amish country and its breathtakingly beautiful.

Nearby Kidron is a mecca for the Amish and there you have Lehmans, the largest old fashioned hardware store in the world. They have been selling hard to get non electric items since the 50s. They started out catering to the Amish's needs. Refer to Lehmans.com to see what I'm talking about.

Kidron also has weekly livestock auctions and an outdoor flea market where Amish and "Englishers" mingle. All around the area you can get locally made Swiss cheese and bulk food stores abound. One of the simplest pleasures around here is to take a country drive and get lost in Amish country. Marvel at the beauty of the well kept farms, see beautiful draft horses and dairy cows in the pasture. You'll see the Amish working teams of horses in the field. Okay now your turn fellow Orrville residents, help me explain why living in here is so great!

[jvilleflorida]

Originally Posted by cwarner

Hello all! I am new to this, but stumbled on this website and forum and decided to try it out in my research. I am in search of a really nice, friendly smaller town in OH that I can make my home. I currently live out of state in a large city but long for that small town feel. Can anyone give me any names of towns that you are familiar with that you could tell me about?
I do appreciate all that respond....thank you so much! cwarner

Why Ohio? And here are a couple of places I am familiar with: Cambridge which is Southeast off I77. Canal Fulton is a small town south of Akron. Lodi is a small town west of Akron off I76. Each of these are nice, safe places to live. Of these, Cambridge is my personal favorite. I have relative's and friends in each of these town. Good Luck!

[monkeycookie]

Waverly is a nice place good schools and nice people

[swimming467]

I would choose Celina. Celina has pretty much everything that you need, and it is a small town with only about 10,000 residents. It is really nice and everyone is friendly.

[Jara]

Even though I was born in Toledo I spent a good part of my life in Sandusky Ohio. My favorite get-away was Vermilion. The town has a history and an Inland Seas Maritime Museum plus much more. It's located on Lake Erie with handy other places to visit. Cedar Point...and the list goes on. There are a lot of boaters and if you don't know boats you sure will learn quick. Vermilion has a little something for everybody and a kid can be a kid.

[bharper1]

tipp city ohio, it is kind of small. but im not gonna lie, its a great place to live if you wanna get away from crime, etc. personally, i think its boring

i would prefer huber heights which is closer to dayton though. which is larger but i think it is a fun place to live, or vandalia (:

[Sailaway50]

Any opinions out there about Mentor, Mentor on the Lake, or Fairport Harbor, Ohio?

Or, would you consider Mentor actually a "suburb" of Cleveland rather than a small town.

I was looking at housing prices in Mentor and they have, as they say, a "big inventory" and the homes were far more reasonable than I expected. I also figured living there, I'd still have access to Cleveland if I needed it (medical, etc.). I lived in OH years ago; it's such a lovely state, and I really miss the people.

[a2e4]

Originally Posted by rdy4agetaway

Centerburg Ohio. North of Columbus. Fantastic town We moved here 4 years ago and love it. Awesome schools. With Real Estate down right now, you can get a good deal. Good luck!

We are looking to move to a small town with 1000 to 2000 pop (may be a little more or little less) I came across Centerburg Ohio.....I was wondering if you know of any land for sale.....or if you could tell me is this town flat or does it have hills!

[dmsd212]

hello...i also am new to this site, but i have lived most of my life in what is now called New Franklin...use to be and we still call it Manchester...we are located south of Akron in the Portage Lakes area...i can and will gurantee there is no other place like this....we have excellent schools ...i graduated from MHS my brothers did and all of our children have graduated from Manchester Schools..you will not find a better community to live in we are small, friendly and it's more country living than the hustle and bustle of city life....we have a beautiful brick ranch home on 1 acre with trees and we are on the end of a cul-de-sac...private, quiet almost resortful....unfortunatly we are going to have to move soon and if any of you are interested in our home please feel free to contact me...but please only if you are serious!!! like i said you can't go wrong in Manchester....for those of you familer with the area we are south of Coventry, south of Northwest, east of Norton and west of Green...so we are surrounded by alot of nice areas...but i think we are in the best...lol

[dmsd212]

this is mainly for e2a4 in reply to a good place to live...
please contact me if you're interested....