Halloween in Ohio (Boardman, Athens, Yellow Springs: how much, houses, neighborhood)

[HarleyKittenn]

My fiance and I are currently looking to move out of Arizona. One of our main things we are looking for in a place to move is what their Halloween/Fall activities are like. If anyone has seen the movie, Trick R Treat, then we are looking for a town like that. I heard that the writer and director of the movie based the town off of a place he lived in which was in Ohio, hence me looking at Ohio as a possibility

So what I am wondering is what towns are great for Halloween?! And I'm looking for more traditional. I'm looking for houses to be decorated, pumpkin patches, maybe a parade or a halloween ball, lots of trick or treaters, and maybe a neighborhood that throws block parties or cocktail parties!
Along with this, we are in our 20s so it would be preferable if we were near a bigger city because we do like to go out to bars and my fiance is a musician. Also my fiance is a cook so we need to be around or near restaurants and I'm currently working on my medical transcriptionist schooling so I'll probably be looking for a receptionist type job. I also love the Theatre! Also although we won't be able to get a house right away we want to look into home buying and our range would be under $100,000. I love victorian, cottages, colonial homes so we will probably look at those styles with 3 bedroom. Also we do have tattoos and piercing so we probably don't want to be in a very conservative town.

Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!

[jbcmh81]

I've seen the movie. Are you looking more for the small town feel or more of the party atmosphere? Athens is smaller and has a huge Halloween bash every year, mostly because of Ohio University students.

[HarleyKittenn]

Both but mainly the small town feel and decorations. Where I live I only see a house here and there that bother to decorate. I love how in the movie the whole town is decorated! Also not that I need the whole town to throw a party, but it would be nice if neighbors liked to get together and have house parties or block parties.
Also on a side note: I noticed that housing is fairly cheap compared to a lot of states I've looked at. Is this because people are having hard times getting jobs or is Ohio just a cheaper living place?

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by HarleyKittenn

Both but mainly the small town feel and decorations. Where I live I only see a house here and there that bother to decorate. I love how in the movie the whole town is decorated! Also not that I need the whole town to throw a party, but it would be nice if neighbors liked to get together and have house parties or block parties.
Also on a side note: I noticed that housing is fairly cheap compared to a lot of states I've looked at. Is this because people are having hard times getting jobs or is Ohio just a cheaper living place?

Maybe Yellow Springs? I'm not sure how much decorating goes on there, but it's a small town and very artsy. I was there in July a couple summers ago on a camping trip and there were random people walking around dressed in costumes.

Ohio has a very low cost of living overall, which I think surprises a lot of people. If you do a comparison, you won't typically find too many places that are cheaper. As far as housing goes, part of that is because of the housing crash, of course, so if you're going to move and buy a house, now is a great time.

[HarleyKittenn]

Very cool! Thank you for all your help

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by HarleyKittenn

Is this because people are having hard times getting jobs or is Ohio just a cheaper living place?

Believe it or not there are a lot of jobs in Ohio. Don't believe everything you read in the paper.
Housing has always been cheaper here then in the coastal cities or in the mega towns. That's always been the case.

[HarleyKittenn]

That is awesome to here! I currently just stumbled upon pretty much my dream home for $40,000! I couldn't believe it! it is in the Boardman area.

Thanks again for all the help!