Living on Portage Lake in Ohio (Akron, Cuyahoga Falls: sales, real estate, crime)

[CindyLou]

My husband and I want to move to Ohio on a Lake. Portage lakes looks nice but like to have more information on the area and how is the lake living.

Help............

[hairmetal4ever]

They're decent. Part of the lakefront is very high end (near 1 million plus) homes, the other part is shabby, run-down shacks and there are some intermediate areas. It's a nice area but a bit "seedy" if you will. Cheap real estate though. Good boating, nice restaurants.

[CindyLou]

Thanks for your info. The seesy parts worries me. Is there a better lake within 30 miles from there that is better.

[paintballer1708]

Portage Lakes is an expensive area to live, but very nice. Akron has so many nice suburbs to look into. Fairlawn and Tallmadge are ones i would look into.

Tallmadge Home page
http://www.tallmadge-ohio.org/

About Fairlawn
http://www.cityoffairlawn.com/our_history.htm

But my favorite Akron suburb would have to be Cuyahoga Falls next to the most visited Nat'l park in the nation. Cuyahoga Nat'l Park.

Cuyahoga Falls Homepage
http://cfo.cityofcf.com/website/web2/view.do

[paintballer1708]

Sorry, but there is this link on Wikipedia on the suburb of Cuyahoga Falls. Its got an awesome picture of the falls behind the Sheraton Hotel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portage_Lakes,_Ohio

Good luck with finding any information that helps. Im here if you need anymore info.

[htlong]

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/15658656.htm (broken link)
article on portage lakes

[Road Map]

Someone I know used to live here. She said the same thing that Hairmetal4ever is saying, "part of the lakefront is very high end (near 1 million plus) homes, the other part is shabby, run-down shack". I think she lived in the quieter area, but she did mention that there are lots of bikers in the area.

I DON'T have a problem with bikers, but there are times when I don't want to hear loud engines roaring past my house. Portage Lake allows motorized watercrafts. Something else to consider for those days when you want to enjoy a drink on the dock of your "tranquil" lakefront home.

You might want to check the crime blotter first...

Good luck!

[ArtEffects]

Regarding living on the Portage Lakes and subsequent replies. Have lived lakefront on a no wake area for some time, and have been boating on the lakes since the late 1960's. The change over the years has been tremendous. What some have referred to as seedy come at a very high price. What started out as World War II era summer cottages have been turned into higher end year round lakefront homes. This is one of the few areas in the country that you can own rght up to the water and have a private dock on a state park lake.

There are a few weekends that the lakes are busy and even that for the most part is entertaining. What we really love is watching the water birds, and the changing seasons, it is always beautiful. In the Akron area it is the only place I would want to live. I have priced this lifestyle in other areas of the country and you can not beat the price here, nor the convenience to major airports, shopping, schools, and jobs.

If you are just a "day boater" you really have no idea of how enjoyable the lifestyle can be.

[ArtEffects]

Just a few words of caution to anyone looking at the "Home Sales in Portage Lakes, OH" chart below. Before accepting this as a guideline for the value of 'lakefront property in the Portage Lakes" check with a reputable real estate professional and ask for an "active" & "sold" comparables report (CMA) on lakefront properties. I had a Realtor do a current CMA today which showed active lakefront ranged from a high of $1,395,000 to a low of $149,000 for a lot with a summer only cabin, with a median price for lakefronts of $389,450. The chart below is including all of the properties sold in the area that surrounds the Portage Lakes.

There is a huge difference between the value of a lakefront home and one that is not lakefront but may be in the same neighborhood. And there is a big difference between homes located on the five interconnecting chain of lakes and those homes located on one of the other nearby lakes.

Based on the active and sold listings for lakefront property, it is apparant that people are willing to pay a lot to live on the water. If you want a valid opinion on the issues raised in some of the other postings ask someone that lives on the water.

Also, for anyone that is not local reading this, there is no city or township called Portage Lakes, OH, it is a description for the enhanced waterways that were part of the Native Americans' portage from the Cuyahoga River to the Tuscaraus River when they traveled between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. The areas surounding the "Portage Lakes" include the township of Coventry and the cities of Green and New Franklin, OH.

[htlong]

I heard that the lakefront property in Coventry has a 10% increase in taxes over non lakefront property, can anyone verify this?