Youngstown (Boardman, Austintown, Green: real estate, 2010, condo)

[gswpa]

I have heard that the local government is trying to improve Youngstown. Is it working? My family is thinking of moving at least an hour north of Pittsburgh. Youngstown would be the closest city to our location. I was also wondering about the difference in the cost of living between Ohio and Pennsylvania. The cost of living in the counties surrounding Allegheny county is starting to escalate. High taxes, sprawl, and high cost of living are the main reasons we are relocating.

[JR_C]

Here's a link to the Youngstown 2010 website. It's probably the best summary of what the local government is doing to improve the city.
Youngstown 2010

Though it still has problems, (poor city schools, and high crime) I think the city is starting to come back. (others will disagree, I'm sure) Downtown has really turned around in the last several years, but still has plenty of room for improvement.

I can't really help you with cost of living information because I'm not at all familiar with where you're coming from. I do know that housing is very inexpensive, though.

[boardmanite]

Right off the bat, one thing I can tell you about the difference between Ohio and PA is the wage taxes are generally lower in Ohio. In Greenville, PA, the borough took 1.7%. Most municipalities take 1.0% My township in Ohio (Boardman) takes nothing. However, in the city of Youngstown, the tax rate is 2.75% I don't really know about average real estate taxes. We didn't see too much of a difference moving from W PA to Ohio (keep in mind we lived in Mercer County, not Allegheny which has higher taxes)

Unfortunately there is a lot of sprawl around Youngstown. Austintown and Boardman have older, typically "cookie-cutter" style developments, as well as uncontrolled, poorly planned commercial development. Canfield and Poland are quaint small towns surrounded by newly built McMansion-type developments.

About the improvement of Youngstown: the city is in better shape than it has been. Like the previous poster stated, the city is starting to come back. However, how much of that has been brought about by the local government is debatable.

The schools are pretty bad in the city. I believe they have gone down hill considerably since I've lived here (3 years), especially after the consolidation of the high schools.

If you need information about specific neighborhoods or suburbs, just ask. We'll definitely help you out!

[gswpa]

A fixer upper on an acre of land in my area starts at $270,000.

[gam3rchic]

Originally Posted by gswpa

A fixer upper on an acre of land in my area starts at $270,000.

Dang, you could buy half the city with that amount, lol!!

Seriously though, housing is ALOT cheaper than that in the Youngstown area, even in the suburbs, then what you are used to. But like others have said, the school system in Youngstown has declined rapidly, especially recently. My high school alma mater has become a huge fight pit and it resembles nothing of it's former glory. Downtown has come a LONG way though for the better and is still being worked on. I think Youngstown will continue to turn around, slowly but surely.

On the other hand, many of the surrounding suburbs have very good school systems with still very reasonable housing. You'll have to do research on the school systems because I'm not sure which are the best right off the top of my head.

Good luck to you!

[boardmanite]

Originally Posted by gswpa

A fixer upper on an acre of land in my area starts at $270,000.

I think you could get a beautiful, new house in a great school district for $270,000 here. A fixer-upper would be much less.

[ytownlibrarian]

Originally Posted by boardmanite

I think you could get a beautiful, new house in a great school district for $270,000 here. A fixer-upper would be much less.

I was quite shocked to learn when moving to the Youngstown area from DC that I could get a new or nearly new 2-3 BR condo for under $100,000. The disparity in the cost of living doesn't hit you until you look at housing around here.

Welcome to the area!

[gswpa]

I definately do not want to pay $270,000 for a house, that is one reason we are moving. What are the taxes like in Ohio? High?

[amanda0101]

You could look in the Sharon, PA area. I am in Farrell right now and it is not my favorite place but Sharon has some really cute neighborhoods and the housing is very affordable.

[Icy Tea]

I keep reading about Youngstown and note how similar it is to Allentown and Reading Pa. The suburban sprawl, the nice suburbs with better schools, the crime, declining manufacturing and industry. Things will get better but it may take awhile. At least everydody speaks english there,( I hope). I'm pretty much pro diversity but not when it comes to language.