seriously looking at warren

[janet32]

Try Niles, its right next door and safer. Or live on the outskirts of Warren.

Boardman/Poland might be more expensive but its nice with more to do.

[CortlandGirl79]

Niles is a little nicer in some areas, but there are some pretty seedy areas of Niles as well. My advice on Niles is that it's always better to live on "the hill". The further up the hill you live the better.

I had a house in Niles for 6 years, it was a beautiful old Victorian, but it was on a busy street w/lots of traffic, including heavy trucks. If anyone is considering Niles i would steer clear of a lot of the south side. Also, mason and cedar streets always seems to be having some kind of criminal activity going on. I had never saw so much drug use until i moved to Niles. Most of my neighbors (a lot of renters) openly smoked/grew pot and i know others that did harder drugs.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not totally bashing Niles here, but Warren and Niles have a lot of similarities. Both are middle to lower income areas (not that there's anything wrong w/that), lots of single parents households, drug problems (it's everywhere, but more out in the open in these places), and both have a much older housing stock (a plus for me, as i prefer neat old houses compared to the cookie-cutter houses of the 70s til today).

I don't want to make Niles sound all bad. It's location is very convienent as everything is w/in a five minute drive. People from niles are very proud and a lot of them stay there from birth til death. Also, electric rates are cheaper than Ohio Edison, as Niles has their own electricity. Niles also has a couple of decent parks (Waddell and Stephens) one of which has a community pool which is rare in this area.

If you are looking into Niles, Warren, or any of the surrounding areas, get educated, drive around, talk to neighbors or ask someone on here what streets and neighborhoods are good, bad, terrible or excellent. I know i'm always more than happy to answer questions. If i don't know i can talk to people that live in those areas what they think.

[cha cha]

just keep in mind that the haters are probably not from the Valley, otherwise they wouldn't bash it so bad. there are still a lot of good people that live in Warren and are very proud of that. we are a tough lot, and will defend our city no matter what. if you enjoy high school football and excellent food you'll be in heaven. i have family in the civil service sector of the city of Warren, and believe me what trash some posters talk about them is totally wrong. these guys and gals working for the city, especially the PD are the most down to earth people you'll find. that is unless your committing a crime that needs dealing with, than its on. just as any good PD does, they handle business, but don't harass you. honest to God the PD of Warren is a good one. i've been in the business in that area and other states from some time now and theres nothing wrong with the way they do business. Keep an open mind. btw cort, if you dont mind, what street in Red Dragon country did you live on with the old Victorian? if its what i'm thinking the house was and maybe still is beautiful.

[CortlandGirl79]

I lived on N. Main, just a few blocks from the high school. It wasn't too bad of an area, i myself never encountered problems. Like i said though, most of my neighbors were renters, single parents w/no control of their kids. I saw lots of pot smoking, and shady looking people walking around.

Lots of times i would find empty beer bottles and cigarettes in my yard, not to mention garbage from McDonalds. That used to really tick me off when i had to mow the grass. I'm sure most of the trash was thrown out car windows while people were waiting for the light at Federal St. to change. I really love the homes on Robbins Ave. especially the Stephens (sp?) house. I always wanted to live there as a kid, but i can't imagine what their heating bills are! Ouch!

The only other bad thing that happened when i lived in Niles was the fact that i witnessed a shooting, which of course i'm sure everyone kept hush hush. Kind of like the prostitutes in certain areas of town. Anyway, one night i was lying in bed talking on my phone when i heard people arguing in a parking lot across the street. Turns out a punk kid from warren shot at a couple of girls from Y-town. Thankfully no one was hurt and i'm not really sure why it happened, but i saw it go down from a spare bedroom window.

Other than that my time in Niles was pretty uneventful. I spent some time at the city pool and went to the library a few times. I often forgot to lock my back door before going to bed, which scared the crap out of my mom. Thankfully, people don't usually break into houses on such a busy street. The other great thing about where i lived was that there are lots of sidewalks and it was close to everything. I loved being 5 minutes or less from the mall, the bank, grocery store and restaurants. Especially some really good non-chain places like Alberini's and 422. I also used to really love Nikki's food....too bad they are gone.

Oh yeah, the BV, Sunrise, and Enzo's are great!!!!!!!! I'm also a big fan of Brother's, but i prefer the one in Cortland since that is where i grew up, not that they all are so different.

[cha cha]

cort, all those things you said are right on the button. Main St. near McD's and all, LOL. back in the day along with the McD's on 422 were the regular hangouts for the (have to give em some respect) Niles boys. unfortunately that part of town is getting a little diminished. however over by Mt. Carmel there are still lots of nice areas. Wow, i'm a ways away, but its good to actually see someone knows what their talking about in terms of this particular area. cort, keep up the good work. i'll be back real soon and make my own assesment. Cha Cha