Warren Photo-tour (Warning if you have dial-up) (Cortland, Geneva: hotel, home)

[vinnyccc]

Nice photos, i worked for Delphi from 1994-2006, taking the buyout and leaving the jobs bank in september of 2006. It was sad to see plant 15 empty like that. Thats the last plant i worked at before going to the bank. The longer time goes by the more i forget peoples names who worked with me and the memories are starting to fade also. I miss those days and the checks!!! thanks for sharing the photos.....vinny

[CortlandGirl79]

Vinny,
Thanks! I was a '99............worked at the Test Center from the end of '04 til Dec '06 then got called to Vienna as a temp for 3 months in early '07. I worked in Plant 15 dept.'s 12, 01, and 10 on mostly afternoons for 4 years before going to the jobs bank. That jobs bank was awful, wasn't it? I too am starting to forget names, but i still remember many faces. Are you still living in the area? I know some people went south, others got retrained. I just graduated w/my bachelor's degree..........hope life is treating you well.

Cort

[CortlandGirl79]

Some new ones.........





New WWII Monument

Civil War Monument

The New Monument Park

[vinnyccc]

Yes Cortland girl i stayed in the area(Girard). Im a behavioral counselor at Belmont Pines Hospital. I also worked afternoon for a few years-5 i think. Im sure i would reconize you if i saw you. By the way congrats on your degree that is great! I take my hat off to you! It takes dedication to reach a goal like that when you lose a job as we did! What was your major and what are u doing now?

[ccrotzer]

Cortland girl,
You seem to know a lot about Warren, so could you tell me about Orange Ct. NE? Is it a good area, we have a young child,need a library nearby, playground area, stuff for a young family to get involved in? Thanks so much..

[CortlandGirl79]

I hate to tell you this, but that is a not so nice area. Lots of rentals and some boarded up houses. Have you looked into any of the suburbs? If you're going to pick warren i would look on the NE side east of Elm Rd and north of E. Market. The further north and east you go the better. Some areas south of market are ok, but not too close to Youngstown-Warren Rd. Orange is definitely the wrong side of Elm Rd to be looking if you have kids.

If i were you i would look into areas near Genesee Ave. Many of the roads that touch it are pretty nice and the people that live in that area keep up their homes and yard a lot nicer than some other areas of town.

[ccrotzer]

Thanks so much. That is what I needed to hear. Thanks for taking the time.

[livebyoptimism]

Cortlandgirl79, I've never even been to Warren & your pictures want to make me move there! What a beautiful place with lots of history! By looking at your pictures, it's apparent you take great pride in Warren!

[CortlandGirl79]

Thanks! I really do have a lot of pride in my area. Unfortunately, much of Warren is not what it once was. When my parents were growing up there in the 50s and 60s i believe the population was somewhere near 65k people. Now the population is around 45k. Beginning in the 70s white flight began to affect certain parts of the city (mostly the west side). Many other residents like my parents moved out into the suburbs and small towns surrounding Warren. Like many rust belt cities Warren has been hit hard with job losses the last couple of decades.

Recently, the city has been hit hard by the foreclosure crisis, slum lords, and loss of tax revenue. It's really sad to watch a city with such wonderful history falling on hard times. Now certain areas and roads in Warren have boarded up houses, empty lots, high grass and weeds. There are still some very nice areas of Warren, but many of the neat old homes are chopped up into rentals or located in bad areas. What's worse is that things seem to be getting worse and not better. Brain drain is a big problem here as it is in the rest of the state. There are many colleges and universities w/in an hour of Warren (Youngstown State, Hiram, Kent, Mount Union, Akron, Cleveland State, etc) that produce a lot of graduates, but most of them cannot find jobs in our area. Probably about 1/4 of my classmates are teachers, all educated in Northeast Ohio and they cannot getting teaching jobs here and have to move south. Anyway, this post is getting a little long. Hopefully this coming spring i will get out an take some more pics of Warren and the surrounding areas and don't worry, i'll try to get some of the bad stuff too.

[livebyoptimism]

Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

There are many colleges and universities w/in an hour of Warren (Youngstown State, Hiram, Kent, Mount Union, Akron, Cleveland State, etc) that produce a lot of graduates, but most of them cannot find jobs in our area. Probably about 1/4 of my classmates are teachers, all educated in Northeast Ohio and they cannot getting teaching jobs here and have to move south.

Yep, I'm a teacher teaching in SC because I couldn't find a job in Ohio! It's pretty sad really.