Possibly Moving (Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo: 2010, for rent, lofts)

[Kelly8248806]

Hello, I was just wondering about the city of Youngstown, OH and its surrounding cities. I currently am from a suburb outside of Toledo and may be moving for a new job. The company is in Youngstown and was just wondering, what are some good cities around there that are decent to live in?? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[MaTTuP]

Youngstown is making a comeback but still looks pretty depressed sitting in America's "rust belt." I've been there a few times and wasn't too impressed, I also saw the A&E show City Confidential when they covered Youngstown, aka "Crimetown USA." It was all about the mafia stronghold on the city up till the late 90's.
I live in Akron, which would be about a 20 minute commute. You may want to consider a suburb NE outside of akron.

[maestro]

if you live in Akron/Cleveland exburb as opposed to a Youngstown burb, you should be OK.

[CortlandGirl79]

Originally Posted by maestro

if you live in Akron/Cleveland exburb as opposed to a Youngstown burb, you should be OK.

Youngstown is making a comeback but still looks pretty depressed sitting in America's "rust belt." I've been there a few times and wasn't too impressed, I also saw the A&E show City Confidential when they covered Youngstown, aka "Crimetown USA." It was all about the mafia stronghold on the city up till the late 90's.
I live in Akron, which would be about a 20 minute commute. You may want to consider a suburb NE outside of akron.

Are you guys kidding me???? Akron is a good hour from the Youngstown area, and it's also in the rustbelt, in case you didn't know!!!!!! With gas prices the way they are i could never recommend that you drive from the Akron suburbs!

I've lived in the Youngstown/Warren metro for 29 years so i feel that i'm well qualified to answer this question. First of all, if you are working downtown i think you'll be impressed w/all the changes that are going on down there. Right now they just finished building our new technology center which is one of three buildings that make up the Youngstown Business Incubator (Youngstown Business Incubator). The Incubator is growing by leaps and bounds and it employs many people in their 20s and 30s that make very good wages.

Also, a Cleveland businessman has been buying up buildings downtown and revamping them. Currently, i believe there are two projects that will bring the area upscale lofts.

Besides new business and housing downtown, a few years ago we got a new convention center (Chevrolet Centre) where they have concerts (TSO, Carrie Underwood, etc.), minor league hockey, af2 football, etc. There are also some new restaurants and bars in the downtown area.

As for the Youngstown suburbs i think that you'll find them to be very nice and affordable. My recommendations would be as follows:
South of Youngstown i would look into Boardman, Poland, and Canfield.
West of Youngstown is Austintown
North of Youngstown i would look into Liberty Township, which is really starting to transform itself (lots of new businesses and a new look), Howland Township and the City of Cortland. www. cityofcortland.org

If you have children i would not recommend that you live in the City of Youngstown because the schools are absolutely horrible. There are some nicer areas on the North and West sides of town, but i don't know them well enough to recommend a specific street or area, although 5th Ave. is beautiful.

As for shopping and entertainment you will find that Boardman and Niles both have pretty nice malls and shopping centers. Also, Liberty and Austintown have some big box stores and plazas that will suit your needs.

I have a friend that lives in the Toledo suburb of Perrysburg, so i do have an idea of where you are coming from. We don't have any of the new outdoor malls like Levi's commons, but there is one in Beechwood east of cleveland, about an hour away. You might also want to check out Mill Creek MetroParks
DEFEND YOUNGSTOWN!
i will shout youngstown
www.mahoningvalleyinfo.com (broken link)
Youngstown 2010

If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask. There area plenty of other threads on here about Youngstown that may provide you w/some more information.

As for my experience, i've lived my entire life North of Youngstown in Trumbull County. I also attended Youngstown State University for four years off and on and the campus is one of the safest in Ohio.

The area is depressed job-wise, but you should be used to that coming from Toledo. It seems like most of Northern, Northeast Ohio, and Western, Pa are this way, but it doesn't mean that it's not a nice place to live. IMO, if you have a good job it's a great place to live w/lots of cultural activities and a low cost of living. If you can't find something to do in Northeast Ohio you won't find something to do anywhere.

Good luck on your search!

Cortlandgirl79

[South Range Family]

It boggles the mind that somebody that saw an A&E special, or another person that lives in Columbus would even attempt to answer your question.

I live on the Western side of Mahoning County. It's at least 45 minutes to take a straight shot up 224 to the big blimp hangar on the Eastern edge of Akron. It's about another 20 minutes to downtown Youngstown. It's not the distance. It's the traffic and redlights.

There are many great places to live in this area. Once you are out of the City limits it turns suburban, and rural very quickly. Very few people actually live in the city limits. It gets confusing when you ask somebody where they are from. We just say Youngstown, even though we are far from it.

Cortlandgirl was absolutely correct in everything she said. Tell us what street you will be working on, and what kind of housing or area that you prefer. We will then be able to answer your question with more specifics.

[JR_C]

Originally Posted by South Range Family

Very few people actually live in the city limits.

Well, there are over 80,000 of us according to the statistics found on this website.

But, other than that, I have nothing much to add to what the previous two posters have written.

[CortlandGirl79]

Here is an article from the Vindy today about the investment going on downtown:
Downtown is Techtown - Vindy.com News - Local & Regional News - Youngstown, Warren, Columbiana, Ohio

Vacant downtown buildings that have been home to pigeons for decades are being torn down or fixed up in the hopes of attracting some higher-class tenants: software developers.

About $12 million has been spent so far to create what planners call Tech Block — a section of West Federal Street designed to be home to thriving technology companies. Planners are counting on securing more multimillion-dollar grants to complete their work.

Another company interested in Tech Block is a software developer from Tacoma, Wash., which was founded by a Mahoning Valley native. The company has six employees and nearly $1 million in sales. The founder doesn’t need the normal startup services provided by the incubator but is attracted to the cluster of tech companies that Tech Block intends to provide, Cossler said.

People outside of the area started noticing Youngstown when Turning Technologies last year was ranked by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the country, but attracting the Tacoma company would help greatly in marketing Tech Block, Cossler said.

[ffouad]

Hello,
I have accepted a job at Kent state University, Eastliverpool. The job requires some trvilling to Kent. Some Freinds fom the area suggested that we live at Cafield, which, based on some search, sounds to be good. Good for my kids, 7 years son, and 5 years dauter, and for my transportation. I need thoughts of people live there. Also I need to rent a house, I do not see a lot of houses for rent on the web!, can some one help?