what is there to do/shop in Poland? (streets, resident)

[CortlandGirl79]

Actually, there are some areas around here w/rattlesnakes, but i believe they are north of mosquito lake and i've never heard of anyone seeing any around here.

Yes, usually desirable districts don't usually have open enrollment. I know Lakeview didn't have it until just last year.

Here's a pdf.file on open enrollment in Ohio. http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Docume...cumentID=36424
Champion only allows it w/bordering districts, Poland is closed and Liberty and Lakeview allow statewide.

I think most schools have a set number of open enrollment students they allow and like a said before, many have waiting lists. Here are some articles i found on the subject:

Schools’ open enrollment challenged | Trib Today

Ohio schools are not obliged to offer open enrollment, but the vast majority do, according to the Ohio Department of Education Web site. Of the state’s 662 districts, only 173 (26 percent) do not offer the policy. Another 117 restrict open enrollment to adjacent districts only, while a whopping 372 districts — more than half — offer enrollment with no strings attached

The Star Beacon; Ashtabula, Ohio - PROS AND CONS OF OHIO’S OPEN ENROLLMENT, Students on the go hurt, help districts financially.

From what i've found online it looks like you have to sign up for open enrollment sometime during April for the next school year.

[crzyfrmkids]

That's kind of what I thought about the schools, and so now we know to focus on living in the city that our desired school district is in. I wasn't too sure about Boardman, but I really want to keep my kids kids as long as possible. The kids at our local high school are kids----we have several with piercings and tattos---my daughters middle school has a pregnant 6th grader and she already has an infant child, a boy who wears frilly blouses and skirts and make-up and several kids who wear gothic attire. We do have an alternative school for those who repeatedly can't abide by the rules for attendance, bullying, fighting, etc and my kids have known kids that go there. We have had students die from drunk driving and we have had gang fights at the high school and they have fights at the middle school, and while my kids are appalled by all this, at the same time they laugh it off saying how ridiculous it is to act like that. So I guess even in our small town (although our high school has 1,200 students and my oldest son's graduating class graduated around 275-300 last year) things can get out of control. The majority of the kids are good, but we also have a high percentage of kids that come from poverty and that affects them at school, academically and socially. In the elementary school where I work part time as a teacher assistant, 51% of our kids live in poverty. I want to keep my kids protected from all the bad things in the world, but I also realize that I can't do it forever and if they go off to college or go live somewhere else, they will be exposed to it. At least if they are exposed to it now, while we are here to guide them, they will know how to handle it when they are not with us. While I don't want my kids in an inner city type school where it's every man for himself, I don't expect them to go to a school where everyone there is an angel! I'm not looking for perfection in a school, but I want a school with ratings of excellent and where there is really low violence, drugs---that sort of thing. It doesn't have to be a really small school system, but I don't want my kids getting lost in the shuffle either. As for a septic system, we get ours pumped out every year whether it needs it or not. Our house is rated as a 3 bedroom septic, and we turned our house into a 5 bedroom house, so we make sure to pump it every year. Still not too sure about a well, but if it turns out to be our only option, then I guess we'll go with that. Since the house we are living in now is the first house we bought, as we previously had always been renters, I now know what to look for and what questions to ask when buying a new home. I don't know everything, but I'm working on it! Thanks again!

[crzyfrmkids]

Hi----I have several questions today---sorry! Okay---I saw on the internet where there was flooding in Mahoning County---First, I hope no one there got flooded at atll and does that happen often and are the homes in Mahoning and Trumball County in flood plains? Is that why so many people have their basements waterproofed? Also, I have seen several nice houses when doing searches on a certain school district, but the house itself has an address of Youngstown or Warren. I don't want to live in Youngstown and I have heard mixed reviews on Waren. I am assuming these houses would be on the outskirts of these cities, but wouldn't that make the taxes higher because of the city it is located in? ---thanks!

[SongbirdNW]

I can't give you much information about flooding - I do know that it's increased in certain places over the past years due to the loss of wooded areas to parking lots. My parents yard often floods during heavy rains as drainage pipes get backed up, but to my knowledge, they've never had a problem in their basement/home. I can only recall one major flood incident in my 18 years of living in Poland.

As for the locations of those homes...I'm not clear on what you're asking? If you feel comfortable sharing the location of an intersection near the home, we might be able to give you an idea of what the area's like.

[CortlandGirl79]

Originally Posted by crzyfrmkids

Hi----I have several questions today---sorry! Okay---I saw on the internet where there was flooding in Mahoning County---First, I hope no one there got flooded at atll and does that happen often and are the homes in Mahoning and Trumball County in flood plains? Is that why so many people have their basements waterproofed? Also, I have seen several nice houses when doing searches on a certain school district, but the house itself has an address of Youngstown or Warren. I don't want to live in Youngstown and I have heard mixed reviews on Waren. I am assuming these houses would be on the outskirts of these cities, but wouldn't that make the taxes higher because of the city it is located in? ---thanks!

Hey, don't worry about it, that's why we are here!

I don't know much about Mahoning County flooding other than some parking lots in Boardman and maybe some flooding in Austintown.

A few years ago we had 100 year rains and the Mahoning River flooded in Leavittsburg. There is also a flood plain in Niles near Mosquito Creek, but other than that i've never heard of any other areas flooding. Almost all homes have sump pumps that pump water out from the footer in the basement. It's best to have battery back-up in case the electricity goes out. If the sump pump isn't working you could have some basement flooding. I know a lot of people have finished basements and it would be terrible if all those big screen tvs, furniture, carpet, drywall, etc got ruined.

As for the Youngstown/Warren addresses, i can see how that would be a little confusing for someone outside of the area. Like i mentioned before, Bazetta Township has a Cortland address and zip code (44410), many times townships don't have their own zip codes, so they have a zip code for a nearby city. If you are seeing Warren for Howland schools that is correct. Zip code 44484 is a Warren zip code, but is actually Howland Township and you wouldn't have to pay city tax. But..........there are some areas of Warren City that are included in the Howland School District, I believe these areas have a zip code of 44483 (this is my zip code). People that live in the city of Warren (44483 and others), but have Howland Schools still have to pay city tax. Sorry if this is getting confusing!!!! Another school system where you will see a Warren zip code is Champion Township. I believe the zip for Champion is 44481, because it is Champion Township, you do not have to pay city tax. Lastly, many areas of Liberty Township (again, same kind of deal) have a Youngstown zip code, but are not actually part of Youngstown, same goes w/some parts of Austintown, Boardman and Poland i believe.

I hope the that all made sense............if you have a question about a certain road or address i should be able to help you out. If you don't feel comfortable posting it here, send me a direct message and i'll be able to get you the answer that you need.

[luv2flip]

Just wondering if crzyfrmkids ever moved to Poland! We are really thinking about Poland as our choice to live also, as we are being transferred there as well. We also have a daughter who goes to college and is staying here in Wisconsin. We too have a 16 year old boy that loves to play football and is having a hard time with this move because he loves his school and all of his friends here! I would love to hear from you to see how you like Poland and how your son is getting along. Our son is still a kid and does not want to keep up with the Jones' either. He cherishes his 12 year old Chevy truck!!ha

[CortlandGirl79]

I think she is still trying to sell her house and last time i knew she was looking more towards trumbull county, but i will let her speak for herself.

[luv2flip]

Thanks so much. I'm finally getting a little more familiar with the area. You have helped so much by giving me your advice and opinion. My husband and I hope to drive out next week maybe. I can't wait to see these areas for myself.

[CortlandGirl79]

I'm glad you are getting more familiar w/the area, i know it's got to be hard from so far away. Hopefully you'll be able to find the type of place you're looking for. Let us know how your trip was when you get back. As usual, if you have any questions, let us know and we'll be happy to help. (I seriously should get a job w/the chamber or commerce or something! haha!) Have a good trip!

[crzyfrmkids]

Hi---no, we have not moved to Poland or anywhere yet. Our house is still in the process of having all the unfinshed projects finally finished, exterior and interior painting, etc. I was supposed to have a roofer, electrician and a handyman come today, but only the electrician showed up. It is very typical of where we live for the worker guys to not show up or to start the job, leave and not come back for days. We are not also having a $45,000 discrepancy in what the 2 real esate agents want to list our house for. As part of the relocation agreement, 2 agencies had to come look at the house, send info to the relocation co and then come back and give us their listing price and how they will market our house. I'm not giving the house away, especially when houses around me are listed for $30,000-$60,000 more than what the first agent wants to list if for. We need to come to some kind of agreement on listing price now. A person my husband works with closed on their house is Poland and the wife and kids have moved out and apparently are doing well and enjoying the area. I understand that a lot of areas won't allow campers parked in the yards, and that is a concern of ours. We are also finding that if we go with a place with land for the camper, cars, truck and room to play that there may not be high-speed internet. I want to be within 10 minutes of shopping and the oldest boy has decided to take online classes and move with us----he has to have high speed internet and we want plenty of space to park all our vehicles and give the dogs a place to run in the grass. It's becoming quite the dilemna now. It's almost a good thing that we haven't moved---I am still finding out info as I go along here. We can't make any costly mistakes like having no or only modem for internet or find out the house we like has been flooded or needs waterproofing---those types of things. I found a few houses in the Warren area which has Champion schools---area code 44483 and also in the Canfield area, Jackson Milton schools, and I found one in Burghill which had 6 acres and 5 bedrooms, a barn and a 2-car garage. The only problem so far, is that it is 15 minutes from anything. I have that right now and wanted to improve on that. The older boys also wanted to be close to things to do---like malls, swimming, mini golf, etc. AAGGGH! It's making me crazy! Obviously we are going to have to compromise on something or somethings and I am glad I found this site to ask questions, because a realtor is either not going to know all this stuff or be evasive about it just to sell the property. Thank goodness for internet!