Yours Thoughts On Ashtabula (Youngstown, Beavercreek: houses, employment, neighborhood)

[000000]

well, we would have at least agreed on some issues.

[psulions2007]

I've been there a few times when I lived in Erie once... don't get me wrong, the place has a lot of potential because of its location on the lake, with a river, and the hilly scenery between the lake and 90....but the history of the town and the mentality of the people in it are keeping it way, way behind. Sad for such a beautiful area.

[Orwelleaut]

Basically right, psulions. Ashtabula is a redneck heck hole on the Lake Shore, only more redneck than anyplace in WVA or SE Ohio. This town is inflicted with terminal stupidity, because anyone with a shred of ambition leaves this place. It snows like an SOB here, so no one who doesn't need to be here in the winter is not. Jeff Foxworthy's jokes are not jokes in terms of Ashtabula. They are reality.

The only thing worth doing here is going to Walnut Beach on a summer day for a nice swim. Otherwise, this place is just sad.

[woodworkingmenace]

I think Ashtabula is a nice and fine City! I know that it spreads out to a huge amount of territory, and that my Wife has relatives up there, so, we used to visit a couple of times a year. I used to love going down 7 hills, and going WAAAAY down in that gully, (The wife and her relatives told me they used to sled ride down there in the Winter time and it was really a blast, as you can get a lot of speed going down that long hill!), then way back up and out...Steepest thing I have ever seen, with out coming off a mountain!

We went for a train ride in Ashtabula. There is a train that only runs on the weekend, in the Summer months,and you take it so far, then the train turns around and comes back. Unfortunately, I have an extra ordiinary sensitive nose, and I could smell mold on the train, as it never really got into sunlight, with all those trees around, but, the other passengers couldnt smell it...(yea, its a curse at times, when you can smell into the parts per billion..sheesh!).

Ashtablula is a clean community, and I got to go to the Festival, and saw the bridge that was either a draw bridge or it swung out...(cant remember now, since its been quite a few years, since my Wife's Aunt died and we havent gone back since...but, I loved that town and if it hadnt been too cold up there, I might have retired there, but, I stayed in Steubenville, instead.

May the LORD Bless each of you.

I wish you well...

Jesse

[Orwelleaut]

The countryside surrounding Ashtabula is very pretty where the Ashtabula River runs under Route 11, and the lakeshore is absolutely divine. This is a nice place to visit on a nice summer day to enjoy nature and the grandeur of Lake Erie. The Bascule Lift Bridge down in the harbor area is very unique. I believe it is the only bridge of this type in Ohio. I'm not knowedgeable about bridges, though, so I can't say too much of interest to a bridge fan about this bridge. If you are a bridge fan, though, I'd say that this bridge is worth travelling some distance to see.

While Ashtabula is a great place to visit on a summer day and was once quite a city, it is not, these days, the best location to live in. Ashtabula has gone downhill a lot since 2000. Much like with Steubenville, the surrounding countryside is very nice, but the city of Ashtabula has high crime for a small city because of being largely low income. Folks who make money is Ashtabula live in the surrounding towns like Jefferson and Geneva. Ashtabula city is not dangerous like Cleveland or Youngstown, but is just a rough and depressed old town like Steubenville. Other than the mall area on route 20 or Walnut Beach, I stay out of Ashtabula at night, as it has dangerous neighborhoods and occasional shootings just like Steubenville. There is just a lot of poverty here anymore, so you have the accompanying crime and negative behaviors.

As a resident of Ashtabula County, I am speaking with the knowledge of a local about this. Just like with Steubenville, Ashtabula city is not the place it once was.

[5Lakes]

Have to pretty much agree with Orwelleaut's take on the City of Ashtabula. The town has become an absolute dump due to poor leadership, horrible planning, and lack of jobs. The city deteriorates more every year and the local leadership always seems to make the worst possible decisions. The downtown is dead, neighborhoods are falling apart, and there are empty strip centers and eye-sores all over the place. A large number of people who live there exhibit white trash or ghetto behavior and seem to be straight out of the Jerry Springer show.

I do not live in Ashtabula, but I am native to the area. Went to high school in the City of Ashtabula and my family still lives about 5 miles outside of town. When I was a kid in the 80's the place was not nearly as bad as it is now. Back then the downtown had a good amount of shopping and many of the neighborhoods in town were still solid. Now the downtown has no shopping to speak of due to the mall area draining retail from the traditional sopping areas and most of the central neighborhoods are in bad shape. My grandparents used to live on the west side of town on a pleasant street, but these days if you drove down it you might think you were in the ghetto in east Cleveland.

I will say that the rest of the county is in better shape than the City of Ashtabula. You will find some decent rural areas to live in and the other towns in the county are in better shape; however, there is nowhere I would call exceptional and there are still a fair amount of low-class redneck types scattered about.

[lizloh]

HA hilarious, i don't know much

but i do know ashtabula DOES has a redderneck than foxworthy, garbage......

[cortezj29]

I am not a big fan of the town of Ashtabula but I find that South county is a beautiful place. Jefferson and Orwell have a small town charm about them. Roaming Shores and Andover are both inland lake communities. And there is a ton of farms and land available throughout.

[jam40jeff]

I like most small Ohio towns, but I definitely find Jefferson to feel more like a dump. Chardon would be much nicer if it wasn't invaded by the suburbanites.

[Beavercreek33]

Originally Posted by Orwelleaut

Basically right, psulions. Ashtabula is a redneck heck hole on the Lake Shore, only more redneck than anyplace in WVA or SE Ohio. This town is inflicted with terminal stupidity, because anyone with a shred of ambition leaves this place. It snows like an SOB here, so no one who doesn't need to be here in the winter is not. Jeff Foxworthy's jokes are not jokes in terms of Ashtabula. They are reality.

The only thing worth doing here is going to Walnut Beach on a summer day for a nice swim. Otherwise, this place is just sad.

West Virginia??? lol not that bad.