Opinions about Boardman and Niles (Youngstown, Warren: renters, appliances, hotels)

[StephandTerry4]

Well we have narrowed our relocation destination down to boardman and Niles. I like Niles because from what I gather it is a small town. It is also right dab in between Warren and Youngstown which gives us acess to both cities. I have been researching and I like the fact that there is so much history in Ohio. I am coming from a big metropolitian area but want a small town. I grew up in a town that had 1 convient store and 1 grocery store, and 1 light and they were all on the same corner. I miss that type of living where you know your neighbors and they know you. My husband likes Boardman but he also misses small town living. We did decide though that because we have lived in a big city for 8 years that we still need acess to the amenities of a big town or city. We both have decided that good public schools and a big yard is the way to go though. On a side note when we sit here and look at rentals on Craigslist.com and see how cheap the rent there is it makes us sick because we pay close to 1500 dollars a month in rent now. which works out to be close to double the rent there. So any info on these towns and which one you guys think is better please reply and let us know.

Stephanie and Terry

[CortlandGirl79]

Hi Steph and Terry,

I don't know all that much about Boardman, but i do know that i hate the traffic on 224. Boardman does have some really nice areas, but the school system is huge and I'm not sure i would want to go there, maybe SouthRange will have some input on Boardman.

As for Niles, i do have some experience there. As I'm sure you noticed on Craigslist, Niles does have some very affordable single family rentals. I owned a house on N. Main St. in Niles for 6 years and it's a great community if you like to be close to every thing. I would suggest that you stay North of Robbins Ave and East of Main St. There are a few sketchy areas in the city, but most of them are on the south side. I would definitely avoid anything in the areas of S. Cedar and Mason. If you have a question about a certain home or street, just ask and I'll let you know if it's a good location.

There are some really good things about Niles, but there is also a downside.

The good points are: close to the Eastwood Mall, banking, groceries, movies, minor league baseball, hotels, restaurants, YMCA, good park w/a community pool and plenty of sidewalks.

Now the bad, some areas of the city have a lot of rental properties that sometimes attract slum lords and bad renters. When i owned my house the properties on both sides of me were rentals. On one side i had a single family home and in the span of 6 years i probably had 5 or 6 different neighbors. The house itself needed some work and one family that lived there during that span was horrible. The house was pretty big w/4 bedrooms, but these people had 5 adults and 8 kids living there w/only one bathroom. They lived like such pigs that they ended up w/rats and their electric was shut off. Eventually they were evicted, but they trashed the house and stole the appliances. The duplex on the other side of me was fine. One lady had lived there 25 years and she took good care of the yard. The other lady was a single mom w/3 kids and a b/f. Unfortunately, she didn't have much control over the kids and they were always up to some sort of mischief.

The only other complaint i had about Niles was the drug use. Now i'm not saying that everyone in Niles is on drugs, or that people in other communities aren't on drugs, but i would say just about everyone i met there smoked pot and in some cases did hardcore drugs. Now, just remember, i was in a neighborhood of mostly low-income renters and single parent homes w/little parental supervision. This is why i say to avoid certain areas of the city.

I do know plenty of people from Niles that don't do drugs and most people from Niles are good, hardworking, law-abiding citizens. The same thing is true about Warren and a lot of areas in the U.S. I think Niles is a great location for someone just starting out or even just moving to the area. I don't know a whole lot about the schools, but there is a new middle school on S. Main St. that was built just a few years ago.

Hopefully, that gives you some idea on what you would like, but i would definitely come here to visit before doing anything. If i had to choose i would go w/Niles, just because it's smaller and the traffic isn't as bad as Boardman.

Hopefully some others from the area can chime in.

[South Range Family]

Boardman is anything but a small town. It's more like a 5 mile long shopping center with a few residential areas on the edges.

My only experience with Niles is going to the bakery, or buying cavatells from the local family. It seems like it is more of a thoroughfare for people on their way to the mall.
I would lean more towards the town of McDonald. It's right next to Niles, and doesn't have the traffic.

[1phwalls]

Boardman is definitely not a small town way of life. Boardman revolves around route 224. 224 is miles of chain stores, the traffic can be very bad at rush hour. Although it's nothin like the bigger cities rush hours.

It does have a good school system, which is rather large. And the high school is huge!

Boardman is between Youngstown and Canfield, so depending on which side you go to the house prices will be very different.

I don't know anything about Niles except from passing through it. It's definitely got the more small town feel.

[StephandTerry4]

Boardman is probably like a small town to me but where I am coming from they have a population of 736,000 people. But one of the reasons we are wanting to move away from Jax is because of the traffic. I mean rush hour here is sitting in dead stop traffic for about 2 hours. Ummmm Thanks you all for all the info we are looking at rentals because we are thinking of coming sooner than Dec. So all the help and info you guy's give us helps

Stephanie and Terry

[1phwalls]

I guess the only way I can think to describe it is that Boardman, while much smaller than where you're coming from, is still going to be the same type of "city rat race". And it's growing everyday.

Niles is more open space and laid back. You can easily get to the rat race if you want, but it wouldn't be in your face all day long.

I'm not trying to steer you towards Niles, I personally like the rat race. I wouldn't know what to do with myself otherwise. Good luck with whichever you choose. What would be cool is if once you do come you do like a diary thing and tell us how things are going.

[bahrottyn]

Hi Steph & Terry!
I would have to agree with all the above. I would also throw out that you may want to check out Howland...it's right next door to Niles, but overall, a significantly more "upscale" personality to the township. Good schools. Property taxes are higher, but mostly all good neighborhoods.

[StephandTerry4]

Thank you for all your imput guys/gals. The one thing I liked about Niles is that it is in between Youngstown and Warren which both cities/towns(whichever they are there) have alot of amenities that I want to expose my children to. I want them to have the culture of larger city life with small town values. Know what I mean?

1phwalls - Ilike the idea of doing a diary not only will it keep you guys informed on how we are adjusting to northern life(coming from the south) but it is something I will be able to look back on in 10 -20 yrs and be like oh yeah I remember the first time I driven in snow because I have never lived up north as an adult and had to endure everday life. The only time I lived up north and that was Michigan was when I was like 5 so I am excited to see how different life is up north compared to down south.

bahrottyn - I will check out Holand. Thank you for the tip.

around here our major Interstates are I 10, I 95, and I 295 so you can imagine the rat race that goes on here and that is just the Interstates thats not including all the other roads that are just as bad.

But thanks again for all the info
Stephanie and Terry

[CortlandGirl79]

Steph and Terry,

I would look into Howland as well, its a great community, probably about the same amount of people as Niles, but the pop. is more spread out with larger yards. The Howland schools also have a better reputation than Niles, not that the Niles schools are bad.

Like bahrottyn said, Howland is just north of Niles and very close to everything. In fact, most of your shopping can be done in Howland and the Eastwood Mall Complex is located on the border of Howland and Niles. State Route 46 does get a little busy, but i'm sure it's no where near 224 or anything where you live.

From Howland, Warren is about 5 minutes away, and it's probably 15 minutes to Youngstown depending where you are going. The area has great highway access and most places are w/in 20 minutes away. Trust me, you won't have any traffic problems on our highways. If you're ever stopped on one of our "busy" roads, it will be because of a horrible accident, not traffic.

[CortlandGirl79]

Oh yeah, and i think it would be really cool if you started an online diary on here. I'm always interested what people are thinking when they move to the area or when moving from one region to another. Keep us updated!