Small town Ohio/Country living....Where to move? (Chillicothe, Circleville: schools, zoning)

[OhioT]

well I live just south of Gratiot...and work in NEWARK...I love the country living..however NEWARK is a fairly nice town (I grew up in columus)..and they have a decent MRDD/Special needs capacity..(wife works with MRDD and theres alot of companies that do home healthcare)

Eastern newark is a nice area..clean town..low crime..close to columbus so theres good hospitals near and assistance available for your child..

and I agree..Zanesville is an ARMPIT..the northern fringe is getting better..but the main part is depressed and un-savory..

[angelina1982]

oh stay away from wellston, or jackson county ohio, it very rual, but there school system sucks, yes we just build a brand new school 4 yrs ago, but what the point having a new school and not getting the good ecucation for your kids. there fighting to try to get a new football field b/c of the other surrounding counties got one(wellston) and for mrdds and special ed servcies are the pitts. i have a specail needs child and i trying to fight for kids rights but it hard, stay away, i live here for 16 yrs and if i ever find a nice place to go get my kids away and more educated. im out of here. yes here they E check here and the sad thing is they focus more on sports then anything, and if you kids sick and have a dr note for they being off for more then 5 days then your going to have to fight it, b/c here when you miss 5 days even if it excsued from the dr or hospital they make you make it up after school. that pitt when you sick. it great for skipper. good luck in your choice. this is part of southern ohio

[jh1347s]

I have a very good friend, my oldest friend, who lives in Chardon. He likes it there, but the snow in the winter keeps him plenty busy--he has to plow his driveway every morning after any major storm the night before, just to get to work. If you miss lake effect snow, then by all means I'd suggest moving to Chardon, as it is in Geauga County, Ohio; the very high elevation of Geauga County compared to, say, Fairport Harbor (the village where I live) means that Geauga County will be hit very hard by any major snow storm.

As I mentioned, I live in Fairport Harbor, which is a village (3,180 population as of the 2000 census) in east-central Lake County, 33 miles east of Cleveland. I grew up in Wickliffe, a Cleveland suburb at the west end of the county, and moved to Fairport Harbor just a little over seven years ago. Fairport Harbor is only 610 feet above sea level, but the village gets its share of snow in winter; the last big storm that went through here a week or so ago left drifts about four feet high.

If you want to live in a small town, I'd suggest Fairport Harbor. It's small and somewhat out of the way (as I said, it's 33 miles east of Cleveland and very near the south shore of Lake Erie), but it's quiet here as well, especially at night. I live in an apartment building on High Street (the main street of the village), but late at night the street is so quiet, I swear one can hear a pin drop. That's one of the reasons I moved here--to get away from the noise, hustle and bustle of the suburbs. High Street dead-ends at the southern shore of Lake Erie; there is a Lake Metropark near the lake as well, so Fairport Harbor is a nice place to live if you think you might like living near one of the Great Lakes. Lake Erie is in fact one of the five Great Lakes and is the shallowest of all of them, which also means Lake Erie will freeze over in the winter so that we don't get lake-effect, at least not from Lake Erie, late in winter; I say "at least not from Lake Erie" because we can and do get lake effect snow storms from Lake Huron (which was the source of the huge snowstorm we had here last week).

I think I had better warn you, however, that there are no big department stores in Fairport Harbor, should you decide to move here. The closest shopping mall to here is in Mentor, Ohio, about ten miles from here; there are smaller stores in Painesville (that city has a shopping center known as Painesville Commons, but it isn't as big as Great Lakes Mall). For even larger stores and malls, you'll have to go to Cleveland, or at least one of its Cuyahoga County suburbs (Cuyahoga County is where Cleveland is located).

I don't know how things are laid out in Cheyenne, Wyoming (I've never been there or anywhere west of Ohio in my entire life), but I can tell you that Fairport Harbor is far enough away from Cleveland that you need a car to get around if you want to get out of the village. There is a public transportation service in Lake County known as Laketran which will get you anywhere you want or need to go in Lake County, but unfortunately it does not go into Cuyahoga County or Cleveland except for medical appointments.

Chardon became a city a couple of years ago, when its population exceeded 5,000 (its population now stands at something like 5,106 or thereabouts). If you want to live in what is now Geauga County's first city, Chardon is it.

If you're looking for a northern Ohio village that is so small you could probably miss it if you blink as you pass it, I'd look into Grand River, Ohio. This is a village of just 845 population, and it is immediately adjacent to Fairport Harbor. I don't know much about Grand River, never having been there, but I do know it is an extremely small village with almost nothing to it or in it (do a Google search on Grand River and you'll see what I mean). I once did a Google search for a small town in Wyoming called Sinclair (I was trying to find out something about the town after hearing of a ham radio operator who had moved there from the East Coast some 20+ years ago); boy, was I ever surprised to find out the town only has a population of 500 and is literally in the middle of nowhere, being several hundred miles (!) from the nearest city of any size. (And I thought Fairport Harbor was in the middle of nowhere; well, I guess it is, in its own way and given its location in Lake County, which is the smallest county in Ohio, but Grand River and the tiny Wyoming town I mentioned have us beat by a country mile as far as population and the sheer emptiness of the area are concerned).

Lake County, Ohio is within driving distance of Cleveland, but the county is mainly comprised of smaller cities (the largest is Mentor, having a population of at least 50,000) and several villages and townships. I grew up in Lake County and like it so well I intend to stay here as long as possible. I lived in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland Heights) for three years in the early 1970s, but returned to Wickliffe in 1975 and stayed there the next 24 years, moving to Fairport Harbor in November 1999. Lake County's west end is considered suburban Cleveland, but the east end (once you get past Mentor and any place east of SR 44) isn't. This is a great place to live if you want to be away from the suburbs--and as I mentioned, the winters are a challenge here as well, with lake effect snow blowing in off Lake Erie until it freezes late in the season. (I am purposely ignoring the city of Buffalo, New York, which gets even more snow than we do; the reason is that Buffalo is at the extreme eastern tip of Lake Erie, and the city's location near Lake Ontario doesn't help matters much as Lake Ontario does not freeze over as do the other four Great Lakes. My point is that Chardon may get a lot of snow of the lake-effect variety in the winter, but Buffalo gets it ten times worse.)

Good luck to you and yours.

Jeff Strieble (mailto: jeffhs(at)ameritech(dot)net)
Fairport Harbor, Ohio USA

[Flower51]

Anyone have info on living in or around Farmington, Garretsville, Newton Falls...? Terry

[pinklime]

Granville, Ohio. People don't even lock their doors at night.

I disagree with the person who suggested Newark. If you choose to live there, you need to be very careful about which part of it you want to move into. Talk to the local police station about crime in the area.

[Sabinaguy]

I would suggest Eastern part of Clinton County, it is only 10 miles to both Wilmington and Washington Court House, Ohio. less than 10 miles to Interstate 71, 55 miles to Columbus, 50 miles to Cincinnati, and 45 miles to Dayton. Its a nice area with affordable housing. Sabina is a small town of close to 3,000 people, a few new sub-divisions are being planned, the town is in the East Clinton Local School Dist. with about 1,800 enrolled. Sabina Elementary has around 420 students. There is a library, Police Dept., Community Pool, Public Park with 3 baseball diamonds, walking track, concession, playground, and planned pee wee football and soccer fields. Sabina is home to several large businesses. These include New Sabina Industries with over 500 employees, as well as many smaller ones. ABX Air, in wilmington employes over 10,000 and is only 9 miles from town. The people are friendly and its a nice place to grow up in.

[nerknative]

Originally Posted by OhioT

well I live just south of Gratiot...and work in NEWARK...I love the country living..however NEWARK is a fairly nice town (I grew up in columus)..and they have a decent MRDD/Special needs capacity..(wife works with MRDD and theres alot of companies that do home healthcare)

Eastern newark is a nice area..clean town..low crime..close to columbus so theres good hospitals near and assistance available for your child..

and I agree..Zanesville is an ARMPIT..the northern fringe is getting better..but the main part is depressed and un-savory..

ok well you must not live in newark the east is a bad part of town and the entire city is and the population of newark isnt below 50000 thousand any more so i wouldnt suggest newark for them. I agree with granville very nice and upscale with good schools and is close to newark and columbus

[motherbird]

Without a doubt, you should check out Chagrin Falls. It's close to where you gew up, so you may know some people. The school systems are #1 in the state, and the town is really beautiful. Hands down, best place in Ohio. Just 30 minutes from Cleveland but nice and pretty - but not too rural. Lovely Cape Cod style homes. Some great bars with live music in town too. All round winner.

[Archangel17]

Originally Posted by inspiringmind

Hello all! I have been coming to this site for a few days looking at small towns in Ohio to move too. I just found the forums!!

I was born in Willoughby, Ohio and lived in Mentor and then Newbury for awhile when I was growing up. Right now me and mine live in Cheyenne, Wyoming and it is a city of about 50,000.

So, in looking for a home in Ohio we decided that we definitly want to find a city/town/Township less then 50,000.

We only have two priorities with finding the right place to move. The school system is the biggest one. One of our son's is in special education, so we want to find a school that will be helpful with getting him the best education he can get with his disabilities. The second one is a good hospital...cause our family may be growing in the coming years.

A job is not on the scope. (Neither of us works) so finding a job isn't important. So we wouldn't care if moved to a place where everyone else is moving out as long as there are a bunch of houses on the market. (which means the houses are pretty inexpensive!) I read another post where someone had said that in their town a bunch of people were moving out and like 350 houses were on the market. But he didn't SAY what town it was. LOL I want to know!

We really want a house in the middle of no where. With like 1/4 to 1/2 acre and you could crank-your-raido kind of place cause your neigbor is far enough away from you that they won't even hear it.

What we don't want. We do not want to live in a E-Check County. Where we live now doesn't have E-Check and although I have a nice little mini-van that works very well, I dont know if it would pass. So as long as we dont live in a county where it is required we are A-ok.

I think this should give all you Buckeye's a good starting place to try to give us some ideas on where a good place to live is.

Thanks a bunch and sorry it was so long. Look forward to your suggestions.

I'm not sure it fits all of your needs, but check out De Graff Ohio in Logan County. There is no E-check for sure for your mini van. If there is any problems mechanically, Wrens service station in De Graff makes house calls to give you a jump start ( I know, they have done if for me several times :-).

The school is a K-12 that was just built a few years back with state funds and several new programs. My daughter had some special needs as well (physical).

As far as hospitals go, De Graff is situated between Mary Rutans in BelleFontaine Oh and Wilson Memorial in Sidney both about 12-15 miles away. Then there is Childrens Hospital in Dayton as well as Columbus. I myself am a disabled vet and have to travel to St Ritas In Lima occasionally (about an hour) and to the Cleveland Clinic every six months (about 3-4 hours).

There are lots of houses for sale, though I don't know aboout the 350 part. I happen to be selling one myself. (I have to sell mine because I can't climb the stairs anymore and I have to be closer to the VA hospital) Honestly, I don't know if it would be right for you guys either. It does have an acre of land with it but it might be too small if you have a big family, though there is room to add on if you are of a mind to do that. The neighbor's might come in handy in that area as a matter of fact...

....our house sits on an acre in the middle of amish country. Our closest neighbor is about five hundred yards to the west and is yes amish. We have lived here for over twelve years and never had a problem. We are good to them and they are very good to us (fresh baked bread, fresh eggs, garden fresh vegetables, christmas candies) its a good life.

There are Lakes and rivers and lots of other natural attractions nearby. We had deer run through our back yard the other day and I've even seen cyoyotes and foxes on occasion over the years.

Check it out. Maybe Logan County is what you are looking for. Maybe not.

[SCBeaches]

Another small town with low crime, lots of space in the country, and excellent schools is Bowling Green. I grew up in Waterville, a quaint village about 12 miles from B.G. but lived in Bowling Green while attending college there and stayed for a year afterwards. It is/was safe and friendly, had shopping, reasonably-priced housing, good schools, etc. and was only 30 minutes to the malls in Toledo and 45 minutes to Lake Erie. There are also lots of small towns around Bowling Green.
Just giving you some options in another part of the state.....