Boardman, Poland, Canfield, or Austintown??? (Struthers: new home, neighborhood, best school)

[Orwelleaut]

Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

^Kids...........gotta love 'em! LOL Great post! Isn't it funny that some people in the Mahoning Valley think Canfield and Poland are the only nice places. No wonder they have a snob reputation. Leave your subdivision every once and a while.......

P.S. This is coming from someone who grew up in Cortland (close 2nd to Howland in the Trumbull Co. snob division). Thankfully, when i was growing up, Cortland was just a small town were people worked at GM and Packard..........the yuppies didn't decided to move in until the late 80's early 90s.

Yuppies in the Mahoning Valley?? Am I failing to notice something around our area, CortlandGirl? I never have sensed a yuppie presence around Howland, not in the sense one finds in places like Beachwood or Strongsville. There are some folks with more money around Howland, no doubt, but I don't sense a "yuppie" feel too much. Then again, the only time I spend around Howland is in driving past on 82, and occasional visits to Border's in Niles. I don't see too many BMW or Lexus yuppiemobiles, just the normal Mahoning Valley suburbia cruisers of the typical Championite: Trailblazers and Impalas from R.D. Banks for the old folks, and Cobalts for the twentysomethings who have a Dad who has retired or will soon retire from Lordstown

If you go over to YSU much when classes are in session, notice some time how many Cobalts, Cavaliers, and Sunfires you see in the parking decks. Folks around here definitely support Lordstown, and that is good.

[Clevelander17]

Originally Posted by Orwelleaut

Yuppies in the Mahoning Valley?? Am I failing to notice something around our area, CortlandGirl? I never have sensed a yuppie presence around Howland, not in the sense one finds in places like Beachwood or Strongsville. There are some folks with more money around Howland, no doubt, but I don't sense a "yuppie" feel too much. Then again, the only time I spend around Howland is in driving past on 82, and occasional visits to Border's in Niles. I don't see too many BMW or Lexus yuppiemobiles, just the normal Mahoning Valley suburbia cruisers of the typical Championite: Trailblazers and Impalas from R.D. Banks for the old folks, and Cobalts for the twentysomethings who have a Dad who has retired or will soon retire from Lordstown

If you go over to YSU much when classes are in session, notice some time how many Cobalts, Cavaliers, and Sunfires you see in the parking decks. Folks around here definitely support Lordstown, and that is good.

Could it be that it's all relative? I was actually thinking about this the other day, I don't see Youngstown as having much of a yuppie feel, but I'm wondering if someone from, say, Chicago would say the same thing about the parts of Cleveland that you and I feel are yuppie?

[CortlandGirl79]

^I think you're right about it being relative. Howland and Cortland have that reputation because some people in those towns like to "keep up w/the jones'" (which usually means living beyond their means). There are a lot of Coach purses, expensive cars (only here they have a more American flavor w/some foreign mixed in, think large SUV's...Yukons, etc), and $250k+ homes w/3 car garages, which most people in the Valley consider "rich people" houses. By no means do i think owning a $200k house makes you rich, but most people in Youngstown, Warren, Niles, etc. think that. My parents built a $300k house and our old neighbors (their houses are worth about $130k) and relatives jaws dropped and they made comments about my parents getting rich. LOL!

Orwell, you are right about most Valley residents, we do mostly drive Trailblazers, G6's, and pickup trucks. You would be surprised if you drove through some neighborhoods around here though. I live in NE Warren (Howland Schools) and you would be surprised at the amount of nice cars i see around here (i do live near a private Catholic School). I routinely see, mercedes, lexus, bmw, cadillac, etc. On nice days like today you'll see Corvettes, roadsters, historic and vintage muscle cars. Today i saw 2 vintage Mercedes, one was a convertible. There is also a guy that lives about five minutes from me that has an extensive car collection (he's one of the owners of the Eastwood Mall w/the Cafaros). I've driven past him in a Bentley and a Ferrari. I've also see a few Porsches around. You would be surprised at the amount of old money that is still around here........most people just don't flaunt it.

Anyway, you're right, a Clevelanders would laugh at our yuppies..........but we get a heck of a lot more house for the money here.

[Clevelander17]

Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

Anyway, you're right, a Clevelanders would laugh at our yuppies..........but we get a heck of a lot more house for the money here.

Just as most wealthy Chicagoans would laugh at our "wealthy" residents.

Out of curiousity, is Poland considered wealthy/yuppie? Or is that more middle class.

[CortlandGirl79]

Poland definitely has a wealthy/yuppie reputation, but Poland Twp has some very affordable homes in middle to lower middle class neighborhoods.

[truemuck]

Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

I've also see a few Porsches around.

There is actually a Porsche dealer in Canfield. They obviously sell enough to stay in business.

[NorthwoodsZJ]

Originally Posted by truemuck

There is actually a Porsche dealer in Canfield. They obviously sell enough to stay in business.

After being interviewed for a position there (which I declined) I'd have to assume they're hurting... that or they don't value their inventory enough to pay someone what they should to maintain those vehicles... LOL.

I'd be willing to bet that 95% of their sales lean more towards higher-end used cars... that's the only stock that seems to revolve at all.

Cort, we have a Porsche right around the corner from us... It's a Cayman S painted what I would call basketball orange. Which just proves money can buy you a lot of things but it doesn't account for bad taste!

[bethany12]

Originally Posted by KenD

I beg to differ, there are several hones in Canfield that would meet the pricing guidelines they specificed as well as providing a decent quality if life.

If I had to guess, this home (which admittedly needs some work) will probably go for under $40K.

Here is another listing which may or may not suit their needs.

And another.

And another.

And one more.

In fact, there are 50 listings below $150K for single family homes in Canfield right now - excluding condos.

There are currently 56 homes listed in Poland in that same price range, as well.

As much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news, the housing market all over the greater Youngstown area is dropping faster than any of us would have expected - and we're not finished yet.

Yesterday, my wife and I were aghast when we saw a house that we had been considering in Boardman, listed at $17,900 drop its price to $6,900. By the time we finally got hold of the real estate broker we had been working with, it was sold.

The word in the real estate investment community is that the banks are unloading a mountain of property, probably due to the expect influx of the next wave of properties, financed using Option ARM and Alt A loans, that started reseting this month. These homes already had a 30% default rate with an expect 70% foreclosure rate expected during 2009.

We aren't finished yet, not by a log shot - unless the Obama administration does something to stem the hemorrhaging.

I agree. Mahoning, Columbiana, and Trumbull have a ton to offer with their properties. Scanning realtor.com I have come across amazing homes in decent areas that would sell for twice the listing price in other cities. I believe that sometimes people have too much of a "grass is greener" outlook.

[lovetheheartland]

Well I know it's been awhile since I posted, but I've been busy unpacking and setting up our new home! We ended up with the 4 bdr, 1 1/2 ba in Boardman. It's on Glenwood, which is the only bad thing about it. Glenwood is an extremely busy street (in fact, my dog already got hit by a car...he's okay, don't worry!), but we have a 3/4 acre backyard, so it's all good. Glenwood isn't loud, just a lot of traffic. And so far we love living in Boardman. Yes, it is congested but we're only 5 minutes from EVERYTHING!!!! Where we lived in Indiana, we had to drive 45 minutes to Indianapolis to get the kind of shopping, restaurants, etc. that we can within 5 minutes here. We love our house too. It suits us perfectly! Thank you all for your advice and suggestions! If there are any suggestions for good restaurants (we're trying CasaRamirez tonight), don't hesitate to post them!!!

[Topcatoh]

Boardman has the best school system. plus..... the other townships all come to Boardman to shop and for entertainment. It can get busy on the weekends.