Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower51
Hi! We are still in the beginning stages of checking out communities. We'd like something w/a small town friendly feel that is peaceful and green and slow paced. Anyone familiar w/Doylestown, Clinton or Alliance that can give me their impressions on what its like to live there and also what its like for newcomers?
Give me as much info as you can re what life is like there....What you like best, what you didn't like....Thanks!!! Terry  |
Doylestown: I have lived here for 18 years. Did NOT grow up here; grew up in a town close-by. Yes, Doylestown has a small-town "friendly feel" (friendly-feel is subjective as it depends on what you consider a "friendly-feel" and how much you get involved in the community with all of it's small-town intracies, dynamics, power plays by old-timers who think they are the Kennedy's and Rockefellers of the community). Most of the people are very nice people.
It IS indeed peaceful, green, and slow-paced. The schools are fine; they are in need of new buildings though. It's too bad that SOME of the people turned down a proposition from the state of Ohio a few years ago that would have provided half of the funding for brand new schools to come from a grant and the rest would have been been funded by taxpayers. You will find that people here will vote or not vote for a proposition because of a long-term feud or dislike with a particular person. That means that if a particular person started a proposal, you will vote for it or against it strictly because of that. I suppose that this is what happens in small towns - period - whether it's Doylestown or not. Too bad that SOME residents can't see the "big picture" for whatever reason as it pertains to various issues that affect the future of this town.
Doylestown has a variety of Christian churches. If you are a Christian, that is good, if not, forget it. The ONLY religious presence that I'm aware of here is Christianity. We are Catholic and there is a Catholic church here along with a Catholic school. Our large family (children) have all attended (or currently attend) the Catholic school up through 8th grade and then go to the public high school to finish out 9-12 grades. I have no complaints about the high school. Two have graduated from there and with college degrees. Two more are currently there and are all doing fine and enrolled in Honors classes.
As far as shopping goes, like another poster suggested, there are a few small businesses in town as well as some pizza places. There are some nice doctors in town, there is a new health/wellness facility that's been built as well as a brand new library.
If you are in need of groceries, you will need to travel out of town to buy them. A lot of people (I presume go to Rittman - this is another town you can check out as you are looking) for groceries. I personally go to Wadsworth, Norton, or Montrose (where there is a Sam's Club and other stores).
In my opinion, there are people in Doylestown who WANT progress, and those who want the town to remain as is. There is little business tax base in this town, rather, there is a heavy demand on private tax base (homeowners as well as those working who pay both property tax as well as a separate "school funding" income tax to support schools).
In addition, you should be aware of the ongoing
"Save-our-Water" problem with Wadsworth. Direct link is:
Save-Our-Water* General Information. The last update on all of this is from June 30, 2009 - here is the link:
http://www.tradingpostnewspapers.com...ater_line.html
I would be WEARY of this before deciding to move here. I am not reassured personally that our water level will NOT go down due to this. The article quotes:
"If residents have concerns, they need to verify the level of their well now, so that they can tell if there has been an effect on their well in the future," said Obrecht. Sounds to me like a big pain. We are dependent on our well for ALL of our water needs (where I personally live here in Doylestown), and now this is another burden and expense to have our water level tested now. We already have an excessive amount of iron in our water from our well (requiring three various tanks via our water system cleaner - at over $5,000 to install), and now this. Water is NOT a small thing; pretty much most of what you need to do on a daily basis requires water.
For me, I spend too much time OUTSIDE Doylestown to do various errands, etc. because there is not very much that I can do here. I spend too much time driving back and forth. If you want more details, feel free to PM me.
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Doylestown, Clinton or Alliance Ohio?
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