Madison OH, thinking of moving there but something doesn't seem right (Cleveland: apartment complex, crime rates)

[Devildoc]

Greetings,

I've be looking at a few homes in Madison on the web. Looking to move out of Cuyahoga County, Cleveland's west side burbs, North Olmsted to be exact, to some place less crowded. I've done some research on Madison and the numbers are startling. Violent crime rates there are listed as double that of the average for Ohio and the nation, and just one point off that of East Cleveland. One point!! From what I've read about the area, schools, etc. those number just don't make sense. The area I'm looking at is Madison Township but the zip code 44054 is the same. My sources: Moderator cut: link

North Olmsted's not the same city it was 20 years ago but the Madison area sounds like a combat zone. Any feedback would be appreciated.

[JR_C]

Try this:
http://www.city-data.com/city/Sheffield-Lake-Ohio.html

I'd rather just see "raw numbers" instead of letting some other site interpret them for me.

[MadisonSt.]

Check out this website for a different crime rating -- Madison ranks 2 on a scale of 1-10 for both violent crime and property crime, and is below the national average

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

I grew up in Ashtabula County, lived in the Washington, D.C. area for 38 years, then moved to Madison, and I love it. The town is charming, but also has a sense of pride and community involvement. People like living here.

After living so long in D.C. and its near suburbs, I'd admit I had to adjust to the semi-rural environment here. This is vineyard and nursery country, with lots of elbow room. I live in an apartment complex several miles north of Madison proper, about a block's walk from the Lake.

Even though the recession has hit Ohio hard, I haven't met a grouch anywhere around here yet, with the possible exception of my brother-in-law -- but he lives in Ashtabula and would complain if he were living on the Champs-Elysee in Paris.

I've met several couples of varying ages who all relocated here either from Cleveland or came home to Ohio like I did and chose Madison.

I'd recommend taking a drive this way, maybe on a Thursday when there's a free concert in the village square at 7:00 every week. Talk to some folks and see if you get good vibes. I sure do.

[Devildoc]

Thank you for your feedback. I've done a lot of research and a lot of googling on areas in north east ohio. Educated myself from every town between Medina to Amherst, Streetsboro to as far east as Chardon. You get a feel for a community after countless hours of notes and questions. Honestly, those numbers I had for Madison just didn't add up. First time I saw them I double checked to make sure it was Madion OH I was looking at vs Madison some other place. I guess it all comes down to who's cruntching the numbers. Although it sturck me as odd that the K-mart closed down there. But times are tuff all over.
I'm currently a reservist deployed overseas but my wife is going to drive to Madison for a look at the community. The home we're intersted in is on Beechersbrook LN. Thanks again for your time.

Just a side note: why did the site admin remove my link that showed less than favorable numbers for Madison...
Respectfully,
Frank

[ksu sucks]

I grew up in Perry(just west of Madison) and Madison is not dangerous at all. The worst you'd get is just some high school kids making a racket. By the way, K-mart closed because Wall-Mart opened up down the road.