Exploring my options. (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati: real estate, house, universities)

[Tiger82]

Hello. I've been looking into places I could live in. I've lived in Seattle for 5 years, but so much changed I'm not Seattle at heart. I'm a winter person, I just want to find affordable places I can build my own house and raise a family.

[Natural510]

Well, you can definitely find cheap land in Ohio to build on, or cheap urban housing if you want to stay in the city. What else are you looking for?

[Tiger82]

I know that every city is different in a state, I am thinking of some place that has good snowfall, is relatively a safe place to live and has stores not too far. How are their colleges like?

[markkriskowski]

Why don't you try contacting Grafton real estate agents? It is a good place to look at.

[WRnative]

The heaviest snowfall in Ohio is in Geauga County, east of Cleveland. Chardon is the county seat. With the onset of man-made climate change, winters are becoming more mild throughout Ohio.

Where is the Lake Erie snow belt in Ohio?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowbelt

http://www.city-data.com/forum/cleve...cleveland.html

Chardon celebrates its snowfall totals. I remember driving through Chardon many years ago after a good snowfall and it seemed like every pick-up had a snowplow and they were plowing the streets as they went! Northeast Ohio has generally excellent snow/ice treatment/removal services, but I've never seen private vehicles plowing public streets like that at any other time in my life. Perhaps they were plowing their way out of necessity, but it certainly made my trip through Chardon much easier.

https://www.chardon.cc/154/Snowfall

Snowfalls have been very meager during the 2018/19 winter in Greater Cleveland.

See post 22 in this thread.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio/...squares-3.html

Punderson State Park in Geauga County is Ohio's designated winter sports park.

This thread discusses the experiences of a recent migrant from Seattle who plans to retire in Cleveland, as well as some other West Coast residents who enjoy Cleveland.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/cleve...cleveland.html

What are you looking for (degrees?) in colleges? The top-ranked national university in Ohio by U.S. News is Case Western in Cleveland. Greater Cleveland has very good community colleges supported by local real estate levies, unlike in Columbus or Cincinnati. What other amenities do you desire?

Perhaps check out post 3 in this thread, and other threads in the Cleveland forum.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/cleve...cleveland.html

There are good higher educational opportunities throughout much of Ohio, including several state universities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univer..._main_campuses

[badguykc]

If you don't mind commuting to the Cleveland area (45 -60 minutes) or Erie, Pa.(30-45 minutes) for work, Ashtabula County is full of good stuff to see and do. It all depends on your interests. Plus homes and land are fairly affordable.

I would avoid the city of Ashtabula, and even though I live there, Conneaut is even iffy. Both cities are poor and are feeling the effects of the heroin epidemic, although Conneaut is in much better shape than Ashtabula city. Other than that, the rest of the county is just fine.

[goofy328]

Colleges are good. You have Wilberforce University, which is the first HBCU. You have Ohio State. Almost 60,000 students. I don't even have to tell you about their athletic program. Even some of the community colleges, like CCC, are no slouch.

Cleveland is fine if you're better off and you can afford what it has to offer, especially if you want to live downtown. A lot of haves and have nots up there. Everything is cheaper than Seattle though.