Medina - family friendly? (Akron, Tuscarawas: 2013, how much, home)

[PGR]

Hello!

We are thinking of moving to the Medina area. We've got three little kiddos, and are looking for a family friendly area. Ideally, we'd love a home with some acreage (5-10 acres). We love green and we love snow... We've not been to the area - any opinions will greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Marty711]

When you say you "love snow", just how much do you love it? If you really love skiing, snowmobiles, etc. you'd be better off looking to the east. In a normal winter, Medina doesn't get nearly the amount of snow the east side does. Medina is a fairly short drive (about 30 min) to Brandywine and the Cuyahoga Valley which offer plenty of winter activities.

[Cleveland_Collector]

Medina is as family friendly as anywhere. If you want 5-10 acres, you had better hurry. Those places aren't as readily available as they used to be.

[PGR]

Thank you both. Our move is job related (as is often the case), and likely to happen summer 2013 - so still early in the process and exploring our options. We're considering building a home. It's hard to chose an area from further away. We were looking at Akron just based on geographic location, but got the impression it's not the safest city in the area, so not the best place for a young family.
As far as snow, we're not big on sports per se - more for the kids. As a frame of reference, though - we're from Syracuse, and that was the ideal climate for us... (I know we're weird, and I know OH will have less snow .)
Are tornadoes frequent?
Thanks!

[Marty711]

I don't think Akron would work just because you're looking for acreage. Some of the communities near Akron offer some space but as Collector said, it's not easy finding that amount of land for a residential lot unless you're willing to go a little more rural. we have our share of severe weather here, but I don't think I'd consider tornadoes frequent at least not in the suburban and urban areas.

[Cleveland_Collector]

Tornadoes are most prevalent in places farther from the lake. Portage, Stark, Holmes, and Tuscarawas counties seem to get the most watches and warnings. However, tornadoes are pretty rare in Northeast Ohio even though the warning conditions do present themselves from time to time.

If you want acreage closer to Akron, your best bet is Medina, Wayne, Portage, or (possibly) Stark county. Geauga would be OK too except much of it isn't exactly close to Akron. Cuyahoga and Summit doesn't have much vacant, developable land of that size left. Even if it did, the cost would be much, much higher than the more rural counties.

Also, there are some bad areas in and near Akron. But, just like Cuyahoga County, the vast majority of Summit County is fine. If you could, say, go for 2 acres, you would find a lot more nearby.