Looking for information on living in Orrville, OH (Cleveland, Akron: low income, sale)

[jwnulife]

Hi all,

I'm a single, white male, age 40. I may be relocating from Austin, TX to work at JLG Industries in Orville, OH. I am originally from up north and I lived in Mentor, OH for 7 years as an adolescent. I'm looking for general opinions of the area and the quality of life in general. My understanding is that it is a fairly rural, sleepy town. Coming from busy Austin, I am expecting quite a culture shock.

Here are some of the questions I have:

1) Is there a decent night life there? I like to occasionally go out with a friend and have a beer or two. If not, where would the nearest town be?

2) Are there conveniences and amenities nearby? I will probably start off with a rental so I am asking about things like hospitals, parks, grocery shopping, etc.

3) Would you recommend it as a place for a single person to live? If not, what would be the nearest city. I enjoy going to the movies and seeing live music quite a bit.

4) Is high speed internet available in Orrville? What companies to choose from and which are the best?

5) Is there any public transportation?

6) Any information on working at JLG would also be very helpful for me to know. Maybe you have worked there or know somebody who has? I am a technical illustrator so I would be working with computers most of the time.

Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

[mshultz]

1. Wayne County is not dry, but there may be precincts and townships that are dry (do not permit the sale of alcohol). Since I do not drink, I can not give you much more information than that.

2. Orrville has all of that.

3. You will have to go to Wooster for movies. The College of Wooster has live music programs. I am not sure if any bars have live music. Wayne County is fine for single people, but keep in mind it is first and foremost a family-friendly community. Many activities are geared around school, church, etc.

4. Yes, there is high-speed internet. I use DSL; many have it as part of their cable service. The City of Orrville offers internet to businesses and industries; I do not know if it is offered to individuals.

5. NO. There is subsidized transportation for low incomes. Wooster was the last community of its size in the state to have a bus system before it was discontinued. We just could not afford it.

Here are some of the places I have visited in Orrville over the years:
HR Block: income tax course
Auble Funeral Home
Wayne College: numerous courses
Orrville Water & Sewer plants: We water & wastewater employees even visit other plants while on vacation.

Keep in mind in Ohio, if you live in one city and work in another, you may be paying city income tax to both communities.

[ohioaninsc]

I grew up in Orrville and have no real desire to ever go back as I'm not a big city person....Orrville offers very little in the form of real entertainment...and would be horrible to live in if single...Wayne County in general would be.
To answer some of your questions.

1) No...Orrville has 2 or 3 bars total...none of them offer live music...none of them have great cocktails or great draught beer selections...none of them are even sports bars. Wooster offers a little bit more but to be honest Akron would be closest place w/ any decent nightlife at 35-40 min away...downtown Cleveland w/ the best nightlife in NE Ohio is 75 minutes away.

2) Orrville a low rent hospital...would be okay to go to if you just had a bad flu or sprained an ankle or broke a bone...anything above that and you'd most likely want to go to Canton or Akron...Orr Park is the main park in town...it has a pool in the summer, basketball courts, picnic area, softball fields, and a bandstand...there is 1 regular grocery store in town, a local brand called Buehlers...it's nothing special...not as good as Kroger or Giant Eagle, the 2 biggest chains in Ohio...I think there is also a Save a Lot in town too...

3) No I wouldn't recommend it for a single person...to be honest, nowhere close by would be good...when my parents divorced, the one moved to Akron the other to Cleveland. Akron would be 45 min away and woudl be the best nearby city to be in as a single person. You can go to Wooster for movie but live music again, Akron or Canton would be the best bet. Cleveland for sports of course.

4)Orrville doesnt' even have Time Warner Cable...when we were there last, Armstrong Cable was still the only cable company and they didnt' have broadband internet yet...they may now.

5) Nope...nowhere in Wayne County is there public transportation

6) Unfortunately I have no info on JLG.

If you are coming from Austin this will be a major culture shock...Austin is a very progressive city in a sea of red...Wayne County is probably one of the most conservative counties in Ohio....I never felt comfortable coming out there at all.