How Many Of You Ohioans Think... (Columbus, Cleveland: low crime, credit, transfer)

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by Stephan_K

Family needs trump all indeed, you are not crazy if that is your reasoning. If you must come to NE OH, welcome. Just make note of a few things...

Office work you will probably be able to find, hubby on the other hand as an electrician, he should make plans on being unemployed unless he has something already secured ! If the two of you can survive on your salary alone you will be fine. Coming from AK I'm sure you are conservative which will get you quite far here.

Yes the economy is bad everywhere in the US but it is even worse here in the rust belt ! Mills and manufacturing are closing/leaving NE Oh faster than you can change your socks and new construction is non existent. There are more skilled trades people unemployed here than you have Moose & Griz in AK . Have a look at our local news, no cheering or jeering, just the the straight facts that you need made aware of.

It is getting to the point where many skilled trades individuals that don't have access to readily available funds are ending up stuck here. Not enough cash on hand and at the same time can't get out from under their homes which are loosing equity faster then ever. Hence why we are 3rd behind CA and FL in foreclosures.

I advise you rent a place if you have to come here. There are so many places available you can pretty much name your price. Ohio should be the poster child for Priceline ! What ever offer you throw out there, no matter how ridiculous, someone in OH will probably take you up on it, even the banks stuck with houses will... if you have cash ! (not a joke either)

Just make sure you have enough cash in the bank and gas in the tank to get out should you ever have to. Depending on your financial situation, if you buy a place here you may end up stuck like many I know sadly enough..provided a bank will even deal with you!

Good luck and welcome to OH should you be coming here.

Thank you. It will be quite a challenge, selling our house and all up here. I've been thinking about this for about 2-years now and I do feel it is time for us to leave here. Life is too short. Since being up here, my mom died 2-years ago, and I lost my brother about 3 1/2 years ago. It's tough when you need to get back right away cause you have an expensive plane ticket and a good 8-9 or 10 hours travel time. I absolutely love the New England States, especially Maine. However, their economy also is bad right now. Geez, it's bad all over. Thank you for your input.

[Mikieo415]

Your very welcome.

[Crew Chief]

Alaskapat528, I'll go with the "Move Back To Ohio" Faction. The USAF let my wife and I live in some wonderful places (unfortunately, AK wasn't one of them...sigh) We ended up in SW Ohio by chance and love it here. Since you and hubby both have skills that are marketable anywhere, I'd look at other possibilities, too. But the good thing about NE OH is that you have roots here. And it may be easier to land a job here. IMHO,"the economy" is about the same everywhere right now. So I believe that job-hunting would be about the same anywhere. But being close to family, as the other posters have already said, is definitely the "trump card"! Best of luck and keep us posted!

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

Alaskapat528, I'll go with the "Move Back To Ohio" Faction. The USAF let my wife and I live in some wonderful places (unfortunately, AK wasn't one of them...sigh) We ended up in SW Ohio by chance and love it here. Since you and hubby both have skills that are marketable anywhere, I'd look at other possibilities, too. But the good thing about NE OH is that you have roots here. And it may be easier to land a job here. IMHO,"the economy" is about the same everywhere right now. So I believe that job-hunting would be about the same anywhere. But being close to family, as the other posters have already said, is definitely the "trump card"! Best of luck and keep us posted!

Thanks so much for your encouragement. Yes we get alot of Army and USAF folks that are assigned up here. Funny thing, family can drive you nuts lol, and even though that's true, they can still do it when you're 4000 miles away lol. I don't want to live on top of our families but within a nice driving distance.

They keep claiming up here that Alaskas has not been hit as hard as the lower 48 with the housing slump. I say bull, many new homes they built and built are sitting empty; houses sitting for sale for long periods.

Thanks again and I will keep everyone posted. Lots to do before this takes place.

[Stephan_K]

Originally Posted by Mikieo415

Stephan, Awesome post. It sums up the Y-town/ NE Ohio legacy in a few short paragraphs. You touched on how people can become trapped in the area and the lack of virtually any type of new construction. I am a very skilled HVAC service tech, and in Colorado I am making NEARLY DOUBLE what I made in Ohio and work at a very top notch company. As far as trades are concerned, there is nothing in NE Ohio that remotely compairs to what there is elsewhere.

This area for construction consist of nothing but residential additions and small remodeling projects. Commercial work...forget about it. Most of the big guys aren't even bidding work right now in this "quadrant" of the US. There's some writing on the wall that ain't graffiti !

With all the unemployed people around, everybody and their brothers have become "skilled" construction workers now. A lot of the smaller guys that have been around for decades can't find remodeling work because of all these so called "skilled" individuals scooping it up and working for next to nothing. They haven't a clue as to how much they are actually hurting the industry by doing what they are doing. But hey...everyone has to eat right. Many reputable small guys have been or are on their way to getting squeezed out completely. What can you do about it ?!!

Speaking of being trapped, one close friend in particular is 54 years old and is a very well known and a reputable contractor in the area. Hasn't had a decent job to do in over a year and a half. Doesn't have enough put away to retire just yet and has been living off of what he has put away as there has been relatively nothing coming in. I feel really bad for him as he is trapped in a different way. He's financially able to move elsewhere and prosper again but is at a vulnerable age to attempt such a venture. Then he has the problem of unloading his house too where ALL his equity is. 54 is a very tough age to make a life changing decision like that. I couldn't imagine being faced with that decision at that point in my life !!!

He has been getting calls from all the vendors asking him if anything is going on. He just laughs and they actually laugh back. For some of them, this round of calls is pretty much a good by as they will be going out of business soon. Very sad because I know all these guys too. It's bad here, no doubt about it. Like I and other have said earlier, it is tough all over... but what many fail or refuse to realize is that it is even worse here in the rust belt when it comes to the construction industry. We are the bottom of the barrel.

[SCBeaches]

My advice to you is to listen to your heart...it sounds like you already know what you want/need to do. Family is very important to me as it sounds like it is to you too. When you lose closed loved ones, it really makes you sit back and re-evaluate your priortites. As you said, life is short and time with family cannot be replaced.
Besides, Ohio is a beautiful state with lots to offer. Find a town with jobs within a day's drive of your family. Best of luck!

[ogre]

Hi AlaskaPat. I used to live in Ohio quite a number of years ago. I liked Ohio a lot, and am interested in keeping up with what's going on there, so I read this forum from time to time, and have posted here occasionally. I'm posting here this time to suggest that you might consider central Ohio. It's my understanding that this area remains economically healthy for the most part. Depending on where your family members live, from central OH you'd be at most a two or 2-1/2 hour drive away, maybe less, depending on exactly where you lived. Much more practical than trying to get there all the way from Alaska.

[Mikieo415]

Originally Posted by Stephan_K

With all the unemployed people around, everybody and their brothers have become "skilled" construction workers now. A lot of the smaller guys that have been around for decades can't find remodeling work because of all these so called "skilled" individuals scooping it up and working for next to nothing. They haven't a clue as to how much they are actually hurting the industry by doing what they are doing. But hey...everyone has to eat right. Many reputable small guys have been or are on their way to getting squeezed out completely. What can you do about it ?!!

When you say skilled are you talking about the hacks who got their training from the back of a box of rice crispies?

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by Stephan_K

This area for construction consist of nothing but residential additions and small remodeling projects. Commercial work...forget about it. Most of the big guys aren't even bidding work right now in this "quadrant" of the US. There's some writing on the wall that ain't graffiti !

With all the unemployed people around, everybody and their brothers have become "skilled" construction workers now. A lot of the smaller guys that have been around for decades can't find remodeling work because of all these so called "skilled" individuals scooping it up and working for next to nothing. They haven't a clue as to how much they are actually hurting the industry by doing what they are doing. But hey...everyone has to eat right. Many reputable small guys have been or are on their way to getting squeezed out completely. What can you do about it ?!!

Speaking of being trapped, one close friend in particular is 54 years old and is a very well known and a reputable contractor in the area. Hasn't had a decent job to do in over a year and a half. Doesn't have enough put away to retire just yet and has been living off of what he has put away as there has been relatively nothing coming in. I feel really bad for him as he is trapped in a different way. He's financially able to move elsewhere and prosper again but is at a vulnerable age to attempt such a venture. Then he has the problem of unloading his house too where ALL his equity is. 54 is a very tough age to make a life changing decision like that. I couldn't imagine being faced with that decision at that point in my life !!!

He has been getting calls from all the vendors asking him if anything is going on. He just laughs and they actually laugh back. For some of them, this round of calls is pretty much a good by as they will be going out of business soon. Very sad because I know all these guys too. It's bad here, no doubt about it. Like I and other have said earlier, it is tough all over... but what many fail or refuse to realize is that it is even worse here in the rust belt when it comes to the construction industry. We are the bottom of the barrel.

I know what you're saying about the construction field; holds true some up here also. My husband is a Journeyman Electrician with 25-years experience. His experience is in industrial and commercial with slant on specialty of motors (not cars) and generators. We will definitely check everything out before any move is made.

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by Mikieo415

When you say skilled are you talking about the hacks who got their training from the back of a box of rice crispies?

And they got their license at K-Mart lol.