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Too long of a post is never a problem for me. Since this will hopefully be our last move (although I said that about moving here to NC 11 years ago), I want to make sure it is good place for all the ages of our kids in the short term and long term. Quality schools, safe environment, afterschool jobs, entertainment, back yard to play in with our dogs and a place to park our camper are important to us right now. I'll take more info over less---thanks!
Hi there! The subject line caught my eye, as I grew up in Poland - I attended school K-12 there, began college at YSU, and my parents still live in Poland Village. It sounds like you've gotten great information and are now just trying to decide! I just wanted to add a few things from my experience.
While it's been 10+ years since I've been in the Poland school system, I wouldn't worry too much about the "keeping up with the Joneses" phenomenon. I didn't even have a car in HS, let alone a fancy one! While I wasn't prom queen, I certainly survived, had a great group of friends that I still keep in touch with, and was friendly with most of my class. You're always going to have some of that in HS - but I don't think that Poland is much worse than many of the nearby suburban school districts.
From his visits, your husband may have noticed that Poland is split into Poland Village and Poland Township. Finding a home in the Village means that you're probably within walking or bicycling distance of the gorgeous library, several banks, a grade school and middle school, drugstore, CVS, Friendly's, etc. You probably won't find a half-acre in the Village, but you have a very good chance of having a private backyard (backing onto trees as opposed to a neighbor's fence) and a larger-than-normal-suburb lot. IMHO, it also has more personality than some areas of the Township, which contains many newer and larger developments.
A major unmentioned thing that Poland has going for it is Poland Forest. I'm having trouble finding stats on it, but it's about a mile square of beautiful preserved forest filled with hiking trails. I grew up exploring those woods, and now whenever I visit home it's always a priority for me to get down there for a walk or run. As I'm now looking for a place to settle with my husband, I can tell you that having access to something like that in walking distance from your home is a real luxury! Major entrances to the Park are on Indian Trail and College Street.
I'm afraid I can't give you much help on the other towns you're considering, but if you have any other questions about Poland, feel free to ask!
Whoops! Forgot to comment on the camper. I'm not sure what a "fifth wheel" camper is, but my folks have a small pop-up tent trailer that they keep in their backyard, and to my knowledge, no one has ever complained.
Songbird---thanks for the info on Poland. My husband really seems set on moving there based on his visits there, but we're having trouble finding a 4-5 bedroom house in our price range that also fits our needs for a backyard. I am hoping something comes up between now and the time we start house hunting or there is something out there that we haven't found on the internet. Real estate agents always have a trick up their sleeve! A fifth wheel camper is a camper that you pull behind your truck, but the camper hitches into the bed of the truck as opposed to a ball hitch on the back of a car or truck. The fifth wheel sits over the bed of the truck as it is being pulled down the road. It has more useable space in it than a travel trailer and typically has more head room inside. Ours is 29ft long and has a 10ft ceiling inside----it's going to be pretty noticable to the neighbors! I hope when we come out for our house hunting trip the real estate agent finds that "perfect" house for us in Poland. It seems like the kind of town I would want to live in and the kids can be happy in. I have heard so many wonderful things about Poland and the beautiful library! On of my husbands visits out there, he called and said "you have got to see the library here!" For him to have called and said that, it must be really, really nice! ----Thanks again!
Cortlandgirl-----I think I have narrowed my choices down to these 4 school districts-----Liberty, Lakeview, Boardman and Poland. Are there any other school districts I should consider that are within a 30-35 minute commute to Sharon that are comparable to these schools? Also, someone at my husbands work told him that all the schools out there are charter schools so we can choose what school to send our kids to---is this correct? While that sounds nice, I don't want to live 25 minutes from Poland but still drive my kids to school there every day. Also, some of the houses we are looking at online have septic and/or well. We have a septic tank here, so that doesn't bother me, although I was hoping to get away from that, but the well thing has me concernced. We have been in a severe drought situation here and many people have had their wells dry up and have had to have them re-drilled. Another friend of mine who lives up on a mountain as well had to have her well re-drilled only 3 years after living there. I have heard so many well problem stories that I am really uneasy about buying a house with a well. Have there been situations where wells have dried up due to drought or have had to be re-drilled because the water source ran dry? I really want city water/sewer, but if we can get the type and size of house we are looking for but it has well and septic, I need to be confident that things will go well. A lot of the people here with wells also complain of their clothes yellowing and not getting really clean. I do at least 2-3 loads of laundry a day----I don't need laundry problems! My husband was also told something about the seller having to do something with the well and septic tanks prior to being sold----if we ended up sometime down the road having to sell and move, yet again, what does a seller have to do with their septic/sewer before they sell their house? Thanks so much for all your help!
forgot to ask you about tornadoes------is something that is common in the spring, summer and fall and how frequently do they occur? I am really freaked out by tornadoes----never been in or anywhere near one and don't want to be. The mountains here keep us protected from them. Is a basement a necessity due to tornadoes? I want a basement anyway, but I really want one now! Thanks!
It sounds like you've been doing some research, i'll try to answer your questions in red.
Quote:
Cortlandgirl-----I think I have narrowed my choices down to these 4 school districts-----Liberty, Lakeview, Boardman and Poland. Are there any other school districts I should consider that are within a 30-35 minute commute to Sharon that are comparable to these schools?
The only other districts i would recommend in Trumbull County are Champion and Howland and maybe even Hubbard. Hubbard is next to Liberty and they have a indoor community pool which is nice.
Boardman is a good school, but it's pretty huge. I would have probably been lost in that place.
I'm not sure what size school district you are looking for, but of the Trumbull County districts i'm recommending Howland is the largest (they may have between 200 and 300 a class), followed by Hubbard and Lakeview. I believe Champion and Liberty are about the same size and are very comparable to Lakeview. I would consider these districts mid-sized (i had 180 in my class). There are also some really small districts around that only graduate 50 to 100.
Also, someone at my husbands work told him that all the schools out there are charter schools so we can choose what school to send our kids to---is this correct?
I believe that every district in Trumbull now has open enrollment. I'm not exactly sure how this works, but i believe there is a waiting list. Charter schools are something different that they have in the City of Youngstown and the City of Warren. Not really sure what those are like, but i think they are more for inner city kids.
While that sounds nice, I don't want to live 25 minutes from Poland but still drive my kids to school there every day. Also, some of the houses we are looking at online have septic and/or well. We have a septic tank here, so that doesn't bother me, although I was hoping to get away from that, but the well thing has me concernced.
Most areas that have septic and well water are what we would call "out in the country". Your neighbor may still be close, but those homes usually aren't in neighborhoods. I know all of Cortland has sewers and city water. Howland and Bazetta are a mixed bag. If you are in a new development in Bazetta you will have sewer and water, if you not in a development you'll probably have the septic/well issue. I know that they are installing water and sewer lines on lakeshore drive, st. rt 305 (wilson-sharpsville) and some parts of st. rt 46 (niles-cortland rd.) I"m pretty sure most of Champion is well/septic while Hubbard and Liberty mostly have sewer/water.
We have been in a severe drought situation here and many people have had their wells dry up and have had to have them re-drilled. Another friend of mine who lives up on a mountain as well had to have her well re-drilled only 3 years after living there. I have heard so many well problem stories that I am really uneasy about buying a house with a well. Have there been situations where wells have dried up due to drought or have had to be re-drilled because the water source ran dry? I really want city water/sewer, but if we can get the type and size of house we are looking for but it has well and septic, I need to be confident that things will go well. A lot of the people here with wells also complain of their clothes yellowing and not getting really clean. I do at least 2-3 loads of laundry a day----I don't need laundry problems! My husband was also told something about the seller having to do something with the well and septic tanks prior to being sold----if we ended up sometime down the road having to sell and move, yet again, what does a seller have to do with their septic/sewer before they sell their house? Thanks so much for all your help
I don't think you'll have many problems w/your well drying up here. We haven't had a drought since 1988 and trust me, we get plenty of rain. In fact, it's been raining here all day today.
Two of my best friends have wells and they've never had an issue w/their clothes being discolored. I think most people have water softeners and i believe that fixes the problem. Also, their water doesn't have that sulfur smell that some wells get.
As for the septic, yes the sellers must update the septic before selling. This has been a recent development over the last few years. I guess the state came in a said that the septic in most areas wasn't up to par. Now they have septic inspections (not sure if they do this every year). Hopefully, once it has been updated you won't have to worry about it, but i'm not sure. Maybe SouthRange would know a little more on this issue. I'm pretty sure he lives out in the country and most likely has septic.
Oh yeah, and i wouldn't worry about tornados. Yes, we have gotten them, but they rarely touch down. We had one really bad one in 1985 (it hit Niles and Newton Falls), but nothing serious since. Youngstown has three news channels and we also get 3 or 4 Cleveland channels here. If there is any chance of severe weather you will be informed. All the weather people will be showing the radar, when the storms will hit your specific area, if there is any rotation, etc. We get watches and warnings, but like i said, tornados are rare. If it makes you feel any better, i would say 99% of homes in this area have basements, lots of them finished. If i get scared during a tornado warning or severe thunderstorm i go chill out in the basement w/a flashlight and radio.
How often do you have tornado warnings? We may have a tornado watch no more than 3 times a year here, and that is just a watch. Now when we lived in Mississippi, we had a watch almost every day in the spring/summer. They had bad thunderstorms as well. We lived on the 3rd floor of an apartment complex so that really scared me! Our house here is partly underground. Since we live on a mountain, the back bottom half of the house is underground and I know we would be fine there if a tornado did strike. How about snow? We get snow here, but nothing like it used to be. We haven't a really great quantity of snow in years here----I think our biggest amount this year at one time was 2 inches. Our first year here we had 2ft of snow at one time and that was really fun for the kids since we sled down our own property. Thanks for your help!
I couldn't tell you how many warnings we get, but i would guess 2 or 3 a summer, if that. Most of our storms/watches happen in the late spring and summer. I don't believe we've had any severe weather yet. I know yesterday and today they've had some bad storms in southern Ohio, but not where i'm at.
As for snow, the Youngstown/Warren area usually gets around 50-55 inches of snow per year. We do get lake effect snow from Lake Erie here and the secondary snow belt extends down in to northern Trumbull Co. north of Cortland. Last year we had a lot of snow. I believe Youngstown had a record 90 or 100 inches, but we don't usually get a lot at one time. A few times a season we may get 6 inches at once, but usually we get 1 to 4 inches over several hours. After a couple of days that snow usually melts and then we may or may not get some more. It's an ongoing cycle all winter long.
I think a lot of people (i'm not saying you) from down south think we have snow cover all winter long, but that just isn't the case. I actually would prefer that the snow stayed on the ground all winter. The landscape tends to be pretty ugly in the winter and i think it looks much better covered in snow.
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I wouldn't send my kids to Boardman. Though they have finally managed to get an excellent rating, Boardman kids grow up much quicker than they should. I see many of them still in school with tattoos, and crazy piercings. A neighbor girl of ours went to Boardman for a year. A juvenile court judge sent her back here to live with her dad. She is under house arrest, and is under court order to stay away from her 18 year old boyfriend that is still in the ninth grade. She is 15.
There is a law that requires septic tanks to be pumped when a house is sold. I built my house in 1999. I have two 1500 gallon tanks, and 1500 feet of laterals. Size is mandated by the number of bedrooms in a house. Three bedrooms and under only requires one tank. Anything bigger gets two tanks. I have had my tanks pumped once. It cost $125 at that time.
I only know of one person that has had a hard time finding water. Their land has a large running creek, and sits on some very deep glacial till. They ended up hitting gas every time they drilled. They are a very strange exception to the rule.
Most wells here are between 100 & 150 feet deep. My well is 142' and produces 20 gallons per minute. I also have a spring that feeds my pond. There is plenty of water around here. You will be surprised at the number of ponds. This might help you too. Ohio Water Well Log Report On-line Search Tools Iron is the largest problem that causes staining. There are several treatment options depending on what you have.
I wouldn't own a house without a basement. Just having the extra storage, and a place for a workshop is a must. Most houses in Ohio have basements. There are several neighborhoods in Austintown that were built on slabs during the 40's and 50's. I was always told that they couldn't have basements because of coal mines. I don't know if that is the real reason, or if they were just saving money.
I would have to say that tornadoes are not really that common around here, and we don't have any poisonous snakes.
I'll have to check on Poland, but most of the desirable schools are closed enrollment. If you don't live there, you're not going.
It's way beyond my bedtime. I'll check on Poland schools later.
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