What Ohio city are you from? (Columbus, Cleveland: apartment, townhouses, unemployment)

[CTownNative]

I want to make this thread so that people can say good things about the city in Ohio you live in or are from?Also lets not start any arguments,just show everyone what your city has to offer.

Alright I was born and Euclid and lived there for 13 years,I live in Colorado now and Im 16.Euclid is one of my favorite places.I love how its really close to Cleveland.Theres tons of little neat shops in the town,especially around the area Im from E. 185th street.Its a pretty integrated city of around 50,000 people.Its right by the lake.Theres a pretty nice little lakefront skyline with all the apartment buildings on Lakeshore.The city has a good street system,its set up well so its easy to get around.Theres also some good resturants on 185th street.So thats a little bit about my hometown and why I like it.

Lets here some other people,Im interested to hear about what other peoples cities are like.

[BelieveInCleve]

I was born in Cleveland but grew up mostly in Lorain and Elyria.

I consider myself more from Lorain, but Elyria and Cleveland are like my second cities. Ill try to just say positives about all the cities. Lorains a pretty unique city. It has the highest hispanic percentage of any city in Ohio, and it shows, its a very diverse city. Theres the puerto rican parade, the International Festival, and a lot of other related events. Every neighborhoods a little different. You have the nice houses right on the lake, a strip on Broadway is basically the downtown with a few high rises. Dont forget about Lakeview park with the beach. When you cross the bridge downtown you might mistake Lorain for a much larger city, you can see the marina, the new townhouses going up, downtown, and the huge steel mills/industrial area to the SE and NW, along with the grit and decay, all give Lorain a unique and historical appearance. Lorain is definitely one of the most unique cities its size in the midwest.

Elyrias basically the average small midwest city. Though its still shrinking, its got a lot of things going for it. It has a really nice neighborhood right next to downtown, which is pretty rare for cities around here. It has a decent skyline for its size, and there building a new high school which is good, they are keeping the old part which was the 1st high school built west of the appalachias. The "road to nowhere" finally goes somewhere, and development is beginning west of downtown.

And of course everybody knows about Cleveland. A city of great history that people love to tell. Once the 5th largest city in the country, you can still see that even though the city proper has shrunk a lot. Theres sports, museums, restaurants, parks, concerts, beaches, and much more. A beautiful skyline and unique ethnic neighborhoods throughout the city. A very large African-American population and a good sized hispanic population (a long with a presence of just about every other ethnicity and culture) add more character and culture to the city. The factories, extensive grit, decay, history, and all the other things I mentioned also give Cleveland a very unique and historical appearance, and vibe to the city. You can almost feel the struggle and challenges that went on in the past, and present of this huge rustbelt city that is attempting to make a come back. And of course the rest speaks for itself. Theres no place exactly like Cleveland.

[Daytonnatian]

Just barely south of Monroe, Ohio.

[CityGrrl77]

I'm originally from Brunswick (everyone knows it as the city between Strongsville and Medina). My brother and I had a nice, safe, fun childhood there. I graduated with a class of around 488 kids, which everyone is always in awe of. There are around 2200 kids that go to school at Brunswick High School currently (my mom works there still) and its quite a long building with a lot going on. We always seemed to have enough to do in our free time and our community is big on football (Go Blue!)

I lived in Brunswick until I was 18, at which point I went off to college at the UofA (Go Zips!). I did a 2 year stint in Fairlawn - which I completely disliked - and moved back to downtown Akron, where I currently reside (Highland Square). (I'm 28). Akron is known as the Rubber Capital of the World - as in tires, for those who don't know - and it has a cool history.

If you're ever out this way, try Luigi's pizza, drive up and down 'Cadillac Hill', check out West Point Market and their killer brownies, go to an Aeros game at Canal Park, see a movie at the old Highland Square movie theater (you can buy beer while you watch a movie...ssshhh!), eat breakfast at Wally Waffle right by the Children's hospital and check out the Akron Civic Theater in downtown right before you go get hot peanuts at the Peanut Shoppe.
Downtown Akron Partnership | Home

I love it here! I don't want to leave here unless I have to or unless I decide to take the plunge and move to either Pittsburgh or Charlotte.

[JR_C]

I grew up in Perry township--the suburb between Canton and Massillon. But, when asked, I consider Massillon my hometown. Mom didn't like Canton, so we never went there when I was a kid. Now that I'm grown up and living in Youngstown, I see this same attitude from the local suburbanites. But now, from the other side, and it seems pretty silly.

[wrightflyer]

I grew up in Beavercreek, which is a bedroom community of Dayton. It was cool and safe and provided everything a family needed. Money Magazine ranked it the 84th best community to live in with a population below 50,000. It benefited greatly from the housing boom of this decade and continues to grow (but much more slowly). It benefited from BRAC's 2002(?) decisions by adding 2200+ jobs to the surrounding communities.

The school district has ranked excellent for eight straight years and continues to grow, yet a levy and bond issue are sorely needed to expand to districts facilities. The high school (Go Beavers!) has an outstanding competitive marching band and has one of the best soccer, chess, bowling, and academic programs in the state.

Finally, there are two "malls". One is a traditional mall (Fairfield Commons) with multiple department stores built in the early 90's, and the other (The Greene) is modeled after Easton in Columbus and provides a multitude of dining options, shops, a delux theater, and an upscale department store (Von Maur).


Then there is Ohio State (Go Bucks!) and Columbus, which happen to be my current home. Due to classes, I haven't been able to explore Columbus beyond the wonderful Short North and the suburban Tuttle Mall. Still, it seems like a wonderful city with plenty to do along High Street near campus and a decent bus system.

[JefferyT]

I live in the south suburbs of Dayton, and I like that it is a very easy drive to Cincinnati and Dayton, but also is very convenient place to live. I also like that they have this great park, or forest preserve, nearby called Grants Park, and an also quaint country village turned suburb nearby (Centerville). Very nice, the best of suburbia, actually.

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by JefferyT

I live in the south suburbs of Dayton, and I like that it is a very easy drive to Cincinnati and Dayton, but also is very convenient place to live. I also like that they have this great park, or forest preserve, nearby called Grants Park, and an also quaint country village turned suburb nearby (Centerville). Very nice, the best of suburbia, actually.

Ditto! My home backs up to Grant Nature Preserve.

(No merger, please!)

[arod0331]

Born and raised in Toledo. Spend last year in Akron.

[Ohiogirl81]

I'm not from anywhere ... Born in Massachussets, grew up in Erie, Pa. ... which is kinda like Cleveland, only smaller. Or kinda like Ashtabula, only bigger. The only thing Erie really has in common with Pennsylvania is government corruption and a bunch of Steelers fans.

I've lived in Dayton (four years at UD), Euclid (six months), Painesville (two years), Lebanon (nine and a half years) and Cincinnati (13 years).

Dayton was fun to explore; I left reluctantly, and kept trying to find a way back. The first six months I lived in Lebanon, I spent discovering new shortcuts to Dayton, and the next nine years trying to get a job at the Dayton Daily News so I could move back. Instead, I left the newspaper biz altogether and moved to Cincinnati when I began a career in fundraising.

Euclid was OK; didn't live there long enough to make an impression. Painesville was OK, too -- great town for walking -- but the 14 percent unemployment in Lake County in 1983 made it hard to stay in the area. I loved living in the Cleveland area (go Browns), but had to make a living.

Lebanon was convenient to my new job, and to my friends in Dayton. It's another great town for walking -- a very pretty town, and if I were ever bored on a Saturday afternoon there were all those antique shops to browse through. Socially, it was hard to find a niche. I was in my 20s and single, and just about everyone in town was already married. I'd say I was 25 or 26 or whatever, and people would say: "And you're not married yet?"

Lebanon was also the first place I have ever experienced any kind of bigotry because I'm Roman Catholic. On several occasions I was told I was going to hell and/or that I wasn't "saved."

I moved to Cincinnati when I wanted to buy a house and was looking for a career in nonprofit fundraising. I made many friends almost immediately, and enjoyed exploring the city. For its size, there's an awful lot to do in Cincinnati, and it's not so huge that it's overwhelming. It's easy to get around in (once you get over the fact that one single street can change names four times as it crosses the city), downtown is very accessible, there's lots to explore.

Now, if I can just convince the spouse that we need to move back ...