Boardman, Poland, Canfield, or Austintown??? (Cleveland, Youngstown: sales, condo, loans)

[lovetheheartland]

Well we just made an offer on a house in Boardman. It's a 4BR, 1 1/2 BA, 1 car attached garage, AMAZING kitchen, sunroom, finished basement, all appliances stay, deck that runs the whole back of the house, almost 1 acre of land, pretty darn perfect! I'll let you all know how it goes!

[CortlandGirl79]

Good luck! Sounds like a nice home.

[KenD]

Originally Posted by lovetheheartland

Well we just made an offer on a house in Boardman. It's a 4BR, 1 1/2 BA, 1 car attached garage, AMAZING kitchen, sunroom, finished basement, all appliances stay, deck that runs the whole back of the house, almost 1 acre of land, pretty darn perfect! I'll let you all know how it goes!

Congratulations! We're pulling for you.

[000000]

which general neighborhood is it in? in any event, i hope you get it and at a good price.

[bamba_boy]

I'm a former Poland resident who would still be there if he could find a job in my field. I'm also a YSA alumni. Poland is a real OH anomaly - a true colonial town. Many of the downtown houses have plaques on them stating there age from the late 1700's. It was literally the first town of the Conn. Western Reserve (settlement by Conn. pioneers).

Also, have the hubbie check out the public library (looks better than Youngstown's with 20 times the population) which is a magnificent architectural gem (I donnated my model schooner for decor!) built with exclusively donnated funds down on a buccolic site on Yellow Creek. Also has a first floor coffee lounge where the intelligent and social hang-out. Very nice people. Wish I were you getting that YSU job - if only I had hung around for a PhD! :-(

Originally Posted by lovetheheartland

Hello all! I'm brand new to these fora, but have tons of questions. I just got a job as a professor at YSU, and my husband and I will be moving to the Youngstown area in July. I visited a few weeks ago to look at homes, and really liked some in each of the surrounding areas (Boardman, Poland, Canfield, and Austintown). I'm curious what others have to say about each of these locations.
A little bit of info about us: we don't have any children yet, but are planning on starting in a few years. We do have 2 dogs though, so we need a big yard. We really like older houses (c. 20s-40s), and have a price range of 150K to 200K. My husband is a software engineer, and we're not sure where he'll work yet. We are pretty laid back and don't need a lot of entertaining. As long as there's a good library, good internet service, a movie theater, and ethnic restaurants, we're happy peeps!
Any advice, information, or feedback would be wonderful.
Thanks so much!!!

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by lovetheheartland

I'd definitely like to try Poland or Canfield once I get tenure...maybe 4 years? I really like Poland, but I just know that I can't get the house I want in Poland for how much we can afford to pay right now. We're just starting out, this is my first tenure-track job, we don't have any kids yet, etc. So we don't need a big house, and we're trying to save money for the kids-to-come. My realtor is showing us 3 houses in Poland and 2 in Canfield though, so one never knows!!!

I have a slight house fetish, but not the kind of fetish that makes me want to flip houses. I definitely don't want to buy a $25K house and make it a $150K house! I want to buy an already attractive and updated $150K house! We definitely want something affordable, cute, preferably historic, with an updated kitchen, 3 BR, 2 BA, a nice sized yard, in a nicer residential neigborhood that is close enough to YSU that I don't have to commute more than 20 minutes each way. Boardman seems to have the most options that fit those needs. So in a few years I might be back on here talking about moving to Poland or Canfield...once we can afford getting the house we want in those towns!

That is one good thing about OH! I only WISH we could find a house for 150k. We both teach and thought recently about moving closer to our schools (in VA). Spent two weekends looking at open houses and wouldn't want what we could get for $499k.

Anyhow, good luck with the Boardman home!

[Orwelleaut]

Originally Posted by lovetheheartland

Hello all! I'm brand new to these fora, but have tons of questions. I just got a job as a professor at YSU, and my husband and I will be moving to the Youngstown area in July. I visited a few weeks ago to look at homes, and really liked some in each of the surrounding areas (Boardman, Poland, Canfield, and Austintown). I'm curious what others have to say about each of these locations.
A little bit of info about us: we don't have any children yet, but are planning on starting in a few years. We do have 2 dogs though, so we need a big yard. We really like older houses (c. 20s-40s), and have a price range of 150K to 200K. My husband is a software engineer, and we're not sure where he'll work yet. We are pretty laid back and don't need a lot of entertaining. As long as there's a good library, good internet service, a movie theater, and ethnic restaurants, we're happy peeps!
Any advice, information, or feedback would be wonderful.
Thanks so much!!!

Welcome to The Mahoning Valley!! YSU is a great campus. Academics here are challenging in an appropriate fashion, and there is a friendliness on campus that you don't find on larger campuses or high dollar private colleges. Many YSU students are commuters and non-traditional students, so the average student here is very motivated to be successful.

If you enjoy ethnic restaurants, you'll love our area. The Eastern European and Italian heritage here is strong. IF you follow Mahoning Ave. West from campus towards Austintown, you'll find a treasure trove of unique restaurants once you pass the I-680 interchange. You have Casa Ramirez, a pretty authentic Mexican place. This is almost directly across from a used car dealership called "Huck's Motors", just West of I-680 and before the first traffic light. How authentic is Casa Ramirez? Put is this way...My wife and I have been to FL several times, and know what authentic Mexican tastes like. This is the real stuff. Reasonable prices, a staff who speaks English as a second language, and absolutely delicious, beautifully prepared dishes. The inside is nicely decorated with an authentic Mexican motif, and excellent traditional Mexican music is always playing. Casa Ramirez rules!!!!

Another eclectic eatery on Mahoning is Paprika Cafe, a Hungarian place on Mahoning a little farther West, up past Belle Vista. Authentic Hungarian food made by a Hungarian born chef. The waitresses are very friendly, and really enjoy seeing their regular customers. Hungarian music plays in the background, and the owner's brother is a virtuosic violinist who plays at the restaurant occasionally.

[Peaceout14]

I'm not sure who in the right mind would want to live in Salem or Columbiana its out in the boonies.Salem is pretty but not to sure about Columbiana. Poland homes hold their value for sure. I grew up in the village in one of the most sought after neighborhoods and I can tell you the only people moving in this area are professors ,doctors, laywers, hotel owners, pilots, and all from out of state. Poland or Canfield would be the two best choices. Theyre close to Boardman, but not trashy. Boardman is the land of ugly vinyl homes, with exception to The Glen, which is now becoming increasingly unsafe due to scum of Youngstown. If I ever return to the area after college to live on my own, it will only be to Poland or Canfield. Theyre charming looking, historical, great schools, no trashy people. And I personally like the snob feel of both towns. It keeps the [mod] language [/mod] out. Austintown is another eye sore. Weird mix of people and unappealing homes. Who would want to drive down mahoning to go run errands, or worse off travel to niles to do stuff.

[South Range Family]

Originally Posted by Peaceout14

I'm not sure who in the right mind would want to live in Salem or Columbiana its out in the boonies.Salem is pretty but not to sure about Columbiana. Poland homes hold their value for sure. I grew up in the village in one of the most sought after neighborhoods and I can tell you the only people moving in this area are professors ,doctors, laywers, hotel owners, pilots, and all from out of state. Poland or Canfield would be the two best choices. Theyre close to Boardman, but not trashy. Boardman is the land of ugly vinyl homes, with exception to The Glen, which is now becoming increasingly unsafe due to scum of Youngstown. If I ever return to the area after college to live on my own, it will only be to Poland or Canfield. Theyre charming looking, historical, great schools, no trashy people. And I personally like the snob feel of both towns. It keeps the Moderator cut: language out. Austintown is another eye sore. Weird mix of people and unappealing homes. Who would want to drive down mahoning to go run errands, or worse off travel to niles to do stuff.

I know exactly who would want to live near Salem, or Columbiana. People who want to build the same big house that you find in Canfield, but they don't want to live on a Canfield postage stamp so the neighbors can hear them farting in bed. People that want to own 10 or 20 acres for some privacy. People that actually know how to get some value for their dollar. They know that they can take the same 300k, build a bigger house, and own 10 times more land than they could in Canfield, or Poland without having the neighbors tell them how to live, or what color to paint their house. I guess the easiest way to say it is, "The smart people are living the good life out in the boonies".

Maybe when you aren't living on your Dad's money, and are earning your own living, you'll figure it out.

[CortlandGirl79]

^Kids...........gotta love 'em! LOL Great post! Isn't it funny that some people in the Mahoning Valley think Canfield and Poland are the only nice places. No wonder they have a snob reputation. Leave your subdivision every once and a while.......

P.S. This is coming from someone who grew up in Cortland (close 2nd to Howland in the Trumbull Co. snob division). Thankfully, when i was growing up, Cortland was just a small town were people worked at GM and Packard..........the yuppies didn't decided to move in until the late 80's early 90s.