Youngstown or Bust!

[BoardmanFrank]

@Belcaroboy

Baton Rouge and Youngstown have a lot of similarities I think. The size of their regions (pre-Katrina) are almost the exact same size. We both have Kress buildings in our downtowns. The Youngstown Club is kinda like the City Club.

However Ytown doesn't have a restaurant like Louisiana Lagniappe - even though Charlie Staples downtown just expanded and the main room and the menu and design is very Louisiana-based. We also lack a state capital and a univeristy the size of LSU, but we are working on that.

44509 is a great zip code. If you are looking at houses, I might recommend following the roads that hit the West Side of Mill Creek Park. Many of those residences have a sturdy character, and being adjacent to the park is a blessing and might not be too much of a price bump-up.

Streets like Mayfield (closer to Mahoning), Glacierview Drive, Moraine Drive, Brantford/Lakeside, Old Furnace, Cherokee, Bears Den (to the south) are all great ones - with some houses even tucked within the woods as opposed to being closer to the road. These are all pretty good houses in quiet neighborhoods.

I wish you luck in your search. I've run into three couples who moved north of Mahoning recenty, and two had trouble with internet responses with local realtors, but all found houses that made them happy. Keep at it, and if the realtors aren't as responsive, there might be some recent arrivals we can introduce you to.

these links have many pictures of what the houses look like in the neighborhoods. There are powerpoint presentations with pictures of many examples.

fifth avenue:
Youngstown 2010 - Neighborhoods - Fifth Avenue

crandall park:
Youngstown 2010 - Neighborhoods - Crandall Park North

handel's:
Youngstown 2010 - Neighborhoods - South Side - Handel's

idora:
Youngstown 2010 - Neighborhoods - Idora

boulevard park:
Youngstown 2010 - Neighborhoods - Boulevard Park

best!

and welcome!

Frank

[Orwelleaut]

Originally Posted by belcaroboy

Thanks everybody for your input (and I welcome any comments). You may be surprised but many of my co-workers and friends living along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Houston are thinking of moving back up north. Several have already gone to Missouri. Most of us moved to the south because it was cheap living, but suddenly it's very expensive (especially any kind of insurance).
I think you're going to see over the next 10 years or so that the "Rust Belt" areas are going to fill back up with retired people. When you are retiring and facing a limited income, it's easy to trade off the good weather for a better quality of living up north.
Belcaroboy

I think you're right. Besides, who says the weather is so bad up here. RIght about now, our weather seems pretty darn perfect!!! We rarely have a 90 degree day up here, nice cool nights, yet we have had summer weather almost all the way through September, daily highs in the 70's all month. For the great summer we've had, I'll gladly pay some dues this winter!!!

[belcaroboy]

Originally Posted by Orwelleaut

I think you're right. Besides, who says the weather is so bad up here. RIght about now, our weather seems pretty darn perfect!!! We rarely have a 90 degree day up here, nice cool nights, yet we have had summer weather almost all the way through September, daily highs in the 70's all month. For the great summer we've had, I'll gladly pay some dues this winter!!!

Believe it or not, summer is the worst season here in the deep south. Summer starts sometime around March lst and goes right on through to November. It's so hot & humid you can't be outside. Because it's swampy, everything is crawling with bugs, snakes and there is always lots of standing water. If it rains, because of the high water table, it takes up to 3 days for the water to drain off my front lawn. This whole area reeks of mold, mildew and wet vegitation.
The north is looking better all the time.