andrew0816

East Fourth Street closing until Valentine's Day 9:34 AM, Jan. 24, 2012 MANSFIELD — East Fourth Street between Ashland Road and Foster Street has closed until demolition of the Westingtonhouse building has been completed. Read More...

91-turbine wind farm OK'd for Richland, Crawford counties 7:25 AM, Jan. 24, 2012 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The state board that certifies construction plans for new energy facilities has approved an agreement that authorizes a 91-turbine wind farm in north-central Ohio. Read More...

Honestly, Highland Square will probably be you're best bet. It sort of reminds me of Coventry but with less hipsters and less artsy, although there are still a high number of hipsters here. The neighborhood is filled with prewar apartments and houses (most of which have been subdivided into apartments). The main business district (W. Market St.) has several bars and restaurants, a Walgreens, and the Highland Theater. There are plans for a grocery store, Mustard Seed, but I'm not really sure what happened with that. However, there is a farmer's market in the summer months. You can go through this photo thread for a better idea of what Highland Square is. Merriman Valley is in the metro parks where Merriman Rd and Portage Path meet. http://maps.google.com/?ll=41.134161,-81.550097&spn=0.019684,0.038581&t=h&z=15&vpsrc=6 The housing types are all post WWII up to some newer apartment complexes. Unless you live in the complexes that are actually on the valley floor (so, none of the complexes on the hills) the area isn't really that walkable. If you are looking for a more urban experience, I would stay away from the valley. Another neighborhood to consider would be Ellet. http://maps.google.com/?ll=41.051622,-81.437144&spn=0.019709,0.038581&t=h&z=15&vpsrc=6 The architecture is similar to Highland Sqaure and there are two grocery stores that are within walking distance (depending on where you live). However, there's not really much in terms of restaurants and bars and I'm not really familiar with the rental market there. Perhaps others can chime in on this neighborhood as well as provide information on Firestone Park and Cuyahoga Falls.

I'm not really aware of downtown living options other than the student housing on Exchange and Main and the Northside Lofts. I think the Civic Theater block is being rehabbed for residential, but who knows how long that will take. I believe Gramarye lives in DT Akron, so perhaps he can help in that area. As far as other walkable neighborhoods, other than Highland Square (which is where I live), there is Firestone Park, Ellet, North Akron, and Spicer Village. However, depending on what criteria you have, these neighborhoods may not be considered that walkable. Also, Spicer Village is more college oriented (it's south of UofA) and North Akron isn't really that safe. Outside of Akron, the most walkable suburb is probably Cuyahoga Falls. There is also Kent, but that's a bit of a drive from Akron and a big college town as well. If you gave us some more information on what you are looking for in a neighborhood, we could give better suggestions. The housing type you prefer as well as how important access to entertainment venues, bars, restaurants, libraries, ect. is to you and whether or not you are looking for good schools or a grocery store within walking distance, could really help narrow things down. Also, your budget and whether or not you plan to rent or buy would also help. Edit: In response to audiodave; there are plenty of other neighborhoods that offer apartment living that also aren't as isolated as Merriman Valley and still just as walkable (if not more so) and also provide access to the Towpath. Not to mention bus service, if that is a factor, isn't that great for the valley.

^Chill out and be patient. JMasek didn't reply to RnR's post for several hours, I am sure he is a busy man and replies to our concerns as soon as he can.

Mansfield, Richland County show Nov. jobless drop

This is true, it's where I stayed when I was in NYC for spring break. Thanks for sharing Nexis.

^You could go to Rockne's on Market and Merriman.

^I've never been to Rays and I didn't know that they have food. With that said, I would suggest Mr. Zubs. Their food is great and they are connected to a bar as well, but if you don't like The Matinee you can just walk down to Rays.

^Yay! Everyone should stay out of Fairlawn. ;) If you need any restaurant advice, just ask.

Haha, oddly enough, my uncle was just talking about his college days and The Trolley Stop came up. Yes, that's looking into downtown. The view from exchange is even better.

^That's generous of you, the food is awful. The ice cream however, is a different story.

Over the summer I quit my Residence Services job at Kent State and decided to move off campus. My roommate and I eventually settled on an apartment in Akron's Highland Square neighborhood. I love this neighborhood and I had been meaning to do a little photo tour for awhile, but I didn't get around to it until October of this year and I am just now posting some of my photos here. The general Highland Square area (by my definition) is highlighted here with my path in blue. As you can see, I only covered a small portion of my hood. Fix me! One of my favorite streets, but I'll save that for a future thread. I'm somewhat disappointed with this development, I think it could have been a lot better. However, I believe a grocery store is going in here, eventually. I don't think they have enough parking.

True story; they don't have a good track record.

Again, you are incorrect. Cleveland's (city) unemployment rate is lower than Cincinnati's (9.2%), Dayton's (10.6), and Toledo's (10.1). I think it is safe to assume Cleveland's rate is also lower than the rates in Canton, Mansfield, Lima, Springfield, and Youngstown. However, those cities don't have numbers out for October yet, so I'm only going off the numbers and trends from September. In sum, out of Ohio cities, Cleveland is doing pretty well. As far as Cleveland vs. the nation, Cleveland's is 0.1% higher than the national average, so yes, it is "slightly higher." I was joking about it being the majority of the metro's area, I guess I should have made that clearer. However, my point was that the area that Columbus covers is vastly larger than the area covered by Cleveland (Columbus' 217 sq mi vs. Cleveland's 77.6 sq mi) and with that in mind, things can be, as you pointed out, positively or negatively skewed. The above is why I think that it is better to compare the 3Cs by metro numbers, as that gives a fairer representation of the economies of those areas.

That's not true. Yes, the city of Cleveland has a higher rate of unemployment (9.1%), but it is not one of "the highest unemployment rates of any city in the state." Also, if Cleveland's city limits were as large as those of Columbus, do you think that the unemployment rate in Cleveland might be lower? I mean, the city of Columbus is almost the entire Columbus metro, which explains the small[er] difference in the two unemployment figures (city vs. metro). So, couldn't that be a possibility?

Isn't that the point? :wink: Unless it's ironic to not be ironic. ;)

I ate my boy friend because I've got abs.

I'm going to assume that you don't live in Highland Square and I'm going to assume that you don't know what a hipster is. If you lived in the square and if you could recognize a hipster you would know that 1. There are already a lot of hipsters here and 2. They would not shop at Next, for the most part (unless they were trying to be ironic). All you have to do to encounter a hipster in Highland Square is to go to Angel Falls or to shop at Revival, their natural habitat(s). The demographics of this neighborhood is predominately made up of college students, gays, and hipsters with some young professionals, families, and old people thrown in. Yeah, I was wondering what was happening with that.

^I'm pretty sure MTS doesn't like Needless Markups.

I like the mix of urban decay in with the rest of the photos, great job as always. Thanks for sharing.

Those houses are amazing, I need to get back down to Cincinnati. Great pics and thanks for sharing!

^I was aware that the cemetery was there, but I didn't realize how beautiful it is. I guess discovering this cemetery is one advantage of my Landscape Architecture class.

Thanks everyone! Republicrats - I didn't know that there is a cemetery off of Aqueduct, I might check that one out too. Also, let us know how your visit to Glendale goes. MayDay - I believe that the chapel is open, but I'm not sure of the hours. The office is open Monday - Friday from 9am to 3pm and you can call them (330-253-2317) and find out. C-Dawg - Akron is a very pretty city, the hills and the trees are amazing this time of year.

This is wonderful news! This building is one of the first things you see when going downtown (from the east) and its renovation will do wonders for the immediate impression of Downtown Kent.