I currently live in Canton, I was born and raised there.  Our current neighborhood is inside the city limits by Malone College.  I’m considering a job in Asia town just east of downtown Cleveland.  My wife works in Canton, so we are considering moving somewhere between.  

 

Some details:

I owe $29,000 on my home and can probably sell for $70,000 to $80,000.  Our taxes are low.  Somewhere around $1300 per year.

 

We are looking for homes in the low $100,000 or less range. Less is always better.

 

We are a family of four.  My wife and I are 36.  My two kids are 7 and 3. We will be looking to move my grandmother in-law in with us.

 

We prefer old neighborhoods with character close to city amenities.

 

What areas should I take a look at?

16 minutes ago, mkeller234 said:

I currently live in Canton, I was born and raised there.  Our current neighborhood is inside the city limits by Malone College.  I’m considering a job in Asia town just east of downtown Cleveland.  My wife works in Canton, so we are considering moving somewhere between.  

 

Some details:

I owe $29,000 on my home and can probably sell for $70,000 to $80,000.  Our taxes are low.  Somewhere around $1300 per year.

 

We are looking for homes in the low $100,000 or less range. Less is always better.

 

We are a family of four.  My wife and I are 36.  My two kids are 7 and 3. We will be looking to move my grandmother in-law in with us.

 

We prefer old neighborhoods with character close to city amenities.

 

What areas should I take a look at?

I am certainly not an expert on Akron but recently two of my nieces moved to Cuyahoga Falls (one renting and the other bought a duplex on a nice street which for $110,000 and spent about $30.000 renovating) and in visiting them I was surprised by the charm of many of the neighborhoods (they reminded me of Cleveland Hts) and how well keep they are.  Apparently they are relatively affordable.  I was also surprised that the drive did not kill me from Cleveland (eventually using Rt. 8 when getting close-two CF exits).

Thank you Htsguy.  Cuyahoga Falls was one of the first places my wife and I thought of.  There certainly is potential there.  We were also considering northern Akron maybe?  I think we will need to work with a realtor that is familiar with NE Ohio.

I would check out the Highland Square area as well. Also, the Kenmore area around Summit Lake is seeing lots of interest in the beautification of Summit Lake and the development of the Kenmore Blvd commercial strip. 

I’d look at being near Rt 8 in Stow or the Falls between Graham and Steel’s Corners.

my nephew lives off of Graham and works in Green. He said the drive is not too bad. I can attest as i had worked in North Canton for a year from about there the drive wasn’t terrible.  The issue will be that the bridge is getting replaced over the valley on Rt 8 in the next 2-3 years. So that should slow things down at rush hour. 

Heading North it is probably a 40 minute drive that can be very iffy on rt 8 to 271 to 480 west to 77 north. You’ve got multiple options with side roads to 77 through the valley and probably during bad snow days to hop on the turnpike to 77N. Construction should be finishing up on 271 expansion. 

  Not many “walkable”neighborhoods in the falls and less so in stow. That said it would be cool to live within a half mile of the market district on state rd or Kriegers market on Graham as those are both great markets.

  Perhaps look at the white pond/Mull ave area of Akron. That gets you right to 77 and is not too bad of a drive either direction. That is very close to Highland Sq. That also avoids the future bridge project on Rt 8. And avoids all the current work on 271. 

 

I've worked in Asiatown for 10 years and I currently live in Copley. I suggest you look on Akron's west side as proximity to I-77 is a huge time saver.