About Youngstown, OH (Cleveland, Akron, Canton: house, neighborhoods, school)

[Buckeye77]

I can't really say a thing about Youngstown, but today is THE Game.

Go Bucks, Beat Michigan!

[Kerby W-R]

Originally Posted by Jay Reese

Thank you for your help, JR_C. Enjoy your Thanksgiving.

I use to have a house in Boise's North End neighborhood and I live in Boardman next to Youngstown now.
Boise is not diverse at all. Youngstown is very diverse. Boise can be expensive. Youngstown is about as inexpensive as it gets. There are enough things to make you happy here and to keep you entertained. Plus YSU is a great school. You will like it there. Best wishes!

[Jay Reese]

Originally Posted by Buckeye77

I can't really say a thing about Youngstown, but today is THE Game.

Go Bucks, Beat Michigan!

Well Buckeye77, your comment aged quite well!!!

Admittedly, I'm a lifelong Michigan Wolverine fan, but I'm sure a lot of Buckeye fans will agree that Michigan's "resurgence" overall, and specifically their recent success against Ohio State has elevated the rivalry overall. This past Michigan/OSU match up was the 118th meeting between those two teams, making it the oldest rivalry in all of sports. In my opinion, it's the BEST rivalry in all of sports ... but I'm biased, of course.

Originally Posted by Kerby W-R

I use to have a house in Boise's North End neighborhood and I live in Boardman next to Youngstown now.
Boise is not diverse at all. Youngstown is very diverse. Boise can be expensive. Youngstown is about as inexpensive as it gets. There are enough things to make you happy here and to keep you entertained. Plus YSU is a great school. You will like it there. Best wishes!

Wow! I REALLY appreciate your reply since you have direct experience in BOTH cities.

I know that the North End is the "upscale/trendy" part of Boise and is popular with college-educated, upper middle-class professionals. I'm also aware that the North End is adjacent to downtown Boise. The fact that you moved from a place like the North End to the Youngstown area is actually a "credit" to the Youngstown area.

The cost of living in Youngstown is definitely a plus. As you said, there's enough going on in the city of Youngstown. I like the specific graduate program at YSU that I've been looking at. I believe that Youngstown will be a lot more comfortable than those large, populated, busy, competitive cities. Also, YSU does seem like a very nice school, and I'm glad you confirmed my assessment.

In the late 2000's to early 2010's, I lived in Wichita, KS for over 2.5 years, and it seems like Youngstown, in a number of ways, is comparable to Wichita. The cost of living in Wichita was probably not much different from Youngstown, and the lifestyle was very "easy." I was in my 20's at the time, and did not appreciate it as much as I would now as a 40 year old. I would say the bus system in Wichita was even more limited than the transit system in Youngstown, but I was able to get around OK without a car ... though, the lack of bus service after about 6-6:30 PM during the week and the total lack of bus service on Sundays created some inconveniences (this was before the popularity of Uber and Lyft.)

Question: Did you look at any of the neighborhoods in Youngstown proper? If so, which Youngstown neighborhoods did you consider in addition to your eventual choice of Boardman?

[Kerby W-R]

I have a prairie style craftsman bungalow and I like tudor style, as well. I like the Crandall Park area of Youngstown which has several homes resembling what I enjoy.

[Jay Reese]

Originally Posted by Kerby W-R

I have a prairie style craftsman bungalow and I like tudor style, as well. I like the Crandall Park area of Youngstown which has several homes resembling what I enjoy.

Hello Kerby W-R:

I searched the Crandall Park area on Google Maps, and those look like VERY NICE, well-built homes. The neighborhood looked very clean as well. In fact, JR_C mentioned Crandall Park as a more-stable neighborhood. Plus, Crandall Park is not too far from downtown Youngstown and YSU, and it's accessible via public transportation. Hmmmmm ...

I really appreciate your insight, Kerby W-R.

[216facts]

IMO, another big plus of Youngstown, adding to what SCR commented, is the access to Pittsburgh and Cleveland. This cannot be understated, two very culturally rich cities with amenities as good or better than San Fran. You may laugh, but I will put on the table: Cleveland Orchestra, Carnegie Mellon, Cleveland Clinic, UPMC, National Aviary, Frick Museums, Cleveland Museum of Art, Playhouse Square.

Then add in: Pittsburgh's hilly downtown, Cleveland Lakefront, Allegheny National Forest, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, all the city neighborhoods of each, the Amish country of each.

Then add in MLB + NFL in each, NBA in CLE, NHL in PIT.

Then of course, the coup de grace, houses that are affordable to people making decent wages. I can't imagine paying some Wall ST REIT my hard earned wages so a small group of billionaires can live in Hawaii.

To be fair though, San Fran has a lot of nice things, I go there about 5 times a year for work and have been all over the city and its surrounding environs, which I adore. But the COL & QOL are not so great on a daily basis, particularly for those that are not multi-millionaires and still want to live a decent living and have a retirement.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by WRnative

IF you're planning to work while studying for your degree, perhaps check out Cleveland State University to see if it offers a similar degree. What is the degree?


Have you checked out how long you must live in Ohio to qualify for in-state tuition?



My thinking is that the wages for part-time work in downtown Cleveland may be sufficiently higher to offset any additional cost of living. Just speculation on my part.


What isn't speculation is that Cleveland has much better mass transit, especially the Cleveland State campus which has the 24/7 Healthline bus rapid running through the heart of the campus. Cleveland also has three rail rapid lines. CSU students get RTA passes.

https://www.csuohio.edu/upass/upass

There's also a full service supermarket (Heinen's) a couple blocks from the CSU campus and on the Healthline route. There is much, much more to do in Cleveland. E.g., Playhouse Square, one of the best theater complexes in the U.S., is adjacent to CSU; Playhouse Square offers $10 smart tickets. MLB, NBA, and NFL teams play downtown. The Healthline connects CSU to University Circle, one of the nation's leading cultural centers; the Cleveland Museum of Art has free general admission and other institutions offer significant student discounts. The Healthline also connects CSU to the Cleveland Clinic's main campus; it's one of the nation's top-ranked medical centers.


https://www.universitycircle.org/


CSU has an excellent co-op program, but I don't know if its available to graduate students; certainly worth checking out.

https://ww5.clevelandstatecc.edu/wbl/faq/

CSU has a superb student rec center.

Cleveland also likely has a much larger professional African American population than Youngstown.

While Cleveland has a significantly higher population density than Youngstown, I don't know anybody who would describe it as crowded, especially downtown which has a much lower population density than other Cleveland neighborhoods. The downtown population density in 2020 likely is much higher than in this listing because the downtown population now is near 20,000, which explains how it can support a full-service supermarket. Cleveland's overall population now is only 373,000, down from over 900,000 in 1950 and 506,000 in 1990, however; it's a city built for a much greater population.


Cleveland: Population & Density by District


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youngstown,_Ohio

https://downtowncleveland.com/research


BTW, very, very few persons would be offended that you're from Michigan, even though they might tease you about it during football season. I suspect the Browns/Steelers rivalry is more intense in Youngstown than the Buckeyes/Wolverines rivalry.

I really need to agree with WR Native here. Cleveland has everything on Y'town. You will find LESS insane sports loyalty, more openness towards people from out of the area, and the prices for homes are just not all that different.

Y'town has lots of blight. Yes, a few notches up from Wiles-Barre - but not much.

CSU has a good law school They offer a master's in one year, which while it does not make to eligible for the bar, it will open some doors while you are working on your juris doctorate.

I've known you for over a decade and I know what you like. The list of things *MAY* sound good, but they are sprawled all over the place. It does NOT feel like a neighborhood anywhere.

There is little walk ability, and you will both need cars. Y'town isn't your "Dream City". I think you need to come out to CLE. Houses that you describe are abundant.

[Jay Reese]

Thank you 216facts and sheena12 for your assistance.

I researched the graduate programs at Cleveland State University, and they don't have the program I'm interested in. From Google Maps, CSU is DEFINITELY in an ideal location for someone who wants to be in the urban core. I visited Cleveland three times as a teenager back in the 90's, and I was impressed with the city.

It's funny ... Back in 2014 when I traveled through Youngstown on a long road trip, I actually thought it was a cool city (though, I didn't spend much time there.) I wasn't aware of all the urban issues until I came across Youngstown State University and started doing research on the city of Youngstown. Even JR_C, a current Youngstown resident, has admitted that there are still significant challenges in the city ... even in the "nicer" neighborhoods. I really appreciate all the feedback I've received.

[JR_C]

Both Cleveland and Youngstown have improved significantly since the 90s.

[Kerby W-R]

There are nice homes on Rush Blvd and Euclid Blvd south of
Midlothian. Also, the Handel neighborhood. Farther from campus,
though.