Anyone from Cleveland OH area??

[Faythe]

Hi, My husband and I are moving in the next few months. He is finishing a recording project that held us up a few months more than we thought, but it's almost done now (thank God!). Well, were thinking of going to the Western PA area, but on the top of the list is outside Cleveland Ohio. We are looking between the western PA boarder and Cleveland. We don't want suburbs, or city but we want to be able to get to it. We'd like to be under an hour from Chagrin Falls but in the most rural area we can around there. Maybe near vinyards which I heard are in that area. We aren't looking for a community/development but a home with property with others who have lot's of property. (the main interest is privacy) yet in a safe, clean, nice area. Can anyone help us pinpoint an area??? CAn anyone tell us how they like their area and what they like about it? Thanks so much. WE'll be taking a trip in a few weeks or so to check out different area's but was hoping for a head start. Thank you sooooo much for your help in advance.
Faythe

 

[honeybunch]

My first question to you is, "how much do you like snow?" Northeast Ohio has a snow belt that gets pounded when the rest of the area gets traces.

When we get that out of the way, we'll go from there. I live in the Akron/Canton area, which is not that far from Cleveland.

 

[ebh87]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Aug-19-02 AT 09:56AM (Est)[/font][p]Hi Faythe,
We live in Chardon, OH - about 45 minutes from Cleveland? We are 30 minutes from Chagrin Falls (I love it there). I would really recommend something in Geauga County - lots of land, rural atmosphere but close enough to malls, shopping and the Cleveland area. We live in a development where all of the lots are 3+ acres, but there is a lot of land in the area and it would be easy to find larger lot sizes. In the more rural areas, the lots are larger and the prices much less.
Good luck - this is a beautiful place to live!!
Erica

Edited to say Honeybunch is right about the snow - we live in the snow belt and tend to get hit hard with snow when other areas don't get much at all. But the community is prepared for it and deals with it rather well in terms of clearing roads, etc.

 

[Faythe]

Thank you guys for your responses.
Honeybunch and Erica, yeah, I don't mind snow. I don't "love" it, but I have lived in NY all my life and am use to it. Over the years went to New England to hike and always wanted to learn how to ski. Do they have any cross country action over there??
If not, I'll just stay in and do Cathe tapes ;-)
My husband is a musician, and hopefully will be touring in the winter, and hopefully pulling enough money in that I can go with him and don't have to work. I told him we can tour out west in the winter months. LOL But all kidding aside, I don't mind it if I don't have to drive a lot, which I may not have to. I hate it here in NY when it gets so cold, and we drive on whats called black ice. (I'm sure you've got that too!?) That's why I like working out at home as apose to going to a gym, but it's nice to have the option. Oh, is there any good parks to roller blade? I know that sounds funny, but there's only 1 here, and you have to be a resident of that particular town, which I'm not. All the other parks don't have smooth paths.

Geauga County was what I was thinking. Isn't there lot's of vinyards in that area? Erica, you mentioned there are nice rural areas, could you give me a few names of towns, so when I talk to a realtor, I could give them some idea of what I mean. When I say rural, I mean country like, or lots of farms or vinyards, and homes are spread out at least a few acres or more. I guess there would be well water and no sewers, that will take some getting use to. How rural is your area and outside your area? My husband would need to get to the airport from time to time, so I guess an hour to drive to an airport isn't too bad. (can't have everything) thanks for your help, any other info would be great. Oh, how about gyms? Are there any good gyms in the area? (I know there's 2 i saw online that are in Chagrin Falls.) Oh, I'm a produce nut, is there a few farms with markets or places like that?
Thanks again,
Faythe
ps If you want to email me with the info, I'm [email protected] but this forum is fine too.

 

[ebh87]

Faythe...

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Aug-19-02 AT 05:56PM (Est)[/font][p]I think that the vineyards are located along Lake Erie - you would have to live a little closer to the lake to be really close by. Some towns that might fit your needs - rural setting, large lots are Burton, Parkman, Claridon, Huntsburg and Middlefield. Also, the land is less expensive as you get into the more rural areas which is nice. I'm sure a realtor will be very helpful. There are a lot of Amish and farmers around, so you will easily be able to find fresh produce. There's also Amish cheese factories, bakeries, restaurants, etc. and farmers sell their produce, eggs, straw, etc. right at the edge of their driveways. The airport is probably a little over an hour from most of these areas. Our area is considered semi-rural, but the towns I mentioned are definitely more rural. You will definitely have well water and a septic system anywhere around here.
No good gyms around here and very few stores - be sure that you are ready for rural life - it will definitely be an adjustment! Actually, there is a small, local gym, but I don't know anything about it, roller blading parks or cross-country skiing. There is a downhill skiing place close by called Alpine Valley - I'm sure they would have info about cross-country.
Erica
Erica

 

[Faythe]

Erica,
Thanks for all that info. It's greatly appreciated. Geauga county is def. a pos. DH and I are trying to figure out how rural we want it. We'd like it real rural, near the Amish and all, but the stores and airport, and church would be too far. How quiet is it in Chardon? 3 acres or so is a bit of a spread, but are most of the lots wooded, or private? I had gotten some real estate info from Geauga county and the homes were in I guess what you'd call semi rural, but you can't see how close the other homes are in the pictures, and it doesn't let you know about neighbors. We have the neighbors from hell here, and never want to go through this again!!!! My husband works from home and so our home is more than our santucary. I guess you can't count on having quiet neighbors because they could move out and who know's who will come in. Is there much land in the semi rural areas that border state parks or open land? Just trying to get a feel of how rural we have to go to get some peace and quiet..
Thanks again for all your input.
Faythe

 

[ebh87]

Hi Faythe,
I really think that a visit to the area with a realtor will answer a lot of your questions. You will get a better feel for the communities, lot sizes, proximity to stores, church, etc. There is such a wide variety of homes and property here - I'm sure you will find something that fits your needs! It is really a beautiful area - hope you love it!
Erica

 

[Faythe]

Yeah, we are planning a trip soon. We have a few area's in PA and only that one area in Ohio for particular reasons. So once we visit that will help. It's hard to decide how rural to go. We've always hated the suburbs, and have all we want and could ever want where we are but we don't take advantage of it much. So we'll have to see how far we want to be away from people.
Thanks for all your help.
Faythe