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Akron Information
The city of Akron is the county seat of Summit County in the U.S. State of Ohio.
The city is located between Cleveland to the north and Canton to the south. It
is located in northeastern Ohio on the Cuyahoga River, approximately 60 miles
(100 km) west of the Pennsylvania border.
It was founded in 1825 near the Ohio & Erie Canal, and became a manufacturing
center owing to its location at a staircase of locks. The locks were needed due
to the higher elevation of the area, which gave rise to the name "Summit County"
as well as "Akron", which is a rough translation of "summit" into Greek
(Stewart, pg. 233). After the decline of heavy manufacturing, the city's
industry has since diversified into research, financial, and high tech sectors.
The Akron-Canton Regional Airport is one of many places near the city that is
named for both towns. While the U.S. Census Bureau still counts the two
metropolitan areas as separate metro areas, if combined, the total population of
the Akron-Canton area equals 1,101,894 people.
Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in Akron in 1935. The city is home to The
University of Akron, the Akron Aeros Double A affiliate of the Cleveland
Indians, and the Firestone Country Club, at which the PGA TOUR's Bridgestone
Invitational is annually played. The Akron Quakers, of the International
Basketball League (2005-) will begin play in the 2007 season.
Much of Akron's early growth was because of its location at the "summit" of the
Ohio and Erie Canal (thus the name "Summit County") which at one time connected
Lake Erie and the Ohio River.
Akron started as a small village on the divide between the St. Lawrence and the
Mississippi. The village was a 43-block square with its main intersection at
Exchange and Main Streets and a north limit one block beyond State Street. It
was renamed South Akron when Cascade, an adjacent village north of State Street
and centered on Market and Howard Streets, changed its name to North Akron.
South Akron was built to serve people using the Ohio Canal. North Akron
developed around a construction project originally intended to provide increased
water power for industries. In 1836 the villages joined. The completion of the
Cross-cut Canal along Main Street in 1839 started Akron on its climb to
industrial importance. Coal, a major railroad, and manufacturing growth from the
Civil War, gave the City its next boost — its population jumped from 3,500 to
10,000 between 1860 and 1870.
Because of physical obstacles — the steep hill on West Market Street, the Little
Cuyahoga Valley, and the swamp south of the City – Akron grew to the east. This
encouraged the annexation of Spicertown, centered on Spicer and Exchange, and
then Middlebury, which was centered where the Arlington and Market Street
commercial area is now located.
Goodyear continues to manufacture racing and experimental tires, and Firestone’s
technical center remains in Akron. Because the rubber industry is still a major
employer in the region, Akron has suffered less than other cities of similar
size which have gone through Rust Belt decline, such as neighboring Youngstown.
The University of Akron is home to over 23,000 students, making it the fourth
largest public university in the state, and is a world leader in polymer
research. While Akron continues to predominantly serve commuter students, the
university has worked hard to shake off its image as a “commuter school." A $300
million dollar construction project saw the completion of nine new buildings,
fourteen renovated facilities, and a freshly landscaped campus. The University
also offers a combined B.S./M.D. program with the Northeastern Ohio Universities
College of Medicine.
The Akron Public Schools are currently going through an $800 million rebuilding
process that will take 15 years, remodeling some schools and entirely replacing
others. Some schools will be closing permanently due to a drop in city
population. The school board could not get a levy passed to pay for its portion
of the construction expense so it worked out an arrangement with the city of
Akron where the city will use the money from a new income tax to pay for
Community Learning Centers, which will serve as schools but be owned by the
city. Meanwhile the academic situation has improved recently as the city’s
schools have been moved from “Academic Watch” to “Continuous Improvement” by the
Ohio Department of Education.
Akron also has many private, parochial and charter schools. Akron Public Schools
made headlines in 2004 when a freshman student of Akron Digital Academy, the
district’s own online charter school, was not allowed to participate in
extracurricular activities, an event later covered and satirized by The Daily
Show. St. Vincent - St. Mary High School, just west of Akron’s downtown, also
made headlines when basketball star LeBron James was drafted by the Cleveland
Cavaliers first overall after his graduation in 2003.
Akron Public Schools has 2 performing arts schools. Miller South School for the
Visual and Performing Arts and Firestone High School. Miller South has grades
from 4-8. Most MS students move on to Firestone to continue in the Visual and
Performing Arts Program. They are the only two schools which teach VPA in Summit
County.
Akron has a diverse and colorful heritage of old restaurants and shopping
centers. Quaker Square, located in the heart of Akron’s downtown, is a mall made
out of the old Quaker Oats factory, which originally operated there. The oat
silos have been transformed into hotel rooms providing a unique experience to
the patron. The Trackside Grille, themed with railroads which run parallel to
the building, provides a narrative of Akron’s history.
Akron also supports independent retailers. West Point Market, a nationally-known
specialty food and wine store, offers Akron residents exceptional imported and
gourmet food items in addition to locally grown produce.
Highland Square, located in West Akron and anchored by the historic Highland
Theatre, is one of Akron's fastest-growing entertainment districts. Square
Records, a locally owned music shop supplies the area with unique selections.
Each summer Akron hosts the All American Soap Box Derby. Children from across
the country race their homemade, gravity-powered race cars down the steep hill
at Derby Downs in the shadow of the Lockheed Martin Airdock.
Some Things to Consider When Looking for an Apartment...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to think
through what are the most important things to you in an apartment and plan your
search based on those priorities. Here are some things to consider when planning
your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in unit
laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments
may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which the
residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or
in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the
public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment
connotes a residential unit or section in a building. Apartment building owners,
lessors, or managers often use the more general word units to refer to
apartments. Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the
lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each vacancy represents
a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant
(i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate
for their units. The owner of the apartment typically transfers possession to
the occupant by giving him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any
other keys need to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other
common areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. Studio, efficiency, bed-sit, or
bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents
in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room
which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen
facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller
separate room. Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where
one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are
two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have only
one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two entrances/exits, perhaps a
door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the
entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside,
such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent
furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in
with his/her own furniture. Permanent carpeting is often included in an
apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all the
tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built and the design
of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electric may be common
for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed
separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal
to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the
premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed
separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are
extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may
not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number
of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the
apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location
accessible to the public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit
typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large
apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for
each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or
three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of in trash
containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, garbage is
often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing
noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in
an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to refer to a
new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the
word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An
industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly
called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family
member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though
these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters
rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the
basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly becoming
popular with travelers.