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Canton Information
Canton is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2000 census,
the city had a total population of 80,806, but according to a July 1, 2004
Census estimate, the population has declined to 79,905. Despite this decline,
the 2004 figure actually moved Canton up from 9th to 8th place among Ohio
cities, as Youngstown, once considerably more populous than Canton, suffered a
larger decline. Canton is the county seat of Stark CountyGR6. The
Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area has a total population of 406,934
as of the census of 2000.
Canton is home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the McKinley National Memorial,
the William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, and the First Ladies
National Historic Site.
Canton was founded in 1805. Cantonrep.com quotes Kim Kenney, the curator of
the William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, whose information came from
E.T. Heald's series The Stark County Story, as saying that Canton was
incorporated as a village in 1822, and then as a city in 1838. However, the
history page of the City of Canton's web page gives the date for incorporation
as a village as being in 1815, as a town in 1834, and as a city in 1854.
Bezaleel Wells, the surveyor who divided the land of the town, named it after
Canton (now Guangzhou), China. The name was a memorial to a trader named John
O'Donnell, whom Wells admired. O'Donnell had named his Maryland plantation after
the Chinese city, as he had been the first person to transport goods from there
to Baltimore.
Canton works under a Mayor–Council government. It is the largest city in Ohio to
operate without a charter. The current mayor is Janet Weir Creighton (R),
elected in 2003 and sworn in January 2004. City council is divided among 9 wards
with 3 at-large seats and the council president.
The Canton area's economy is primarily industrial, with a significant
agricultural segment. The city is home to the Timken Company, a major
manufacturer of tapered roller bearings and specialty steel. Other companies
that have significant operations are the Hoover Company (vacuums and floor
cleaners), the Belden Brick Company (brick and masonry producer), and Diebold
(ATMs, electronic voting devices, and bank vaults). LTV Steel (formerly Republic
Steel) had historically been large employer, until its bankruptcy in 2000.
Poultry production and dairy farming are also important segments of its economy.
However, like many industrial areas of the United States, employment in the
manufacturing sector is in a state of long-term decline. The area is undergoing
a transition to a retail- and service-based economy. In 2004 Timken Company
proposed closing some of their factories in the Canton area, striking a blow to
the economy and a bigger blow to city image and pride.
Canton, like many mid-size urban cities, has lost most of its downtown retail
business to the suburbs, such as the extensive retail market in nearby Jackson
Township. A number of downtown cafes and restaurants have, however, sprung up in
recent years. Most retail shopping can be found at the extremes of the city
limits, at Canton Centre Mall and a WalMart to the west or a WalMart and Kmart
to the east. There are also veins of retail along Tuscarawas Street, a leg of
the Lincoln Highway that runs east-west through several states, and in a
shopping district on 30th St. N.W.
Canton's K-12 students are primarily served by the Canton City Schools, although
students north of 17th St. NW have an overlap with Plain Local Schools. Malone
College, a private, four-year liberal arts college, is located on 25th St. N.W.
The city is also served by two Catholic high schools St. Thomas Aquinas High
School (Louisville) serves the eastern portion of Canton (and eastern Stark
County as a whole); while Central Catholic High School (located in Perry
Township) serves the western part of Canton (and western Stark County as a
whole). Catholic grade schools within the city limits of Canton are St. Peter,
St. Joseph, and Our Lady of Peace. There is also Canton Heritage Christian
School (K-12), a Christian grade school and high school. Canton Country Day is
another private elementary school in the city of Canton.
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.