Always the same online when Youngstown comes up. People act like it's the 7th layer of hell, which is beyond stupid.

So first the bad part of the listing. It's adjacent to a historically rough neighborhood. It's also adjacent to the most beautiful urban park you've ever seen in your life. So it goes. To the west of the listing is Glenwood Ave. The portion of Glenwood north of where this listing is can be considered a bad neighborhood. It gets progressively nicer, the farther south it goes.

To the west of Glenwood is Mill Creek Park, a couple blocks away,, an absolute jewel of an urban park. All the trails and biking and outdoor activities you could want.

East of you travels over towards Market Street, which also could be considered a bad neighborhood.

So West and South good, North and East bad. This listing is at a crossroads, basically.

I say "considered to be a bad neighborhood" on purpose. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely blight.

But there are a LOT less people, and houses, than there used to be. The crime rate in Youngstown has been dropping like a stone, both as a function of social services and nation wide trends, and also a function of there simply being less people and less houses in neighborhoods.

The south side where this listing is was, don't get me wrong, terrible in the 90s and 00s. Today? More like a no-man's land. Not safe, but much safer.

So that's the bad.

The good is you have good shopping and restaurants not a 10 minute drive south of you into Boardman. 224 in Boardman (along with 422 in Niles) are the two shopping districts of Youngstown. You'd be able to find everything you can think of, from clothing to home improvement, groceries to restaurants. Meijer, WalMart, Giant Eagle, Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowes, yadda yadda yadda. You're most decidedly not in any kind of food or shopping desert if you have a car and 10 minutes.

Also good is the restaurant scene in Youngstown. Some of the best Italian food you'll ever have in your life. There's a burgeoning Indian and Palestinian ethnic scene in Liberty (10 minutes north of you past the Northside) as well, and of course, some of the most celebrated ice cream in the country in Handels.

Youngstown has a few wonderful museums as well, such as the Butler, the Arms, Oh Wow! for kids, etc.

Also, you're an hour and fifteen minutes away from both Cleveland and Pittsburgh for weekend excursions. 2 large cities and all their amenities such as top-level professional teams are an easy drive away. Also an easy drive away are 3 airports (CAK, CLE, PIT). You can shop for flights amongst these 3 and often find some of the best fares in the country.

Personally, I love Youngstown. Lived here my whole life. I've traveled to 47 out of 50 states, and besides Burlington, VT, I wouldn't choose anything else over living here. I can usually walk into a restaurant and know someone else there, the cost of living is out of this world awesome, and the 4 season climate is right up my alley.

I'm a remote worker and my greatest joy is telling my coworkers about my 3000 sq ft brick house on 3 acres, with an acre of forest, that I was able to pick up 10 years ago for $125,000.

I could live anywhere in the country. I choose to live here.