Is Youngstown really as bad as it is said to be?

[dont_eat_bambi]

My husband and I are thinking of moving to Ohio because my parents just moved up there due to my dads job which is near Toledo. My husbands grandmother owns a home closer to Youngstown on a lake and has said that we could live there if we wanted/needed to. I have done research and was shocked by the things I have read about Youngstown. Is a place like 20 miles away from the actual city of Youngstown much safer than being in Youngstown? I currently live in SC so even though Youngstown is 2.5 to 3 hours away from Toledo it is better than 14 hours .

[Jchite84]

As a former Youngstownian and Vegan, I felt compelled to join this community just so I could reply to this post! Youngstown is a wonderful place to live, like all cities it has its good spots and its bad spots. If you are interested in living IN the city the North Side and the West Side are the best. As for the suburbs, areas like Liberty, Boardman, Poland, Canfield, Hubbard, and Girard provide a wonderful suburban home just minutes from the city. You can go a little further out, to places like Vienna, Weathersfeild, Fowler, or Brookfeild and be a 15-25 minute drive from the city and buy a house on an acre or more of wooded land. Hope this helps, email me if you have any other questions or concerns (jchite84@gmail.com). Oh, and there is a great great great vegan cafe and restaurant called the Flaming Ice Cube that is in Boardman, just 10 minutes from Downtown.