Moving to Kent

Moving to Kent, Ohio

August 2005

Could the terrific people of BPN help me with info about a possible move? My husband has been offered a job at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Can anyone enlighten us re: politics, weather, culture? looking before we leap...

Both my husband and I did our undergrads at Kent State and grew up in the area and visit family back there frequently. Both of my sister's graduated from Kent also. While I haven't lived there for years, I still have a fondness for the school and the area. It's changed over the years as the school has grown and from what I've heard improved. Kent is a nice city that's close enough to all of the cultural offerings of Cleveland. (The Cleveland Orchestra is one of the best in the world, the Cleveland Museum of Art is wonderful) I actually think it would be a great place to live. Does get cold in the winter and hot in the summer but as far as locations go, it's not too remote, you are an hour from Cleveland, 2 hours from Pittsburgh, 6 hours from Washington DC, 8 hours from NYC. Feel free to contact me about the area. Amy

i'm a graduate of kent state. granted i haven't been back since i graduated (1995) but when i lived there i liked it very much. kent, atleast when i lived there is a fairly liberal town. it has a nice funky vibe. somewhat similar to berkeley but much smaller and cleaner. since it's a college town there are a lot of different cultures. not like it is here but not bad for ohio. not to scare you but the the weather can be pretty harsh. bitterly cold and snowy winters. hot and very humid summers. fantastic autumn though. the universities campus is beautiful as well. it's very green. again similar to berkeley's campus. they are also known for their black squirrels. feeding the squirrels on front campus was always fun. kent is also a short drive from akron and cleveland. not that they're huge cities but there are a good amount of museums and restaurants. my years at kent were great. if i had to move back to ohio i'd live there. ad