Quality of Life

Akron has the offering of a large metropolitan area without the usual headaches. With its small-town feel and big-city amenities, Akron truly encompasses the best of both worlds. In 2008, for the third time in history, Akron was named an “All-America City” by the National Civic League, an award considered “The Oscars” of municipal life.

Our many eclectic neighborhoods – from funky Highland Square, to hip downtown and diverse University Park area – provide diverse residential choices in a city where money simply goes further. The cost of living in Akron is consistently below the national average, according to the American Chambers of Commerce.

Our downtown has been revitalized and is brimming with dance clubs, bars and restaurants. (Our minor league baseball stadium is there too.) Our park system is filled with bike and hike trails, par courses, lakes and quarries, cross-country ski areas and much more. If you want to do it, you can do it here. Imagine leaving work downtown at 5 p.m. and running less than 15 minutes later in a national park with streams, charming bridges and plenty of green space.

Akron was a center for punk rock and alternative music in the 1970s. Today, bands such as the much-lauded, bluesy Black Keys (just check out reviews in Rolling Stone and Time for starters) are putting Akron on the music map yet again. On the other end of the spectrum, Greater Akron is also the summer home of the internationally acclaimed Cleveland Orchestra.

Akron is also, quite simply, one of the best places in the country to raise a family. We’ll put its mix of superb schools, safe neighborhoods, first-rate medical facilities and family-friendly events up against those of any other region. We must be doing it right: a larger percentage of Greater Akron students score higher on standardized tests, including the SAT, than in the nation as a whole.