r/Lorain • u/Ordinary_Okra_3834 • Jun 13 '25
Lorain: Good place to live?
Hey all, as the title says, thinking about taking a job offer in Lorain. Lived about five years out in Toledo but and other parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania but have never visited Lorain and not sure what to expect. Is it a decent place to live? Is the area considered up-and-coming, stable, or declining economically?
I read somewhere that Lorain County is one of the fastest growing counties in Ohio but wasn't sure if that means there is good industry/business there or a place to live long-term. Sorry for the terrible sentence structure, writing on my phone. Appreciate any advice. Thank you .
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u/DaddySwagLegz Jul 24 '25
I’m a bit late to this; but thought I’d chip in. I’m 29 and lived here most of my life. I moved away a few years, but decided my calling was really back home here. I bought a home here near Lakeview and Downtown and I love it here. Of course it’s not all sunshine, it’s a highly poverty stricken area due to this history with industry pulling out. It is hard to actually find a sustainable job inside the city. In all my years here (grew up in south lorain and now live near downtown) I’ve never felt genuinely scared or anything by the folks out here. I do a lot of community work and with that I’ve gotten to know some of the houseless and impoverished folks closer to downtown and they are just all so wonderful. But it’s a reality you will see, it’s not hidden like in other places. I don’t have kids so my outlook on this stuff is different than others, of course.
The city seems to be on an upswing all together, there has never been much to do in the city but now we do have plenty of events all summer (still quite lacking in the winter), and businesses are opening up downtown and elsewhere that are actually sustaining which would have been impossible a decade or less ago. My wife and me + 2 friends are actually taking the gamble and opening our own business downtown because we have faith in it out here.
I hope you make whatever choice is best for you. I love it here. Many others love it and are trying to make it better. Some people say they hate it, hut won’t move away. So it goes!