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Well, we've been Ohio residents for, what, like 24 days now? I suppose that's probably enough time to have observed some differences between Akron and Muncie, or I guess Ohio and Indiana.
In no particular order...
1. Speed limits in towns here are 25 for ordinary roads and 35 for highways. Ridiculous. 25 MPH is a stupid speed. In Indiana, the counterparts are 30 and 40 or 45.
2. The groceries here have different names. Aldi is the same, but the others are a little different. Tops is the equivalent of a Marsh, which is a higher-end overpriced place to shop. Giant Eagle is, I guess, more like a Ross or a Wise used to be: smaller, more reasonable, less selection. At the end of the line is Acme, which reminds me of the old Eavey's: a small store with fairly cheap prices and no selection. Wal-Marts don't have groceries here, and surprisingly Meijer is non-existent.
3. There are hills EVERYWHERE. You actually have to push your car to maintain speed on the way up and brake to not speed on the way down. What the hell is this all about?
4. Roads, unless they go all the way through town, are not marked with a direction. This simplifies things in a way, but the inclusion of that directional signifier would help narrow down locations of little dead-end streets a little. Road numbers here are also different, but I haven't figured out the system yet.
5. In general, people here are more scared of theft despite being in decent neighborhoods. In the nicest neighborhoods around, you have to pay for gas before pumping. Stores you would never expect (Home Depot) have theft deterrents on EVERYTHING.
6. Prevailing weather patterns all come from the north-west, which shows more lake influence than I would have expected. If you're looking for what's going to hit you in 10 minutes, you look northwest instead of west. This is certain to make winter a lot of fun.
7. Road names change with every change of town. For example, a road just north of us (Tallmadge Ave) crosses from Akron into Tallmadge and becomes West Ave, then East Ave on the east side of Tallmadge. Main Street becomes State Road in Cuyahoga Falls and then Hudson Drive in Stow. Cuyahoga Falls Ave becomes Howe Ave in Cuyahoga Falls. It's a mess, but we're learning our way around. The good news is that any road that has the same name as a town will eventually lead you to that town. The only exception is in nearby Tallmadge, where the roads are named after directions and all shoot out like wheel spokes from the town's roundabout.
8. Kent State seems more willing to commit to its grad studies. Ball State always seemed to have one foot out the door, like grad students were an afterthought. This is on the university level, by the way.
9. Akron has jobs, even though it's been in economic trouble for 30 years. Muncie doesn't. That's a SAD difference. People up here talk like Akron's been in its grave for years. What does this mean about Muncie?
10. Akron has some VERY nice libraries, with very good catalogs. Muncie... doesn't. Bracken doesn't count.
11. Frozen food here is more expensive than Muncie. According to my parents, so is gasoline, which was $2.74 for about two days before cooling off a little down to $2.59, which it's stayed at ever since.
12. There are more bars and strip clubs here than in Muncie. Now, don't take this as a judgement, I just think it's a cultural differences. Bars seem to be the neighborhood meeting places of choice. Every microneighborhood has one that seems like it's been there for years, and it's usually not scary or junky or anything. As for strip clubs... apparently, Ohio women just don't put out.
13. Much more pride in place and pride in neighborhood. In Akron, when you use a neighborhood moniker, it means something. North Hill (where I live), West Hill, Arlington, Summit Lake, Chapel Hill, Downtown, Goodyear Heights, Firestone Park... all of these conjure up an image for natives, and increasingly for us. You can tell this because many more local stores, churches and the like are named after their neighborhoods. For example, we're just down the street from North Hill Donuts, among other similarly named outlets. In Muncie, you talk to someone about Shedtown or Riverside or Whitely, only a few fairly well-informed residents (usually those of the neighborhood in question) will have ANY idea what you're talking about.
14. Generally, service in restaurants and other places is superior here.
15. Locally owned and operated places are far more common here. We generally eat out more than we should... but I've eaten at a chain restaurant once since we got here, and it was a junior bacon cheeseburger as a snack from Wendy's. In Muncie, this would've been impossible. There are local places in every price bracket, including restaurants, clothing stores, record shops (which I intend to explore more), bookstores, etc.
16. People here drive like assholes! Granted, I drive like a grandmother, but even the old people here are crazy, tailgating you and running you off the road.
17. Kent State's student population, from my limited observation, seems to be split between conservative frat boy types/wankers, and hippies. I wonder if hippies seek this school because of the historical 1970 shooting connection or something. Either way, it's an odd combination. I haven't seen a punk, emo, or art-fag type yet, though I'm judging on appearances. I can no longer be classified as anything (besides maybe broke hillbilly) from appearances. I need to clean myself up, but clothes are too expensive right now.
18. Kent State's daily rag... sucks compared to the Ball State Daily News. That's sad. Amy and I were reading through the orientation issue, and on the front page it said to find a certain group of articles on the best local restaurants. We looked, and looked... and it wasn't there... even though all the pages of the paper were. Shitty.
I suppose that those are enough differences to report for now. So far, I'm really liking it here, because it feels like a vacation because there's so much to see and do... and we haven't really explored Cleveland yet, let alone the state parks. Of course, anything is better than good old Muncie.
This week has been grad student orientation on campus, and I'm feeling more comfortable there. The people all seem very nice and cooperative, and I've managed to be at least minimally sociable. Amy's at work, and there's no word about her supposed second job at the vet clinic. Hopefully, she'll get that so we'll be better moneywise. Being poor is for jerks!
In no particular order...
1. Speed limits in towns here are 25 for ordinary roads and 35 for highways. Ridiculous. 25 MPH is a stupid speed. In Indiana, the counterparts are 30 and 40 or 45.
2. The groceries here have different names. Aldi is the same, but the others are a little different. Tops is the equivalent of a Marsh, which is a higher-end overpriced place to shop. Giant Eagle is, I guess, more like a Ross or a Wise used to be: smaller, more reasonable, less selection. At the end of the line is Acme, which reminds me of the old Eavey's: a small store with fairly cheap prices and no selection. Wal-Marts don't have groceries here, and surprisingly Meijer is non-existent.
3. There are hills EVERYWHERE. You actually have to push your car to maintain speed on the way up and brake to not speed on the way down. What the hell is this all about?
4. Roads, unless they go all the way through town, are not marked with a direction. This simplifies things in a way, but the inclusion of that directional signifier would help narrow down locations of little dead-end streets a little. Road numbers here are also different, but I haven't figured out the system yet.
5. In general, people here are more scared of theft despite being in decent neighborhoods. In the nicest neighborhoods around, you have to pay for gas before pumping. Stores you would never expect (Home Depot) have theft deterrents on EVERYTHING.
6. Prevailing weather patterns all come from the north-west, which shows more lake influence than I would have expected. If you're looking for what's going to hit you in 10 minutes, you look northwest instead of west. This is certain to make winter a lot of fun.
7. Road names change with every change of town. For example, a road just north of us (Tallmadge Ave) crosses from Akron into Tallmadge and becomes West Ave, then East Ave on the east side of Tallmadge. Main Street becomes State Road in Cuyahoga Falls and then Hudson Drive in Stow. Cuyahoga Falls Ave becomes Howe Ave in Cuyahoga Falls. It's a mess, but we're learning our way around. The good news is that any road that has the same name as a town will eventually lead you to that town. The only exception is in nearby Tallmadge, where the roads are named after directions and all shoot out like wheel spokes from the town's roundabout.
8. Kent State seems more willing to commit to its grad studies. Ball State always seemed to have one foot out the door, like grad students were an afterthought. This is on the university level, by the way.
9. Akron has jobs, even though it's been in economic trouble for 30 years. Muncie doesn't. That's a SAD difference. People up here talk like Akron's been in its grave for years. What does this mean about Muncie?
10. Akron has some VERY nice libraries, with very good catalogs. Muncie... doesn't. Bracken doesn't count.
11. Frozen food here is more expensive than Muncie. According to my parents, so is gasoline, which was $2.74 for about two days before cooling off a little down to $2.59, which it's stayed at ever since.
12. There are more bars and strip clubs here than in Muncie. Now, don't take this as a judgement, I just think it's a cultural differences. Bars seem to be the neighborhood meeting places of choice. Every microneighborhood has one that seems like it's been there for years, and it's usually not scary or junky or anything. As for strip clubs... apparently, Ohio women just don't put out.
13. Much more pride in place and pride in neighborhood. In Akron, when you use a neighborhood moniker, it means something. North Hill (where I live), West Hill, Arlington, Summit Lake, Chapel Hill, Downtown, Goodyear Heights, Firestone Park... all of these conjure up an image for natives, and increasingly for us. You can tell this because many more local stores, churches and the like are named after their neighborhoods. For example, we're just down the street from North Hill Donuts, among other similarly named outlets. In Muncie, you talk to someone about Shedtown or Riverside or Whitely, only a few fairly well-informed residents (usually those of the neighborhood in question) will have ANY idea what you're talking about.
14. Generally, service in restaurants and other places is superior here.
15. Locally owned and operated places are far more common here. We generally eat out more than we should... but I've eaten at a chain restaurant once since we got here, and it was a junior bacon cheeseburger as a snack from Wendy's. In Muncie, this would've been impossible. There are local places in every price bracket, including restaurants, clothing stores, record shops (which I intend to explore more), bookstores, etc.
16. People here drive like assholes! Granted, I drive like a grandmother, but even the old people here are crazy, tailgating you and running you off the road.
17. Kent State's student population, from my limited observation, seems to be split between conservative frat boy types/wankers, and hippies. I wonder if hippies seek this school because of the historical 1970 shooting connection or something. Either way, it's an odd combination. I haven't seen a punk, emo, or art-fag type yet, though I'm judging on appearances. I can no longer be classified as anything (besides maybe broke hillbilly) from appearances. I need to clean myself up, but clothes are too expensive right now.
18. Kent State's daily rag... sucks compared to the Ball State Daily News. That's sad. Amy and I were reading through the orientation issue, and on the front page it said to find a certain group of articles on the best local restaurants. We looked, and looked... and it wasn't there... even though all the pages of the paper were. Shitty.
I suppose that those are enough differences to report for now. So far, I'm really liking it here, because it feels like a vacation because there's so much to see and do... and we haven't really explored Cleveland yet, let alone the state parks. Of course, anything is better than good old Muncie.
This week has been grad student orientation on campus, and I'm feeling more comfortable there. The people all seem very nice and cooperative, and I've managed to be at least minimally sociable. Amy's at work, and there's no word about her supposed second job at the vet clinic. Hopefully, she'll get that so we'll be better moneywise. Being poor is for jerks!
Posted by Your Friendly Neighborhood DJ on August 24, 2005 03:30 PM | Permalink
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