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The Stacys were driving past the Nightlight and saw it was playing a movie they wanted to see. On instinct, Ed, 48, and Barb, 47, parked their car at their Northside Lofts Townhome and walked to the indie cinema. “Neither of us would even think about driving,” says Barb, an Indiana native and national vice president of collegiates for Kappa Delta National Sorority.
The glassy modern townhome the spouses live in with their rescue cat, Coco, overlooks the Northside Marketplace and is close to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. where Ed, a Youngstown native, works as the operations manager for North America consumer manufacturing. The Stacys share how moving to downtown Akron six years ago has unlocked a newfound freedom.
After living in Oklahoma and Texas, you settled in Green. Why did you decide to move to downtown Akron?
ES: When we moved back to this area, it felt like home. We ended up in a neighborhood we had dreamed of growing up. We were spending all weekend doing landscaping, mowing and maintenance. It was like, There’s more to life than just doing that stuff. So we started talking about downsizing. We started looking around. On the weekends we’d have been in this area many times. It’s where we gravitated to. When we saw this place, it was like, This is the spot.
You got rid of two-thirds of your furniture. How did you go about downsizing?
ES: It was not easy for us. Everything had a perceived value to it — sometimes bigger in your own mind than what it actually was. We started putting stuff on shelves. If it sat on that shelf for more than six months, time to go.
BS: It’s very emotional. Then all of a sudden — it’s liberating when you whittle it down to only the stuff you really like that fits you and feels like you.
How has living downtown changed your perspective?
BS: We embraced the fact that we can walk anywhere and see anything. It’s developed quite quickly in the past five and a half years. When we first came, there weren’t as many people. None of the Marketplace was there. As it started to grow, you could almost feel the pulse of what was happening. We know and are friendly with most all the restaurant owners and people who own the shops. You have a more personal, intimate relationship because you’re up close with them.
ES: We know more of our neighbors here than we did in the suburbs.
If you got a do-over, would you still move downtown?
ES: I don’t think I’d see myself going back.
BS: It’s funny you say that. Occasionally, you’re like, Let’s go see what the homes are. Upsizing again is as stressful as downsizing. I don’t think I could.
What has living in the city been like for you?
BS: When there’s a ballgame, lots of people come down, and we hear the fireworks. It’s part of the rhythm and how everything goes — all the sounds, even the train. The best thing in the winter is to have this view, and it’s snowing. The train comes in when they do the Polar Express. You can see the kids in their pajamas, and we can see that while we’re having dinner. It’s like our own movie every day.
