Rating the Suburbs 2017

Richfield Village is a suburban sanctuary. With newer single-family homes on sprawling wooded lots and 1950s ranches dotting close-knit older developments, the Summit County suburb has become a respite for its 3,702 residents looking to escape the hectic 24/7 pace of Akron and Cleveland. 

With 200 acres of city-owned parkland and a slice of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park among the village’s 9 square miles, it’s easy to power down that laptop and turn off the cellphone. Its pastoral appeal also means the community still comes together around fish fries and frog-jumping contests. 

For 30-year-old Steven Schafle, who grew up in Richfield Village and spent his summers playing baseball at Richfield Woods Park, settling down with his wife, Holly, in his hometown was an easy
decision. 

“It’s built up more than what it was when I grew up here, but it’s still got that country vibe,” says the web developer for
AmTrust Financial Services. “It’s really hard to find that while it’s actually still close to other areas.”

The city remains true to its rural identity while welcoming the new 117,000-square-foot National Interstate Insurance headquarters. Housing developments such as Appleridge Lane’s $300,000 stone and vinyl colonials have helped boost the median home sale price 54 percent over the last 10 years. 

Steven’s childhood home sits on a 6-acre lot on Brush Road. But two years ago, his father gifted him 2 acres of the property so Schumacher Homes could build his 1,600-square-foot, three-bedroom Craftsman townhome adjacent to his father’s house. 

“When I was a kid, I never thought this would be a possibility, but having the property gifted to us was a very big reason to build,” he says. “I can look out my back window and have memories of me and my friends just running through the field when it was up to my waist.”

Steven feels that connection when he’s out exploring the village too. There’s the old red barn facade of the Richfield Branch Library and the quaint robin’s-egg blue Taverne of Richfield, where dinner is served on mismatched china and the basement is filled with smooth local jazz every weekend.

“If anything, maybe you’ll meet someone new, and then realize they’re sticking around for the same reasons you are,” he says. “It’s nice and friendly, and people like to have fun and help each other out here.”