INSIDE AKRON: Akron Documenters are fanning out across the city’s 24 neighborhoods to elevate places, faces, voices and vibes — as shared by the people who live there. Expect a new profile every day through October.
It’s a rare moment when stillness prevails in Akron’s Highland Square. The neighborhood is more often than not teeming with activity, whether from bar patrons raising a glass on West Market Street or neighbors waving hello while walking their dogs.
Known as a destination for all things arts and culture in Akron, Highland Square is host to the annual PorchRokr festival. Each year thousands from around the region flood the 1-square-mile neighborhood just northwest of Akron’s downtown to hear a variety of musical acts perform on porches. Throughout the year, though, it’s not uncommon to encounter a smaller-scale performance from a busker on West Market.
Akron Documenter Killian Reed is the primary contributor for this story. He’s an Akron resident and has been a Documenter since April 2025. Learn more about Documenters, including how to join.
Options for food and drink abound in Highland Square, whether you’re craving coffee at Angel Falls Coffee Company or some ice cream from Mary Coyle. Housing options also vary in the neighborhood’s walkable residential areas. Described as a “microcosm of Akron” by Juniper Sage, co-owner of longtime neighborhood record shop Square Records, Highland Square is a diverse community home to more than 7,600 Akronites.
Akron Documenter Killian Reed spoke to those in the neighborhood about what makes Highland Square appealing for residents, regardless of how skilled they are with a guitar.
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE: Robert (Bob) Shepherd, 72
What is the most interesting thing about Highland Square?
“Diversity. A lot of different folks, different people that live in the neighborhood from homeless to wealthy and everything in between,” said Bob, who is a volunteer at the Cleveland Baseball Heritage Museum.
What is missing from your neighborhood?
“Wow, I don’t know what would be missing,” he said. “There’s so much that’s going on here.” He mentioned House Three Thirty, which is just over the neighborhood line with West Hill,” as a good addition to the area. In fact, I go to the medical center there across the street from House Three Thirty. That’s where my doctor is now.”
He said Highland Square has everything it needs. “Pretty much, good and bad, but mostly good.”
How has the neighborhood changed over the time you’ve lived there?
“It’s probably grown into maybe a little bit wealthier, more upper-crust with the different businesses that are open. It used to be a little bit more mom-and-pop businesses. Now you have the chains like Chipotle and Dominoes,” he said. “But there’s still a lot of mom-and-pop bars and businesses here.
Bob talked about some of the businesses and buildings that are no longer in the neighborhood.
“There was a tailor shop just up the street,” he said. “And there was Dodie’s, a breakfast/lunch place that was around for quite a few years, I think, in the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s. There used to be a shoe store here by [Trecaso’s Mary Coyle restaurant], where there’s just a parking lot now.
Where is the Highland Square neighborhood in Akron?
Highland Square is located west of downtown Akron and has a vibrant culture filled with art, entertainment and food. This neighborhood is known for its annual Porchrockr festival and lively nightlife.
What else do you want people to know about your neighborhood?
“It’s interesting and most people are, I would say, friendly. Most people, not everyone, but most people,” he said. “It’s just a good walkable neighborhood … I usually walk all around the neighborhood for a little bit of exercise.”
SMALL BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
Square Records 824 W. Market St.
Juniper Sage, co-owner
Tell me about the purpose of your business? What do you do every day?
“Square Records is a record store in Highland Square. We primarily focus on indie rock, jazz, international, hip-hop. It started with a focus on records and vinyl albums, and that has stayed the same for the past 23 years.
“We also carry local artists when people wanna sell through us. We have hosted shows in the past. We don’t have a space for it anymore, we have grown out of it. We are busting at the seams.”
Akron band The Black Keys and other indie bands performed at the store in the past.
How does your organization fit into or support Highland Square?
“We’re one of a very few retail locations in Highland Square. There’s not a ton of retail. So we kind of filled that gap, first of all. Second of all, we are community-based purely by the fact that we’re, you know, we do support local artists. We support local bands,” Juniper said, noting they’ll carry popular artists such as Taylor Swift, too, if that’s what customers want.
“We are one of the bedrocks in the neighborhood. Only maybe four businesses have been here longer than us.”
What’s the most important or interesting thing about your neighborhood?
She said that Highland Square is a microcosm of Akron and that what’s “happening in the city is what’s happening here.”
“So when times have been good, the Square has been good, when times have been bad, the Square … you know, has suffered economically.”
She also said that “when a neighborhood loves you, they will do anything for you. If you get on the wrong side of the neighborhood, they will do everything to get rid of you.”
What’s missing from the neighborhood, or what’s the biggest need in the neighborhood?
Juniper said it’s been nice to have a grocery store like Mustard Seed Market and that it was hard in years past without that in the neighborhood. She would like to see more retail and more variety, noting the current mix in Highland Square leans “heavily towards food and beverage, a little bit of service and not much retail.”
“Retail feeds off of retail. We had a clothing store next door for years. Before that, it was a vintage store, and that’s something you can make an afternoon of. Like, ‘let’s go to Square Records and go to another [store], go shopping for vintage items and then go get lunch.’”
What else do you want to say about your organization or the neighborhood?
“Highland Square has a way to go to get very established, to be able to consistently support new businesses,” she said, emphasizing the need for the area to become more accessible to more ages, rather than just a 21-and-older crowd.
“In the summertime we have kids that walk around, which is great, high school kids, they love to come down here, they think this is the cool part of Akron. I would like it if there was a little more for them to do. The library is nice. They can get a relatively inexpensive lunch across the street or something like that, but it would be nice if there was just a little bit more that brought all ages down to the Square.”
What do you want for the future of Highland Square?
“That Highland Square is able to foster new businesses, keep them in business, pass that crucial third year, fourth year to where they can actually be viable,” Juniper said, while noting that the neighborhood is “incredibly supportive.”
“I feel like if there’s anywhere that people can feel kind of accepted and safe, it’s in this neighborhood. But it’s just as far as the business area itself, I feel like we have a little ways to go. Hopefully the future brings new businesses. Businesses that feed off of each other a little bit.”
Public Space Shoutout
Highland Square Branch — Akron-Summit County Public Library
The Highland Square Branch Library, one of 19 in Summit County, is set in the center of one of Akron’s staple communities.
This source of knowledge is home to adults and children seeking free public resources, such as stories, movies, Wi-Fi and computer access. This is a go-to spot for people who grab a cup of coffee from Angel Falls Coffee Company and need a quiet, shaded place to sit and sip.
Students often find their way to this location after school to study and spend time with friends. The library hosts an array of community events, including storytime, movie nights, art classes, yoga sessions and computer help sessions.
When the doors close for the evening, library visitors can walk across the street to the Highland Square Theatre or one of the occasional food trucks that pop up at the Walgreens parking lot.
