Something's missing in Northwest Akron.

"You're right," said Jason Segedy, Akron's director of planning and urban development, as he drove us through a tour of the neighborhood.

"I know the houses here don't turn over like they do in some other neighborhoods, but we've been driving around for a while now without seeing a for-sale sign," he noted.

Not that there aren't any at all, but as if to emphasize the desirability of this section of town, the first for-sale sign we found also said "sold" on top.

What can you say? It's a nice neighborhood. A real estate agent's dream really, where words such as "well-kept," "stately," "beautiful" and sometimes even "quaint" or "charming" are actually accurate descriptions of the homes.

It's also in a gorgeous spot in town. In fact, Segedy explained, much of the neighborhood was once part of Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens' original grounds of more than 4,000 acres. Most of that land was kept as forest by the estate, which also prevented much of present-day Northwest Akron from being developed until about the 1950s, he said.

The current grounds of the 70-acre Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens — the former home of F.A. Seiberling, one of the co-founders of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. — sits just about smack in the middle of the neighborhood.

That would be enough to satisfy most folks' desire for some scenic beauty in their community, but that's just where Northwest Akron starts.

Most of the neighborhood is canopied by tall oaks and other trees that far predate the 50- and 60-year-old homes they shade. To the north, most of the neighborhood borders the Sand Run Metro Park, while Fairlawn Country Club seals off the western border and Portage Country Club sits on the southern border between West Market Street and North Portage Path.

"It kind of is Akron's country club neighborhood," Segedy said.

Little wonder it's mostly residential, or that it's been kept up better than some other parts of town over the years.

Along the roads that border the country clubs, big, midcentury homes throw open their windows toward the trees and fairways that no doubt lured their owners to the area in the first place.

Little wonder, too, that real estate agents love getting listings here: Homes tend to sell fast and for good prices. And those prices are wide- ranging: You can find small homes selling for less than $100,000 (if and when they come on the market), while bigger homes, such as those along the golf courses, can fetch more than $400,000, Segedy pointed out.

Ryan Shaffer, a real estate agent with Stouffer Realty in nearby Fairlawn, is certainly a fan.

When he gets a call from a potential buyer who spotted one of his signs, he tells them he knows the neighborhood.

"It's a neighborhood I work in regularly. It's also the neighborhood I grew up in and currently live in," he added with a chuckle.

He went to Firestone High School — "the old one, with no A.C.," he said, noting a new Firestone Community Learning Center replaced the old school in 2016.

Shaffer said he likes the neighborhood for the same reasons most other residents do: great surroundings, convenient location, nice local amenities and, perhaps above all else, it's just solid and holds up.

"The street I live on is one street over from the street I grew up on … and some of my neighbors are the original owners of their homes. People stay here and raise families," Shaffer said.

A lot of clients don't ask for "Northwest Akron" specifically, he said. Many probably don't know the neighborhood even exists as its own entity. But they often point to a spot on the map of Akron and ask if there are homes near it, and that spot is often in Northwest Akron, Shaffer and others said.

"It's a great starter area for people and a great place for retirees, too," Shaffer said.

Fellow real estate agent Laurie Morgan Schrank, with Keller Williams — hers was the for-sale sign with "sold" plastered on it — agreed.

Most of the homes, though older, have been redone, she noted. She only wishes she had more to sell.

"I don't see a lot of turnaround here. People buy those homes and just nest in them," she said.

While you won't find industry or big offices in the neighborhood, Northwest Akron is not devoid of commerce entirely. It's home to the kinds of businesses its residents want.

"You have the best bakery in town and a nice wine shop there, at a great place to walk to from that neighborhood," Morgan Schrank said.

She's referring to the Pilgrim Square Shopping Center at West Market Road and Sand Run Road — an anchor of the neighborhood and home to the Pilgrim Square Barber Shop, the West Side Bakery, 750ml Wines and other shops.

Barb Talevich has owned the bakery for 25 years and lives less than five minutes away in Fairlawn Heights. She said she picked the right location from the get-go.

"The neighborhood we're in … people are just wonderful. It's just a great spot to be in," Talevich said, adding that even after 25 years, she routinely sees new faces at her counter, often from companies that are expanding in and around Akron.

The same goes for Scott Emerman, who has run the Pilgrim Square Barber Shop for the past eight years. Three chairs, one barber, sometimes a wait to get a cut and always a lot of banter is what he said he offers. A lot of his customers are from the neighborhood and he likes to get them going while they're in the shop.

"It's mostly regulars, but a lot of new people coming and moving to Akron, too," he said.

Nothing's off-limits for conversations, including religion and politics. But it's all in good spirits. and the neighborhood residents respect and look after one another too much to take much offense, Emerman contended.

"It's a community setting, and everyone knows and talks to each other," Emerman said. "I have a high-class crowd because of the location!"

He added that the neighborhood around him seems to be thriving, along with the businesses that share his plaza.

"This is a classy little plaza in a cute little area. They're all doctors, professors, engineers and professionals who come in mostly … but even the people here in the trades are doing well now," Emerman said.

And more are coming.

"People are moving here from all over the country and they're loving it. And they're buying houses they couldn't afford where they're from," Emerman said.