Lakewood, again! Specifically Birdtown (Cleveland, Warren: rentals, landlords, place to live)

[Curvykitten]

I've been getting conflicting reports on this area of Lakewood. I'm looking for a cheap place to live, and to get out of Lake County. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[JohnDBaumgardner]

I'm a former resident of Lakewood, and "Birdtown" ( as it's known ) is an area in Lakewood, located just west of West 117th St and off of Madison Ave.
It's called "Birdtown" because of the accompanying street names ... Lark, Robin and so on...
It's a decent area with very affordable rents, and is close to major shopping and ez freeway
access.

I would suggest looking on Cleveland Craigslist in the "Apt / Rentals" section ... enter "Lakewood / Birdtown" as part of your search query.

Good luck!

[Curvykitten]

Thanks! I've just heard some people say that it's the "ghetto" of Lakewood, while others have said it's a decent place to live. The street I'm looking at seems fine, but who knows, right?

[WeSoHood]

I'd look north into the Gold Coast area opposed to Birdtown. The whole city of Lakewood has affordable rent though, so your options aren't limited to Birdtown

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Curvykitten

Thanks! I've just heard some people say that it's the "ghetto" of Lakewood, while others have said it's a decent place to live. The street I'm looking at seems fine, but who knows, right?

Personally, I would stay NORTH of Detroit Ave. The very few times that I have been hassled on my five mile walks through Lakewood have been along Madison between 117th and 140th.

[marence]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Personally, I would stay NORTH of Detroit Ave. The very few times that I have been hassled on my five mile walks through Lakewood have been along Madison between 117th and 140th.

That's odd, because I routinely walk Madison from Hilliard to 117th, and have never been hassled. The only place I've had problems is on Detroit just west of Warren, where teens congregate and block the sidewalks, and don't respond positively when politely asked to move.

To the OP: I love Lakewood. I know a lot of people who live in Birdtown and the nearby area who have few problems there. The problem is mostly with absentee landlords, who don't screen applicants and then don't check on the property afterward. I'd suggest driving down the street, and looking at the state of the yards - if the block you intend to move to looks bad, then it probably is. I've heard more bad things about the area between Madison and Detroit between 117th and 140th than the area south of Madison (i.e., Birdtown), but that's anecdotal evidence.

As mentioned earlier, there's lots of affordable housing in Lakewood, and most of it isn't published anywhere - you have to drive around and look for "For Rent" signs.

And there's no place in Lakewood that is nearly as bad as Ashtabula, IMHO!