Moving from Minneapolis to Cleveland -- Suggestions? (Columbus, Lakewood: apartment, crime) - City-Data Forum

Min-Chi-Cbus · 12-02-2010, 09:10 AM

Due to recent circumstances our family is likely going to pack up and move from Minnesota where I have roots and a social network (but no family) to Cleveland where my wife has family and somebody can watch our 1 year old during the day if necessary. There are lots of things I have questions about, but my primary concern right now is finding a decent place to live.

In Minneapolis, we live in an apartment in an upscale suburb that is close to the Chain of Lakes and city parks, is mostly crime-free, has lots of amenities nearby and relatively close to the city and the airport. My wife has family in Shaker Heights, but I'm not 100% sold on that being the optimal place to relocate to without researching further. Is there anything in Cleveland with the following aspects:

safe
parks and lakes/water (recreational trails for walking or playing)
more urban than suburban (urban okay too)
lots of restaurants and retail nearby
proximity to Shaker Hts, downtown, the airport, Chicago.

Those are just some starting ideas. I have lots of family in Chicago and since I'll be an hour or so closer I may visit fairly often, so being half an hour closer to Chi-town may be appealing to me, but isn't a dealbreaker at all! It may also be nice to be close(r) to the airport if I travel to and from Minnesota, Chicago, California, etc.....also Columbus, where I went to school at OSU.

Thanks in advance!!

1watertiger · 12-02-2010, 09:43 AM

rocky river comes to mind... safe and a western suburb on lake erie..fun especially for metroparks/water/outdoor activities. suburban to the west and urban to the east. it would take about 30 minutes(non rush hr) to drive to shaker or airport and 15 min to downtown. sooner if you are close to the freeway. plenty of shopping/restaurants.

Min-Chi-Cbus · 12-02-2010, 10:19 AM

It looks like a good location on the map....curious why you skipped over Lakewood though? Is there something wrong with Lakewood? I've actually HEARD of that suburb and I'm from MN! Seems like something out of the North Shore of Chicago or something, no?

JR_C · 12-02-2010, 10:29 AM

I would have suggested Lakewood, but didn't reply because I don't live in the area. So, 1watertiger might know something I don't, too.

1watertiger · 12-02-2010, 10:57 AM

lakewood is also good for what you are looking for.. overall cheaper. more urban. more crime than rocky river, but safe.

5Lakes · 12-02-2010, 11:57 AM

Lakewood is good. It will remind you of the Uptown section of Minneapolis, but located on Lake Erie instead of Lake Calhoun. Maybe not quite as trendy as Uptown though. The blocks close to the lake can be a bit North Shore-ish in appearance, but overall Lakewood is much more blue collar than Chicago's wealthy northern lakeshore burbs. I think Lakewood is your best option based on your criteria.

Rocky River is next to Lakewood and a bit more suburban. It's a bit more upscale though and would be a bit more like one of Chicago's North Shore burbs. Rocky River's advantage is top-notch schools, but it's certainly not as interesting as Lakewood.

West Park is another nearby option that you may want to consider in this part of town. It's just south of Lakewood

Shaker Heights is very scenic and has some amazing historic neighborhoods. The Shaker Heights/Shaker Square/Cleveland Heights/University Heights area kind of reminds me of the Oak Park/River Forest/Forest Park area of Chicago. You have a lot of old money whites with a good sized black minority that is mostly middle class. If you like this part of town and want more urban I would look into the Coventry section of Cleveland Heights. Both Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights do border some rough parts of Cleveland, so you may want to be leery of the areas near the border. Cleveland Heights/University Heights has bad schools, but Shaker's are decent.

Cleveland has a train line that will take you right to the airport. This is generally more convenient on the west side. Although, Shaker Heights is also served by transit. You could take a train from Shaker to downtown and then transfer to the airport line at the downtown station.

Cleveland has a great park system surrounding the city. Wherever you live will likely be near a metro park area. The urban parks in the actually city core are however a bit lacking.

PhillytoCincy · 12-02-2010, 01:35 PM

I love Cleveland's metro park system. Also, the station you are talking about in downtown where you can switch trains is at the Terminal Tower complex, right?

1watertiger · 12-03-2010, 10:34 AM

yes you are correct. beavercreek, "tower city" under the shops/stores.

Clevelander17 · 12-03-2010, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5Lakes

Lakewood is good. It will remind you of the Uptown section of Minneapolis, but located on Lake Erie instead of Lake Calhoun. Maybe not quite as trendy as Uptown though. The blocks close to the lake can be a bit North Shore-ish in appearance, but overall Lakewood is much more blue collar than Chicago's wealthy northern lakeshore burbs. I think Lakewood is your best option based on your criteria.

Rocky River is next to Lakewood and a bit more suburban. It's a bit more upscale though and would be a bit more like one of Chicago's North Shore burbs. Rocky River's advantage is top-notch schools, but it's certainly not as interesting as Lakewood.

West Park is another nearby option that you may want to consider in this part of town. It's just south of Lakewood

Shaker Heights is very scenic and has some amazing historic neighborhoods. The Shaker Heights/Shaker Square/Cleveland Heights/University Heights area kind of reminds me of the Oak Park/River Forest/Forest Park area of Chicago. You have a lot of old money whites with a good sized black minority that is mostly middle class. If you like this part of town and want more urban I would look into the Coventry section of Cleveland Heights. Both Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights do border some rough parts of Cleveland, so you may want to be leery of the areas near the border. Cleveland Heights/University Heights has bad schools, but Shaker's are decent.

Cleveland has a train line that will take you right to the airport. This is generally more convenient on the west side. Although, Shaker Heights is also served by transit. You could take a train from Shaker to downtown and then transfer to the airport line at the downtown station.

Cleveland has a great park system surrounding the city. Wherever you live will likely be near a metro park area. The urban parks in the actually city core are however a bit lacking.

Actually, Cleveland Heights' border with Cleveland is fine (University Circle/Little Italy). It's Cleveland Heights' border with East Cleveland that is the problem.

Also, I don't think that the CH-UH schools are "bad" at the elementary school level. In fact, the schools themselves at all levels are generally okay, it's just that there are a lot of bad apples attending them.

Clevelander17 · 12-03-2010, 08:04 PM

Honestly, based on what the OP said, I instantly thought of Shaker Heights.