Best Cleveland/Akron suburbs with small town vibe (Lorain, Mentor: houses, neighborhood)

[Cleverfield]

There are several suburbs on the outskirts of Cleveland and Akron that have a small town feel, with an old fashioned main street and "Downtown", little old houses, old churches, an old town hall, etc. Some of these suburbs have become very up-scale and nice. Which ones are your favorite, and why do you like them? What cool things do they have to offer? The ones that come to mind for me are:

-Chagrin Falls
-Olmsted Falls
-Hudson
-Glenwillow
-Peninsula
-Medina

Any others that I'm missing?

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

There are several suburbs on the outskirts of Cleveland and Akron that have a small town feel, with an old fashioned main street and "Downtown", little old houses, old churches, an old town hall, etc. Some of these suburbs have become very up-scale and nice. Which ones are your favorite, and why do you like them? What cool things do they have to offer? The ones that come to mind for me are:

-Chagrin Falls
-Olmsted Falls
-Hudson
-Glenwillow
-Peninsula
-Medina

Any others that I'm missing?

Willoughby -- small, but nice downtown; proximity to University Circle; good Laketran RTA transit; good hospital/clinic; Willoughby Performing Arts Center; adjacent to mammoth Mentor retail center (sixth largest in Ohio); proximity to Lake Erie beaches (Mentor Headlands, Fairport); many Lake Metroparks and North Chagrin Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks and to Holden Arboretum; access to both I-90 and Route 2; Lakeland Community College including Holden Univ. Center offering several 4-year degrees from various universities

Oberlin -- college vibe; great town square; very diverse and welcoming; excellent cultural amenities; rural setting; easy drive to Cleveland Hopkins on I-480. Only 20 minutes from Lakeview Beach in Lorain and close to Lorain Metro Parks, such as Cascade Park.

Cascade Park at Lorain County Metro Parks

[bjimmy24]

Maybe Chardon?

[andrew61]

I was thinking Chardon also. Nice town square, town is small and quaint and historic, although nowadays there is some sprawl on the fringes. Big annual event is their Maple Syrup Festival. But if one chooses to live in Chardon, one had better like snow. Lots of it.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

Maybe Chardon?

It qualifies IMO.

Charming public square, which hosts the annual Geauga County Maple Festival in April. See post 22 here:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio/...squares-3.html

https://www.maplefestival.com/

Chardon is the county seat of Geauga County.

Longer commute to Cleveland with the only convenient freeway being Route 2, which runs north/south between Painesville and Chardon, but allows Chardon residents to reach Mentor Headlands Beach State Park, the largest natural sand beach in Ohio, in just over 20 minutes. Google recommends taking Route 6 to I-90 to get to Cleveland, about 40 minutes to the Cleveland Museum of Art (in good weather).

Chardon probably posts more significant snowfall totals than any other significant community in Greater Cleveland.

https://www.chardon.cc/155/Yearly-Total-Snowfall

Chardon is not far from Holden Arboretum (just over 10 minutes) and several Lake Metroparks, and there are several excellent parks in the Geauga Park District.

[ClevelandBrown]

I'll add Wadsworth to the conversation. Actually, of all the cities mentioned, it had the highest pre-WWII population of any of them of more than 6,500 (Willoughby, Oberlin and Medina were in the 4,000 or so range), so there is a lot of older inventory, most of it well maintained.

To be transparent, I live there, but it was out of a compromise. My wife wanted small town/rural ... I didn't mind small town, but didn't want bland suburban. So, it fits what we were looking for, and I found that it has been a good match. Plus, compared to its more glamorous neighbor (Medina), it is a lot more affordable and is closer to city life (Medina is a good half hour from both downtown Cleveland and Akron, where Wadsworth is about 45 minutes from Cleveland but only 15 minutes to Akron). On top of that, outside of being more affordable (with the same amenities), Wadsworth's schools are just as good as Medina's, if comparing the two.

Downtown Wadsworth:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0251...7i13312!8i6656

South end Wadsworth (a working class, Italian/eastern European factory neighborhood):

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0185...7i13312!8i6656

Wadsworth history:

https://mainstreetwadsworth.org/history-of-wadsworth/

[stitchygirl]

Oberlin is a great small town. Actually considering moving back. Be aware that there's a stable population of 8,000 and a school year addition of 3,000 undergrads. They are very liberal, very weird and generally incredibly welcoming. The town is VERY left leaning and political. And the majority of adults probably have at least one family member working for the college.

They have an excellent small town library and host numerous event on the local square for the town and college. Plus a cheap movie theater partially owned by the college, so a mix of hipster movies and first run. If you are a fan of art, opera, theater, there's high quality performances from students (think $10-20 tickets or free), national leading speakers etc. For example, David Sedaris gave the commencement speech this year which is open to anyone who wants to sit on the lawn of the square.

If you are interested in the local schools, they don't skimp on the arts and many elementary classrooms visit the free art museum on a monthly field trip where each tour is tied in to the current study units.

So it's a small town and it's surrounded by nothing but a LOT goes on. If you want something a bit more sleepy with nature activities, Peninsula is on a bike path with skiing right near by. Ohio style skiing so BIG hills but it's something!

[kpl1228]

Peninsula Peninsula Peninsula Peninsula. My #1 dream retirement town for anywhere in the US. NE Ohio quality medical care close by plus all of the amenities and beauty of a national park, and Blossom, and a cool train, and easy access to two urban areas. I can't be the only one that thinks this. So how that town has just not absolutely exploded with more growth in some way shape or form in any part of the area is amazing to me, even with strict NPS restrictions and zoning. Little has changed in twenty years.
It's the best of ALL worlds.
I miss evenings biking the Towpath Trail. Followed by a stop in town at Fisher's or even the Lizard.

[usaf_1832]

I’m going to check out Cuyahoga Falls tomorrow, especially with all their breweries. I’ll circle back. It looks cool along the river there.

[usaf_1832]

To circle back — Cuyahoga Falls has a cool little riverwalk and downtown area.

We ate at Missing Mountain Brewing Company outside on their patio, which overlooks the river. I found this article showing a few images: https://www.cleveland.com/entertainm...incart_m-rpt-2

It’s up the street from the main downtown area, but still on Front Street that hugs the river.

We then walked around the main downtown area, which has a few blocks of intact older buildings, shopping, and a couple more breweries.

Long story short, we’ll be back.