Moving to Westlake... (Cleveland, Lakewood, North Olmsted: living in, professionals, buses)

[duany19]

Hi everyone, after a few days of scrambling all around Cleveland, I finally found an apt. in Cleveland. Its a nice place and I really liked Westlake. Westlake is less congested than the other towns in Cleve I had visited. I do have a couple questions/concerns about living in Westlake...

1) The commute. Ill be working in downtown and I was told the commute is only 20-30 mins, which is doable for me. My question is, would it be easier or more convenient to drive to a park n ride (triskett station?) and take the rapid in? I think if i bought 5 day passes (11.95) I would save a ton of money. From what i saw, parking downtown is expensive. Also, I work pretty close to tower city, so it would save me the hassle of driving through downtown.

2) Nightlife in Westlake. I understand Westlake is more of a suburb than urban area. It seems to be more upperclass/family orientated. I am in my mid-20s so I still like to have fun and go "out" on the weekends. It doesnt seem like there is too much of a bar-scene in Westlake. Where should I go to meet up with younger professionals my age on the weekends? Lakewood? Downtown? and how would I get there?

Thanks guys.

[Peregrine]

Welcome. Resident West Side expert here.

1) True, the commute is only 20-30 Minutes. Parking can be expensive. Parking at Tower City is $6.00 a day. If you don't mind walking you can park at Browns Stadium for $2.00 a day I believe. You could drive to a rapid station, and I would generally recommend that on bad snow days. Triskett or 117th are very close to I-90 off ramps so that would be a very easy way to get downtown. Hop on the freeway for 5-10 minutes. Hop off and grab a train. 117th is closer, but Triskett has better parking.
Still going to take 20-30 minutes. But it drops you off right at Tower City which is very convenient.

/edit/ Oh and Westlake does get very congested on Detroit Road during rush hours. Westlake is expanding the road to 4 lanes which should help greatly.

2) There are a small handful of bars in Westlake. Some pretty good actually.
Dover Garden which is a typical corner bar minus a corner. The Savanah is a great little Bar/Restaraunt that has live music on the weekends. Loco Leprechaun, Clevelands only Irish Mexican restaraunt is decent, too.
Irish Mexcan? Wierd I know but the food is great.
There are also a few in the suburb to the south, North Olmsted and to the east in Rocky River. Also MANY at Kamms Corner in Cleveland which is a short drive (10-15 minutes) from Westlake.
Then there are all the other Cleveland hot spots that are right off the freeway: Tremont, Ohio City, Battery Park and Gordon Square. All within a pretty short distance since you will be close to I-90.

[Marty711]

There is a RTA Park and ride lot in Westlake. It's on Sperry. The one bus goes to the Triskett station while the other bus goes directly to Public Square and on to CSU's transit center. If you're doing RTA, you might prefer that to driving to a Red Line station and then taking that in. The Westlake buses can get crowded, depending on the day.

I echo Peregrine's thoughts on Westlake's nightlife. There might be a few bars there, but the most active part of the city is Crocker Park which might not be the nightlife that you're looking for. Lakewood and Cleveland are your best bets.

[grexley]

Yeah, the Park and ride in westlake is the way to go if you want to take public transportation. its not a light rail, its just a large bus stop. but the buses out of this lot are generally nicer then the regualar route busses. When I was using this park and ride, I found it wasn't much longer then having to drive and park downtown and was significantly cheaper.

[duany19]

Originally Posted by grexley

Yeah, the Park and ride in westlake is the way to go if you want to take public transportation. its not a light rail, its just a large bus stop. but the buses out of this lot are generally nicer then the regualar route busses. When I was using this park and ride, I found it wasn't much longer then having to drive and park downtown and was significantly cheaper.

Ok cool, is it a non- stop trip? And where does it take u downtown?

[RioDominicana]

Originally Posted by duany19

Ok cool, is it a non- stop trip? And where does it take u downtown?

The park and ride takes you to Public Square, Tower City would be right across the street from the stop basically.