Neighborhoods: Tremont & Ohio City (Cleveland, Lorain: lease, crime, cheap house)

[walkingaround]

We are considering a move from Baltimore to Cleveland. Any input on life in the neighborhoods of Tremont and Ohio City?

Thanks!

[ivanabacowboy]

Hi! What are your priorities in a neighborhood? Ie housing cost, schools, commute, "urban lifestyle", etc? If you are young urban-minded open-minded professional or artistic type, those locations may interest you. If you are say a young family starting out with young children, I would definitely look elsewhere (avoid the Cleveland school district at all costs).

[ottomobeale]

Avoid Cleveland City if you have need of schools or police. Both are failures.

OTOH I have a gay friend who loves the "up and coming" west side market area. Urban-hip-artsy et al.

[BelieveInCleve]

I guess it depends on what part of Baltimore you are moving from. If you from the westside of Baltimore or any other bad areas in the city then Tremont and Ohio city should be good, but if you are from the nicer part of the city or the suburbs of Baltimore its probably worse in those neighborhoods. Tremont and Ohio city are both old areas of the city and a lot of the houses in the area are getting fixed up. When i was over in that area i saw a lot of old fixed up houses mixed in with a couple boarded up and burnt down houses. Public schools in the area are pretty bad, I was thinking of moving to the area but i dont know if i will.

[newnurse111]

Ohio City and Tremont are interesting neighbhorhoods of Cleveland. I enjoy visiting them; however, I drive from a suburb about twenty minutes away. You will find that raising kids in these areas can be rewarding because it will provide them with a cultural experience unique to Cleveland, yet there are also issues with crime and the neighborhoods are considered to "unsafe," and Cleveland Public School District is bad. If you choose to live in either of these neighborhoods, I suggest investigating private schooling. There are wonderful private schools in the area. There are positive and negatives about living in Ohio City and Tremont.

Please keep in mind that most of the outlying subburbs can reach Cleveland with a short commute of only thirty minutes (and from some directions that is with our worst traffic. Cleveland traffic will not even come close to compare to Baltimore.)

[beach mamma]

Keep in mind when moving to Tremont that you will have the steel mill practically in your backyard. Neighbors like to picket Mittal steel complaining about the poor air quality. How can you complain about pollution when YOU CHOOSE to live so close to an active mill? As one neighbor put it "out house is literally in the backyard of the steel mill."

[Clevelandgal]

I am not sure if the OP is still around but that said,I spend most of my time in the OC and Tremont communities and live in OC -it is a great urban experience-something you will not get in the suburbs. As crazy as it sounds, "safety" can be subjective-- Everybody has a different threshhold. You do kind of need to get the know the areas before making a commitment (long term lease or buying).

[BelieveInCleve]

Tremont and Ohio City are the areas that I considering moving into. Im kind of tired of living in the suburbs and I grew up in a urban area so I thought it would be really good if I could move into Tremont or Ohio City. Im still considering it but I dont know if Im going to. I would need a cheap house and most of the houses in Ohio City can go from 150k-220k and I was looking for something cheaper, but Im sure I can find something close to Ohio city for pretty cheap. Theres still a lot of low-class neighborhoods around there but there some of the worst on the Westside.

[costello_musicman]

Over the last ten years, both this areas have seen a huge increase for young professionals and restaurant goers. Tremont, for example, has had the highest property value gain in all of Northeast Ohio in the past decade--I personally had a friend who bought a mini-mansion in Tremont for $30,000 15 years ago and sold it for $280,000 2 years ago.

Some basic present day stereotypes:

Ohio City: Northern part is considered a "cool" place to live due to the proximity of the Great Lakes Brewery (amazing beer!), Westside Market, and many bars, cafes, and restaurants. The more southern and west parts are a little more rough, but have some good properties as well. There is a train stop at W.25 and Lorain that takes you right into downtown public square. (basically the hub of public transportation for the city).

Tremont: "Trendy" part of Cleveland. Higher property values in newer townhomes and older victorian homes. Sense of identity of the city's past because it borders the old industrial valley (which makes it extremely unique). Has the best restaurants in Cleveland outside of the W.6th and E. 4th areas downtown. There is also a fairly decent amount of art galleries and cafes.

Also, both are as close to downtown as you can live without living downtown.