Looking for info on Area from Lakewood west to Sandusky. (Cleveland: real estate, rental)

[Boscodagama]

Wow! Just came back to the post and am amazed and thankful for all of the information. Super helpful. Seems like there are major Pros to living in the area from Lakewood west to Avon Lake. To answer a few questions: I am in the senior care field (developing and managing programs in senior communities and care in the home) and my wife works with developmentally disabled adults. We would look to rent first and are looking for a good deal (we value a front and backyard, access to nature, and access to Cleveland above new shiny home features or a feeling of exclusivity). Our son also will not be in school for a few years at which time we would explore buying. I imagine with our income in the industries we work in we could comfortably afford $1,000 a month rent though again I'd love to take advantage of the cost of living in the area and focus on places that give us the best deal for the things we are looking for.

Also, please give me an honest assessment of your experience of the four seasons, especially the winter. I am not really concerned about any other season than winter. I am not so much worried about the cold but the idea of 3 months of grey (if that is even the case?). What is more challenging in your experience, the cold or the grey? I've read conflicting information on this forum about the winter months (let's focus on the west Cleveland suburbs because I've learned there is less snow there). Do you enjoy the winter? What is the best part of it? What is the most challenging part of it and how is it best dealt with?

You guys are awesome, thank you for your time and guidance.

[treat]

We have gray a lot. All year round. I routinely have visitors from out of state and the thing they comment most on is the grayness, how they've never seen anything like it before (usually the people are from Texas). The snow is usually pretty, but it can snarl traffic (it's a great feeling to be slowly sliding on ice into the car in front of you and nothing you can really do about it, or having multiple cars spin out in front of you on the highway, just narrowly avoiding hitting each other. Yeah, I'm still grumpy from a storm we just had). Generally the really bad storms only happen a few times a year, though. Otherwise, the roads aren't bad, you just have to be careful and learn tricks for driving in the snow, and allow extra time in the morning for scraping your car and dealing with possibly frozen doors. Sometimes pipes burst from the cold (just happened in my neighborhood last night). However, like I said, it's pretty as long as the snow is fresh and I love sitting by a fireplace whilst looking at the snow outside. When the cold and gray get to be too much for me, I go to the Rainforest at the zoo, the Botanical Gardens or the Rockefeller Greenhouse for the flowers, warmth and humidity. Winters also mean the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall (during the summers they play at an outdoor pavilion that's a little out of the way). In general, though, you learn to get used to the gray, though it still bums me out sometimes, especially when everything starts to get covered in salt and slush. It sometimes seems like for days on end Cleveland only consists of white, gray and black.

My tips for winter: Learn to drive in the snow (what to do if you fishtail, etc.). Invest in waterproof boots, coats, gloves, etc. Put plastic and weatherstripping on your windows, and add storm windows (those glass things that you replace the screens with in the fall/winter). Use a storm door (obviously only if you're buying, same with the storm windows). Get space heaters and flannel sheets.

Summers here are nice, but it usually doesn't heat up until late June/early July and the heat only lasts a short time, unfortunately (usually gone by August). Fall is great here as well, though we did get a significant snowfall in early/mid October of this year - we usually don't get the first big snowfall til late November/early December. Spring is usually gray and wet and snow can last into May sometimes, though usually the last big snowfall is in March.

So to sum up, winter here isn't all that bad, though there are days where you'll probably be swearing to yourself, freezing and getting pelted in the head with ice and snow and praying that you won't need to clean your car off, wondering why anyone would choose to live here. It'll pass along with the storm.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Boscodagama

Also, please give me an honest assessment of your experience of the four seasons, especially the winter. I am not really concerned about any other season than winter. I am not so much worried about the cold but the idea of 3 months of grey (if that is even the case?). What is more challenging in your experience, the cold or the grey? I've read conflicting information on this forum about the winter months (let's focus on the west Cleveland suburbs because I've learned there is less snow there). Do you enjoy the winter? What is the best part of it? What is the most challenging part of it and how is it best dealt with?.

As for the weather, you have to accept a certain number of gloomy days a year if you live in the Great Lakes region. That will NEVER change in your lifetime. If you cannot deal with it, you are moving to the wrong place. It is like moving to Phoenix and complaining about the summer heat. Personally, I liked living in the Cleveland area close to the lake as I could pretty much walk from March 1st - October 31st with a light jacket. I cannot do that in Chicago. One note. If you do not have children and can take off a week in the winter, it really helps to take a trip to a warm climate to break up the winter.

The lake is your friend really. If you live close to the lake, you will experience about six hot weeks a year, roughly mid-July to Labor Day. Cool breezes off the lake really reduce your need for air conditioning. We never use air conditioning when we lived in Lakewood - as long as the house had good cross ventilation.

As for pipes freezing, that is more a function of improper insulation or no insulation on pipes. Honestly, you are more likely to have that in the southern states where the houses are not insulated as well.

As for snow removal, the quality of the snow removal depends on the community. I commuted for years from Lakewood to Elyria. Lakewood, Bay Village, and Rocky River did an excellent job. Westlake and North Ridgeville were not so great and Elyria was completely wretched.

If you are going to commute any distance, I strongly recommend that you invest in good tires. I do NOT mean snow tires or expensive tires. Make sure that you car has newer tires. After a spin out on US-20 and one on I-90, I found it was better to replace the tires every three years.

[Peregrine]

The "constant grey" is ridiculously over stated.
Anyone who claims the sun never comes out here has a short memory. Do we have many grey days in a row? Certainly. But the sun comes out frequently in the winter and a whole lot the rest of the year.

[treat]

Cloudiest Cities in US - Current Results

Shows that Cleveland is the 5th cloudiest city in the U.S.

[Peregrine]

Oh, that totally proves it...

[treat]

I was just providing statistics so he can see where we place in comparison to other cities he may be familiar with. But hey, way to try and start an argument like you do on every thread.

[Yac]

The last thing this thread needs is yet another fight about the weather. Agree to disagree and move on.
Yac.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by treat

Cloudiest Cities in US - Current Results

Shows that Cleveland is the 5th cloudiest city in the U.S.

It's different from say, Portland at #2 where summer is clear and then gloom sets in for 6 straight months (exaggerating slightly).

Cleveland has that Upper-midwest thing where November can be gray straight through, but otherwise that gray is scattered throughout the year. It's pretty unusual to have a solid week of solid gray. Of course, when the sun does come out in winter those are often the coldest days.

Some of that gray is summer days where storms roll south off the lake and you're socked in for a couple days. Living in that area you'll probably need VitD supplements in winter, but that's because you're liable to be fairly bundled up, not for complete lack of sun.

One's opinion on Cleveland winter will likely depend on your baseline. It's going to be colder than the west coast or the south, but unless you're in the snow belt it's going to be notably milder than MI/MN.

Like most of the midwest/northeast, summers can have some rough weeks where you'll desperately wish for A/C if you don't have it, but on the whole it's a fairly temperate climate. And falls can be quite lovely, especially in those years where the cold holds off until the end of Oct.

[Peregrine]

Sorry Yac but I do feel I need to explain my sarcastic comment if he is going to reply with:

Originally Posted by treat

But hey, way to try and start an argument like you do on every thread.

Really? That's untrue and uncalled for.

I am trying to discuss. I just can't stand when someone says "It's grey for 4 months straight". How anyone can say that that actually lives here is beyond me.
I am a realist. I know as should any Clevelander that it is not seriously grey for months at a time. Any Clevelander that says that is a flat out drama queen.
As for your stats, as has been proven again and again those types of Statistics use very basic measurements to come to those conclusions.
Those stats usually say we average 55 sunnys days here? 55!! Over an entire year? Have you lived here for the last year? We had MORE THEN 55 sunny days over JUST the summer last year. If that was true I WOULD kill myself (or really just move).

Here's the thing about those stats: they don't take into account those partly cloudy days. They really don't. You know those gorgeous days where the sky is blue and has happy fluffy clouds and the sun constantly peaks out and it's just truly a very nice day??? That is considered a cloudy day.
The sun comes out a lot over winter. You know it does.
Yes some winters are much sunnier then others. In fact (since I do talk about this a lot I have been paying very close attention the last few years) the past 2 Winters I would say have been a bit on the "sunnier than normal" side. The sun was out A LOT the last 2.
This winter truly hasn't started here yet but the last few weeks have been just the opposite. Cloudier then normal.
But overall saying it is grey for months at a time is pure exaggeration. Sorry... hearing that is like nails on chalkboard for me.