Moving to Cleveland - Looking for best suburb with lovely houses, trees and great education (preferably West Side) (Warren: neighborhoods, buy)

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by teacherdad

Property taxes are different in Ohio. They are double what I pay in CA. There are homes along, or very near, the lake in Lakewood that you should visit. Not at the top of your price, either. They have deep lots that back up to the lake. VERY nice and only 12 min. from downtown. LOTS of culture in CLE.

Someday I hope my wife is on here doing the same post you put up.

Property taxes vary greatly from community to community depending upon the tax base.

Also, I believe Ohio has lower marginal income tax rates than CA, even after including municipal income taxes.

The big difference, however, may be that housing prices are higher in CA so property taxes can be lower in many communities to raise comparable revenues.

[L2DB]

Originally Posted by citymama

Ok, your OP sounded just dead on for Rocky River, really.

This. The diversity's going to be pretty low, and apparently the yards are an issue, but yeah, Rocky River seems to be a really good fit.

Maybe Bay Village as a backup?

[kpl1228]

Bay Village. It's a bit more charming than Rocky River, but only a bit. The east side suburbs have it all over the west side in the charm department, sorry to say.

[nep321]

Can anyone in here chime in on Cleveland vs. St. Louis living? STL seems to have a nicer climate.

[theurbanfiles]

Nicer climate is allll relative. They may get less snow, but the winters there are hardly what anyone would call ideal, and the summers are quite comparable to those in Florida: in a word, absurdly hot.

I'm guessing Cleveland probably has better museums/historic stuff, and parks, but St. Louis probably isn't bad in that regard too. Cleveland, particularly on the East Side and in certain areas on the West Side is more like what your used to in the Northeast, but a little more laid back. St. Louis is probably more midwest with southern flair thrown in.

[nep321]

Originally Posted by clevelander1991

Nicer climate is allll relative. They may get less snow, but the winters there are hardly what anyone would call ideal, and the summers are quite comparable to those in Florida: in a word, absurdly hot.

I'm guessing Cleveland probably has better museums/historic stuff, and parks, but St. Louis probably isn't bad in that regard too. Cleveland, particularly on the East Side and in certain areas on the West Side is more like what your used to in the Northeast, but a little more laid back. St. Louis is probably more midwest with southern flair thrown in.

The winters in Cleveland must be horrific though, I would imagine. 60 inches of snow per year, my god. Here we only get about 25 inches per year. Don't get me wrong....I enjoy a few good snowfalls, but that seems excessive!

Also, I noticed that Cleveland only gets two months averaging in the low 80's for highs. That's not that warm. Does it ever get hot enough there to go swimming for several months in the summer? Can people wear shorts for at least 3 or 4 months? Does it get sunny in the summer? I like some hot humid days and love when it's warm and humid overnight, too.

[Jen35]

I'm the one that regrets moving to Rocky River

We had a similar desire for house (older with character), neighborhood with shops to walk to, good schools (3rd grader and K). Similar budget. We did end up with a house with .3 acres, which is decent for RR. Honestly, you should just buy my house and I will move

What I do not like about River, is it's hard to meet people, and there's a fair amount of keeping up with the Jones', which is not my thing. It's partially the area I live in (Beachcliff 1 - down by the lake). I think it I had picked Beachcliff 2 (between Lake Rd and Detroit Rd), I would have had a different experience, but the larger, character homes are closer to the lake. I'm not a huge Whole Foods type person, and never shop there when I had the chance. So, River may be more your cup of tea here than mine (I don't mean that in a bad way). I do know lots of people who absolutely adore it here. It just isn't the right fit for me personally. A lot of people grew up here, moved away and then came back to have kids. I'm noticing the people I have connected with are transplants vs people who grew up here as they already have established connections. We also have a 1 year old, which has made it hard to get around, so my experience may be very different than your experience.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about here. My kids are Elementary school age, so if you have questions about the younger schools, I can probably answer them. I've heard that middle/high school is where you see the "great" schools. Elementary (K and 3rd) have been just typical, basic school. Nothing to rave about.

-Jen

[theurbanfiles]

Originally Posted by nep321

The winters in Cleveland must be horrific though, I would imagine. 60 inches of snow per year, my god. Here we only get about 25 inches per year. Don't get me wrong....I enjoy a few good snowfalls, but that seems excessive!

Also, I noticed that Cleveland only gets two months averaging in the low 80's for highs. That's not that warm. Does it ever get hot enough there to go swimming for several months in the summer? Can people wear shorts for at least 3 or 4 months? Does it get sunny in the summer? I like some hot humid days and love when it's warm and humid overnight, too.

It only gets too like that, but June/September are still quite warm. FWIW, which may not be much, I've swam in Lake Erie as early as early May and late as Mid October. And I didn't get hypothermia/didn't wear a wet suit haha. One thing to note, a lot more snow on the east side than the west side. I never saw winters at that much of a problem. There may be 2-3 days total where it becomes an issue , but then again, look at Boston. Stamford and Cleveland are probably similar temperature wise, with Cleveland getting the bad (as well as the good, mind you) that comes with more snow. Also, if you were living in a place like Little Italy or Shaker Square, I doubt a car would be necessary. I would say our summers are absolutely beautiful , an envy of most of the country.

[kpl1228]

Originally Posted by Jen35

I'm the one that regrets moving to Rocky River

We had a similar desire for house (older with character), neighborhood with shops to walk to, good schools (3rd grader and K). Similar budget. We did end up with a house with .3 acres, which is decent for RR. Honestly, you should just buy my house and I will move

What I do not like about River, is it's hard to meet people, and there's a fair amount of keeping up with the Jones', which is not my thing. It's partially the area I live in (Beachcliff 1 - down by the lake). I think it I had picked Beachcliff 2 (between Lake Rd and Detroit Rd), I would have had a different experience, but the larger, character homes are closer to the lake. I'm not a huge Whole Foods type person, and never shop there when I had the chance. So, River may be more your cup of tea here than mine (I don't mean that in a bad way). I do know lots of people who absolutely adore it here. It just isn't the right fit for me personally. A lot of people grew up here, moved away and then came back to have kids. I'm noticing the people I have connected with are transplants vs people who grew up here as they already have established connections. We also have a 1 year old, which has made it hard to get around, so my experience may be very different than your experience.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about here. My kids are Elementary school age, so if you have questions about the younger schools, I can probably answer them. I've heard that middle/high school is where you see the "great" schools. Elementary (K and 3rd) have been just typical, basic school. Nothing to rave about.

-Jen

agreed agreed agreed.
The thing that bugged me was the locals calling it "River." Very stupid of me, I know. But the way it was said was always so smug and condescending. And I know they have good school ratings, and great extracurriculars, (but if i had that demographic, how can schools NOT score high?) but when, as you said, the "keeping up with the Joneses" thing, I always think about Rocky River. Though now, probably more applicable to Westlake (and the "Westlake Wannabes" in some of North Ridgeville).
As stated here on this forum ad nauseum, it's just so different from its equal suburbs in the east side Heights. There, it's classy. In Rocky River, it's just Desperate Housewives. Hard to explain, but yeah.
Also, didn't Rocky River HS use to whip out the cell phones and the Wall Street Journal when the opposing high school team would run out onto the basketball court? As some sort of snotty yuppy thing? Kinda indicative of the whole town. If somewhere else (say Hudson HS or Chagrin Falls HS) did it, it would be done tongue in cheek and with some humor, and everyone would be in on the joke because of their upscale reputations. Rocky River does it, it's more of a rubbing your opponents face in the mud kind of thing. (Hard to describe accurately, sorry.)
In some ways, it's not fair, as some of the older more entrenched middle class areas of Rocky River (like by Dante Lavelli's old furniture/appliance store on Center Ridge, where the suburb feels like Fairview Park) don't give off that vibe. but yeah, the soccer moms and the Joneses folks in "River" (yuck) are way annoying.
If you're from Cincinnati, as it says on your profile, Rocky River always reminded me of Montgomery (or maybe even like some parts of Oakley). Money, but not classy "old" money, like around Glendale, East Walnut Hills, Losantiville Country Club, etc...Just overrated and "trying to hard." Many love it I know, but....

[nep321]

Originally Posted by clevelander1991

It only gets too like that, but June/September are still quite warm. FWIW, which may not be much, I've swam in Lake Erie as early as early May and late as Mid October. And I didn't get hypothermia/didn't wear a wet suit haha. One thing to note, a lot more snow on the east side than the west side. I never saw winters at that much of a problem. There may be 2-3 days total where it becomes an issue , but then again, look at Boston. Stamford and Cleveland are probably similar temperature wise, with Cleveland getting the bad (as well as the good, mind you) that comes with more snow. Also, if you were living in a place like Little Italy or Shaker Square, I doubt a car would be necessary. I would say our summers are absolutely beautiful , an envy of most of the country.

Well, I'm still considering it. It seems like it could work out great for me. Short direct flights to Hartford for under $300 is fabulous, to visit family, too. And the cost of housing is just unbelievably attractive. Too good to be true though. Just by looking at pictures, I absolutely love the architecture and layout of the city and metro next to the lake. I am so happy that I stopped considering Columbus. Columbus seems decent too, but something was just missing. It seemed like one of those places that the only great thing going for it is the economy. I don't want to live in the better economy; I want to live in the better city/metro. I also like how NEOH has a more northeastern mentality than Columbus. I also hate major, chronic traffic and fast paced anything. I also can't stand places that are superficial or pretentious or money oriented.