West Park area? (Cleveland, Lorain, Lakewood: section 8, renters, condo)

[gtsurfer05]

South of Puritas seemed kinda shady to me when I was out there, the projects are south of Puritas/Bellaire right? I've heard that the area south of 71 and around 130th is bad from someone that lives there.

[ottomobeale]

The world changes from W150 to W130 South along puritas from "eh" to bad by west side standards...

This all pales in comparison to say. E105 and Cedar.

[gtsurfer05]

Ya I would have to agree with that one.

[andrew61]

The thing about West Park is that it covers such a large area that it's impossible to generalize about it. IIRC, West Park is everything from West 117th on the east to the Cleveland city limits on the west, from Lakewood on the north to Brookpark Road on the south. That covers quite a few different neighborhoods with very different characteristics, as has already been pointed out.

IMHO the nicest section of West Park is the area north of Lorain Avenue and west of Warren Road. Beyond that, other parts of West Park range from nice to OK to iffy.

[regccf]

Try Amherst. Great schools and now the turnpike exit is within 3 miles of the city. You can get to Cleveland in less than 30 minutes; airport in 20 minutes, etc. As you know, close to Vermilion. Call Rosemary Revta at Howard Hanna Realty for best houses in Amherst area.
Good luck,
Bob

[TheProf]

Originally Posted by regccf

Try Amherst. Great schools and now the turnpike exit is within 3 miles of the city. You can get to Cleveland in less than 30 minutes; airport in 20 minutes, etc. As you know, close to Vermilion. Call Rosemary Revta at Howard Hanna Realty for best houses in Amherst area.
Good luck,
Bob

I thought this was about West Park in the City, not (the usual) running away from it.

[BelieveInCleve]

West Park is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Cleveland (not saying a lot right now though lol). If I remember right most of West park is either middle or upper middle class. I have heard that there is a few areas in West Park to avoid, like I heard there is areas that have some projects there and a lot of crime comes from them. Like someone said earlier, its nothing compared to areas on the Eastside or even near westside.

There is one area of projects near Rocky River rd. and Parkmont Ave. Also there is more projects and abandoned houses near Bellaire Rd. and W 130th st. The rest of West Park is pretty nice looking, especially for Cleveland.

[rugercaptain]

Originally Posted by regccf

Try Amherst. Great schools and now the turnpike exit is within 3 miles of the city. You can get to Cleveland in less than 30 minutes; airport in 20 minutes, etc. As you know, close to Vermilion. Call Rosemary Revta at Howard Hanna Realty for best houses in Amherst area.
Good luck,
Bob

You must've read my mind...I just sold my house in Sandusky and will be placing an offer on a house in Amherst (actually Amherst Township). I even used Howard Hanna (agent, Kathi Howard) to sell my place.

I'm tired of the decay in Sandusky. I was born and raised there, worked twenty years for the fire department, and bought a house in the City in 1990. I improved it beyond what the neighborhood would support, but I was living in it so I wanted it to be nice. I was determined to live and work in my hometown for my entire career.

Now I'm paying for being a responsible homeowner in a run-down city--there's a 70% rental occupation rate, few good paying jobs, slashed City services, crime that probably rivals Cleveland on a per capita basis, and crappy, crappy housing. And to get out I have to sell my place to a first-time home buyer who I have to subsidize with 6% of the bargain-basement sale price.

I'm over it. I tried. I would mow my next-door neighbor's lawn just to keep the weeds down so my lawn wouldn't become a dandelion factory. My pug dog, who can barely see a couple of feet above grade, looks startled and barks at the huge, gaping hole in the neighbor's soffit every time she goes outside! I just sigh and tell her, "It makes me mad, too." And the people who live there own the house!

I'm looking forward to moving to the suburbs. More power to those that enjoy urban living--I guess I'm a subdivided neighborhood girl at heart. (Must've been all those Brady Bunch episodes I watched years ago...)

[BelieveInCleve]

Come on, Sandusky is not too bad. I used to go there all the time, and that wasnt too long ago. Its definitely nowhere near Clevelands crime rate. I mean its not suburban but its not that bad of a city.

[TheCLE]

Originally Posted by 121804

The areas north of Detroit Rd in River are VERY expensive...Avalon, Beach Cliff Blvd...all those homes near RR Park cost a pretty penny. Even the ones right near the railroad tracks run in the area $400+ .
Then there are the areas off of Center Ridge Road & Hilliard that are not as expensive. There is the area off of Westwood that is definitely affordable but the homes are mostly 1960/70 ranch homes on busy side streets.

BUT, what you get for your money in River...great schools (St Chris isn't too bad either for private), good reputation for resale, lower taxes compared to Lakewood & Fairview, & some cute store/restaurants. But Crocker Park in Westlake has hurt stores & restuarants in River; especially the trendy area around Beachcliff. Several stores will be closing.

Compare River to areas such as Chagrin Falls, Solon, Beachwood, Sag Hills, Pepper Pike etc...no way. River is a deal.

For affordability PLUS GOOD SCHOOLS on the west side...areas of Avon Lake, River, & Bay.

Never been a fan of Westlake. Fairview has high taxes due to lack of industry/commercial stores & schools are still under par though hopefully the new rec center & Westgate reville will help.

Wouldn't give a house away in Westpark or anywhere in Cleveland proper. Just too many issues that range from crime, schools, empty stores, etc.

North Olmsted?? Heck no! I am not even going to go down that route of what N.O. is turning into. Schools are awful.

Brook Park is affordable as is Parma, but the schools stink & levies are always failing to make the schools stink even more.

Berea is "ok"...again, depends on where in Berea.

The west side is so expansive & can change from one block to another.

If schools are #1, then stick with River, Bay, Berea.

Stay away from West Park & North Olmsted.

Be aware of the school system if you look in Fairview. You can get a lot of house for your money there though.

North Royalton is another great area. VERY good school system.

You contradict yourself in this post. You say that Brook Park's schools stink and they are constantly failing levies. Then you say that if "schools are No. 1" stick with River, Bay or Berea. Well, Brook Park is in the Berea City School District. Kids in Brook Park either attend Berea or Midpark HS depending on what side of Smith they live on.

I'm not advocating living in Brook Park, but schools aren't the issue there. The Berea City Schools are very good.