New to Cleveland. I know nothing. (Lorain, Lakewood: apartments, rentals, condo)

[anaphylacticman]

Hello

I just accepted a temporary position in Cleveland and will need to move to the city very soon. Trouble is that I do not know anything about the city other than downtown. Can someone please give me a quick breakdown of the major neighborhoods and suburbs, or point me in the direction of where I can find such a breakdown.

I need advice as to where to live. I am a young professional who will be working downtown. I would like to live on the lightrail lines if there are any good neighborhoods nearby (clean, low crime, etc.). I would live downtown if apartments are not too expensive and parking is available. I do not want to spend more than $800 a month on rent, but I want to live in a good neighborhood. Commuting more than 30 minutes would be annoying and expensive. Any advice?

Thanks

[paintballer1708]

Well there are two booming districts just west of downtown Cleveland. Check out the Warehouse District and the Flats District. Both are building many new condo units and they are very nice. I would also check out Ohio City just outside of downtown Cleveland. Now Cleveland has a wide range of suburbs to chose from. But you want a 30 minute drive so i would look into Westlake, North Olmsted, Olmsted Falls, and Brook Park. You can also ride the Rapid Transit from Brook Park right to downtown Cleveland. Cleveland's rapid transit if voted among the best in the nation, as well as the cheapest. It is going through a billion dollar project called the Euclid Corridor Project connecting downtown Cleveland with University Circle and the Cleveland Clinic as well as the eastern suburbs along the lake. But i would look into the Warehouse District, the Flats District, the suburbs of North Olmsted, Olmsted Falls, Westlake, and Brook Park.

[youyou]

Shaker Hts, to the east of Cleveland has some great apartments very close to the Rapid Transit line, and it is possible to find affordable rent. Lakewood, on the west side, has bus and rapid service downtown, and is also affordable. You could probably rent a nice duplex or even a single house for 800 a month there.

[ritam2001]

I would recommend living downtown, so as to eliminate commute costs. That way, you can afford an even better place to live!

Check out The Bingham, Bridgeview, Crittenden, Reserve Square...lots of nice apts downtown

[Samir_Abdul]

the westside is where its at..trust me..

[WeSoHood]

Originally Posted by Samir_Abdul

the westside is where its at..trust me..

Lakewood (10,000 people per sq mile and diverse) or Rocky River (densely population and about 1/3 of the city is cheap rentals) and for the east side Shaker Heights or Cleveland Heights. All of these communities give me much different feelings then the cookie cutter communities that are further outside of Cleveland. And all are minutes from down town.

If you chose west side. Don't go too far west into Elyria or Lorain. There are some dangerous parts and the drive will be far too long. If you are Puerto Rican you may want to check out the Lorain though for visiting purposes!

[costello_musicman]

Here's a cool breakdown as well:

Believe In Cleveland Foundation | Blog

[orion1778]

Originally Posted by ritam2001

I would recommend living downtown, so as to eliminate commute costs. That way, you can afford an even better place to live!

I second this. Reserve Square has flexible leases and some of the units fall into the $800 or less range. Not sure what they offer in terms of parking, however...

[BelieveInCleve]

Look into:

Downtown/Flats

Westside:
Ohio City
Lakewood (No light rail though)

Eastside:
Shaker Heights
University Circle

[BelieveInCleve]

Ill try to give you a quick breakdown also:

You already know about downtown, there is a lot of things going on there is the rail lines and good public transportation and a fast growing population. Its getting nicer and growing there is always things going on and is pretty safe. Also, most of the Cleveland area has great public transportation with the buses and taxis, and the rail lines are a big plus for the neighborhoods they are in.

The Eastside of the city can get pretty rough. Theres University Circle and Little Italy (to an extent) and a few other decent neighborhoods but other than that its all pretty rough. Theres a small area called China Town near 30th and superior thats probably the only mostly asian neighborhood around, its not too bad but its very urban. Everything East of 55th (or 30th by Tri-C) is nearly all African-American. There is a lot of crime and projects and things over there and most people try to avoid it but there are a few good things over there to check out. East Cleveland is the same as bad areas of the Eastside of Cleveland. There is the red line of the RTA that goes out to East Cleveland and the Blue/Green lines go out to around Shaker Heights.

The Westside of the city is a little better. There is more decent neighborhoods on the westside of the city. There Ohio City and a few other ones (maybe Old Brooklyn and Edgewater) along with some of West Park. The westside has a more mixed population than the Eastside and theres a lot of hispanics (mostly puerto rican) in the near westside, which is a good thing and adds greatly to the cultures in the city. There is crime and some bad neighborhoods, but its much better than the Eastside. The Red line of the RTA goes through the westside down to the airport.

The Eastside suburbs can vary a lot. There is a few of them that some might avoid including East Cleveland a few of the smaller ones. Euclid is decent but not that great and its bigger so theres more urban problems. The Eastside has a lot of nice and old suburbs including Shaker Heights and a few others. There is also very wealthy suburbs like Hunting Valley and Pepper Pike. The Eastside suburbs tend to be a lot more mixed than the westside ones, mostly with white and black though. Like I mentioned, the Blue/Green Lines go out past Shaker Heights and the Red Line goes through East Cleveland.

The Westside suburbs can vary some too. Most of them are nice though and theres less questionable ones than on the Eastside. Lakewood, Rocky River and a few others are very urban suburbs but are still nice. Once you get to the outer suburbs they tend to be a lot more cookie-cutter than the Eastside but still less than most other cities with sprawl. All of the westside suburbs tend to be mostly white like over 85%. The schools all seem to be pretty nice. However there is no rail lines though.

Elyria and Lorain can be considered suburbs but they are really seperate cities in the Cleveland area. Lorain is very urban and can get rough, there is a large puerto rican community there (largest in Ohio outside of the city of Cleveland) and it has the highest hispanic% of any city in Ohio. Its very industrial and the central and south Lorain area can get rough, the crime rate is pretty high and schools arent too good. Elyria is a little nicer and a little more suburban, same story as Lorain except smaller puerto rican community. The southside/SW of Elyria can get rough and the westside isnt the best, but the Northside and Eastside are nice and the schools are a lot better than Lorains. There is a good amount of African-Americans in Lorain and Elyria, there a lot more mixed than any other westside cities/suburbs which is good.

Wow, that was a lot longer than I thought it would be lol. If I made any mistakes someone please correct me. I dont know If I told you want you wanted to know but I was pretty descriptive and hope it helped out.