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Old 11-29-2015, 08:33 PM
 
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Medina is fine, as long as you like driving a half hour to get anywhere of significance.

Independence seems to fit your requirements. It's also 15 minutes from downtown and the airport. For a central location with a lot of amenities, it's pretty hard to beat.
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Old 11-30-2015, 05:47 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EggMaker View Post
We haven't necessarily disqualified communities in the 71/480/turnpike triangle. None of them leaped out as being exactly what we want - yes, in terms of walkability. But we could easily be mistaken, because we've not explored the area in person yet (and that's where I'd love to hear from you CLE experts!).

We just aren't subdivision-type people. We like places with genuine variety in housing stock, residents of various ages, connecting sidewalks so we can walk and run from point A to point B safely (not just around a subdivision). Safe, so our kids can ride their bikes to their friends' houses and have a modicum of independence. That's what we're interested in finding west of Cleveland if that's where our job takes us.

Hudson actually looks great (on the internet), but it's just too far from our jobs. Is there a similar kind of community in the western suburbs?

Lakewood is a possibility, though it's on the outer edge of our radius.

It's good to hear that the HOA scene in OH is a little more relaxed than in other places.

I really appreciate your responses - thank you!

This is exactly what keeps us here in Rocky River. I work from home and can't drive my kids to places until after work. My son can walk home from school and walk to his after school activities and friends' houses. He can even stop by a grocery store on the way home from school. When we lived in TN and in a subdivision, we hardly ever went out for walks. Our neighborhood has people who've lived here for 50 years to new families. We love this mix. I have a love hate relationship with our older home, but location keeps winning out over moving for a larger/newer place.

I really think you should call a realtor and check out Rocky River. Often times they have pocket listings that never even hit the MLS.
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Old 11-30-2015, 09:41 AM
 
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I don't live on the west side, but I would agree that Rocky River is special. Lakewood also is very family friendly, but with more diverse neighborhoods.

Brecksville has a nice, small downtown area and a very good Cleveland Metroparks reservation. Walkability in many neighborhoods is a definite issue.

Google downtowns for various cities and check images. Definitely check out Cleveland Metroparks reservations and proximity to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, especially if your family enjoys biking. Check out the Rocky River Reservation of the Cuyahoga Metroparks, one of Greater Cleveland's better features relative to many other metropolitan areas.

See post 22 in this thread for Medina, with perhaps the best public square in northeast Ohio.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio/...squares-3.html

If you check Google, Hudson, Rocky River and Lakewood all may be about half hour commutes to your jobs. Ditto with Medina.

When do you plan to visit Cleveland?
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Old 12-01-2015, 12:28 PM
 
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From Google Maps, it looks as if Rocky River and Lakewood would be just around 30 minutes, while Medina would be 40 and Hudson would be 45. Those latter two are just too far, I think.

I don't see us getting to OH to visit until after the first of the year. Our plan would be to check out the immediate work vicinity and those suburbs, just to see if they ring any bells, and then the cities closer to the lake to see what best fits us.

Rocky River, from the vantage point of the internet and from what citymama says, sounds like a good fit. We'll need to get boots on the ground to know for sure.

We'd be on the typical relo schedule of wanting to move during the summer, between school years.

Again - thanks to all of you!
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Old 12-01-2015, 02:05 PM
 
11,610 posts, read 10,305,642 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EggMaker View Post
From Google Maps, it looks as if Rocky River and Lakewood would be just around 30 minutes, while Medina would be 40 and Hudson would be 45. Those latter two are just too far, I think.

I don't see us getting to OH to visit until after the first of the year. Our plan would be to check out the immediate work vicinity and those suburbs, just to see if they ring any bells, and then the cities closer to the lake to see what best fits us.

Rocky River, from the vantage point of the internet and from what citymama says, sounds like a good fit. We'll need to get boots on the ground to know for sure.

We'd be on the typical relo schedule of wanting to move during the summer, between school years.

Again - thanks to all of you!
You'll certainly get to see the worst of the year in Jan. & Feb. Maybe that is good. Let us know the time of your trip and we likely can makes some suggestions that will show the best of the late winter season, which obviously isn't as much fun as the holiday season, which Cleveland celebrates quite well.

I used Google to determine my distances based on North Royalton, not knowing your specific work locations. E.g., a Google search for "North Royalton OH to Hudson OH," which shows a time of 30 minutes (19 miles); Medina is 27 mins. (15.6 miles). If you're using exact addresses, obviously that's better, given the vagaries of local roads once you leave the freeways/interstates. I'm perplexed how both Medina and Hudson are so far away, unless the work location is actually well north and/or west of your specified triangle.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Nort...utf-8&oe=utf-8

One thing to ponder before your arrival -- would you enjoy having a boat for Lake Erie recreation? If so, you might want to check out marinas in relation to prospective homes.
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Old 12-01-2015, 08:24 PM
 
75 posts, read 93,142 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WRnative View Post
You'll certainly get to see the worst of the year in Jan. & Feb. Maybe that is good. Let us know the time of your trip and we likely can makes some suggestions that will show the best of the late winter season, which obviously isn't as much fun as the holiday season, which Cleveland celebrates quite well.

I used Google to determine my distances based on North Royalton, not knowing your specific work locations. E.g., a Google search for "North Royalton OH to Hudson OH," which shows a time of 30 minutes (19 miles); Medina is 27 mins. (15.6 miles). If you're using exact addresses, obviously that's better, given the vagaries of local roads once you leave the freeways/interstates. I'm perplexed how both Medina and Hudson are so far away, unless the work location is actually well north and/or west of your specified triangle.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Nort...utf-8&oe=utf-8

One thing to ponder before your arrival -- would you enjoy having a boat for Lake Erie recreation? If so, you might want to check out marinas in relation to prospective homes.
Yeah, I think our triangles might be different -- I am talking about an eastern boundary of 71, whereas North Royalton is east of that (but west of 77).

We're pretty familiar with the typical Jan/Feb weather, as our current city is pretty similar in terms of climate and cloud cover. We're very happy to have CLE on the table -- though we wouldn't have minded a weather upgrade.
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Old 12-01-2015, 09:34 PM
 
11,610 posts, read 10,305,642 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EggMaker View Post
Yeah, I think our triangles might be different -- I am talking about an eastern boundary of 71, whereas North Royalton is east of that (but west of 77).

We're pretty familiar with the typical Jan/Feb weather, as our current city is pretty similar in terms of climate and cloud cover. We're very happy to have CLE on the table -- though we wouldn't have minded a weather upgrade.
Mea culpa. I was thinking 271 instead of 480. Although my triangle has some great places to live if you can solve the walkability problem.

However, using my method, I get less than 25 minutes for Rocky River and Lakewood to the farthest reaches of the correct triangle, about 30 minutes for Medina and and 40 minutes for Hudson. Rocky River likely is your best bet, all things considered.

St. Ignatius likely is the best Catholic boys high school in Greater Cleveland. It's in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood near downtown. St. Edward's in Lakewood is very good.

http://www.greatschools.org/ohio/rocky-river/

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index...olarshi_2.html

Certainly consider getting the Cleveland Magazine "Rating the Suburbs" 2015 issue.

If you use private schools, you might consider lakefront options in the Edgewater area (popular with downtown professionals and Cleveland politicians/judges) of Cleveland, Lakewood, etc.

You also might want to check out Westlake, Avon Lake and Bay Village.

http://www.greatschools.org/ohio/westlake/

http://www.greatschools.org/ohio/avon-lake/

http://www.greatschools.org/ohio/bay-village/schools/

Familiarize yourself with the Cleveland Metroparks Rocky River, Lakefront (Edgewater Park, both upper and lower, and Wendy Park) & Huntington (Beach) Reservations, local parks (such as the very good Rocky River and Lakewood (municipal) Parks) and recreation facilities (indoor pools, rec centers, etc.), Crocker Park (retail & mixed use in Westlake), the RTA "Cleveland State" bus rapid line, and the Red Line rail rapid line.

http://www.crockerpark.com/

http://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/M...vation-13.aspx

http://www.riderta.com/routes/clevelandstateline

http://www.riderta.com/routes/redline

The Red Line could provide access to the West Side Market (West 25th St. station, which also serves St. Ignatius), pro sports venues (Tower City rail hub), and University Circle attractions for a $5 day pass, perhaps important for older children. Note the bus lines in Rocky River and other suburbs that connect with the various Red Line stations (click on any station and the bus lines will be listed).

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g5...de.Market.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g5...Cleveland.html

See post 8 here (note that Case Western is a top 40 national university and has a robust pre-college scholars program, which perhaps some school districts may subsidize for eligible students; Case Western also offers summer courses for high school students):

http://www.city-data.com/forum/cleve...questions.html

https://case.edu/ugstudies/pre-colle...olars-program/

https://www.idtech.com/locations/ohi...stern-reserve/

The Cleveland Clinic, easily reached by transferring to the Healthline bus rapid from the Red Line at Tower City also offers high school education options in University Circle.

http://www.lerner.ccf.org/bme/education/

For weather, you can check individual months in the right margin.

https://weatherspark.com/averages/29...-United-States

Buying an RTA day pass (available online) and exploring Cleveland may be an eye-opener.

Please report back for the benefit of future transplants!

Last edited by WRnative; 12-01-2015 at 10:46 PM..
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Old 12-01-2015, 11:03 PM
 
Location: CA
1,009 posts, read 1,135,557 times
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My wife and I are getting the day pass this weekend- Sunday and Monday. Probably buy one each day. Our cousin's son is in the big wrestling tournament in Solon (Comets), so we'll have more time to just take the rail deal to westside and eastside locations. Looks warm at almost 50 as well!

Great information above!!!!
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Old 12-02-2015, 12:05 AM
 
4,162 posts, read 4,398,094 times
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When you explore the area here are some specific areas you may find of interest (most have been mentioned) within proximity to your geography:
Rocky River
Fairview Park (West Valley, Valley Forge and environs south of Lorain Road close to Bain Park)
Olmsted Falls (areas near historic downtown and the falls)
Berea (areas near RR Metroparks and near historic downtown)

A key variable you will also want to take note of is Airport traffic patterns. The triangle you noted has flight approach and take off vectors that may (seasonally depending on prevailing winds) impact your noise comfort levels (Olmsted Falls, and parts of RR & FP in particular)

Of these, RR and OF have best public schools. All are close to Catholic Schools you'd want to plot these on your excursion whether K-8 and H.S.
RR and FP have very similar levels of walkability depending on proximity to those convenience functions of most importance to you. RR has more housing variety than FP - both are primarily post WW2. If your SF size is not a hard 3000 you may find some smaller houses in great locations - this is all based on your lifestyle and livability factor variables.

OF and Berea have closest character to Hudson in its historic downtown area (Grand Pacific Junction/ Front Street) though not as 'picturesque and high class' of a feel. Berea has college town influence and more working class feel. Both may have commute issues if train tracks are in your commute route. Most key grade crossings have been (or are being) altered to compensate for increased traffic (OF specifically).

RR has very walkable downtown and shares a redesigned outdoor mall (West Gate 2007) adjacent to large community park in FP. Housing pricing in Rocky River will vary greatly based on distance from Lake Erie. North of Lake Ave you will pay premium. As with any of the nice developments abutting the Metropark system in some of the areas.

Depending on children's interests and cultural amenities RR and FP have excellent community centers with programming and there is Olmsted Performing Arts (regional to west suburbs) plus the Baldwin Wallace University theater / stage / music performances in Berea.

All these should be within your commute range and most also will keep you within 15-25 of downtown Cleveland if the big city amenities are important variables to you. All have convenient short access to Rocky River Metroparks which winds through western suburbs. Excellent outdoor trails / fields for outdoor fun. A plus is you don't need a big individual 'yard' with your house if you find one close to the park. The RR Metroparks has excellent Nature Center if your children would value outdoor educational opportunities.

RR is much more in demand housing wise due to excellent public schools and prime location with convenience. You may find something equivalent in parts of FP and can send kids to private schools if you prefer. Both have primarily developed around old suburban commuter lines with strong east west arterial roads and compact street grids (hence, the walkability). They were mostly suburban bedroom communities for professionals and middle class / working class. They share the Mall but the boutique high end retail is in the RR area on Detroit Rd by the historic part of old RR downtown. Because they were built as bedroom communities there is no major industry so another thing to examine closely is property tax rates.

From your comments I think most of RR and parts of FP may be closest to what I perceive your variables of importance. You may want to drive parts of Bay Village / Westlake but I gather that will put you outside the commute threshold.

Enjoy exploring.

Last edited by ciceropolo; 12-02-2015 at 12:11 AM.. Reason: additional
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Old 12-02-2015, 07:37 AM
 
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Google transit, available on the RTA home page, will provide transit/walking directions/times between any two addresses.
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