Considering moving to Cleveland area (Westlake, Medina: neighborhoods, high school, taxes)

[Hrhoward]

My husband and I have been looking into the Upper Midwest as an option to raise our family. The lower cost of housing and the Four Seasons definitely appeal to us more than the dry West Coast. I grew up with four seasons and would like to get back to that. Cleveland seems like a pretty diverse, down-to-earth place and so we have been looking a lot more at that area. We are in search of neighborhoods with tree-lined streets and people who haven't forgotten that it is fun to go trick or treating and decorate for Christmas. We like to be neighborly but unfortunately that does not seem to happen where we are at. Nobody wants to sit out front and have a conversation anymore. We would like decent schools and lower taxes. Every time I search the Cleveland area the number one place that pops up is Hudson but the housing prices here are substantially higher than many other places. Since I have never been to Cleveland except through the airport anybody who can give any feedback for great surrounding areas with the community feel that are not too far from Cleveland would be appreciated.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by Hrhoward

My husband and I have been looking into the Upper Midwest as an option to raise our family. The lower cost of housing and the Four Seasons definitely appeal to us more than the dry West Coast. I grew up with four seasons and would like to get back to that. Cleveland seems like a pretty diverse, down-to-earth place and so we have been looking a lot more at that area. We are in search of neighborhoods with tree-lined streets and people who haven't forgotten that it is fun to go trick or treating and decorate for Christmas. We like to be neighborly but unfortunately that does not seem to happen where we are at. Nobody wants to sit out front and have a conversation anymore. We would like decent schools and lower taxes. Every time I search the Cleveland area the number one place that pops up is Hudson but the housing prices here are substantially higher than many other places. Since I have never been to Cleveland except through the airport anybody who can give any feedback for great surrounding areas with the community feel that are not too far from Cleveland would be appreciated.

Nearer Cleveland: Rocky River, Westlake, Chagrin Falls, Shaker Hts.

Further from Cleveland: Chardon, Medina, perhaps Willoughby (Willoughby South High School)

Each of the cities have some neighborhoods with tree-lined streets with sidewalks and good schools.

Medina and Chardon have two of the best public squares in northeast Ohio, and are charming during the holidays. There are several posts on Medina and Chardon in this thread.

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

This isn't an all-inclusive list. There probably are some other communities to consider with which I'm not as familiar.

Get a copy of Cleveland Magazine's "Rating the Suburbs." Read through the many relevant threads in this forum.

Haven't seen it in years, but the Fernway area of Shaker Hts. used to have the best Halloween decorations that I've seen. You won't find lower taxes in SH, however.