advice for a college grad moving to cleveland? (Euclid, Cleveland Heights: apartments, renters)

[magerssa]

I will be graduating from college this may and plan on moving to the cleveland area. I recently have been offered a job in solon, but have heard it is quite expensive to live there. Future coworkers have said that Shaker Heights is nice. I am looking for an area that has young people and lots to do. Obviously I would also prefer an area that is safe and reasonably priced to rent. My boyfriend and i enjoy getting out and being active in the summer and visiting museums, seeing shows, etc (really experiencing what a city has to offer.) Is Shaker Heights more of a family community or is there something to offer a young professional? If it is, any suggestions on other areas would be appreciated.

[Steve36]

Four areas to think about, all are pretty close together: Shaker Square, Conventry, Cedar Hill and Little Italy.
Shaker Square is actually in Cleveland not Shaker Heights but it's right along the border. There are rentals on N. Moreland, Kemper Rd. north of Larchmere, and Fairhill Rd between E127 and N. Moreland that look pretty decent. Most are old buildings that were once very nice and still have character. The square itself has some places to eat, a coffee shop and a quirky movie theatre with small screens that sometimes face at angles to the viewer (but they serve beer) along with grocery and drug stores and a few other things. On Larchmere Blvd just to the north there are a couple of places to get a drink and eat as well as a few antique stores. There is also a rapid train stop in Shaker Square and you can take the rapid downtown for $2 (the rapid stops running pretty early though so plan on a cab ride home). I visit the area quie a bit especially when the weater is nice, it seems like it would be an ok place to rent. During the day it is perfectly safe, at night it might get a little sketchy sometimes but not too bad. Car break-ins might be a problem unless the building has a garage.

The Coventry area is to the north of Shaker Square on Conventry Rd. between Euclid Heights Blvd and Mayfield Rd. The rentals in this area are primarily west of Conventry along Hampshire and Lancashire Rds and Euclid Heights Blvd. Avoid the area on Conventry Rd. north of Mayfield Rd. In Conventry, there are a number of places to eat and drink, a retro toy store, coffee shop and discount grocery store and other stuff. This is probably the area you will end up going to for fun most of the time. I visit this area a lot with my wife and friends and even thought about buying a house in this area. I'm heading there after work as a matter of fact. Coventry is pretty well policed and always seems pretty safe to me. Parking here is tough other than the garage next to Panini's, you'll probably have to park in a city lot.

Cedar Hill is a little ways south-west of the Coventry area on Cedar Road pretty much west of Fairmount to where Cedar and Euclid Heights join to become Cedar Glen Parkway. The rentals are north and south of Cedar Rd and on Cedar Rd. This area has a few places to eat and drink (check out Nighttown when they have live music, although it may be too old and stuffy for you), a place to play billiards, a coffee shop and a grocery. This area is surrounded by some of the nicer residential areas of Cleveland Heights and is probably pretty safe over all. Parking might be an issue for renters.

Little Italy is just north-west of Cedar Hill and is centered around Mayfield Rd between Fairview Ave and Random Rd. There are rentals on either side of Mayfield Rd. Parking is a real PITA around there on weekends. As one might expect, Little Italy has lots of places to eat Italian food and hosts some art galleries. Honestly, I don't know much to do there other than eat and visit for the Feast of the Assumption but that's good enough for me;^).The area to the north is sketchy but Little Italy knows how to keep Little Italians safe. For me, Little Italy is more a place to visit than live but I've never lived there so I don't know for sure.

All of these areas are pretty close together so you could live on Cedar Hill or in the Square and be in Conventry or Little Italy by car in 10 minutes or less.

The art museum, botanical garden, and orchestra are really close to Little Italy just to the west of Case Western/University Hospital. The playhouse and various fun stuff are downtown.

It'll probably take you 30 minutes on a good day to commute to Solon from any of these areas maybe longer. You will, in general, be heading in the opposite direction as the major flow of traffic so that should help.

I almost forgot to mention one other area: Cedar-Lee. This is north-east of Shaker Square, along Lee Rd, south of Cedar Rd. There are some places to eat and drink here and a movie theater that seems to feature indy type films. I visit this area occasionally for dinner but I don't know what the rental stock is like here really. It looks like lots of duplexs and rental houses the the west of Lee and maybe some more apartments to the east.

I'd say Conventry would be the most enjoyable of all these places to live but the rents are probably higher. Shaker Square might be a good place to use as a jumping off point. The rents should be better there, you'll be a little closer to work, have a rapid station nearby to take downtown when you don't want to drive, and be close enough to go to Coventry and Little Italy whenever you want to take advantage of the things they offer. From what I've seen, many of the renters in the Square area are grad student and post-doc types mixed in with older folks who wanted to get out of the more dangerous areas nearby and/or get their kids into the Shaker school system.

[Clevelandgal]

I concur with everything Steve36 said. They all are pretty urban, walkable, and will facilitate enjoyoing city amenities. While Shaker Heights (not to be confused with the next Square) IS nice, I think it is more family oriented and b/c the schools are good, the prices are a little higher than the places Steve mentioned.I think Cleveland is one of the best places to experience great urban living on the cheap. Take advantage!