Anyone ever do the "unthinkable" and move across the river to the other side of Cleveland? (Columbus: transplants, apartment)

[kpl1228]

The only other city I can think of that has a psychological Berlin Wall like Cleveland's Cuyahoga River is the Chicago River, separating the north and south sides of Chicago.
That said, anyone ever "cross the border" in Cleveland in a moving truck? What was it like? Do they take the same currency? Was a passport recommended?
Kidding aside, (and we've all heard the jokes of crossing the border) 175 years of West Side Germans in my family......Ohio City, West Park, Fairview, Rocky River...and me from Edgewater to Lorain County (still west). Moving to the Heights or points east just seemed, to me and family members, to be like moving out of the area and going to Columbus or Cincinnati, despite my love and affinity (and similar politics) for Univ Circle and the Heights.
My last move from Ohio to New Mexico was fine. But if I had moved to, say, Shaker Heights from the West Side, I would actually feel my long-dead German relatives at Monroe Cemetery spinning in their graves. And from others I've talked to on both sides of the river, I get a similar vibe.
I'm a hypocrite regarding this. Never understood and laughed at the West Siders who wouldn't dream of driving "all the way out" to visit people or do something in Lyndhurst, but have no problem with a long haul to North Ridgeville or Strongsville or Sheffield Lake, or even Oberlin, for the love of God. But I know a return to the CLE is imminent in a few years, but moving to the Heights? Really? Not Lakewood? Guess the West Side is in my bones....
Anyone else know folks (or yourselves) who feel this as well. Not for just driving "way out there," but actually moving?
(I'm not counting folks who moved here from out of the area and are not afflicted with this psychosis and move freely as if by osmosis to either side)

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by kpl1228

The only other city I can think of that has a psychological Berlin Wall like Cleveland's Cuyahoga River is the Chicago River, separating the north and south sides of Chicago.
That said, anyone ever "cross the border" in Cleveland in a moving truck? What was it like? Do they take the same currency? Was a passport recommended?
Kidding aside, (and we've all heard the jokes of crossing the border) 175 years of West Side Germans in my family......Ohio City, West Park, Fairview, Rocky River...and me from Edgewater to Lorain County (still west). Moving to the Heights or points east just seemed, to me and family members, to be like moving out of the area and going to Columbus or Cincinnati, despite my love and affinity (and similar politics) for Univ Circle and the Heights.
My last move from Ohio to New Mexico was fine. But if I had moved to, say Shaker Heights from the West Side, I would actually feel my long-dead German relatives at Monroe Cemetery spinning in their graves. And from others I've talked to on both sides of the river, I get a similar vibe.
I'm a hypocrite regarding this. Never understood and laughed at the West Siders who wouldn't dream of driving "all the way out" to visit people or do something in Lyndhurst, but have no problem with a long haul to North Ridgeville or Strongsville or Sheffield Lake, or even Oberlin, for the love of God. But I know a return to the CLE is imminent in a few years, but moving to the Heights? Really? Not Lakewood? Guess the West Side is in my bones....
Anyone else know folks (or yourselves) who feel this as well. Not for driving "way out there," but actually moving?
(I'm not counting folks who moved here from out of the area and are not afflicted with this psychosis and move freely as if by osmosis to either side)

The reality is that Clevelanders stay on the east or west side predominately for two reasons: 1) Proximity to family. 2) Proximity to job.

I've stayed on the east side due to the proximity to University Circle/Cleveland Clinic (including Laketran point-to-point shuttle service to Univ. Circle medical facilities), Lake Metroparks, Holden Arboretum, Mentor retail complex, Beachwood/Lyndhurst upscale shopping district, and easy access to downtown on I-90, despite 1) and 2) no longer being factors.

Of the hundreds of Clevelanders that I know, I can't think of a single one who ever crossed the river for residential purposes. That is remarkable, and there must be some that are escaping my memory, especially for cross-river marriages, but I'm even having a hard time thinking of any of those.

[Minervah]

In the two other cities were I used to live this was also a thing. South siders in Chicago never ventured north and vice versa. In Portland the people living east of the river never ventured west unless it was perhaps to go downtown to work or for entertainment and west side people never crossed the river to go east.

There were definite geographical rivalries in both cities. I suspect other cities are like this as well.

[kpl1228]

OP here...I actually remembered two individuals who did the cross-town move.
One was my neighbor in Edgewater...he stayed a year and returned "home" to the Heights (he probably thought of it as "his year abroad") and the other from Cleveland Heights to Lakewood. She got a job in Lakewood schools, but then returned to Cle Heights to live and commuted west to Lakewood from the Heights for the next ten years, despite living less than three minutes from work when she was briefly in a Lakewood apartment.
I agree that job is a factor, but for many long-time Clevelanders (a West Sider who lands a job at the Beachwood Cleveland Clinic, for example) I know some who stay close to roots and make the cross-town schlep daily.

[andrew61]

Well, I was always a West Sider (except for my years in Chicago, but that's west of Cleveland anyway, LOL), but I moved to Maple Heights in June and have been there since then. I didn't really want to leave Lakewood and the West Side (in my case there were special circumstances involved which I choose not to reveal), and I still hang out on the West Side as much as I can, enduring long bus trips just to do so. To this date I haven't done anything in Maple except for shopping at the Giant Eagle and the Rite Aid, both at Southgate, which I'm very close to.

I'd always thought that if I ever moved east, it would be to perhaps Cleveland Heights or Shaker Square.

I've never experienced an East Side winter and I'm really dreading it -- especially with this early cold snap going on.

[JR_C]

An old college friend grew up on the west side (West Park neighborhood, maybe?) and lived in Cleveland Heights after graduation. A few years later, after she got married, they moved back to University Heights. But that was due to proximity to the husband's employer.

[sheena12]

OK I am a Cleveland "Green Horn" here. We live in NE OH and we want to live IN Cleveland. We like Shaker, Coventry and parts of Cleveland Hts.

We've been to Sandusky, Cedar Point, but not really the west side off Cleveland.

Since we weant5 to live in or very close to the culture, community and urban livestyle that Cle affords, what is the difference?Which areas should we investigate?

This is the first I have ever heard about this East West divide, but I can relate. Coming from Long Island, I understand these arbitrary barriers. On Long Island people are from The North Shore or The South Shore. Moving east and west happens all the time. Changing shores? Not so much.

People will act as though you have "defected" if you switch shores. They will also perceive your move as further than it actually is if you have done a dreaded "North to South Move" when it's only 25 minutes away, A move east or west can be a 45 minute move, yet you still live "close by".

There are social and cultural reasons for this.

I am guessing the same is true of the Cleveland East West Divide.

Which is a better place for transplants like us?

I find this so interesting.

[216facts]

Originally Posted by sheena12

Which is a better place for transplants like us?

East side is the cool side of town. In more ways than one I guess.

Having lived for many years in "the Heights" (Cleve Hts) you get ingrained with a sense of cultural superiority. There is a smugness to the middle and upper classes on the East Side - it is historically the moneyed side of town - extending all the way into Beachwood, Pepper Pike, Orange, Woodland Hills, Gates Mills, Hunting Valley, etc.

Driving down Shaker Blvd is way different than anyplace I know of on the West Side. Seeing large mansions, street level trains, orthodox Jews walking to temple, gives a sense that this place is different and exclusive. To ask somebody in the Heights if they want to move to the west side would be laughable. I know of no one person that has done it.

Even I stayed on the East side after leaving Cleveland Heights.

Don't get me wrong, I love many parts of the west side: Edgewater, Lakewood, Rocky River, Bay Village - all cool.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by sheena12

OK I am a Cleveland "Green Horn" here. We live in NE OH and we want to live IN Cleveland. We like Shaker, Coventry and parts of Cleveland Hts.

We've been to Sandusky, Cedar Point, but not really the west side off Cleveland.

Since we weant5 to live in or very close to the culture, community and urban livestyle that Cle affords, what is the difference?Which areas should we investigate?

This is the first I have ever heard about this East West divide, but I can relate. Coming from Long Island, I understand these arbitrary barriers. On Long Island people are from The North Shore or The South Shore. Moving east and west happens all the time. Changing shores? Not so much.

People will act as though you have "defected" if you switch shores. They will also perceive your move as further than it actually is if you have done a dreaded "North to South Move" when it's only 25 minutes away, A move east or west can be a 45 minute move, yet you still live "close by".

There are social and cultural reasons for this.

I am guessing the same is true of the Cleveland East West Divide.

Which is a better place for transplants like us?

I find this so interesting.

If you're retired and don't have to pay municipal income taxes, the part of Cleveland Hts. adjacent to Little Italy and near University Circle is ideal for persons interested in high culture. You can take the Red Line downtown, to the West Side Market and Market District and to the airport. The 24/7 Healthline provides easy access to Playhouse Square.

This thread should be helpful. Read especially the thread linked in post 3.

Compendium of threads & posts on Univ. Circle, Cleveland Hts., Shaker Ht., Univ. Hts., Beachwood area

Post 8 in that thread discusses the East/West divide, which certainly has cultural and even racial roots.

Another "moving to Cleveland post" with specific questions

See also "Market District & Ohio City" in this travel article for a discussion of the "Bridge War" that also establishes an historical precedent for the East/West divide in Cleveland.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g....Overview.html

The West Side Market once competed with the Central Market.

https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/676

Supposedly, a new East Side Market will open some day.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/...n-opening-date

https://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga-c...enovation.html

Certainly, many East Siders visit Tremont, Ohio City, Gordon Square and even Lakewood (especially Pier W), so in recent decades the emergence of these restaurant/entertainment districts have muted the East/West divide to some degree. I do know of East Siders who have moved to both the Market District and Tremont, but they are not personal acquaintances.

I also would check out Willoughby if interested in a charming downtown (which has some condos with personal elevators), access to a massive retail center (Mentor), Lake Erie beaches and natural areas, good mass transit (Laketran which offers point-to-point service to University Circle medical centers), great Lake Metroparks, Holden Arboretum and the North Chagrin Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks, and easy drives to University Circle and downtown.

This thread has much information about Greater Cleveland, especially Greater Cleveland metropark systems.

Any nice towns northeast of Cleveland?

This thread discusses many Cleveland attractions. Start with post 15 due to moderator deletions.

Compilation of Cleveland visitor attractions and activities.

Good luck!

[Cleverfield]

When you grow up on the East Side, or the West Side you get used to that culture, and even though the other side has access to the same amenities, it feels like a different city. Moving to another city is hard, so why would you do it when it doesn’t give you any major income or quality of life advantages?