artsy areas in Cleveland? (Columbus, Cincinnati: middle-class, real estate, crime rates)

[annaegel]

Hello. My daughter (25 years old) and her best friend are looking to move out of state and just bought plane tickets to check out Cleveland, Columbus and Pittsburgh. They will be staying 2 days in all 3 to get an idea if any of these cities click for them. They are both artist (graphic art but do all kinds of other art like book binding, paper making, woodworking, etc). What would be a good place for them to check out? They will be booking with air bnb. Any areas they should stay away from?



How is the crime in Cleveland?


Thank you in advance!

[Cleverfield]

Originally Posted by annaegel

Hello. My daughter (25 years old) and her best friend are looking to move out of state and just bought plane tickets to check out Cleveland, Columbus and Pittsburgh. They will be staying 2 days in all 3 to get an idea if any of these cities click for them. They are both artist (graphic art but do all kinds of other art like book binding, paper making, woodworking, etc). What would be a good place for them to check out? They will be booking with air bnb. Any areas they should stay away from?



How is the crime in Cleveland?


Thank you in advance!

There are lots of great artsy areas of Cleveland. There’s a great paper making studio with classes called The Morgan. There’s also several woodworking studios, including one called Soulcraft that is pretty cool. Just a note, a lot of the studios are in repurposed warehouses or industrial buildings, so the surrounding neighborhoods might not be that attractive. Check out 78th St. Studios as well, VERY popular and cool artist collective. The Gordon Square Arts District, Larchmere, Waterloo Arts District, Little Italy, Tremont, University Circle, Ohio City, Lakewood, and Cleveland Heights are also really great choices. Crime depends on the area. It’s a city so you do need to use city smarts. Most trendy areas with lots of AirBnBs are pretty safe.

[bjimmy24]

If they can find a nice airbnb in Little Italy, I'd go with that.

[Transplant99]

Regarding crime, Cleveland is regarded as one of the most dangerous cities in the US. Violent crime is heavily concentrated in city neighborhoods east of downtown, as well as in the nearby city of East Cleveland. There are some pockets of crimes ridden areas west of downtown as well. If your daughter uses common sense and avoids areas that are obviously bad, she should be fine. But the raw data will show Cleveland as having higher crime rates than the other two cities on the list.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by Transplant99

Regarding crime, Cleveland is regarded as one of the most dangerous cities in the US. Violent crime is heavily concentrated in city neighborhoods east of downtown, as well as in the nearby city of East Cleveland. There are some pockets of crimes ridden areas west of downtown as well. If your daughter uses common sense and avoids areas that are obviously bad, she should be fine. But the raw data will show Cleveland as having higher crime rates than the other two cities on the list.

It also happens to be, in my opinion, by far the best, most fun, and most interesting city of the three. And I don't think it's particularly close.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

It also happens to be, in my opinion, by far the best, most fun, and most interesting city of the three. And I don't think it's particularly close.

Agree. Plus 1.

[WRnative]

What's their budget? Will they have a car?

If there budget is low and they won't have a car, definitely check out the Cleveland Hostel with easy access to the Red Line rail rapid. I'm not certain if the hostel offers parking now, as a major construction project is taking place at the location of its former parking lot. The hostel is a block from the West Side Market and is in the Market District of Ohio City. It's close to Tremont, one of Cleveland's top art neighborhoods. The Red Line connects the airport to Ohio City, downtown, University Circle and Little Italy.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...land_Ohio.html

If they will have a decent budget, I would stay in University Circle. There are several hotels, but Glidden House is most enchanting. University Circle, adjacent to Little Italy, is Cleveland's and likely Ohio's premier art district. Tudor Arms is close to a Red Line station, but I'm not certain I would make that walk comfortably after dark. However, University Circle and several institutions in Greater University Circle, such as the mammoth Cleveland Clinic, have large police forces and that area likely is highly patrolled. I just respect urban areas of the U.S. Walking from Glidden House to Little Italy, the Cleveland Museum of Art, etc., seems very safe to me as it's largely on the Case Western Reserve campus.

https://www.universitycircle.org/des...hotels-lodging

The Cleveland Museum of Art is one of the best in the U.S. and general admission is free. They should check out the Cleveland Institute of Art as it offers many classes to the general public, as does the Cleveland Museum of Art (pre-pandemic). MOCA Cleveland also would be a destination. A visit to Severance Hall would be excellent, as its interior is considered perhaps the most beautiful concert hall in the U.S. and the Cleveland Orchestra often is considered the nation's best.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...ed_States.html

https://www.universitycircle.org/des...eums-galleries

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...-art-news.html

ThisisCleveland.com is an excellent resource.

https://www.thisiscleveland.com/blog...-art-galleries

https://www.thisiscleveland.com/even...day-art-walk-4

Third Fridays at the 78th Street Studios is one of my favorite art events.

78th Street Studios

Here's an excellent, pre-pandemic overview of Cleveland attractions. Check out the other travel articles in the right margin, such as for the West Side Market, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Playhouse Square.

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

If driving between Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, there are great attractions along the way, such as in Dayton and Malabar Farm State Park's Big House.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...The.World.html

See Mohican Region here:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...Day.Trips.html

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by Transplant99

Regarding crime, Cleveland is regarded as one of the most dangerous cities in the US. Violent crime is heavily concentrated in city neighborhoods east of downtown, as well as in the nearby city of East Cleveland. There are some pockets of crimes ridden areas west of downtown as well. If your daughter uses common sense and avoids areas that are obviously bad, she should be fine. But the raw data will show Cleveland as having higher crime rates than the other two cities on the list.

City crime statistics can very misleading. E.g., Columbus is a much larger city than Cleveland physically, having annexed many suburbs, distorting greatly per capita crime statistics, although Cleveland does have high shooting and murder rates, concentrated in certain neighborhoods not oft visited. Downtown Cleveland has safety ambassadors, as does, I believe the Market District of Ohio City. What matters is the crime risk in specific neighborhoods that will be visited.

https://www.downtowncleveland.com/about-dca/ambassadors

University Circle has several large police forces supplementing the Cleveland Police Department and generally is regarded as very safe.

If someone were to review your posts in this forum, they would discover that you are a Cleveland basher.

[Transplant99]

She asked about crime in Cleveland. And, as usual, I responded with the truth. And I think everyone on this forum understands the difference between crime totals and crime rates - to suggest that the OP wouldn't understand that (especially when my post references crime rates) is truly condescending in my opinion.

OP - there are many real estate agents and others on CD who have a vested interest in enticing people to move to their particular location, so be mindful of that. The reality is that Cleveland has high rates of murder, robbery, rape, etc. And, of course, like any city, much, but not all, of the crime is concentrated in areas of poverty. So like I said in my post, if your daughter avoids bad areas, she'll greatly reduce her risk of becoming a victim. But with that being said, violent crime does exist in more tourist-friendly areas including downtown, Tremont, and Ohio City, but at lower rates than East Cleveland, for example.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by WRnative

What's their budget? Will they have a car?

If there budget is low and they won't have a car, definitely check out the Cleveland Hostel with easy access to the Red Line rail rapid. I'm not certain if the hostel offers parking now, as a major construction project is taking place at the location of its former parking lot. The hostel is a block from the West Side Market and is in the Market District of Ohio City. It's close to Tremont, one of Cleveland's top art neighborhoods. The Red Line connects the airport to Ohio City, downtown, University Circle and Little Italy.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...land_Ohio.html

If they will have a decent budget, I would stay in University Circle. There are several hotels, but Glidden House is most enchanting. University Circle, adjacent to Little Italy, is Cleveland's and likely Ohio's premier art district. Tudor Arms is close to a Red Line station, but I'm not certain I would make that walk comfortably after dark. However, University Circle and several institutions in Greater University Circle, such as the mammoth Cleveland Clinic, have large police forces and that area likely is highly patrolled. I just respect urban areas of the U.S. Walking from Glidden House to Little Italy, the Cleveland Museum of Art, etc., seems very safe to me as it's largely on the Case Western Reserve campus.

https://www.universitycircle.org/des...hotels-lodging

The Cleveland Museum of Art is one of the best in the U.S. and general admission is free. They should check out the Cleveland Institute of Art as it offers many classes to the general public, as does the Cleveland Museum of Art (pre-pandemic). MOCA Cleveland also would be a destination. A visit to Severance Hall would be excellent, as its interior is considered perhaps the most beautiful concert hall in the U.S. and the Cleveland Orchestra often is considered the nation's best.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...ed_States.html

https://www.universitycircle.org/des...eums-galleries

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...-art-news.html

ThisisCleveland.com is an excellent resource.

https://www.thisiscleveland.com/blog...-art-galleries

https://www.thisiscleveland.com/even...day-art-walk-4

Third Fridays at the 78th Street Studios is one of my favorite art events.

78th Street Studios

Here's an excellent, pre-pandemic overview of Cleveland attractions. Check out the other travel articles in the right margin, such as for the West Side Market, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Playhouse Square.

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

If driving between Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, there are great attractions along the way, such as in Dayton and Malabar Farm State Park's Big House.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...The.World.html

See Mohican Region here:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...Day.Trips.html

You know what? You should be on the city of Cleveland's Bureau of Tourism and getting a nice paycheck with your informative posts!

I am mildly disturbed by people's perception of cities - including Cleveland, as being dangerous places. In general, there are not. As long as one stays in good areas - which in metropolitan areas are rather easy to distinguish because if you ask a local, or check a guidebook, the bad areas are well known.

Most of you know that I am originally from the NYC metropolitan area and that I grew up on Long Island.

When most people think of Long Island they think of upper-middle-class tract houses, Gold Coast estates, ocean beaches, conspicuous consumption, excellent schools, and shopping malls. And all of that is true.

HOWEVER - I'd rather be in Midtown Manhattan ANY NIGHT of the WEEK than in certain far Eastern Long Island communities that have country roads dotted with rusty house trailers and ill-kept tiny homes that are inhabited by people who are far less than welcoming, have families that go back to colonial times and seem kind of inbred and angry. There are places in upstate NY like that too. Give me Rochester or Buffalo any day of the week over the Appalachian part of NYS - or the "Bonnakers" of Eastern LI. Same with Shirley and the Mastics. No, that's not an early 1960s Girl Group, it's a rundown Eastern LI area strangely near the Hamptons that should be avoided.

Same for Warren where I live. I would rather walk around well-lit areas of Warren, with its nascent, but growing nightlife, art galleries, restaurants, wineries, and craft brewery, than walk around dilapidated Leavitsburrg, Braceville, or Parkman.

In a city, if you feel uncomfortable, there is usually someplace safe that is open at night, and where you can call for help if needed.

I have a friend from NY who flew into Cleveland last weekend with his teenage kids. They were very impressed by the number of good ethnic restaurants, - Lebanese and Ethiopian, as well as the Rock Hall and the art museum. They intend to return.