Moving to Cleveland (Euclid, Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights: apartments, rentals, houses)

[gordonandamanda]

My wife and I are going to be moving to Cleveland in August. I'll be working at CWRU for the next two years. We don't want to buy anything; we're going to rent. Where is a safe and affordable location? A friend of mine who attended CWRU suggested the Little Italy area but we're also looking in the North Collinwood, Shaker Heights, or Cleveland Heights areas. Any good?

[costello_musicman]

Welcome to Cleveland!

Here's my breakdown of what you asked about.

Little Italy - walking distance to CWRU, cheap rentals (will need to walk around and look for "for rent" signs FYI) vibrant area, shops, restaurants, rapid rail connections, could be somewhat racist but it's mostly the old timers

North Collinwood -- home of Waterloo arts district/Beachland Ballroom, very affordable but is considered the most unsafe of what you listed. the surrounding area could be a little dicey at times, but is has been improving ten fold in the last 5 years.

Shaker Hts - Inner ring burb/old street car suburb, very nice houses, most family-friendly of what you listed, connected to Downtown via rail. Could be most expensive, but not by much

Cleveland Hts - another inner ring burb, has good and bad neighborhoods...the best areas to look would be Coventry/Euclid Hts Blvd, Ceder-Lee, and Cedar-Fairmount. Many young professions, especially in the areas I mentioned

Also, you may want to consider:

Shaker Square -- Cleveland neighborhood with many apartments, restaurants, and rail connections to Downtown. Bus connections to CWRU if you don't want to drive.


Lastly, Don't forget to attend the Feast of the Assumption in Little Italy from Aug 13-16 if you're here by then!

Good luck!


EDIT: you could even look Downtown too, but it can be expensive. You'd be able to take the Red Line train or the Euclid Corridor if you're not driving. I'm not sure if grad students get free RTA passes, but I'd ask either way.

[tribecavsbrowns]

Any particular attraction to North Collinwood? It seems out of place compared with the other areas in your search.

I agree that you might find something to your liking in Shaker Square or in the blocks off of Larchmere Boulevard near there. Going northwest from the Square to the intersection of Fairhill and MLK, you have a lot of nice blocks. Things get bad quickly when you go southwest of that -- by the time you're at MLK and Shaker Boulevard, you're in "the 'hood."

Little Italy, Cleveland Heights, and Shaker Heights are fine places to look, as the other poster said.

[tribecavsbrowns]

Originally Posted by costello_musicman

Shaker Square -- Cleveland neighborhood with many apartments, restaurants, and rail connections to Downtown. Bus connections to CWRU if you don't want to drive.

Yes, this is what I was thinking but forgot to say it. The #48 bus skirts the blocks northwest of Shaker Square that I was talking about before going down the hill into University Circle. You could walk to the end of your block, hop on the 48, and be at CWRU in five minutes.

[gordonandamanda]

This is all so very, very helpful! Thank you.

North Collinwood: My wife had found a rental in that area, or according to Yahoo Maps, the Northeast Shores area around Lakeshore Blvd. That's the only reason I mentioned it. The folks at Case mentioned Shaker Heights. We will absolutely check these places out when we come up later this month.

Thanks again, all. I will check back for more information later.

[tribecavsbrowns]

Lake Shore is not so great, though I'd say once you get past Neff toward 185th, it's fairly safe. It would be tough for me to recommend this area to someone new to Cleveland.

[CornellKid]

Please do NOT live in Little Italy!! It is not a friendly place for minorities to live or for your minority friends to visit! My boyfriend is recent Case grad and has found work in Downtown Cleveland and choose to live in Little Italy due to its proximity to his job. However we are an interracial couple and the neighbors did not want us there. This past July 4th weekend a group of people tried to break into my boyfriend's apartment three times and set off commercial grade fireworks in front of his door; attempting to "smoke us out." The cops weren't quick to respond either. It was the most terrifying experience of my life and I have been a Clevelander all my life (I grew up in the South Euclid-Lyndhurst area). Word to the wise, Little Italy is an extremely racist place and its just not the "Old timers."

[mikemeatball]

Originally Posted by CornellKid

Please do NOT live in Little Italy!! It is not a friendly place for minorities to live or for your minority friends to visit! My boyfriend is recent Case grad and has found work in Downtown Cleveland and choose to live in Little Italy due to its proximity to his job. However we are an interracial couple and the neighbors did not want us there. This past July 4th weekend a group of people tried to break into my boyfriend's apartment three times and set off commercial grade fireworks in front of his door; attempting to "smoke us out." The cops weren't quick to respond either. It was the most terrifying experience of my life and I have been a Clevelander all my life (I grew up in the South Euclid-Lyndhurst area). Word to the wise, Little Italy is an extremely racist place and its just not the "Old timers."

This is sad and shouldn't happen.
It is a very American little town by looking outside, I like the red brick road and small town square.

[tribecavsbrowns]

Originally Posted by CornellKid

Please do NOT live in Little Italy!! It is not a friendly place for minorities to live or for your minority friends to visit! My boyfriend is recent Case grad and has found work in Downtown Cleveland and choose to live in Little Italy due to its proximity to his job. However we are an interracial couple and the neighbors did not want us there. This past July 4th weekend a group of people tried to break into my boyfriend's apartment three times and set off commercial grade fireworks in front of his door; attempting to "smoke us out." The cops weren't quick to respond either. It was the most terrifying experience of my life and I have been a Clevelander all my life (I grew up in the South Euclid-Lyndhurst area). Word to the wise, Little Italy is an extremely racist place and its just not the "Old timers."

What happened with the police, eventually? Did you tell the press? If this happened exactly how you said it did, it should be all over the papers.

[Peregrine]

Check out the Coventry area if you can. Much more open minded folks and amazing homes to rent there.

I've also heard that Little Italia can be... unfriendly to minorities.