Shaker Heights or Strongsville? (Cleveland, Cleveland Heights: cul-de-sac, apartment, for rent)

[maragrigsby]

We finally decided, after years of contemplation, to move to Ohio where my husband is from. He is from Oberlin, but we are looking at Shaker Heights or Strongsville to live. Here is our situation and what we are looking for. It will be my husband, myself, our 17 year old son and our 5 year old daughter. My son is homeschooled (doing on online program) and will graduate by the time we move there, which will be between this December and May. I am wanting a private christian school for my daughter. Any suggestions on that? As far as a house and neighborhood, I love the older homes with character, which I know I can find in Shaker Heights. My husband likes newer homes and neighborhoods, such as in Strongsville. We both want, of course, safety and low crime neighborhoods for our kids. And if it is a low crime neighborhood I don't want to be blocks away from the not so low crime neighborhoods. I would also love to be able to walk to neighborhood shops, such as coffee shops or ice creams shops. I want cultural diversity and an urban feel but the safety of the burbs. Can I have both of those? We want to rent for the first year to make sure where we want to buy. We can afford around $1,300 a month for rent for a 3-4 bedroom house. Also, it is VERY important to me to be able to buy local and organic food.

Any thoughts or suggestions on both or either areas I mentioned? It's definitely scary moving to some place that is completely new, especially when you have kids. So I soooo appreciate the feedback and am grateful for it.

Oh, one more question. Are people pretty friendly in these areas? I am really wanting to be able to connect with other moms for playdates with my daughter and to just connect in general with other moms. Is it pretty easy to do that?

[costello_musicman]

Hi and Welcome!

Well you do seem to have a pretty good idea of the general landscape of Shaker Hts and Strongsville. Shaker, older "streetcar" suburb...Strongsville newer.

Thinking about it, they're actually pretty similar when it comes to housing prices income...both have very rich areas and good schools, including private ones.

My best breakdown:

Shaker:
Older, gorgeous houses!
Light Rail connection to Downtown
More Diversity
More Urban (coffee shops/ice cream shops more likely)
Very close to the cultural centers of University Circle/Little Italy/Coventry
10 miles to Cleveland

Strongsville:
Newer houses
Good freeway access
Safer/more family-friendly (generally)
20 miles to Cleveland

" I am really wanting to be able to connect with other moms for playdates with my daughter and to just connect in general with other moms. "

That would be easier in Strongsville.

" it is VERY important to me to be able to buy local and organic food. "

Either should have easy access.


Question, have you driven through these areas yet? That may help answer your question.

[TheProf]

Costello sums it up pretty good... I'd also add, per the rail transit it Shaker he mentions, Shaker is much denser; many more walking/apartment districts and more compact areas. Strongsville is much more sprawling with cul-de-sacs and much, much less walking areas and, hense, less personal contact among residents. And since that's something you said you like, you'll get much more of it in Shaker. Strongsville will have the generally newer houses your H likes and is, of course, a 10-min drive, generally, to Hopkins airport, if that's important to either of you.

Shaker probably has a bit more crime, but probably not much more in terms of violent crime. Shaker is what's known as an inner-ring suburb (racially-religiously diverse/liberal) while Strongsville is an outer ring suburb: much whiter/homogeneous and conservative. Besides, crime is what you make of it; it's everywhere. And while I know little about Strongsville's police, I know Shaker's cops pretty much blanket the city.

[HopeToComeHome]

You are exactly where my husband and I (and our 3 kids) were about 2 years ago. EXACTLY. We decided on Strongsville because of cost. We LOVED Shaker. But after doing some research and discovering the amount we would pay in taxes, we found we got more house for the money in Strongsville. Shaker is beautiful. The houses are so unique. The schools are great and the area is very diverse. We just couldn't afford a house in a nice enough area in Shaker. Safety was our #1 priority. We could only afford a home on the sorta/kinda shady areas of Shaker. In Strongsville, we have absolutely no worries whatsoever about crime. Take a look at the police blotter in the Strongsville local paper. It is filled with police responses to knocked down mailboxes and high school kids making out in the Metroparks. My husband and I laugh every time we read it.

Like the previous poster said, Strongsville is "newer" and is not as walkable as Shaker, but it is still convenient to shopping, the highways, turnpike, airport. The schools are great. Very family-friendly. We have 3 little ones (6, 4, 3) so we are just now starting to enjoy the sports programs the city offers.

We also homeschool our kids. The Strongsville Rec Center (which is awesome, by the way!) offers daytime classes for homeschoolers. I think they even offer dodgeball!!

We purchase organic at Heinens as well as Giant Eagle. But you could always venture to Westlake to Trader Joe's, or head to the eastside (near Shaker!) to the 2 Whole Foods Markets in the area. There are a lot of farmers markets in the area, too.

Feel free to send me a private message if you want to talk. We love living in Strongsville and have not doubted our decision! Best of luck to you!

[YaFace]

Both areas have their drawbacks. Shaker has the highest taxes in the county and is about 3-5 years away from becoming REALLY ghetto. Strongsville also has high taxes, a horribly aggressive police force, and nonstop traffice wherever you go. Plus I detest the development style crap houses that Strongsville offers. If you could take the Shaker houses and put them in Strongsville, that would be ideal. All being said, find an older house in Strongsville and move there. Shaker is just too much on the decline for my tastes.

[jam40jeff]

Originally Posted by YaFace

Shaker has the highest taxes in the county and is about 3-5 years away from becoming REALLY ghetto.

Shaker does have high taxes but the second half of your sentence is pretty wacky.

It all depends on what you're looking for. You will not get any of the unique shops, coffehouses, walkability, meeting your neighbors while out walking through the parks type feel in Strongsville. You will get a newer house, a SLIGHTLY lower crime rate, and be forced to drive your car everywhere (of course I believe the difference in crime rate is more than made up for by the higher rates of car accidents in the outer suburbs). In Shaker, you will find many great neighborhoods close to parks with beautiful homes and near unique retail areas. And as far as local and organic food goes, you can't beat being within 2 miles of Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Heinens, and the North Union Farmers Market on Shaker Square (easily the best farmers market around) Farmers Market at Shaker Square. So why would you even want to consider Strongsville? Affordability, and that's it. Taxes are higher and homes cost more in Shaker Heights (for good reason IMO, you get what you pay for). Of course, one thing to keep in mind is that some of this will be offset as property taxes and mortgage insurance are tax deductible, and you most likely will not be needing to drive your car as much (or may be able to dump one car if you have 2 or 3 of them). Also, if you go downtown much, nothing beats being able to hop on the rapid for a 15 minute ride to Tower City.

[PhillytoCincy]

Costello always gives the best responses. I am not from the area, but I really really really like Shaker Heights. It is connected to Cleveland easily by light rail, awesome houses, and has a very nice historic feel to it.

[green24]

In Strongsville you have unique neighborhoods, beautiful affordable homes, lower taxes, great schools, excellent parks and recreation, excellent safety, great locally owned shops and restaurants, and excellent services. As far as walkability, many roads have been widened in Strongsville, and sidewalks have been put in everywhere! So walkability has been much improved over the past ten years! Everywhere you go, you see people walking up and down the sidewalks, and talking to the neighbors! Put yourself in thousands of acres of Metroparks, this is Strongsville! As far as organic foods, Strongsville has Heinens, Giant Eagle, and Regos, which all carry a good selection of organic foods! Also, every summer through fall, Strongsville has the local farmers market on the square. Great place to buy locally grown fruits and vegetables! Strongsville has a great sense of community that you just don't find in other cities! I couldn't think of a better place to live or raise a family, then Strongsville!

Shaker Hts. is nice to, but taxes are much higher, traffic is a nightmare, and crime is definitely an issue!

[kerensa]

There is a new Whole Foods in University Heights, which is pretty close to Shaker.

Have you considered University Heights? There are similarly beautiful older homes like Shaker's, but a bit cheaper. Plenty of families and couples with younger children. Many young professionals and people in their mid-20s/early 30s getting graduate degrees/JDs/MBAs. Taxes are slightly lower (but still high) than shaker and it feels safer. Nice walkable streets, although less places to walk-to, depending where you are living. UH is fairly insulated from the higher crime areas of Shaker, which I would want to avoid. I also love the older homes in Shaker but you need to live in the right quadrant to avoid the crime (as close to Cleveland Heights/University Heights/Beachwood) as you get. There are also lots of houses for rent in UH.

[jam40jeff]

Traffic a nightmare in Shaker? No, traffic is assuredly worse in Strongsville.