East Side Question (Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Brecksville: sale, house, neighborhood)

[The Analyst]

Thanks for all the info.

Really like the Fernway Neighborhood. Seems to have everything you could ask for.

[costello_musicman]

Fernway Rd?

Yes really has some nice houses too.

[AndyF667]

That is the neighborhood where I live. Absolutely wonderful. And, a couple kids on the street go to Hawken, a couple to University and a gal that is at Hathaway. Plenty also are in the Shaker system (my 2 oldest are). Again, none of the parents would consider living anywhere else.

[Peregrine]

That's a really pretty tree lined street, too, if it's the Fernway I am thinking of.

[exit18b]

I also live in Fernway. Fernway is a great neighborhood with lot's of young families. Take a ride around the neighborhood this weekend because several blocks will be having their block parties. Crime is not a big issue. You can walk to stores and the Rapid.

[kerensa]

I know quite a few people who have moved from Shaker (specifically Fernway) and would never consider moving back. Their kids are much happier in the new school system (Avon & Brecksville). I know a few people who have been mugged, houses broken into & robbed, even in the nice part of Shaker.

I think Shaker is in decline. As a newcomer to Cleveland, people have often told us to move to Shaker and how wonderful it is. I think it's these people who have the agenda: tricking law abiding, employed outsiders into buying into these declining neighborhoods in an attempt to prop them up a bit more. It's very clear that these neighborhoods are falling apart - just take a house for sale now and check the last price at which it sold and see which is higher.

I grew up in the kind of neighborhood where you can leave your car unlocked with the keys still in it. Never bother locking your doors. No murders, rapes, robberies, arson, theft, muggings, drug charges. How many people can say that about Shaker, even Fernway? There is crime many places, and there is more of it in Shaker and Cleveland Heights than most of the outer ring suburbs.

I have no problem with diversity but I am not going to give a neighborhood extra points for being diverse in order to make it seem better than it is. Check out Pepper Pike or Mayfield- plenty of diversity there, very little crime.

[AndyF667]

Originally Posted by kerensa

I know quite a few people who have moved from Shaker (specifically Fernway) and would never consider moving back. Their kids are much happier in the new school system (Avon & Brecksville). I know a few people who have been mugged, houses broken into & robbed, even in the nice part of Shaker.

I think Shaker is in decline. As a newcomer to Cleveland, people have often told us to move to Shaker and how wonderful it is. I think it's these people who have the agenda: tricking law abiding, employed outsiders into buying into these declining neighborhoods in an attempt to prop them up a bit more. It's very clear that these neighborhoods are falling apart - just take a house for sale now and check the last price at which it sold and see which is higher.

I grew up in the kind of neighborhood where you can leave your car unlocked with the keys still in it. Never bother locking your doors. No murders, rapes, robberies, arson, theft, muggings, drug charges. How many people can say that about Shaker, even Fernway? There is crime many places, and there is more of it in Shaker and Cleveland Heights than most of the outer ring suburbs.

I have no problem with diversity but I am not going to give a neighborhood extra points for being diverse in order to make it seem better than it is. Check out Pepper Pike or Mayfield- plenty of diversity there, very little crime.

I love Shaker. I love Fernway. Ive never been murdered, raped, burned down, mugged, or charged with drugs. Someone did open my unlocked car and take an old cell phone about 6 years ago, so I got to upgrade. In a way I was grateful. Yeah, I should be able to leave my car unlocked, but now that I do lock it, the problem doesnt happen. If you dont think bad things can happen in exurbs, you are mistaken. Since you are new to the area I cannot take your comments seriously. I for one (employed!), are happy you dont live here. Good luck.....

[exit18b]

Originally Posted by kerensa

I know quite a few people who have moved from Shaker (specifically Fernway) and would never consider moving back. Their kids are much happier in the new school system (Avon & Brecksville). I know a few people who have been mugged, houses broken into & robbed, even in the nice part of Shaker.

I think Shaker is in decline. As a newcomer to Cleveland, people have often told us to move to Shaker and how wonderful it is. I think it's these people who have the agenda: tricking law abiding, employed outsiders into buying into these declining neighborhoods in an attempt to prop them up a bit more. It's very clear that these neighborhoods are falling apart - just take a house for sale now and check the last price at which it sold and see which is higher.

I grew up in the kind of neighborhood where you can leave your car unlocked with the keys still in it. Never bother locking your doors. No murders, rapes, robberies, arson, theft, muggings, drug charges. How many people can say that about Shaker, even Fernway? There is crime many places, and there is more of it in Shaker and Cleveland Heights than most of the outer ring suburbs.

I have no problem with diversity but I am not going to give a neighborhood extra points for being diverse in order to make it seem better than it is. Check out Pepper Pike or Mayfield- plenty of diversity there, very little crime.

Fernway is great! Great community! Last week we had a wonderful black party until 0100 and 2 days ago we had a block "happy hour". Not sure why your message was so sharp!

[CALarrick]

Pepper Pike and Mayfield are sprawling, outer-suburban, areas though. Just a fundamentally different lifestyle. Lots of neighborhoods in the Heights (Fernway would indeed be a good example) are walkable, close to some retail and to mass transit, really as close to "real city neighborhoods" as you'll get in metro Cleveland -- good places to know your neighbors, front porches, block parties, etc. The kind of "town" feeling people often speak nostalgically about even as they buy big exurban houses in places where you never see a human being on foot.

Shaker Heights, U Heights, and Cleveland Heights are all good towns with a variety of neighborhoods. Which community you want is better answered on a 'micro' level if you provide a bit more about, e.g., how big a house you want and what features/styles you prefer. E.g. Shaker and U.H. were built later than the oldest parts of Cleveland Heights, so if you want really old (circa 1900-1915) neighborhoods (the frame houses with big porches, etc.) you want Cleveland Heights. Lots of brick houses from the '30s in Shaker Heights, etc.

Especially if schools are a non-issue (you said your kids are already in private school) Cleveland Heights has some wonderful blocks and statistically a lower crime rate than Shaker Heights. We moved from New York and really like it -- and much nicer commercial centers (Cedar-Lee/Cedar-Fairmount/Coventry) than Shaker, which is a little lacking in that regard. Those commercial centers are a little underwhelming compared to many other cities, but far and away the best thing going for non-strip-Mall commerce in Cleveland.

As far as crime, my own sense (as I pondered on a Cleveland Heights thread earlier today) is that there seems to be a lot of overblown hyperventilating on these forums - often directed at the towns with significant African-American population even when statistically they are quite low-crime. That said, while they are separate towns, lots of Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights are basically urban neighborhoods. I think this is a good thing, but it can mean more crime - at least more minor crimes and crimes of certain kinds (no pedestrian is ever harassed in Pepper Pike because no pedestrian has ever existed in Pepper Pike!) - but it doesn't change the fact that these are basically very safe and solid areas by all appearances and statistical evidence.

IF they decline it will only be because enough people become convinced that the overblown (and yes, race based) fears are reality that there is a 'self-fulfilling prophecy' effect -- but I suspect this will be limited by the fact that there is enough built-in demand for the kind of neighborhood life that the outer suburbs (except for actual towns like Chagrin Falls) can never provide.

[rymandtimin]

Beachwood, Lyndhurst, Highland Heights and Mayfield Village are all great places to live.