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Cleveland? Really? Can you share your reasons for a move to Cleveland? I'd be interested in your reasoning, unless you have family there which might surpass other reasons.
Tell you what. I promise to give you my reasons if you tell me why you are asking this. For example, what is your experience in Cleveland and why would you ask why I want to move there?
Tell you what. I promise to give you my reasons if you tell me why you are asking this. For example, what is your experience in Cleveland and why would you ask why I want to move there?
Although I am not the poster who asked you why you want to move to Cleveland, I am also curious about your reasons, and I'll be happy to tell you why I'm asking. I have never even been in Cleveland and don't know anything about it really, except that there is a fair amount of snow there, which many retirees try to avoid. It has never come up, as far as I know, in all the endless discussions in this Retirement Forum about where to live in retirement, or in any of the magazine lists of best places to retire (not that those lists necessarily mean a whole lot). So it's not on my personal radar. Therefore, I think I would learn something about Cleveland from your answer. (Even though I am not looking to move, I do find it interesting to learn why people like or dislike the place they live, or why they want to move to a particular place.)
I'm fairly familiar with Cleveland and can give a few pros and cons for retiring there. By the way, I rather like Cleveland. I wouldn't choose to retire there myself but I can understand why someone else might choose it.
Pros:
--The inner ring suburbs would be the area to move to, IMO. Many of them are lovely, with lush lawns and gorgeous old architecture. Many tudor houses in that part of the country.
--Walkable neighborhoods with interesting stores.
--Excellent health care and health insurance is affordable.
--Strong, traditional churches with parishioners who have attended a certain church for generations.
--University Circle has an impressive number of excellent museums, as well as the symphony.
--Mom and pop stores.
--Very low cost of living.
--Beautiful parks, especially the Emerald Necklace (a park system strung around the perimeter of the city).
Cons:
--The weather is cold, snowy, and dreary for a large part of the year.
--Quite a few of the people you meet there are depressing. Apparently they think it's cool to show off how depressed they are. Some people find that amusing and a sign of "real" people. If you are comfortable with that sort of attitude you will love living there, you will think the people are down to earth, friendly, and charming, and you'll disdain other parts of the US as being "fake." I'm not comfortable with that attitude, so I find it, well, depressing.
--Hard to get a job there, if you need one.
--If you want a sophisticated "happening" town with lots of entertainment this is not the place for you.
--The suburban area is hilly and pretty but the city itself is kind of flat and ugly.
--As I recall, the rapid transit is good, especially if you live in places like Shaker Heights. I wasn't personally impressed by the bus system, however. And Shaker Heights has high taxes, so I'm not sure I'd recommend it even though the train there is nice. Which reminds me, check the property taxes before you move. Some of the cities there have very high taxes (but not all of them, so it's worth checking into).
--Did I mention that the weather is really bad? Can't be said enough. It's bad. I remember the lake effect winds in particular. They chill you through and through and can knock you down.
The person moving there is from Portland. Some areas like the Coventry Road section of Cleveland Hts., are similar to Portland (not as hip though).
Just about everyone I tell that I want to move from Portland OR to Cleveland Ohio tells me I'm nuts.
But I don't think I am. At least not for wanting to do this.
Minervah, when are you off to Cleveland? As I've said in previous posts, Cleveland has so much to offer (great symphony and museums, great public transport, etc) , and you have friends there!
Cons:
--The weather is cold, snowy, and dreary for a large part of the year.
--Quite a few of the people you meet there are depressing. Apparently they think it's cool to show off how depressed they are. Some people find that amusing and a sign of "real" people. If you are comfortable with that sort of attitude you will love living there, you will think the people are down to earth, friendly, and charming, and you'll disdain other parts of the US as being "fake." I'm not comfortable with that attitude, so I find it, well, depressing.
--Hard to get a job there, if you need one.
--If you want a sophisticated "happening" town with lots of entertainment this is not the place for you.
--The suburban area is hilly and pretty but the city itself is kind of flat and ugly.
--Did I mention that the weather is really bad? Can't be said enough. It's bad. I remember the lake effect winds in particular. They chill you through and through and can knock you down.
The person moving there is from Portland. Some areas like the Coventry Road section of Cleveland Hts., are similar to Portland (not as hip though).
Millions of retirees live with snow/cold winters and survive. What retiree needs to go out in a storm or extra cold day? The overriding thing for this poster is that she has friends there. Why move alone to where she knows no one?
Culture...plenty of it. It's not the back woods. Symphony, museums among the finest.
She (from what she's posted) doesn't need a job. A city with lower job opp's has more affordable rents. Crime? everywhere you go.
Sophistication and hip? I imagine that anyone sick of Portland is just as happy to leave all that behind.
As far as negative feedback goes, it helps to consider the source. Why are they giving you this feedback? Is it for selfish reasons (they will miss you, they want you to handle certain tasks that will now fall to them if you move, etc.) Is it because they feel competitive (if you move to a "cool" place then they will have to move somewhere equally "cool").
Or, is it possible they want to make sure you've thought this move through?
Too many people choose to move for, well, flakey reasons. They talk about some romantic image of sitting on a porch drinking mint juleps, as if that's what retirement is all about, but they haven't thought about health care, tax issues, or the reality of living far from family. Sometimes seniors fall prey to the glamorous pitch of salesmen who are trying to sell a development that (in reality) is falling into financial problems. Those salesmen can be very skilled at painting a rosie picture of a community that might have real problems.
If your friends and family are bringing up practical issues, maybe they aren't being negative--they just want to make sure you've really thought about it. Once you've shown them evidence you have thought it through, they'll either become supportive or you can tell them "too bad, I love you but this is where I want to be so I'm moving"
As far as negative feedback goes, it helps to consider the source. Why are they giving you this feedback? Is it for selfish reasons (they will miss you, they want you to handle certain tasks that will now fall to them if you move, etc.) Is it because they feel competitive (if you move to a "cool" place then they will have to move somewhere equally "cool").
Or, is it possible they want to make sure you've thought this move through?
Too many people choose to move for, well, flakey reasons. They talk about some romantic image of sitting on a porch drinking mint juleps, as if that's what retirement is all about, but they haven't thought about health care, tax issues, or the reality of living far from family. Sometimes seniors fall prey to the glamorous pitch of salesmen who are trying to sell a development that (in reality) is falling into financial problems. Those salesmen can be very skilled at painting a rosie picture of a community that might have real problems.
If your friends and family are bringing up practical issues, maybe they aren't being negative--they just want to make sure you've really thought about it. Once you've shown them evidence you have thought it through, they'll either become supportive or you can tell them "too bad, I love you but this is where I want to be so I'm moving"
Of interest on this topic is the question of how are they now reacting and how many years has it been since you moved? In hindsight I think part of it revolves around how they visualize you. There history of you is based on usually a job and interactions related to that and you housing and lifestyle interactions. With moving and transplanting that all changes and they have difficutly visualizing us in those changed settings. Especially with them out of the routine. As they realize your new circumstances (visiting helps) those questions turn to Dang you did it right!
Tell you what. I promise to give you my reasons if you tell me why you are asking this. For example, what is your experience in Cleveland and why would you ask why I want to move there?
I'll be glad to give you my experiences with Cleveland (none good). My ex husband was from there but left when he ws 13 to attend a military school in MN and went on to college here afterwards and lived in MN until 4 years ago when he moved back because his younger brother was dying from heart disease.
He stopped by last August and when I asked him how he liked Clev, he said: "I hate it". We didn't go into all the reasons why but I saw a normally positive happy person had turned into a sullen, whiney PIA. His father was in bad shape and when he passed he was getting out of there - his father passed shortly after his visit and I'm not sure where my ex is now.
They live in Shaker Hts (someone mentioned that area).
My personal experience with his family - understanding that this may or may not be normal behavior for that area:
After we married (we married in Lake Tahoe - we didn't believe in the big, expensive weddings for 1 day and we were both in our early 30s) we had a reception at our house for close friends and so the families could meet.
His father worked for GM at the time and had recently had been laid off so when they said 3 members of the family were coming I said they could stay at our house to save $$. I had a 3 BR but had only 2 beds and 1 bathroom and I also had an out of town friend that was staying who was taping the day for me - but, I would figure something out.
The day before the reception they arrived - with 10 people I knew it was only going to get worse when they didn't bother with the customary "Hello - glad to meet you~~~~~~~" stuff but promptly walked into the house - plopped down at the dining room table, some crossed their arms and demanded to be fed.
I nearly passed out - AND they all intended to stay at our house. What part of 2 beds and 1 bathroom didn't they understand? I scrambled and my ex & I shared a couch and my friend slept on the love seat that night (did I mention my ex had a broken leg from playing softball? Yes, he had a full cast).
Well, it only got worse and I won't bore anyone with the details except this one: The day of the reception my little Norwegian grandmother sat down next to his mother and tried to start a conversation, I walked up to see if I might be able to assist her () and his mother refused to acknowledge either one of us.
We went to Clev. years later for 2 other reasons and I didn't meet one person that I would care to meet again. Just a general dull could care less attitude.
I have many stories that I won't bore you with.
In case you're wondering, I don't dress trampy, classic actually, am friendly and don't get this type of response when I meet people.
Could this be just the people I met - maybe. But when I hear Cleveland I have nothing but bad memories.
Millions of retirees live with snow/cold winters and survive. What retiree needs to go out in a storm or extra cold day? The overriding thing for this poster is that she has friends there. Why move alone to where she knows no one?
Fair enough. If you have a strong network of friends there, that's a good reason to move somewhere. (Assuming, of course, that the friends intend to stay there).
As for Cleveland's winters... they're nasty. If you grew up there (or in a similar area) it might not bother you that much but moving from a place with a relatively mild winter like Portland could be a huge shock. It's not just the amount of snow, it's the dreary greyness that lasts for months. November to April can often be solid grey. The wind that comes off the lake can be fierce and lake effect snow is no joke. It's not just a matter of staying in for a storm or an extra cold day, and then the next day it all melts off and is beautiful. In Cleveland, the next day it hardens into a grey mass or it turns to grey slush and then that lasts for months.
On the positive side, autumn is very pretty there. Spring is very short but gorgeous--an explosion of color. The grey rainy weather means the area has lush growth and lovely spring flowers. Summers are midwesternish-- hot, humid, and buggy--but on the other hand not as hot as in the south. And the trees are big, so it's not hard to find shade.
Quote:
Originally Posted by newenglandgirl
Culture...plenty of it. It's not the back woods. Symphony, museums among the finest.
I suppose it depends on what you're comparing it to. To me, Cleveland has museums and a symphony but let's get real, it's not cosmopolitan. Having said that, though, the bigger question is "does it really matter"? Unless you plan to go to the symphony every day, it may not be a big issue for a retiree. Most retirees I know care a lot more about spending time visiting with friends, and they may be more interested that Cleveland is a city where they have a neighborhood pub than they are in going to the symphony.
Quote:
Originally Posted by newenglandgirl
She (from what she's posted) doesn't need a job. A city with lower job opp's has more affordable rents.
There's something to be said for this point of view. I have the same opinion when I look at beach towns. On the other hand, sometimes retirees discover after a few years that they need some extra income. If that's a possibility, Cleveland will be a tough city to find work.
Not trying to diss Cleveland at all. I like Cleveland. Just taking a realistic look at some general pros and cons since other people wanted to know about this city. The person moving there has, I'm sure, very good reasons why it's attractive to her that are more important than any of the general cons I listed.
I have to thank all of the people who responded about Cleveland both positive and negative. All information is helpful.
Okay, my reasons for choosing Cleveland as a place to relocate are these:
The Cleveland Clinic. World renown and there are doctors who specialize in treating a somewhat rare illness I have. It's something I cannot get where I live now.
Cost of Living. It's much more reasonable than many other places including my present location.
Neighborhoods: I like many of the inner ring areas. It's got lots of apartments mixed with homes and parks.
Public transportation: I know it depends upon where one lives, but it's pretty good if you locate on a good bus line or rapid transit line.
Entertainment: Great museums, concerts, parks, theater etc.
Very strong reason: I have good friends there who are willing to give me a hand when I move in finding a good neighborhood and showing me what the city has to offer.
Jobs: I won't need one. Or if my health improves I would like a part time job. One of my friends will be able to help me out there. My SS and small pension will go a lot farther in Cleveland than my present location. I am also hoping to get SSD benefits. I am waiting for a court hearing on it and will move whether or not I succeed in being awarded benefits. This should happen late summer; early fall.
Weather: Honestly, I dread the hot humid summers more than the freezing winters. But there is always AC. I grew up in Chicago and I know how bad the winters in both cities can be. I like cold. Because of my illness, I cannot take the sun for more than about fifteen minutes so overcast is perfect for me.
When I look at the Cleveland forum I see people being encouraged by improvements coming to Cleveland. That can be a good thing or a bad because as has happened in Portland where I now live, many people especially older people have been pushed out due to the high cost of living. I won't go into my feelings about Portland but suffice it to say if I weren't moving to Cleveland for the reasons I have listed I would be definitely be seeking another place to live.
I think Cleveland will be a good choice for me. But again, I like to hear about other people's experiences there. It's ironic because so often people will be shocked I want to leave Portland without their really knowing anything about the city other than what they have seen on TV or read in a magazine. And the opposite is often true when I say I want to live in Cleveland. People will go by reputation about which they have only heard but never experienced.
Again thanks for the responses.
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I'm asking so I can learn about Cleveland.
I knew it was only going to get worse when they didn't bother with the customary "Hello - glad to meet you~~~~~~~" stuff but promptly walked into the house - plopped down at the dining room table, some crossed their arms and demanded to be fed. 
I scrambled and my ex & I shared a couch and my friend slept on the love seat that night (did I mention my ex had a broken leg from playing softball? Yes, he had a full cast).
) and his mother refused to acknowledge either one of us.
