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A few Cleveland streetviews-I don't know if any single thing in Cleveland is quite as structurally dense as say Over the Rhine in Cincinnati, but as a whole, I would at least say it compares pretty well as a cohesive collection of neighborhoods molding into an urban core:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4866...7i16384!8i8192
This 2nd west side photo might have one of the best amenities not necessarily obvious to the untrained eye.. a tunnel connecting it immediately to Edgewater Park on the other side. From that point in the map, you might not know it, but you are only a five minute (or less) walk to this: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4891...7i16384!8i8192
Urban or not, a pretty nice amenity.
Cleveland's strength in urbanism is at least partially enhanced by the proximity of Lakewood, Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights... Lakewood is the most densely populated city between the NYC and Chicago metros.
100 North Kingshighway is a knockout, I agree. But I share usroute10's assessment of the Central West End as lacking the commercial oomph of the best city neighborhoods. In St. Louis, I'd say the Delmar Loop, which straddles the St. Louis-University City line, has the CWE beat in that regard.
Its Kansas City analogue is Westport, which I would also say belongs on this list, perhaps along with next-door Hyde Park and Southmoreland. Its central intersection, Westport Road and Pennsylvania Avenue, looks like a small-town crossroads, but it's KC's liveliest entertainment district. The building at the northwest corner of the intersection in the Street View linked here dates to 1855 and is the oldest structure standing in present-day Kansas City.
Edited to add: I guess I should also show some residential blocks in the neighborhood. It's not as densely built as the Minneapolis neighborhoods shown above, but that's true for KC as a whole, with a few exceptions, two of which I will also show:
Two blocks north of Janssen Place is one of those more densely built streets, similar to St. Louis' Kingshighway but with shorter buildings and not facing a park:
I was actually going to throw the Rivermarket into the ring.
Between the city market itself, being exclusively filled with local businesses, an abundance of varying 100+ year old lofts and apartments, plenty of green space. If it engaged the the river more and was better connected to the CBD I'd give it the easy win. But even without those things I'd say its pretty up there.
As a longtime Chicagoan, my favorite in the Midwest outside is Loring Park -- most of the commercial is at the edges, but there are terrific institutions (Walker + garden, cathedral) and great residential blocks arrayed around a scenic park. Nordeast & St. Anthony Main have potential; haven't been back to see how they've grown together.
Looks like there's more to CWE than I remember, but it was quite underwhelming then.
As a longtime Chicagoan, my favorite in the Midwest outside is Loring Park -- most of the commercial is at the edges, but there are terrific institutions (Walker + garden, cathedral) and great residential blocks arrayed around a scenic park. Nordeast & St. Anthony Main have potential; haven't been back to see how they've grown together.
Looks like there's more to CWE than I remember, but it was quite underwhelming then.
Yeah Minneapolis' urbanity is underrated. Many great walkable dense neighborhoods. My dad says Loring Park reminds him of Brooklyn.
Central West End is the top as far as neighborhoods in the Midwest and outside of Chicago that I've visited. The massive research hospital complex and those that it attracts doesn't make for the most exciting commercial corridor, but it very much contains just about any store and service needed in a compact neighborhood even if not necessarily the most exciting and the streets are busy with pedestrians while the built density is high and meanwhile it has parks, museums, and even rail transit access. That freeway to its south blows though and I wish it would get capped or removed.
The Short North and German Village in Columbus, Over-the-Rhine and Mt. Adams in Cincinnati, Lower East Side in Milwaukee, Ohio City in Cleveland and Soulard in St. Louis. I'm sure there are plenty of others, but those are neighborhoods I've personally been to that impressed me.
only 1 post mentioned milwaukee. It is better as far as population lost from peak and population density than Cleveland or St. Louis so seems like it should be mentioned more.
only 1 post mentioned milwaukee. It is better as far as population lost from peak and population density than Cleveland or St. Louis so seems like it should be mentioned more.
It could mean that Milwaukee just has more of a collection of stable neighborhoods. But just guessing because I've never been there (though looking at google maps it seems to be a lot in tact than Cleveland or St. Louis).
Plus, two of Cleveland's best urban neighborhoods aren't even in the city of Cleveland (Coventry Village in Cleveland Heights and downtown Lakewoood).
I definitely don't have the expertise to say which is "best," but...
I absolutely love Over the Rhine in Cincinnati. It is vibrant, dense, walkable, and the architecture is beautiful. After college, I lived about 40 minutes outside of Cincinnati and would visit somewhat often. I was always impressed with how much there was to do and how much pride people in the city took in OTR. Of medium sized cities I've visited, the neighborhood helps put Cincinnati at the top of my favorite mid-sized cities, right along with Pittsburgh.
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