Difference between Shaker Hts and Cleveland Hts (Lakewood, Cleveland Heights: crime, home)

[Tex?Il?]

Hi,

I'm not too familiar with Cleveland. Never been there. I live near Chicago, but I do enjoy checking out other midwestern cities, while keeping open the possibilities of relocating, as the type of communities I love (historic, charming inner suburbs that are racially integrated) are a bit more affordable.

I live in Oak Park (8 miles west of downtown Chi), and I have heard from a couple people from the Cleveland area, that there some similarities with one of the two heights).

Can anyone clue me in as to the difference between Shaker Hts and Cleveland Hts? And is anyone familiar enough with Oak Park, IL (or neighboring Forest Park/River Forest) that can back up the claim that there are some similarities. (historic/quaint, inner ring, racially integrated suburb).

[5Lakes]

Cleveland Hts and Shaker Hts are a lot like the Oak Park/Forest Park/River Forest parts of Chicago. They have a lot of old money historic neighborhoods, and I think the best parts of Cleveland Hts and Shaker Hts are actually on more of a grand scale than Oak Park/Forest Park/River Forest. Both have upscale parts, middle class parts, and a sizable black population. Both also border some rough Cleveland neighborhoods.

I would say the biggest difference between the two is that Cleveland Hts is more urban and pedestrian friendly, as well as having a higher proportion of young professional types. Shaker is more streetcar suburban (light rail in this case) without many walkable commercial districts. There is also a Cleveland neighborhood called Shaker Square that is adjacent to Shaker Heights, which serves as a commercial hub centered around a rail stop.

[SquareBetterThanAll]

The most glaring I can think of is the public schools; Shaker Heights is the more (much more) desirable of the two.

As mentioned before the aesthetics are different to some degree; Shaker has more neighborhoods with larger lots. Cleveland Heights also has more dense commercial sections, like typical row-type commercial strips.

[usernametaken]

I liked Cleveland Heights a lot more than Shaker Heights. Great vibe and walkability, and close to Coventry, Little Italy and CWRU.

My one big regret during my decade spent in Cleveland was that I did not live in Cleveland Heights even briefly. I did drive there a lot when Jillian's was happening and ate at Melt a few times in my last year in Cleveland when that place opened. There is also a cool large "social" Starbucks with lots of young people where I used to go play chess.

One of my workmates always says that Shaker is going down the drain. Super high property tax rates, increasing crime etc... Clevelend Heights has slightly lower property taxes, but still amongst the highest in Cleveland.

[Townes Van Zandt]

Originally Posted by usernametaken

One of my workmates always says that Shaker is going down the drain. Super high property tax rates, increasing crime etc....

I don't know about the situation in Shaker, but I wouldn't put much trust in that source.

If there's one thing almost all Clevelanders have in common, it's that they complain about "Insert hometown nieghborhood/suburb of your choice" going downhill.

I'm not sure why that is, but I'm willing to guess that the Plain Dealer has something to do with it.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by ksu sucks

I don't know about the situation in Shaker, but I wouldn't put much trust in that source.

If there's one thing almost all Clevelanders have in common, it's that they complain about "Insert hometown nieghborhood/suburb of your choice" going downhill.

I'm not sure why that is, but I'm willing to guess that the Plain Dealer has something to do with it.

You find that attitude in every major metropolitan area in the country. I never take a single statemtent like that at face value.

[AGuyFromCleveland18]

Originally Posted by SquareBetterThanAll

The most glaring I can think of is the public schools; Shaker Heights is the more (much more) desirable of the two.

As mentioned before the aesthetics are different to some degree; Shaker has more neighborhoods with larger lots. Cleveland Heights also has more dense commercial sections, like typical row-type commercial strips.

While I have heard this a lot, I don't necessarily agree. If you want to do well at Heights you can, if you don't you can easily fall through the cracks, and it's the same thing with Shaker (and probably any public school). I know plenty of people that went to heights that took AP classes and went on to top tier and Ivy League colleges. At the top levels, the two districts are on par.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

Hi,

I'm not too familiar with Cleveland. Never been there. I live near Chicago, but I do enjoy checking out other midwestern cities, while keeping open the possibilities of relocating, as the type of communities I love (historic, charming inner suburbs that are racially integrated) are a bit more affordable.

I live in Oak Park (8 miles west of downtown Chi), and I have heard from a couple people from the Cleveland area, that there some similarities with one of the two heights).

Can anyone clue me in as to the difference between Shaker Hts and Cleveland Hts? And is anyone familiar enough with Oak Park, IL (or neighboring Forest Park/River Forest) that can back up the claim that there are some similarities. (historic/quaint, inner ring, racially integrated suburb).

Tex, in addition to Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights, you might also like Lakewood which is along the lake just west of Cleveland proper. It's also very quaint/historic/inner ring, not as racially integrated as the Heights area but it's slowly moving in that direction, and it has a lot of diversity in its own right (large Arab and Albanian immigrant communities, lots of foreign languages spoken at the high school, a sizeable gay community, etc.). It's somewhat like Evanston, Illinois, only without the university. It's sometimes described as "a college town without the college". Another difference from Evanston is that Lakewood has a very lively bar scene.

Lakewood has the advantage of being along the lakefront and being only a ten-minute drive from downtown Cleveland. Cleveland Heights/Shaker Heights have the advantage of being close to University Circle, which contains Cleveland's collection of "high culture" institutions (Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra, etc.).

Wikipedia has a very good article on Lakewood which you might find informative:

Lakewood, Ohio

[Tex?Il?]

Thanks Andrew!

[5Lakes]

Yeah, I actually like Lakewood more than the Heights suburbs. It's on the lake, has a good sized bar scene, and it has better access to downtown. Different vibe though. It feels more upscale along the lake but is blue collar as you head south. Not many blacks in Lakewood (more than in the past though), but it does have a lot of socioeconomic diversity.