Moving to Cleveland for Clinic job- no idea where to live! Shaker? Rocky River? Need safe area! (Lakewood: rentals, crime)

[ChicagotoCleveland123]

Hello,

My husband took a job at the Cleveland Clinic, and we need to move in a few months to Cleveland. We are looking a safe neighborhood to live with our young child. We would like a reasonable commute to the Clinic, but are willing to drive 20 mins for a safe area. Our priority is finding an area that has young families, affordable houses, and good schools. I have heard a lot of people that work at CC move to Shaker Heights because of the distance and good neighborhoods. After browsing threads on this forum, I am nervous to make the move to Shaker bc the area we could afford would be Lomond and it seems like most Cleveland people recommend to stay north of Chagrin Blvd bc of crime and safety increasing south of it.

We would be appreciative of any suggestions! We have a budget of $150-180. Please help us find a safe area! I would love to walk to parks, have a great park district, library, etc.

We heard Rocky River is nice. Anyone have any info on that area? How's the commute to the Clinic?

Thanks in advance!

[ClevelandGeorge]

Rocky River to the CC main campus you are looking at 20-30 minute commute...obviously more if during rush hour. River is a nice city with a lot of offer a young family...good school district, close to the Metro Parks. You should also look into Lakewood. It actually sits right between Rocky River and Cleveland. Cost of living is a bit lower than Rocky River and you can find some really nice homes for $180,000. You need to be more mindful of where you are at in Lakewood...it has it's nicer areas and it's not as nicer areas...but overall it's a great, vibrant city. Lakewood has good schools, lot's of great restaurants, nice parks and a really great local library.

[costello_musicman]

Welcome to Cleveland!

You can find some great properties at $180K in Lakewood -- right on the lake, very walkable, good schools.

[L2DB]

Beachwood's probably not in your price range, and CH schools are suspect. I suppose I'd try to find something in Shaker or Lakewood if the commute isn't too bad. You may also look on the west side of Mayfield Heights.

Edit: Actually, you might be able to find some Beachwood homes near the Beachwood/Shaker border, but you may have to give up something like air conditioning or it might be on the smaller side or maybe only 1.5 baths instead of 2.

[bjimmy24]

Shaker is fine. All the alarmists on this forum really are misguided. But then if you come on and say "X neighborhood is actually ok" you get lambasted for not caring about safety or somehow not really understanding someone's concerns. All I know is, if someone has a negative experience, they are very likely to complain online about it. People with good experiences, generally don't think that much about it, so they probably won't post anything online. Thus, a lot on all of these forums (Regardless of city) is negative. Just look at any city's forums- there are tons of negative threads.

I grew up very close to Shaker, knew a lot of people from Shaker who went to the high school, and by all accounts, it's a great place. There are many great people there and in my opinion, if I had a child, I would consider Shaker in my top 5 places to live in Cleveland metro.

School rankings, by the way, really are BS. There is no one-size-fits-all guide for anything, but people are very willing to accept this bogus standard for schools. Why? I don't know. You should look at their websites, make phone calls, e-mails, etc. That will give you a much better idea of the school than asking a bunch of paranoid people on a forum. But, I have known kids from Shaker that went to Georgetown, Harvard, OSU, Miami, lots of good schools. It seems to be a school where it is what you make it. If you study hard and join clubs, you can do anything you want. If you don't, well, sorry, no school can help you if you don't want to try.

Check out this list of people from Shaker: List of people from Shaker Heights, Ohio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pretty impressive- politicians, football players, hockey players, actors, writers, CEOs, scientists, musicians, rappers, etc. Everyone seems to find a niche. It's a pretty diverse place.

[jmv]

Shaker is a great, family friendly city about 20 minutes from downtown by car or light rail. There are many houses in lots of different neighborhoods in Shaker in your price range. I did a quick check on howardhanna.com and saw homes in the $180,000 price range in Sussex, Fernway, Lomond and Mercer which pretty much covers all corners of this city (which is only 6 square miles).

Regarding the worry about south of Chagrin: There was just an extensive discussion about this on city-data last week in which several current residents of Sussex weighed in about their positive experiences in the Sussex neighborhood which is within walking distance of Family Connections, the local family center located in the old Sussex school building. Family Connections houses preschools, a gym and a family playroom in addition to a large playground, learning garden and ball fields. The whole Warrensville/Van Aken intersection (also within walking distance of Sussex) is about to undergo a huge redevelopment. The vision is for a walkable city center with shops, offices, a restaurants. It doesn't look like that yet, but in the next few years I think it will be very different. All of this is at or south of Chagrin. Although I don't live in that neighborhood, I have alot of friends who do and are really happy there. I also spent alot of time at the Family Center when my kids were young. There is nothing to worry about.

We also love the schools. I just wrote extensively about them in a post today in response to a question about East Side vs. West Side. You should check that out for more information.

[LuvOrlando]

I commuted to the Main Campus from Lakewood for years. I left 45 minutes before the shift, which gave me time to get to work, get my clipboard, do a quick check of the floor, bs a little if it wasnt too busy, all that crap before punching in. I used the parking where you pay for it and not the freebie parking in the Municipal ("muny") lot. I don't know how they're doing parking now. If I'd parked at muny, it would have added a few minutes.

In the winter, obviously, I'd leave early. But 45 minutes (in the morning) was enough to get me to work on time. I am the person who is NEVER late. You know those people that if they're five minutes late, you're calling them? That's me. Never late. Ever. 45 minutes.

Eventually I had it with paying for parking and left the main campus for a community hospital. Everyone that works for the clinic complains about it. Especially at the main campus. They have their reasons, to be sure! But I kind of liked the clinic. You get a lot of PTO, really good benefits, all the pens you can steal and you know you're part of an organization that does things well. The people in Cleveland are VERY well served by the clinic. Health care in many parts of the country, when compared to the clinic, is scary bad. So, be proud of where you work.

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by ChicagotoCleveland123

Hello,
We would like a reasonable commute to the Clinic, but are willing to drive 20 mins for a safe area.

Am I the only one scratching my head over this line?
"We would like a reasonable commute"....
Ok. Of course. Who wouldn't? Understandable. But to probably 90% of America, 20-30 minutes IS a reasonable commute. So then she says:
"But are willing to drive 20 minutes..."

BUT? So what's a reasonable commute to you? 10 minutes?
I am not trying to be rude or insulting. Please don't take it that way.
I just think
A) a 'reasonable commute' is at the least 20 minutes.
B) The Clinic is not in the best area so to really have options you need to expand that 20 minutes to at least 30.
C) Heck, if you drive, parking at the Clinic and getting to your work location alone could take 10 minutes.

Curious what your commute is now in Chicago?

[lindarogers]

I live in Lakewood and am very familiar with Rocky River. Both have good schools, walkability and are on the metroparks. Lakewood homes are very inexpensive compared to River. Taxes are not cheap in either. Both communities would fit your needs, Lakewood being a bit closer to the Clinic. Both communities are right on the shoreway as well. There are plenty of rentals available and the housing market is still very good. You should have no problems finding a place you like.

[blabber]

There are plenty of homes available in your price range in Fernway also. May not be updated, but they exist. Do not discount Sussex either.