Potentially Moving to Cleveland, need recommendations (Lakewood, Solon: home, buy, high school)

[deskjockey]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

If you're into the Stepford Wives. It's nice to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

You don't know what you are missing, Cleverfield

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by deskjockey

You don't know what you are missing, Cleverfield

Chagrin Falls is one of the few non-urbanish places in Cuyahoga County I think would be cool to live in. Really seems like a nice place.

[Clevelander17]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

If you're into the Stepford Wives. It's nice to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

And perhaps that's what the OP is looking for?

[Elwerence]

Shaker Heights, Beachwood, Orange are excellent school districts.

University Heights and Cleveland Heights are walkable, plenty of character but their schools aren't the most top notch as others. But there are PLENTY of private schools but I know financially that can be a challenge.

Shaker Heights is walkable for parks, and has sidewalks but if you want to be close to shops & restaurants it depends what street, etc.

No problem with commuting. All very close to the area where your husband works.

[dassa75]

I'm getting on this kind of late but wanted to throw something into the mix. I completely understand your concerns about changing schools and wanting your kids to have a great education. We live in a small community but I recently changed jobs so I commute to Cleveland. Right now I am just not comfortable changing my kids to different schools. In our current school, it has been a great system for my older daughter. She could be more challenged, but overall it is great. My younger one is a different story though. In our local area our schools are in the top 3 consistently. But each child is different and a lot of it has to do with their home situation. My older child was reading at age 3-4, doing math sums at 2-3 and has always been years ahead of her peers. My younger child is her polar opposite. She struggles in everything. She has been in tutoring, intervention, and has been raised in the same home. I think to some degree to, each child has their own learning style as do their parents.

In that same line of thought, I know many parents (and most doctors and lawyers that I know) who have pulled their kids out of school and have started to homeschool them. Of the homeschool students that I know, they could write books about how to successfully homeschool. Their kids are very social, polite, and are years ahead of their peers. Two of my daughters friends are starting college full-time this fall, and they are 14 and 15 years old. Homeschool has allowed them to work where they need to, which the local schools could not accommodate because they were so far ahead.

Most everyone has their own opinions on education and living areas. Personally I am a small town person who works in Cleveland. From research I have gathered, Shaker Heights always comes up on top lists of places to live. Regardless of what you decide, good luck

[ZnGuy]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

If you're into the Stepford Wives. It's nice to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

COL is on higher scale but disagree with your assessment. I lived there and it is a fantastic area, I consider best town in OH.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by ZnGuy

COL is on higher scale but disagree with your assessment. I lived there and it is a fantastic area, I consider best town in OH.

Everyone I've met who lives there says the same thing.

[citymama]

Homeschooling was a great option for us when we lived in TN. Lots of networks around here if you are interested.

[Jen35]

Update...We just had an accepted offer on a house in Shaker with the inspection tomorrow. Kids will be going to Onaway. I thought I would not like the schools in Shaker at all, but I visited 4 of them (met with 2 principals), and really liked Onaway and Fernway. I wasn't a huge fan of Boulevard, although it seems to be one of the favorite schools in Shaker. Overall, I really liked the teaching approach and the individual attention/grouping they are forced to do there with the wide disparity of ability levels.

Originally, we had an offer on a house in Rocky River, but it also had 3 other offers, and we didn't want to get in a bidding war and pay a premium on a house we are only going to be in for 2-3 years. The lake really appealed to us for the kids, and we focused in on that area of RR (which has basically zero inventory). In the end, we actually preferred the Shaker schools and the shorter commute for my husband, but I couldn't find the right house until we focused on the more neighborhood feel. We really loved the housing stock in Shaker as well. I think we will like the area as the people seem really nice and we picked a street with smaller yards so that we are in more of a neighborhood vs the big houses on acres of land. I'm not looking forward to the taxes, but you can get a lot for your money there compared to RR, so it all evens out in the end.

Chagrin Falls was too far out for us. I liked the housing in the village, but getting there felt too rural. After being in a first ring suburb, it just felt too isolating. If closer to Cleveland, we would have seriously considered it...

Just wanted to post an update as I'm sure you often don't hear where people end up...

[ehfp]

Hooray! So glad you found somewhere you like, Jen! (And let me know if I can answer any Shaker questions, though it sounds like your neighbors are a great resource!) Best of luck with the final sale details and the move.