Moving to Cleveland - Looking for best suburb with lovely houses, trees and great education (preferably West Side) (Strongsville: organic, restaurant)

[Stephlb51477]

Ummm you would literally be crazy to move to shaker heights if your husband works in rocky river. That would be the DUMBEST idea in the universe. No offense, but no one in their right mind would purposefully live on the far east side and work on the west side!!!!! if you want diversity, older houses move to Lakewood. If you want, mostly white, upper middle class, 1940s-to current homes, with great schools (nationally recognized) move to Rocky River or Bay Village. That is just the facts, no sugar coating. And btw, the EAST side is probably more snobby than rocky river-it is more old school rich people there, mixed with poor black people.

We live in Bay Village and my husband commutes to Beachwood. IT IS A NIGHTMARE. If you like 1.5-2hr commutes each way, than go for it. He is desperately trying to get transferred.

Don't say I didn't warn you!!!!

[teacherdad]

Good information, but in my experience, the old money is much more generous and better mannered. The "new" money treat others like they own them. That's my experience and am sure it differs within areas.

[dtario97]

So for me Lakewood is the easy choice, but Rocky River isn't terrible either. Lakewood though is vibrant, and is filled with diversity, both racial and socio-economic. I have lived in many of the suburbs in the region and River has far less diversity, but the schools are great, and the neighborhoods are nice, but the homes lack character in my opinion. Lakewood offers something for everyone and at all ages. It has a very robust recreation department which offers everything form youth sports to cooking and computer programming classes. The High school has a fabulous engineering program, and a very diverse music department. It is the closest suburb to downtown, and is fairly small, but has lots of residence. There is a good balance of renters to homeowners, which is why I think so many businesses thrive. Many restaurants and just stones throw away from the trendier Cleveland areas of Treamont, Ohio City, and the Gordon arts district. This city is rebuilding 5 schools, and is remodeling the high school. Your husband may not love this, as a conservative, but Lakewood almost always passes its tax levy's, and support for the school district is strong. The big factor for me is walk-ability. Far too many suburbs are very disbursed, but Lakewood is not only small geographically, but you would be hard pressed not to discover something new on almost every walk. Great little gift stores, antique chops, art galleries, and the Beck Center for the arts in amazing. This feature creates a lot of opportunity for independence for your kids as they grow. Many parks, and side streets allows kids to safely bike the city and explore.

[cleartheair]

Hi JerseytoDallasMom,

I understand your desire to get out of Texas and move to a place with four distinct seasons. That's why I moved back here from San Diego County in 1999 after 20 years of living there. My daughter was 10 at the time so schools and community were also important to me. I was tired of the the lack of history in North San Diego County where I lived, tired of the boring weather, tired of massive, stucco houses with red tile roofs stuck on postage-stamp sized lots, tired of the traffic and crush of humanity. Every February in Ohio, I question the wisdom of my decision but once spring arrives, I'm happy to be here again.

Teacherdad makes a very good point. The property taxes in Ohio-especially in Cuyahoga County-are extremely high. Cuyahoga County taxes are some of the highest in the state. I lived in CA prior to moving back to Ohio 15 years ago and was amazed at how much higher property tax rates were here in relation to property values. The good news is that you get a lot more house for the money and in your price range, you should have no problem finding a home you love.

Shaker Heights has beautiful, older homes but the property taxes there are also some of the highest in Cuyahoga County. Also, it's on the east side of Cleveland so your husband's commute may be longer than he wants. The distance is around 9 miles from Rocky River to Shaker Heights but the commute could take anywhere from 40-60 minutes, depending on where you live, traffic and time of day. If you decide you still want to look on the east side, you may also want to consider Chagrin Falls. It's a small town in a scenic area filled with trendy shops and restaurants.

If you want a highly-rated school district on the west side close to parks, recreation, shopping, restaurants and other amenities consider Rocky River, Bay Village or Westlake. For lower property taxes and another highly-rated school district, look a bit further west to Avon Lake. It's on the eastern edge of Lorain County where property taxes are significantly lower than Cuyahoga County. The commute to downtown Cleveland from any of these areas is minimal and traffic in Cleveland is a breeze compared to most other major cities around the country.

Fairview Park, a community just south of Rocky River, has an Earth Fair, which is similar to Whole Foods. Westlake has Trader Joe's. Rocky River and Bay Village both have a Heinen's Grocery Store which is a small, Cleveland-based grocery store chain that I'm guessing you will enjoy based on your descriptions of what you like and what you're looking for in a place to live.

Cleveland has loads of metroparks with many miles set aside for hiking and biking trails. To learn more google "Emerald Necklace of Cleveland". One of these, The Rocky River Reservation, begins in the town of Rocky River. Lake Erie provides endless opportunities for recreation and scenic beauty as well.

Hope this helps. Please feel free to message me privately if you'd like more information.

[WRnative]

Cuyahoga County real estate taxes pay for the Cleveland Metroparks system and the mass transit system. How do these services compare in San Diego? Are there admission fees to parks for residents?

[teacherdad]

$10 per day to a state park or about $40 to camp overnight. There are many public parks or reservations that are free. Climate means no leaf removal or snow work in streets here.

[CLF]

Originally Posted by Stephlb51477

Ummm you would literally be crazy to move to shaker heights if your husband works in rocky river. That would be the DUMBEST idea in the universe. No offense, but no one in their right mind would purposefully live on the far east side and work on the west side!!!!! if you want diversity, older houses move to Lakewood. If you want, mostly white, upper middle class, 1940s-to current homes, with great schools (nationally recognized) move to Rocky River or Bay Village. That is just the facts, no sugar coating. And btw, the EAST side is probably more snobby than rocky river-it is more old school rich people there, mixed with poor black people.

We live in Bay Village and my husband commutes to Beachwood. IT IS A NIGHTMARE. If you like 1.5-2hr commutes each way, than go for it. He is desperately trying to get transferred.

Don't say I didn't warn you!!!!

The commute from Shaker to Rocky River would be nowhere near 1.5-2 hours. I currently live in Cleveland Heights and work off I-90 @ W 117th and it takes me about 25 minuets. Depending on where you are in Shaker it would most likely be 30-45 minuets, you would take I-490 to 90 so you wouldn't be dealing with the I-480/I-77 mess (which would absolutely be a nightmare)

In my opinion the only reason to go with the east side would be for the private schools. If you want your kids to attend those schools you pretty much have to live on the east side (I attended one PK-12 as did both of my siblings and I honestly can't think of a single kid in any of our classes who lived on the west side)

If you take private schools off the table then I agree that you would probably be better off going with one of the west side options.

[awval999]

Specifically, you will want to look into Beachcliff I in Rocky River.

And yes, I agree with the other posters. I personally live in Rocky River (albeit on the poorer side), but the farther I got in to the OP, I'm like--- are you specifically describing Rocky River, because it's coming across cheerleading the city.

Also yes, our Whole Foods is being built. And soon enough I'll be able to walk to it! Yes!

[maxmodder]

Originally Posted by CLF

The commute from Shaker to Rocky River would be nowhere near 1.5-2 hours. I currently live in Cleveland Heights and work off I-90 @ W 117th and it takes me about 25 minuets. Depending on where you are in Shaker it would most likely be 30-45 minuets, you would take I-490 to 90 so you wouldn't be dealing with the I-480/I-77 mess (which would absolutely be a nightmare)

In my opinion the only reason to go with the east side would be for the private schools. If you want your kids to attend those schools you pretty much have to live on the east side (I attended one PK-12 as did both of my siblings and I honestly can't think of a single kid in any of our classes who lived on the west side)

If you take private schools off the table then I agree that you would probably be better off going with one of the west side options.

i90 to 490 is about 30min normal traffic. Rush hour no snow you are looking at 45min and with snow, slow driving it can be pushed to an hour, but no where near a 2 hour commute.

[CLF]

Originally Posted by maxmodder

i90 to 490 is about 30min normal traffic. Rush hour no snow you are looking at 45min and with snow, slow driving it can be pushed to an hour, but no where near a 2 hour commute.

Fortunately going east to west there really is no rush hour traffic. I have been doing the commute for almost 2 years and I think 45 mins is the max it has taken even in the worst of the winter weather.