Another relo to Cleveland metro question (Lakewood, Cleveland Heights: for sale, crime, houses)

[Bevsdad]

I apologize in advance to those of you I have read in the many threads about relocating to the Cleveland metro area, the replies I have seen are encouraging. I guess I believe my questions are more directed and I wanted to get as much input as possible.

My company has asked me to consider a position working downtown, on Public Square. I will be very handsomely compensated and should be making anough to consider just about any community in the metro area. I'm turning 50 this month, wife is 45 and we have a precocious 10 year old. I've lived a vagabond life that has my brother telling people I am in the witness protection program . I left Boston in 1983 and have lived in Houston, Tulsa, Philly, Chicago, LA, NYC, East Lansing, MI, Punta Gorda, FL and most recently in the suburbs of Nashville. I grew up in inner city Boston and later lived in the Brookline suburb of Boston.

I added that last line because I get the impression the Shaker Heights area is a lot like that Brookline community. Would those of you who are familiar with both communities say that assumption is accurate?

I learned through the Cuyahoga County Tax Assessor's website the tax rate amounts to a 3% levy per $100,000 of home value. While that is high, I don't mind paying that cost if I get value for that money. Do residents of that area feel they get value for that amount? How are the schools? My daughter is a very bright child and as mentioned earlier, sees the world in a more adult way than her 10 years. Would the Middle schools in the SH area be good for her continued development? I would prefer after her early development being in homogenized (read as primarily white) communities that she be exposed to a more diverse area for these last 7 years of primary school. Would SH schools be good for this?

I know the east side of Cleveland has some crime issues. Do these filter over to the SH community?

All that said, I am not opposed to a coimmute if I can find a special spread on acreage. My work would require me to be in earlier than most rush hour traffic and stay after the evening rush has dissapated. How far out would I have to look for a nice spread on 5 acres? Are these communities so sleepy they would be considere boring, or is there an exurb that has some real charm to it?

Thanks in advance for any input received!

[costello_musicman]

Welcome to Cleveland!

Shaker Heights has beautiful old brick homes--I've only been to Boston twice, but shaker may actually be the closest comparison to parts of Boston with housing styles and maybe neighborhood feel in some ways.

School system is good, and there are even numerous private schools for high school if you're interested.

I would also recommend looking into Lakewood as well--dense, good schools, on the lake, diverse (I believe cleveland's highest immigrant population which makes it very interesting). Since you have a child, I wouldn't recommend living in the Cleveland city limits unless your daughter goes to private school--but there definitely are some neat areas in the cheap with dirt extremely affordable housing if you find an area that fits you (i.e Little Italy, Brooklyn, Ohio City, Tremont, Kamm's Corner, Edgewater, and even in or around downtown.)

EDIT: For five acres, you may have to look to more of a Rocky River (west) or Beachwood (east) I believe.

[WeSoHood]

Originally Posted by costello_musicman

EDIT: For five acres, you may have to look to more of a Rocky River (west) or Beachwood (east) I believe.

Rocky River(4,200/sq mile) while it does have a few properties with five acres, they're probably harder to find than in Beachwood(2,300/sq mi). Rocky River is about twice as densely populated - although similar feels. Westlake would be more suitable for that acreage of land.

Shaker Heights, Beachwood, Rocky River, Lakewood, and Westlake would all be great choices.

[airics]

what about gates mills and gilmour academy

[Steve36]

I was going to suggest Gates Mills as well. Five acres may be hard to find but many of the properties there are approximately 2 acres and feel like more since the neighboring properties will likely be of equal size. Gilmour and Hawken Schools would be options if you want to go the private school route. Keep in mind that Hawken is from $15,000 to $20,000 in base tuition per year plus $2000-$3000/year in additional fees IIRC; I don't know about Gilmour's rates. However, at least part of and perhaps all of Gates Mills is in the Mayfield School district which from what I have gathered is very solid (greatschools.net gives them a 9 out of 10 and they received a Silver Medal from US News and World report). While Gates Mills is homogenous the Mayfield schools do seem to offer some diversity in the student body (15%AA, 5% Asian). When searching for homes in this area I would include properties in Mayfield Village as well although these are less likely to have acreage.

In Shaker the schools are a bit of a conundrum. They have an excellent reputation amongst some but don't have any recent data to back up the reputation. The Shaker Schools are about 50% AA/ 50% white and other. In Shaker you will probably find more crime in the eastern and southern most neighborhoods. I would be leery of properties west of or along Van Aken (which is too bad as there are a few great homes on Van Aken) and south of Chagrin Blvd. The heart of Shaker (for arguments sake we'll say this is east of Coventry, south of Fairmount and north of S. Woodland) is very safe and there are certainly neighborhoods outside of this area that are equally safe. To the east, Beachwood offers good schools with demographics and rankings similar to the Mayfield school district.

The Chagrin Falls area might be another one to look at. Properties with acreage can be had there and the town and surrounding area are charming. The schools are outstanding but *very* homogenous (greatschools.net gives them 10 out of 10 and they were one of only a few Ohio schools to receive a Gold medal from US news & world report). If you live on the eastern edge of the Chagrin schools area (Moreland Hills etc.) the commute probably won't be too bad.

Hunting Valley would be another area to look at for homes with acreage. These will be in the Orange School district (some may be in another district) with the same private school options as Gates Mills and Shaker. Hunting Valley is pricey.

I’d also include Pepper Pike, Orange and Solon in your house hunt as well.

My wife and I checked out these areas (except HV which was out of our price range) prior to settling on a home in Shaker. When we start a family we may move out to Chagrin or Gates Mills for better public schools and a larger piece of property but for now we’re happy with our life in Shaker Heights.

[gtsurfer05]

5 Acres in Rocky River?? The rich people by the lake do not even have that. Maybe there is a few, but RR is really dense. I'm not too sure about the east side, but on the southern part of the West side, you'll have more chances of getting a house with more acres. Many years ago there was lots of green areas around the Brecksville, Broadview, Royalton areas. Alot of these woods have been taken down for the big cookie cutter type houses on postage stamp size lots. There are still many areas with huge lots, or properties that butt up to woods, however I have not seen many of these for sale. The only downside to the South side is that everything closes down really early. In the case of the Starbucks in Brecksville, the light go off at 9 o'clock sharp, while one else where as in Strongsville will stay open till 10 or 11. These cities, especially like Brecksville try to keep their city seem very quaint.

[tribecavsbrowns]

You might also be interested in the number of National Merit Semifinalists in some of the top high schools in Cleveland, given that you have a bright daughter.

released Fall 2007
Archbishop Hoban 6
Beachwood 7
Cleveland Heights 5
Hathaway Brown 8
Hawken School 12
Laurel School 7
Orange 6
Revere 5
St. Edward 5
St. Ignatius 17
Shaker Heights 17
Solon 13
Strongsville 7
University School 14
Western Reserve Academy 5

released Fall 2006
Brecksville 6
Hawken School 8
West Geauga 5
St. Ignatius 18
Hudson 7
University School 10
St. Edward 5
Mayfield 6
Orange 9
Revere 5
Rocky River 5
Hathaway Brown 6
Shaker Heights 14
Solon 15
Strongsville 7
Westlake 6

I put every school that had more than five in a year. I'll leave it to you to look up the school's enrollments, demographics, etc to put it in context.

[Bevsdad]

Thank you all for some great input.

I should have checked my numbers. If I had, I would have realized 5 acres around a major city like Cleveland is not a likely option. Any kind of acreage over 1 would work just fine.

The recommendations on schools is particularly interesting for me. Numbers tell a story, but there is nothing like the knowledge of the residents to fill in the blanks of that story.

[ohioaninsc]

My mom still lives in Pepper Pike, and I grew up there and attended Orange HS. That is a great area if you are looking for a decent size property of 1-2 acres. Gates Mills is also great. Shaker Hts has wonderful houses throughout, but it is a little more dense. I can't say much about the west side suburbs, I never went over there when I lived up there. I enjoyed living in the East suburbs except for this little nasty thing called Lake Effect Snow. I know the western suburbs don't get hit nearly as hard.

[airics]

gilmour i believe is approx 18-20k per year... i went to gilmour for 2yrs back in the 80s and then transferred to mayfield .. best move i ever made.. much to the dismay of my parents though.. never could keep up with the rich kids, didn't have a lot of $$... so if it were me, my kid would never go to a private school IF the local public schools were excellent