Possibly moving to CLE

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by Batt1eRatt1e

Any comments on Shaker Heights? Found a handful of nice houses there.

See the "compendium" thread linked in post 9. There is a multitude of information about Shaker Hts. in the posts in that thread.

Are schools important to you?

In my mind, SH is convenient for Univ. Circle and downtown. It's not relatively convenient for freeways or any of the Cleveland Metroparks' large nature preserves, although the Shaker Lakes are quite nice. SH arguably has the best mass transit of any Cleveland suburb; two rail rapid lines provide service to downtown and there are robust bus routes between Shaker Square and University Circle. Check out Google Transit at the RTA home page if mass transit is a concern.

Shaker Hts. has very high real estate taxes, largely to support the city's very well-funded school system, but also superior city services (SH picks up garbage from behind houses; it isn't allowed on tree lawns). If Congress eliminates the deduction of state and local taxes, which is under consideration by the Republicans, the high rate of local taxation in SH may become an issue.

Check out the new Van Aken redevelopment project. It could be a transformative project for SH by adding a more distinct city center, superseding Shaker Square, which actually is located in Cleveland.

Shaker's Van Aken District gets additional $1.5 million NOACA grant for urban multipurpose path | cleveland.com

Port of Cleveland OKs bond-financing deals for Van Aken District in Shaker Heights (photos) | cleveland.com

[a3hourtour]

If you want a quiet family suburb near the lake that is a little conservative- has mid priced to upper price homes (depends how close you go to the lake) and the hottest westside real estate market look at Bay Village. Peaceful. Safe. No businesses to speak of, apart from a few on Dover Center. Rocky River is east of that- more upscale and a bit more urban with a nice little business district with good restaurants and boutiques. You can find something nice there in the low 200s. Good schools, older money. South of them in Westlake, what they call 'new money' a bit flashier- still conservative like the other areas. Good schools, newer building, too. Not too urban.. plenty of deer there and in Bay. Westlake has the huge mall and theaters and lots of midrange restaurants. And consequently lower property taxes. Something crazy like 1.5% I think. Lakewood is just east of RR and just west of Cleveland. More liberal. More urban. Cute funky coffee shops like the Root cafe with Vegan offerings. Decent and newer library. Key bonus: architecturally it is mostly 1890s to 1940s... One of the first rings to extend out from Cleveland. West end of Lakewood is nicest; near RR. High school- it's OK but not great.. still a nice newer building I think.. lots of schools are in the process of updating or have just done so Westside. Best haircuts at Tease on Detroit Rd, btw. Also some access in Lakewood to the Metroparks, as in the other suburbs. No Rec center in Bay or Lakewood but a nice one in Westlake. Good parks in Lakewood and RR along the beach. Fireworks there and also summer concerts. And Lakewood had the Beck Center for the Arts- good community theater and classes for kids.

[Batt1eRatt1e]

Originally Posted by a3hourtour

If you want a quiet family suburb near the lake that is a little conservative- has mid priced to upper price homes (depends how close you go to the lake) and the hottest westside real estate market look at Bay Village. Peaceful. Safe. No businesses to speak of, apart from a few on Dover Center. Rocky River is east of that- more upscale and a bit more urban with a nice little business district with good restaurants and boutiques. You can find something nice there in the low 200s. Good schools, older money. South of them in Westlake, what they call 'new money' a bit flashier- still conservative like the other areas. Good schools, newer building, too. Not too urban.. plenty of deer there and in Bay. Westlake has the huge mall and theaters and lots of midrange restaurants. And consequently lower property taxes. Something crazy like 1.5% I think. Lakewood is just east of RR and just west of Cleveland. More liberal. More urban. Cute funky coffee shops like the Root cafe with Vegan offerings. Decent and newer library. Key bonus: architecturally it is mostly 1890s to 1940s... One of the first rings to extend out from Cleveland. West end of Lakewood is nicest; near RR. High school- it's OK but not great.. still a nice newer building I think.. lots of schools are in the process of updating or have just done so Westside. Best haircuts at Tease on Detroit Rd, btw. Also some access in Lakewood to the Metroparks, as in the other suburbs. No Rec center in Bay or Lakewood but a nice one in Westlake. Good parks in Lakewood and RR along the beach. Fireworks there and also summer concerts. And Lakewood had the Beck Center for the Arts- good community theater and classes for kids.

Nothing in RR in my budget that I like, Bay Village/Avon Lake is pushing it in terms of commute and nothing worthwhile in my budget. Had a house in Lakewood that we were going to try and get but someone got it before me. A lot of Lakewood residents told me to steer clear east of Bunts/Warren Rd too so I gave up and moved onto Shaker Heights.

[WRnative]

Note: this post turned into a rambling, "tale of two cities," but it may give you some insights into SH in contrast to a more typical bedroom suburb. I don't want to take the time to edit this post.

I believe you said that you didn't want to use mass transit, but SH can be a great location for working downtown using mass transit, especially if you can productively use the commute time on a rail rapid.

Will you be working at the federal building? It's a great walk IMO (especially in good weather) offering some brisk exercise from Tower City to the federal building, perhaps through The Arcade. But downtown also has free bus trolleys or you could take the Waterfront Line to its East 9th station. Perhaps check out the mass transit commute before purchasing a SH house. It may be an added bonus.

If you are going to drive for certain, I would check out Mentor before making your final decision if you haven't done so. The driving commute to East 9th street is very direct. My impression is that Cleveland's rush hour on Route 2 isn't too bad (perhaps non-existent most days; say traffic slows to 50 mph when no construction, accidents, extremely inclement weather; there is a bottleneck at the Route 2/I-90 spur where the east/west traffic narrows to two lanes), but I haven't done it daily for several decades. Many fewer persons work downtown than when I did that commute, but I also had a somewhat flexible schedule.

Mentor certainly is a more classical suburb, but with incredibly robust infrastructure (e.g., marginal roads, two east/west freeways, large bridges over freeways/railroads, industrial parks, highly regarded recreational facilities, sixth largest retail center in Ohio, good schools, quick access to Lake Metroparks, Holden Arboretum, Mentor Headlands Beach state park, reasonable taxes). The school situation is especially ideal for elementary and junior high students. A knock may be its super large high school. Mentor could have supported two high schools, but I was close to the decision to build a mega high school, and the decision largely rested on the goal of having state-ranked athletic teams IMO. If it's a consideration, central Lake County also is a mecca for those interested in equestrian recreation.

Mentor in many ways is a new and improved Euclid, not surprising given that many of its residents during its boom years migrated from Euclid once Route 2 was built. Even Euclid's Lincoln Electric built a Mentor plant.

I'm extremely fond of central Lake County's parks, especially Holden Arboretum and the Mentor/Fairport Harbor coastal areas (Mentor Headland and Fairport Harbor beaches, Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve (likely the best municipal nature preserve in Greater Cleveland with over a mile of wild Lake Erie beach), and Mentor Marsh). Young kids love the Lake Metroparks Farmpark, one of the best in the nation. Easy access to these top-notch park/nature preserve assets and Mentor's massive retail presence certainly distinguish Mentor from SH. Mentor's housing stock is more modern (eastern SH offers a more modern housing stock, however), but less distinguished than in SH.

Willoughby and Kirtland are adjacent to Mentor, and offer similar benefits, but they are different communities but with smaller high schools than Mentor.

By contrast, SH is one of the nation's great garden cities. It has a magnificent, but aged housing stock. It was built with an emphasis on architecture and mass transit. In my mind, one of the great benefits of living in SH with kids, is its easy proximity to University Circle. UC is one of the very best cultural districts in the nation, and very, very kid friendly. SH also offers relatively easy access to the Beachwood Mall/Legacy Village retail center, northern Ohio's upscale shopping mecca, as well as the Eton Chagrin Blvd. shopping center.

I've always considered Mentor and SH as two great contrasting suburbs on the eastern side of Cleveland, and am very familiar with both cities. Friends that I've had who lived in SH mostly were concerned with the educational environment in the elementary schools (Fernway), with disruptive behavior allegedly interfering with the educational process; again, this was a couple decades ago. They otherwise greatly enjoyed SH. As an aside, SH at least in the Fernway area had one of the great neighborhood Halloween experiences that I've ever seen, with magnificent carved pumpkins. I wonder if this still is true. Mentor residents and Mentor High School alumni don't seem bothered by the size of Mentor High School, but that may because they've never experienced the intimacy of a smaller high school. SH also has a large high school.

SH also offers great ice skating and swimming training programs for young kids. Mentor has a municipal ice rink, but is relatively challenged for swimming assets outside of the summer. Lake County's Central YMCA nearby in Painesville may have one of the best swimming programs of any YMCA in Ohio, however. SH has a municipal ice rink and good school swimming pools. It is nearby the Cleveland Skating Club, with diverse athletic offerings.

https://www.clevelandskatingclub.org/

http://shakeronline.com/departments/recreation

http://cityofmentor.com/departments/parks-recreation/

Both cities offer superior recreational assets.

Mentor owns its own marina and other marinas are nearby.

There is a tennis club in Mentor and Mentor's Garfield Park offers great outdoor tennis courts and a very good outdoor municipal pool.

http://cityofmentor.com/departments/...garfield-park/

Mentor has been honored as a top U.S. small city.

http://www.news-herald.com/article/H...NEWS/307129988

http://www.news-herald.com/article/H...NEWS/161129909

Some future considerations. Higher energy prices and an emphasis on mass transit in coming years when the nation begins to deal with climate change much more aggressively, should benefit SH. The Van Aken project could be very positive for SH, and actually raise property values along Van Aken and in adjacent neighborhoods.

By contrast, the rapid expansion of Amazon (large distribution centers planned for Euclid and Warrensville Hts.) could be very detrimental for Mentor with its over-sized retail physical assets, negatively impacting both its real estate property base, as well as income tax collections. Retail arguably is under-sized in SH.

[WRnative]

See posts 31 and 34 in this thread:

//www.city-data.com/forum/cleve...ing-cle-4.html

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by Batt1eRatt1e

Had a house in Lakewood that we were going to try and get but someone got it before me.

I keep hearing and reading that Lakewood's housing market is "hot" right now. A house for sale in good condition will move fast. And selling prices are averaging 100 percent of list price; some properties are going for over 100 percent.