safe working class/middle class majority black neighborhood?

[HueysBack]

Originally Posted by teacherdad

Solon is solid. My cousins grew up there-- still are. Not as diverse as east side areas, but they are cool people and race does not matter and schools are known to be best in Ohio. It's not for me personally, because I like the older housing and closer to the city.


I still think Lakewood (west side) is cool and there are some very nice homes in the 180k range in areas near there.

I would still recommend renting for 6 months to a year to find your fit and then go from there. Good luck!

Definitely rent for 6-12 months! We were in a similar spot to OP in wanting to move to a more affordable city with a solid middle-class AA population. After touring a number of cities where the real estate market was hot and houses were selling quickly, we kind of rushed into buying a house here. We're happy but definitely could have done better.

[teacherdad]

Huey.. Where did you end up?

Glad it worked out.

I constantly see homes in almost every area and want them all! LOL

Found one for 182K in Fairview - never been there. Street is super CLE cute with trees and house is amazing for that price. 14 min. walk to RTA as well.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by teacherdad

Huey.. Where did you end up?

Glad it worked out.

I constantly see homes in almost every area and want them all! LOL

Found one for 182K in Fairview - never been there. Street is super CLE cute with trees and house is amazing for that price. 14 min. walk to RTA as well.

To me, fourteen minutes is a rather long walk to get to a bus stop. Especially during Cleveland's long winters where the wind chills can be bitter cold and the sidewalks frozen over with treacherous ice.

That's about how long it takes me to walk to the West Boulevard Rapid station from where I live -- if I take the shortest possible route and walk briskly. Fortunately for me, there's a bus I could take there instead and then transfer.

I never want to be more than an eight-minute walk from a bus or train stop -- maximum.

[teacherdad]

That's cool, but I regularly walk an hour or more where I live just for fun. Also, I could hop on a bike and make it in a few min. Basically, I would take RTA into downtown for games and such so it's not everyday for work.

I am a believer in public transportation. My son just got back from the Netherlands recently (2 trips this year to see his GF). Now he has a bike and rarely uses his car. He said they are all biking over there.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by teacherdad

I regularly walk an hour or more where I live just for fun.

I do too, but not in inclement weather. Cleveland is not California.

[WeSoHood]

Originally Posted by andrew61

To me, fourteen minutes is a rather long walk to get to a bus stop. Especially during Cleveland's long winters where the wind chills can be bitter cold and the sidewalks frozen over with treacherous ice.

That's about how long it takes me to walk to the West Boulevard Rapid station from where I live -- if I take the shortest possible route and walk briskly. Fortunately for me, there's a bus I could take there instead and then transfer.

I never want to be more than an eight-minute walk from a bus or train stop -- maximum.

I'm assuming he meant the RTA station that's on Center Ridge near W.210 and Rocky River. There are plenty of bus stops all over Fairview Park FWIW.

Originally Posted by andrew61

I never want to be more than an eight-minute walk from a bus or train stop -- maximum.

I used to walk 25 mins everyday to work in Chicago. I think he can manage just fine. Bundle up, suck it up, and you'll survive. Thousands of others just like me made the same trek into the loop.

[teacherdad]

Agreed regarding winter...

15027 Merrimeade Dr, Cleveland

That's the address. WestPark RTA is the nearest station to which I was referring.

[kpl1228]

Originally Posted by teacherdad

Viewing this from CAL is so odd. No worries either way, but you just don't see people asking to live in areas by race where I'm from.

You're so right...it took me leaving NE Ohio and moving out west to see this. More things in Cleveland are driven and determined by race and schools, as a sort of vicious partnership as well as separate concepts. These two things drive real estate, suburban rankings in magazines, neighborhood mindsets, young family decisions for residence, business location, it's present to some extent just about everywhere nationwide but in Cleveland and few other similar national cities it dictates and determines pretty much everything. It's fascinating yet sad at the same time. It is definitely in some way shape or form, as a famous Chicago politician used to say, "a racial thing."