Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are looking at new construction in both places. We've been having a hard time finding a house that we really like in the inner ring, eastern burbs. A friend suggested these sudations. Our minds are open either way. Existing home, or new home.
Hi Sheena! I'm sure WRNative will chime in with tons of info (LOL!) but I will get the ball rolling.....as far as Eastlake, I live right down the road from there. Doesn't seem to be a whole lot of "there" there, but a decent area overall. Lots of really nice houses on the lake. The Y operates an outdoor pool there. Shopping options and restaurants along Vine St....close to Willoughby and Mentor for further dining/shopping options. A couple of Lake Tran routes run through the area if that matters. Sorry I don't have a ton of information!
Hi Sheena! I'm sure WRNative will chime in with tons of info (LOL!) but I will get the ball rolling.....as far as Eastlake, I live right down the road from there. Doesn't seem to be a whole lot of "there" there, but a decent area overall. Lots of really nice houses on the lake. The Y operates an outdoor pool there. Shopping options and restaurants along Vine St....close to Willoughby and Mentor for further dining/shopping options. A couple of Lake Tran routes run through the area if that matters. Sorry I don't have a ton of information!
These houses are being built and I'm sure that they are not on the lake. Or the price would be much higher. I'd like nothing more than a water view house.
Is there a Whole Foods nearby? Are you from Eastlake? If not, what attracted you? Are people in Eastlake open to newcomers?
These houses are being built and I'm sure that they are not on the lake. Or the price would be much higher. I'd like nothing more than a water view house.
Is there a Whole Foods nearby? Are you from Eastlake? If not, what attracted you? Are people in Eastlake open to newcomers?
What is a Lake tran route?
Thanks so much for your information!
Is the quality of public schools personally important to you? If not (are Ukrainian guests still a factor; do they have children?), definitely check out housing north of Lakeshore Blvd. in Euclid (and places like Utopia Beach, Utopia Beach Club, Arcadia Beach, and the Edgecliff Club; I don't know anything about these, just picked them up off a Google map of Euclid, but I suspect they are street clubs/amenities), and in North Collinwood, north of Lakeshore Blvd.
As suggested by bjimmy's latest post in the North Collinwood thread, North Collinwood seems set for significant price appreciation in the years ahead, most especially for homes near the soon to be enhanced Euclid Beach Park. Also check out Wildwood Park. These parks are within 15 minutes of Eastlake.
You may find some bargains on or near the Lake Erie shore, and cheaper than new construction elsewhere.
The Bonneville Tower Condominium Assoc. offers magnificent lake views and balconies on the cheap. Condo fees include all utilities and cable, so they aren't as outrageous as they appear. The issue there is the waiting list for garage parking.
Candidly, I believe lake views are overrated and become boring after a while. However, living near great parks is fantastic, and Sims Park in Euclid may be the best local park on the east side of Greater Cleveland with its new pier and lakefront trail. It's very convenient for Willowick and not far from Eastlake.
There are relatively new homes in Euclid (e.g., Wells development off Lloyd Road at Lakeshore; at the end of Edgecliff Drive, which is just west of East 255th and north of Lakeshore Blvd.), and these houses MAY (I don't know) be better values than new construction in Eastlake if they ever are on the market. There also are houses near the lake in Willowick (between Euclid and Eastlake) north of Lakeshore Blvd. and a small condo complex near Lloyd Road and north of Lakeshore Blvd.
Perhaps check out the small, lakefront pocket community of Timberlake.
You even might find some bargain lakefront homes in Mentor-on-the-Lake.
I haven't checked housing prices in any of the areas mentioned.
Based on your commentary on these forums to date, you would have trouble tolerating the politics of your neighbors in Eastlake and Amherst, so I have to call it like I see it and recommend you look elsewhere.
These houses are being built and I'm sure that they are not on the lake. Or the price would be much higher. I'd like nothing more than a water view house.
Is there a Whole Foods nearby? Are you from Eastlake? If not, what attracted you? Are people in Eastlake open to newcomers?
What is a Lake tran route?
Thanks so much for your information!
I don't know much about Amherst except that it's over 40 minutes to University Circle, compared to about 20 minutes from Eastlake, according to Google, and an important consideration for me. If I were looking at Amherst, I would check out existing housing in Oberlin and even Wellington. Definitely check out Lakeview Park, the gem of the Lorain Metro Parks system. Amherst is 8 miles from Oberlin, which offers many attractions/events, so definitely check out Oberlin.
Eastlake is less than 8 miles from Mentor shopping districts (sixth largest retail complex in Ohio) the Cleveland Metroparks' North Chagrin Reservation, and Sims Park in Euclid, and 15 miles or less from Holden Arboretum, other great Lake Metroparks in Kirtland, and Mentor Headlands Beach State Park (largest natural sand beach in Ohio).
Shoregate Town Center on Lakeshore Blvd. is the main shopping area in Willowick (and for Eastlake), but there are other strip centers on Lakeshore and Vine St. also is a retail strip with a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Several years ago, the western end of Shoregate Town Center was demolished to make room for new housing construction, perhaps another area to check out. (Where is the new construction site in Eastlake?)
The Eastlake Public Library is part of the Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library system, which includes a nearby, very nice new library in Willowick.
Lake County Metropark's Lakefront Lodge Park is a small park with great Lake Erie views in Willowick near the border with Eastlake.
Laketran is the Lake County mass transit system. It has established bus routes, but its most popular service is its "Dial-a-Ride" point-to-point shuttle service. Cuyahoga County RTA 39 buses actually have their eastern terminus at Shoregate Town Center (check this, if interested), where they connect with Laketran buses; the two systems offer free transfers.
Personally, I would find a good Lake County realtor, perhaps enter into a buyer relationship, and check out options in Mentor and even Willoughby carefully before paying for new construction in Eastlake. They effectively are the same housing market IMO. There is relatively new construction throughout Mentor, but especially off Johnnycake Ridge near Route 615 (which has a convenient I-90 interchange), where the new Cleveland Clinic hospital is under construction.
There are no Whole Foods Markets in Lake County, but there is a Trader Joe's and Meijer in Mentor.
Perhaps check out senior centers for any community under consideration. However, you can join senior centers in neighboring communities. The Willoughby senior citizens center shares a pool and other facilities with Willoughby South High School (a new high school in the Willoughby-Eastlake school system which also include a new Eastlake North High School) and the Willoughby YMCA.
Based on your commentary on these forums to date, you would have trouble tolerating the politics of your neighbors in Eastlake and Amherst, so I have to call it like I see it and recommend you look elsewhere.
I don't know about Amherst, but I consider this baloney in Eastlake unless you actively insist on talking politics with any MAGA neighbors you might encounter in Eastlake. I have a good friend in Eastlake who likely voted for Trump, but she isn't very political, probably like many pro-Trump voters in Eastlake. She does oppose liberal reproductive rights, but she's a very Catholic senior citizen. She well tolerates me, even when I express political opinions that probably disturb her. I have many neighbors who were pro-Trump, even posting lawn signs, but I'm still friendly with them, and am not shy about eviscerating Trump policies, many of which they don't know about or understand (such as on climate change and immigration).
See 2020 precinct results here, and I suspect in 2022, post Roe v. Wade revocation, the results may be more in favor of the Democratic Party candidate, most especially if it's not Biden.
Based on your commentary on these forums to date, you would have trouble tolerating the politics of your neighbors in Eastlake and Amherst, so I have to call it like I see it and recommend you look elsewhere.
I was wondering about that. and I appreciate your response.
We are not looking for a house in either area. We are looking at two newly built communities that are located in each of these areas The builders have other communities we can check out.
We've just been disappointed in our home search. We were really only in love with one house. We missed it by a half hour. It really had everything we wanted.
I don't know about Amherst, but I consider this baloney in Eastlake unless you actively insist on talking politics with any MAGA neighbors you might encounter in Eastlake. I have a good friend in Eastlake who likely voted for Trump, but she isn't very political, probably like many pro-Trump voters in Eastlake. She does oppose liberal reproductive rights, but she's a very Catholic senior citizen. She well tolerates me, even when I express political opinions that probably disturb her. I have many neighbors who were pro-Trump, even posting lawn signs, but I'm still friendly with them, and am not shy about eviscerating Trump policies, many of which they don't know about or understand (such as on climate change and immigration).
See 2020 precinct results here, and I suspect in 2022, post Roe v. Wade revocation, the results may be more in favor of the Democratic Party candidate, most especially if it's not Biden.
Thanks so in your opinion, Eastlake is OK? Is it all Republican/MAGA types? Or a mix?
I'm going to check out the votes myself, however, how a place "feels" is also important to me.
It might surprise some, but I grew up in a Gold Coast old money area in the North Shore of Long Island. My parents were both registered Republicans, although my mother voted Democratic in national elections.
Those were very different. times, though, and people were not as rude or violent about their politics. Now, I hear that back east, in working class areas, people are having Trump Trains of enormous pickup trucks on Saturdays, hanging Biden in effigy on their lawn, putting up signs in their yard that read "Eff" Biden.
This is NOT where I grew up, or where I last lived. It's on another part of the Island. The North Shore was always more genteel, fiscal conservatives Republicans. They were called "Rockefeller Republicans back then. Think Liz Cheney, Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey, Mitt Romney, Adam Kindelberger and members of The Lincoln Project.
I'm a progressive Protestant, and there are some churches that are progressive in Eastlake. I may choose to attend church in Cleveland, too. We know we will be spending more time in Cleveland than in any of these other subdivisions, should we decide to choose to go that route.
I have to do some more research, and I am happy to hear any other comments about Eastlake and Amherst. We were always leaning more towards Eastlake anyway.
Perhaps check out senior centers for any community under consideration. However, you can join senior centers in neighboring communities. The Willoughby senior citizens center shares a pool and other facilities with Willoughby South High School (a new high school in the Willoughby-Eastlake school system which also include a new Eastlake North High School) and the Willoughby YMCA.
Somebody told me that the Willoughby senior center shares the Willoughby YMCA pools. I just checked, and this isn't true, although some Y facilities are shared with the senior center. So corrected paragraph:
<<Perhaps check out senior centers for any community under consideration. Typically non-residents can join any senior center in a neighboring community for a slightly higher fee if they would more enjoy another senior center.>>
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Correction to post 6
