Looking to East Cleveland (house, college, car)

[Monica8888]

You may want to visit ...quickly. But it is a very impoverished area and until the drugs are stopped the community will continue to fail. I am 45 years old and I once visited family members living in East Cleveland: beautifully manicured lawns, quiet, tree lined streets. But that was BC (before crack). Does anyone have any practical solutions to restore and reclaim a community that no one wants?

[BelieveInCleve]

East Cleveland was once a great place with wealthy people and nice houses. There are still some nice older houses in the area, actually quite a few of them but there is abandoned/very run down homes on every street now. The Forest Hills area is nicer but thats because its mostly forest, and those huge high rises arent the nicest places either.

If you go around East Cleveland you will see a lot of drug dealers and crack heads in a lot of places. So yes, East Cleveland is one of the roughest small cities in the country. If you mind your own business you shouldnt have much of a problem though, if your not looking for trouble its most likely that none will come. However if you live there prepare to see major crimes happening next door and of course the drugs. East Cleveland has potential to be a great place with those big nice older houses, and the RTA stops which are very convenient in East Cleveland but it has turned into a very impoverished, high crime city.

[J Dub.]

I would have to agree with everyone else against buying an apartment building in E.C. You may get a bargain, but a lot of headaches as well. As mentioned, there is lots of poverty in E.C.; therefore, finding quality tenents could become an issue.

And I must also agree that E.C. is not on the news everynight. I've driven through plenty of times in various neighborhoods in E.C.; mind your business, no one will bother you. I wouldn't live there and would also avoid certain areas there at night, but you'll make it out o.k.

[J Dub.]

Originally Posted by Cle440

East Cleveland has potential to be a great place with those big nice older houses, and the RTA stops which are very convenient in East Cleveland but it has turned into a very impoverished, high crime city.

^ I completely agree. The city's access to public trans. with the Rapids and the soon to be up and running BRT, as well as it's proximity to University Circle, makes it a somewhat appealing location. The only problem is washing away several decades worth of decay and dealing with a city gov't that has a rediculously bad rep for corruption and mis-management of funds. In many ways, East Cleveland really put itself in the position it is in more than the demographic changes that took place in the 60's. Up until about the 80's, there was still a decent amount of middle class families in E.C.; however, with the mis-management of city hall, city services suffered and the quality of life deteriated such that those who had the means to leave did so. There went the city's tax base, so now even with the remaining residents best efforts, it will be a long and difficult road to rebuilding the city.

E.C.'s best hope is for developer who is willing to take the risk come and take advantage of the city's location and public trans access to build housing and for U.C. area employees looking for a location close to work. Land is cheap there and with the city's proximity to University Circle, it could really be transformed into something nice; and the added tax base would help aid the city in restoring some services. Only problem is the current severe lack of services; they've already got the sheriff's dept assisting with police on night patroles due to lack of manpower.

The other option which has been thrown around in the past several years is that E.C. could request to merge with Cleveland. This would certainly benefit E.C., but don't know if or even why Cleveland would want to take on all of E.C.'s debts and problems.

[nocondorfx]

what makes a person think 'hey, lets move into the dangerous ghetto' ?

[BelieveInCleve]

Yeah, I remember people saying that not even 25 years ago, East Cleveland was a step up from Cleveland. Now its nearly as bad as the worst areas on the Eastside. I think if the Cleveland area in general became in demand, that East Cleveland would definitely see some positive changes. I also agree that a merger with Cleveland would benefit EC. As long as they take over the services and schools its already going to be improved.

EC is in such a convenient location, but the thing is all about the demand for the area. If Cleveland was a great place and the place to be again, like lets say...NYC, Seattle, Portland those kind of cities, than East Cleveland would be doing great right now because of its proximity to downtown and rapid stations. The poverty in the city is ridiculous though, I think a few years ago they said it was over 45%, and the crime rate is higher than Detroit and nearly comparable to ESL...Its basically the same thing but East Cleveland is much more packed and denser than East St. Louis. I think if they reported it right on city-data.com last year it would have been around 1600 or so with the 12 murders not to mention all the other crimes that go on there. Either way it could be a great place, but its sad to see it doing so bad.

[angstless]

In Norfolk VA Ghent was a 'dangerous' place...they had turned mansions into flop houses..now those same houses are worth 1 million do not let old homes go ..they are the cultural heritage of any city/town

[Sam_in_ND]

Originally Posted by angstless

In Norfolk VA Ghent was a 'dangerous' place...they had turned mansions into flop houses..now those same houses are worth 1 million do not let old homes go ..they are the cultural heritage of any city/town

You Are correct, but Ghent was always a neighboorhood of Norfolk not an independent city. I think that if E. Cleveland were part of the City of Cleveland it would be much easier to go through the gentrification process. As others mentioned the decades of corruption by the government of East Cleveland have taken its toll.

[BelieveInCleve]

I think East Cleveland is now as bad as the worst areas of Cleveland. Look-wise I think East Cleveland is overall worse than Cleveland now. There is a lot of brick buildings and apartments in EC and the majority of them are abandoned and falling down which is very sad, also in EC they hardly ever tear things down so you will just see block after block of mostly abandoned houses and buildings. Also the crime and poverty is crazy over there, almost compareable to East St. Louis. I agree that if it was part of Cleveland it would be better off but it would leave Cleveland worse off than it is. They would have to stretch fire and police and then deal with the poverty and crime of EC also.

If you want to see what East Cleveland is like just watch an episode of "The Wire" or "The Corner" (both took place in West Baltimore). That will show you what EC is like between all the abandoned brick buildings and high drug trafficking and crime. Its sad to say this though about an area that could have had so much potential and may have in the future.

[Chef Boyardee]

This whole process is idiotic. You take a White neighborhood, the Blacks move in, the Whites bail, the Blacks trash it and then move into the neighborhood that the Whites moved to. So, the Whites want to bail again, but where? Oh, well, lets build condos in East Cleveland for White people. So, they move back in and it starts all over again. Well, I don't think builders are complaining.

People used to live in the same neighborhoods for generations. Often times, for centuries, even thousands of years. We hate this. You get attached to a house and you don't want to leave. You get attached to the view out the window of your kitchen and front door. You get the house fixed up just the way you like it and then it is time to move. What about all the memories you have in that house! Imagine, being born in the same house your father was and knowing that you will die in it and God willing, so will your children. So when you repair something or add something to that house you do it for your Grandchildren! That's beautiful; this wandering lifestyle is crap. It's awful. People don't like to feel loss, but life is full of loss. So, we have to. However, this is the kind of loss that we could easily avoid, but don't.