Moving to work in Brookpark-Airport area

[TammyT]

They have great school systems and it would not be a long commute.

[ottomobeale]

I lived in Greater Cleveland from 1973 to 2005. I lived in Westpark (City of Cleveland) from 1990 to 2005. I like Cleveland. I miss parts of it.

Rocky River Reservation is simply astounding and outstanding. Check it out along with a hidden park whose nane I forget in Olmsted Falls by the bridge along Rocky River. Its an old WPA project and is also stunning. Order a pizza from Angelinas and walk into the park and picnic. Also try Danny Boys in Rocky River. A bit pricy but outstanding.

HOWEVER. For goodness sakes don’t move into the actual city of Cleveland. Yes the houses in West Park are much nicer than average city of Cleveland houses. Parts of Westpark (Normandy and Norway Drive. Parts of Greenwood Drive are a picture post card)

Basically it comes down to:

The schools are bad.
The police are nearly useless. I needed them 5 times inside 3 years and they get an F for each time. Unless you are having a chainsaw fight in the street they are not interested.
Snow removal is abysmal
I could probably come up with others.
I don’t know if the current mayor is competent but the last one sure wasn’t. The only city official who ever impressed me post 2000 was my Councilman Sweeney.

I don’t really think the difference between Westlake, Bay, Avon or Olmsted Falls are worth a daily drive from Solon to NASA. You wont get across the county in under an hour during rush hour... and Solon to NASA is almost literally all the way across the county.

[WestwardHO]

Something no one has mentioned about living in Chagrin Falls (an absolutely charming town, great schools and family community) is you would be going West in the morning and East in the afternoon and the sun on 480 (when it's out) can be blinding if your commute was West to East rather than East to West. Someone mentioned horrible weather, I've lived all over the country and commutes in Chicago, Portland, LA, FL, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas are ALL way longer. Chagrin would be a 30 minute commute baring extreme weather or the occasional accident.
There is a huge choice of outstanding Private Schools in the whole area. Stongsville area is booming. BE careful about buying a home, we are in a huge slump and prices are predicted to drop through '09.

[ottokell]

You may want to check out Berea. Nice area, decent schools, and not at all far from NASA.

[nlschr0]

I would agree that the west side is your best choice. Unless you're looking for extremely wealthy cities (like Hunting Valley) or really want to be near the museums or University Circle, there isn't much that the east side would offer that is worth the commute.

On the west side, the neighborhoods mentioned all have different character. Of those mentioned, the highest rated tend to be:

Strongsville - modern, middle-class (perhaps generic) suburb - great schools, a large shopping mall, a Target and Starbucks, etc. Not as much of sense of community within the city, or as much charm as some of the older areas, but nice. Most homes will range from ranches, tri-levels, and split levels from the 60's and 70's to new construction subdivisions with somewhat larger homes. Nice greenspace and metroparks access, and right off of I-71. Farthest from the lake - near the airport and the Medina County line.

Westlake - probably the most upscale west-side city. A popular place for pro athletes, and other of "the newly rich" to build mcMansions. Great schools and city services. A little more upscale than Strongsville, but similar in suburban styling, with a new upscale lifestyle retail district at Crocker Park. Right off of I-90.

Bay Village - older, more mature area. Many homes tend to be smaller, older bungalow styles, except the lakeshore area that has extremely nice, huge homes. Lots of tree-lined streets and quaint homes. The area of Bay Village does not have a large amount of retail development (more residential) but there is certainly convenient access to retail areas in Westlake, Avon, North Olmsted, etc. Also off I-90 and right on the lakeshore.

Rocky River - also an older, more historic area right on the lakeshore. It was considered one of the nicest suburbs in the west side, but recently has had its critics, so probably not as "up and coming" as Bay or Avon Lake. Closer to the city of Cleveland, with good access on I-90. The Rocky River reservation, south of the area, is gorgeous.

Avon Lake - the farthest away, and also the last to really become popular. Started off as a more blue-collar and industrial area, with a lot of bungalows near the lakefront that were "vacation cottages" for residents of the city. A lot of upscale, new homes are being built, and new retail is going in south of I-90. Right now, offers some of the more affordable, older homes but will probably continue to grow in popularity. Good schools, nice new library building. Some issues have surfaced about pollution and toxic waste issues from the industrial areas. Good lake access.

[glenandmichele]

I have an ulterior motive (which I'll get to in a minute), but you could consider Sagamore Hills. We're 5 miles from I-77 on Hwy 82 and about 20 miles from the airport. Or if 77 is backed up, you can use Brecksville, Broadview, State or Ridge roads to get to Brookpark Rd.