Which Cleveland suburb fits me? (Akron, Youngstown: middle-class, best town, crime)

[RussianIvanov]

I am in the process of relocating. I was choosing between Hudson and Solon, but Hudson seems too far from Cleveland. What is the Cleveland area's perception of Solon? Is it nice? Is it known to be stuck up? How is the school system?

My price range isn't a problem, so if you know of a better suburb please tell me. I would like an overall wealthy suburb that is not too far from the city, but not close like Shaker Heights. Hunting Valley area seems to old money for me. I would like a few new developments. A town with a good downtown street would be nice. I would like the school to be excellent, and it would also be a plus if the town had a wealthy side and a working class side of town. I also want a town that loves sports. It must have a strong high school athletic program.

Thank you so much.

[CortlandGirl79]

I live in the Youngstown area and all of Ne Ohio loves high school sports, especially football and basketball. I also know that Solon has an excellent school system and i would say it's more new money. Chagrin Falls has a charming downtown area, but i've never seen a working class there.........could be wrong though, plus it's probably as far out or farther from Cleveland than Hudson is.

[ZnGuy]

I used to live in Chagrin Falls and IMO it is best town in Ohio to live. Very few downtowns have the charm with the neat shops, waterfalls, very picturesque. School system is one of the better in Ohio. Close commute than Hudson, we almost built in Hudson, nice but much prefer CF. There are many nice neighborhoods. One con is it is a pricey area to live. Solon is nice and next door to Chagrin Falls and has a very good school system.

[tribecavsbrowns]

I see Solon, Twinsburg, Aurora, Hudson, and Chagrin Falls as the clear best five for you. I've been to all five communities, but I live about 25 miles away, so I'm relying a lot on objective data as well as my extensive knowledge of HS sports. Residents of these communities, let me know if I'm getting a little carried away.

Solon is the closest to Cleveland, and only Hudson has a higher median family income. Solon High is arguably the best public high school in Greater Cleveland ("excellent" rating from the state board, 25 average ACT, and more National Merit Finalists than any other public school in the area besides Shaker Heights High). The high school is about 15 percent black and 10 percent Asian (mostly Chinese), with a significant Jewish population. Athletics are very good. The football team has consistently been one of the best in the area for at least a couple of decades now, and it only seems to get better (in 2009, they went 12-1, losing by a point in the Division 1 playoffs to the eventual state runner-up, who lost by a point to the champion). I wouldn't say the townspeople are fervent in their support of the teams, though -- that might disappoint you.

Solon the city shares the former 25-square-mile Solon Township with the tiny communities of Bentleyville (a cluster of million-dollar homes) and Glenwillow (a former company town that's now basically an industrial park). The city is more industrial than the other four, but I imagine that saves its residents on taxes, which is important because Cuyahoga County has higher taxes than Summit, where Hudson and Twinsburg are located, and Portage, where Aurora is located. The downtown area is pretty lackluster for a city of 26,000, just some basic shopping centers. For a "night out," you would go to Legacy Village in Lyndhurst or to Cleveland. In summary, Solon might disappoint you aesthetically for such a wealthy community, but it remains a premier suburb because of its excellent schools and proximity to downtown Cleveland.

Twinsburg is the second-closest to downtown Cleveland, and, although still a solid upper-middle-class suburb, is the most socioeconomically diverse of the five. It occupies most of 25-square-mile Twinsburg Township, which sits directly south of Solon Township. It's a little less of a patchwork than Solon -- you have a fairly large neighborhood of middle-middle-class mid-century ranches near the city center, and then 90s and early-00s subdivisions ringing that. Twinsburg High School is arguably the lowest-performing of the five schools academically, but it still has an "excellent" rating and a respectable average ACT score of 22. The school is 25 percent black and the parents of both races are less educated than Solon on average, so all things considered, it performs well. Race relations are pretty good, I'm told. The exciting thing about Twinsburg, though, is its athletic program. It's a good bet to be the best of the five going forward, perhaps the best on the east side. Twinsburg's football team was only a notch below Solon's this year, and they have a strong boys basketball team and one of the best girls basketball teams in the nation. And enrollment continues to climb.

Twinsburg's downtown itself is pretty sparse, though the commercial development 1/2 mile down the road by I-480 suits the town fairly well. It's not a "destination" for shopping or recreation, other than the annual "Twins Day Festival," which is a festival attended by pairs of twins from all over the world.

Aurora occupies (all of) the old township to the east of Twinsburg and is growing faster than any of the other four cities. It's similar to Twinsburg in that it has upper-middle-class subdivisions ringing a sleepy central commercial area, but Aurora's commercial area feels a bit more upscale. It's also a little easier to find a house on an acre-plus lot in Aurora. Aurora High is like a smaller, less diverse Twinsburg High. It hits all the markers, but doesn't have many of the extreme top-of-the-line students you get from Solon. Athletics at Aurora are strong. The football team won the Division 3 championship in 2008 and moved up to Division 2 in 2009 because of increased enrollment (it's now close to 1,000). Community support is good. Still, though, you don't compete against the highest-level teams consistently, like Solon, Twinsburg, and Hudson do.

Hudson is the farthest of the five from downtown Cleveland, occupying the old township south of Twinsburg and southwest of Aurora. It's the wealthiest and poshest of the five, with an excellent downtown area and extremely well-maintained neighborhoods (mostly newer subdivisions, but also great old New England-style blocks near the city center). It's a city of 25,000 where "everyone is above average," and it's pretty much self-sufficient except for, of course, the high-powered corporate jobs that these "above average" adults work, which are located in Cleveland or Akron. It has a reputation for mild snobbery; it's not more than $10K richer than Solon in median family income, but it's pretty much all white and less Catholic and Jewish than Solon to boot.

Hudson High is extremely similar academically to Solon High, though there tend to be fewer top-of-the-line students (about 50 percent fewer National Merit Finalists). Because of its size, Hudson competes in Division 1 with the other large schools. Its football and basketball teams consistently underachieve, though. Two reasons I can think of: a) a lot of kids in Hudson play uber-white sports like tennis and lacrosse, and b) Hudson promised its neighbors Stow and Cuyahoga Falls long ago that it would stay the same conference no matter what, but Stow and Cuyahoga Falls have become mediocre athletically and dragged Hudson down with them. Support for the teams is similar to Solon, but might improve when they get their new football stadium built.

Chagrin Falls I hesitated to include because it doesn't really have any new housing, but it's got a great high school on the level of a Solon or a Hudson with perhaps the best-supported athletic programs of all of the five communities. It's a small school, but stacks up with anybody athletically pound-for-pound (CF played in the Division 4 championship this year, and produced Browns WR Brian Robiskie). It's an intimate New England-style village with a couple blocks of shops downtown that sit next to a picturesque waterfall. This area is frequented by people, particularly families, from all over Cleveland in the summer.

I think Solon would probably suit you best, but I hope this rundown of five communities that appear very similar at first glance helps. The cities are all solid upper-middle-class and crime is a non-issue, so it's quite true that "you can't go wrong." Just pay attention to home prices and most importantly, how the feel of the community suits you.

[RussianIvanov]

Well I appreciate your help! I like Hudson I think the best. Although I prefer top athletics overall, I would like my kids to be involved in lacrosse. I think it is a sport for well rounded students.

Not to question you or anything because you seem to know what you are talking about, but why is Solon a better school than Hudson? If Hudson is more affluent and has less minorities (no offense), I would think Hudson would have superior education.

[THE C]

Originally Posted by RussianIvanov

Well I appreciate your help! I like Hudson I think the best. Although I prefer top athletics overall, I would like my kids to be involved in lacrosse. I think it is a sport for well rounded students.

Not to question you or anything because you seem to know what you are talking about, but why is Solon a better school than Hudson? If Hudson is more affluent and has less minorities (no offense), I would think Hudson would have superior education.

Its hard not to take offense to a statement like that. But personally I feel that while affluence is a big part of why a district has excellent scholastic ratings its also the students and their personalities for completing assignments and succeeding. When ranking the top it only takes a couple (students) to make that slight difference of one being better than the next and affluence and minorities have nothing to do with that.

Although I'm curious why you think lacrosse is a better sport for well rounded students than other sports that tend to be more popular with students?

[RussianIvanov]

Originally Posted by THE C

Its hard not to take offense to a statement like that. But personally I feel that while affluence is a big part of why a district has excellent scholastic ratings its also the students and their personalities for completing assignments and succeeding. When ranking the top it only takes a couple (students) to make that slight difference of one being better than the next and affluence and minorities have nothing to do with that.

Although I'm curious why you think lacrosse is a better sport for well rounded students than other sports that tend to be more popular with students?

Well I am sorry, I am not racist. In fact, I am from the former USSR so I have the experience of real oppression.

Anyway, usually more affluent kids play lacrosse, usually better schools popular sports are lacrosse too. But I would also like my kids to be involved in football. It just seems that many football players are thugs, same with basketball, and baseball is just played by everybody rich or poor. I like lacrosse a lot, and it is a sport unlike football and basketball where you know you will not be playing against street thugs. I do not know if you heard about that high school basketball game here in New York City that turned into a large brawl and shots ended up being fired. Although gunshots at a basketball game is rare, nasty fights and cheap shots are not.

I have worked hard to provide a very comfortable income for my future family, and I do not want my kids having to deal with the same crap that I dealt with growing up in Soviet Moscow and 90s Brooklyn.

[pknopp]

Just noting the facts. The amount of people in the U.S. that care at all about Lacrosse is very small. If your idea is to hang with those into Lacrosse your experience in the area is going to be very limited.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfPEg9lAonI

[5Lakes]

There are lacrosse leagues in Cleveland, as well high school lacrosse.

GreaterClevelandLacrosse.com

[pknopp]

Sure, but your range of experience is going to be small if you wish to keep the kids away from those interested in Football and Basketball.