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The age requirement might work, though it would take a lot of people just to enforce that and you'd have some long queues. I think additional police presence would help too, but that gets really expensive. This is what happened to the 185th street fair. Gang fights, then attempts to pay for extra security, then no more fair. I don't understand it... I've been to much larger street parties in awful parts of Detroit and nothing like this ever happened. These kids and their parents should be dealt with severely.

I'm not sure what statistics would float your boat in that regard. I'm sure you could find comparable statistics from somewhere else. I don't think there are statistics for how many people will harass you for money on the way to the corner. But it's observable and its relevant. Does it increase the likelihood you'll encounter actual violence? Hard to say. But most people would consider it relevant to the issue of safety. And again you're equating living somewhere with having a subjective opinion about it. Are you seriously claiming they're the same thing? And the anecdotal evidence discussed so far here is not equivalent either. People are not getting shot for their laptops in Lakewood. They aren't. They just aren't. And the biggest concern about the movie theater in Lakewood is whether it'll become a McDonalds. No one ever got knocked out and robbed there in the middle of a movie. You countered those with a report of an allegation of one person being assaulted. Are you seriously claiming they're the same thing?

FWIW, this happens practically any time anyone asks about neighborhood safety on this forum. We're all very protective of our city and its reputation, and we need to be, because it receives a lot of unfair criticism at home and abroad. We often make the point that violent crimes happen everywhere, in all cities and all suburbs. And that's true. But it's not the whole story. When someone asks about a specific aspect of a specific area, it does no good to gloss things over like that.

That's a fair statement (as corrected). The same goes for what you're saying, except that you haven't lived in either of the places we're talking about. Experience and opinion are not the same. And claiming your opinion is equivalent to someone else's personal experience is not at all fair. You're just feeling high and mighty because you predicted the Cavs draft picks.

Lakewood is a lot safer than Shaker Square. It's not even a close call. I've lived in both and I'm speaking from day to day experience. There are plenty of fun and safe neighborhoods, in and around Cleveland, that are perfect for a CSU student who's new to town. I have no desire to fight about this, I'm just relating my own expereiences from when I was in a similar situation with a similar budget.

The last train leaves downtown around 1230. There is bus service from CSU to the downtown rail station, or it's a 15-20 minute walk. CSU gives you a free unlimited transit pass, which is really nice.

Having lived in Lakewood and Shaker Square, I can state with confidence that there's a world of difference between the two. A friend of mine at CSU, a girl from out of town, moved away from Shaker Square due to safety (and harassment) issues. In Lakewood I have never been panhandled in the hallway of my apartment, nor have I come home to find ten kids getting high in the stairwell. Yes, several people were beaten and robbed during movies there. Those responsible were caught.

Check out downtown, Little Italy, and Lakewood. Shaker Square is a cool neighboorhood but I don't recommend it for anyone listing safety as a concern. I also experienced a lot of loud party noise there, comparable to living among undergrads. It just doesn't seem to fit the OP's preferences.

Downtown is a better choice for CSU if you can afford it. I'd say your next best option is Lakewood, which is cheap & safe. Lakewood offers good transit to CSU via the 55 bus, and 24 hour service from downtown via the 26. Shaker Square is great for transit if you're going to Tower City, but to get to CSU from there is an extra trip, and Shaker Square has no late night transit service at all. If you're driving, Lakewood is much easier to park in than Shaker Square. It also has 2 freeways going straight downtown. From Shaker Square, CSU is a slow drive through rough neighborhood. While Shaker Square itself is safe, many areas "near" Shaker Square are not safe at all. North and east of the Square is good... west and south of the Square should be avoided.

It was you who said the ghetto should be on the south side, and those neighborhoods are parts of ours. Old Brooklyn even shares council representation with Broadway. And if Broadway is going to flourish, it will be through proximity to other stable or growing neighborhoods of the south side... rather than areas further down Union and Miles. The thread topic is Slavic Village gentrification. I'm trying to light a path toward that. You're talking about putting projects there instead, by merit of it being the south side. Slavic Village has nothing to do with Garden Valley. So my mention of OB and Tremont served two purposes: "south side" doesn't mean ghetto, and Slavic Village is better off identfying as south instead of east. I realize it's debatable but I'd rather concentrate our limited resources where we retain the most urbanity. I would not limit it with a "south side sucks" paradigm. This neighborhood should be near the top of any redevelopment or gentrification list. It's also notable that despite its recent challenges, Slavic Village remains one of the city's more integrated areas. I don't think we should write it off because it's a mile inland. Sometimes I think we go overboard with that "focus on the lake" business. Focus on the city.

I find that view astonishing, especially since Cleveland doesn't have a north side. Tremont is south side, so is Old Brooklyn... and they're some of the nicest parts of our city. Why should they have garbage just across the river? Broadway is the traditional route between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and its historical importance is reflected in its built environment. It features some of Clevleand's best remaining architecture. As commercial corridors go it's in better shape than most things north of Cedar. This neighborhood is an asset we can't afford to damage any more than we already have.

I wouldn't ignore Philly as a model. We did something similar with our DCA ambassadors, which has helped. But the OP's video notes several other things Philly did to help their downtown, such as increased lighting and getting retailers to stay open later. Our downtown really needs more lighting... the Euclid project installed new lights but made them dim on purpose, to avoid light pollution... I don't think we need to worry about that, I think we need to light up our downtown. See video for example.

Great call, I love that area. Grocery store, nightlife, and everything's upscale. Cool stuff in every direction.

Thank you for the perspective, and welcome to Ohio!

Reasons for our squandered momentum aren't that hard to identify. But momentum is picking up again in Cleveland and we're seeing more hits than misses recently.

Broadway is a good example of how damaging isolation can be. You can see the skyline from there but you can't very well get to it. The more I think about it, the more I wish some innerbelt money could go toward fixing Broadway Ave between downtown and 55th. It's a confusing tangle... not walkable and barely driveable.

Likewise on both counts. If this goes through, I'd say county government reform has already paid off in a big way.

This is a necessary first step. Carries none of the baggage a Cleveland merger would entail, but establishes the precedent that this can be done.

This is a major step forward for downtown and the whole city. I'm going out of my way to buy something there this week.

Demolition for empty space counts as a project? The list is plenty long, it doesn't need that kind of padding.

My guess is that they don't. Pleasant surprises are welcome though.

Lakewood is awesome, and yeah, it gets nicer as you go west. But the difference is slight and the east end offers its own advantages. Live music venues are concentrated near 117th, for example. I'm into that. Lakewood is known for casual nightlife (i.e. cheap bars) but it's generally safe and well kept. But it's across town from Case. Unversity Circle is great, but apartments are sparse there and much more expensive than in other parts of the city. Little Italy and Cleveland Heights are nearby and offer a lot more choices. I will note that the areas around University Circle (north, west, south) are really not known for safety.

Seems like a great candidate. The commercial corridors along Broadway and 71st are among the most intact in the city. The main challenge is that the housing stock in that area has suffered greatly in recent years. Another issue is that the area feels disconnected with other developing neighborhoods, including downtown. Hopefully this can be addressed somewhat with the new innerbelt. There also used to be a bridge connecting Slavic Village with Tremont, which would be great to have back. Then Cleveland could have a contiguous south side.

The federal courthouse in Youngstown is maybe 10 years old and looks 10 times better. Also, the lobby of the federal courthouse in Cleveland (which is a vertical structure) features numerous picutres of high-quality government buildings.