letsgorams

are you saying all places around here are cold in the winter?

Hey all, I live in Ohio City now-for the past year. I hate to move but the place was so damn cold in the winter, plus I feel I'm paying too much. Anyway, I want a place that will be warm, for the price. Anyone have any recommendations on warm, cheap(ish) places in Ohio City, Lakewood (most places offer free heat but do they stay warm?), Downtown areas? Maybe I should contact a rental agent? Anyone know any good ones?

Thanks all for the gym ideas. Anyone used CSU's new gym and rec center? I can use that for free so I'm anxious to check it out. I hear there's a gym, swimming pool, basketball court etc..

Thanks. Maybe I can join in on one of those Urbanohio tours you guys do before school starts and sucks the life out of me.

Guess I'm naive on the whole Cleveland issue. I'm coming from West Palm Beach, FL (can't stand it) and, I agree, I love Cleveland. I love CSU, the city with barely any traffic problems, the great public transportation, the bars, the cheap housing, the people, the sports, all the diversity of the neighborhoods and, most of all, Ohio City. I'll be settling in on the 2800 block of Bridge Ave around July 12th.

I just finished my first trip into Cleveland. Spent most of my time in Ohio City. It's easy to find a spot to park for free on the side streets. Most of the meter parking on w. 25th is one hour parking. Definitely get a Dortmunder at Great Lakes. I was so addicted to those things that I was even paying 7 bucks for them at the airport on the way home. I also enjoyed the Bier Markt, Garage Bar and Old Angle Tavern, all in Ohio City within a block from each other.

Thanks all. My g/f will be happy. Correction as to my house as well. It's on Bridge ave a little west of w 28th. Such a great spot, I wish I didn't have law school to worry about. Oh well, I'm moving up there the first week of july, school starts august 14th so at least I get a good month in. I seriously am in love with Cleveland. I don't know if you all are aware, but it gets a bad rap for some reason.

Thanks for the welcoming. I can't wait to move up here. I need to spend a night in the warehouse district. Looks like a lot of fun. Are all the bars there pretty expensive? And i got to check out the Westside market today. I love that place. It has everything you need. I'm eating some of the best beef jerky I have ever had right now. I'm not in a building. I am living in the downstairs of a house between w. 27th and w. 28th. I just drove around the neighborhood all day friday and saturday looking for "FOR RENT" signs and had appts to see the places all day sunday. The houses around 40th-45th street were huge and much cheaper but I would rather live as close to 25th as possible. It seemed like the middle of nowhere back there. We also checked out Tremont and Detroit-Shoreway but Ohio City was definitely the clear cut choice. We didn't even make it over to the eastside of Cleveland. We actually met a couple that was moving from the east to the west and they cited their reason for moving as the time it takes to get from the Heights areas to downtown. For the poster who said he had a friend looking for a place, we saw the coolest townhouse at 4710 Franklin St (Ave???). It was 795/mo and it had two floors.Top floor was all open space, huge kitchen and downstairs room as well. He should definitely check that place out. Anyway, my girlfriend wants to know where the best gym would be in terms of location and amount of equipment. Anyone know?

Well, it's over. Ohio City it is. I got a great place right by Dave's off 25th st. I got such a deal. Still having a hard time convincing the g/f about how great a location Ohio City is but Friday and Saturday at Great Lakes, Bier Markt and the Garage bar definitely helped me win her over. She's still wishing we would be living in the Heights areas but, it takes WAY too long to head west coming from there. Anyway, my new place is badass and I can't wait to move in. Right by 25th st. No more tempting drunken drives. Unless i go to the Warehouse district. Thanks everyone for your help!

Sounds like we've got a "queer eye" candidate!!!!! Get Bravo on the line...NOW! Oh hell...I sense this might be an emergency, we'll have to do it Cleveland style and get to this man with five (gasping) work shirts who has never hosted a dinner party and doesn't know what roumaki is. 8-) :-o :| Make sure to bring the girlfriend along....I like the "YF&B" gals who buys what they want - even if they are living over their means. But we can call Suze Orman for an intervention!! HAHAHAHAHA. YF & B?

I don't think I've ever had a dinner party. I have never owned, nor do I plan to until I start a family, a dining room table. I eat on the coffee table or the kitchen bar or I eat out. I spend money on things that I need, she spends money on things that she wants. I have exactly 5 work shirts, one for each day of the week. She has the whole walk-in closet filled with her shit whereas, I converted the air conditioning/heater room into my closet. i don't care what other poeple think of my place/clothes/car etc.. because i always have a logical/practical/financial explanation for doing what I do or having what I have, this is not the case in her life and, of course, it shows in the disparity of our bank accounts even though she makes more money than me and I have more bills to pay. She aims to look good in the eyes of others, like most women. Our views on standards of living are polar opposites and this has caused problems in our relationship and I am quite certain we will be at each other's wits ends when trying to "agree" on where to live/how much to spend. I am very apprehensive about this trip. What is a roumaki? And, I am excited about having a fireplace. I've never had one of my own. God forbid if i turn it into an entertainment center. Oh, and I'm not sure what you mean by "your people" (gay,metrosexual,woman?) but, I will take any help in convincing her to save her money. Also, you said earlier you can point me in the right direction towards decent rental companies in Lakewood. I am ready to call some up and get some tours set up so, if you wouldn't mind throwing out a few names, numbers or websites, I would appreciate it. Duplexes/apartments/houses, whatever. Thanks a lot, Mayday.

Yeah, this is exactly what I'm telling my g/f. I don't care what it looks like on the outside. Or the inside, for that matter. I like hardwood floors as much as the next person but I put more weight on my rational and practical views than on my materialistic views. Besides, I have enough materialism to fight dealing with my girlfriend.

I'm looking at Craigslist. It seems wood floors are very popular as well. I would rather have carpet due to the possible noise. And i would rather live in a side by side duplex rather than an upstairs/downstairs, unless I'm on the top floor.

What's up everybody. I have another question. Anyone lived in a downstairs apartment of a house? You know, how they are split into one upper and one lower level and there is a "shared washer/dryer in basement"? Are these places loud? Can you hear your upstairs neghbors easily? What cons can you think of? It seems most rentals are this way in Cleveland.

Nice pics. Thanks. I've spent hours on this site looking for pics of Ohio City. Nice to see them all in one thread instead of scattered around.

I can't tell you guys how much better I feel about visiting now that I know what's going on up there. Thank you all very much. Oh, and if you have more to say, please don't look at this like the end of the discussion. I just wanted to write a quick thanks because there have been lots of great responses recently and my girlfriend is much more at ease (which helps me out immensely. This has been very stressful on her), although she is now saying, "See? Everyone thinks we should live in Lakewood." I might set up a mugging when we visit Lakewood. Any takers?

KJP-Yes, I hate traffic. Considering the density, I figured that traffic was a given but, now there are many reasons as to why traffic isn't too bad that I never thought of (grid pattern, walkable town etc.) Mayday-Thank you for your offer. I will follow up on that if I decide to live in Lakewood. I will get a great view of the place. We are staying at the Travellodge in Lakewood and I hear it is within walking distance to the clubs/bars/restaurants. Also, the snow description boggles my mind. My girlfriend HATES snow. So, westside, closer to the lake means less snow? When you say "the further east you go" gets more snow, do you mean that east of the river has more snowfall than west of the river? What areas have the least amount of snowfall, or is the difference too minimal to have a clear cut winner?

It's odd picturing such a dense area without traffic problems. I guess I will have to see it to believe it. So, the overall consensus is that the public transportation is reliable in Cleveland, huh? That is certainly not the case in WPB, as mentioned above. Lakewood sounds like an urban area. I'd love to live in a place where all my living needs are within walking distance. I can't wait to go visit. I just put in my 60 day notice to my apratment I have now so, I have to be out by 7/15. Now, this gives me an opportunity to see a place I want to rent. I go up from 6/9-6/12 so, I'm sure ther will be plenty of apts for rent starting 7/1 and, maybe I can bargain them into starting around 7/15. Worst case scenario, paying for half-month's rent at Cleveland prices sure beats paying WPB prices. Plus, if we are unable to find an available place for my previous date of August 1st, it saves us the $$$ in coming to visit again.

Thanks for all of the great information everybody. I definitely have my work cut out for me when I visit. I have a lot of places to check out, Ohio City, Tremont, Lakewood and the Heights areas. I hope I can get a place where my lease starts August 1st but, visiting from June 9th-12th may be a little early to guarantee this. The public transportation issue during snowy days is a good seller. She hates driving in the snow so I have to stress that. And, yes, we visited Strongsville. I was planning on going to Akron for law school but, then the CSU scholarship came so, I changed my mind. We figured she has better job prospects in Cleveland than in Akron so, we were looking at places in the middle of Akron and Cleveland. She likes Strongsville because of the modern architecture, I think. It just looks nice. I liked Parma actually, but only because it had a more urban feel. Now that I am going to CSU, there's nothing I want more than to live in the city. Lakewood is kind of turning me off knowing that it is the densest place between NY and Chicago. I looked at it on Google Earth (anyone have that? It's amazing) and it looks too crowded for my tastes. She wants to know what the crime rate is in each neighborhood. I'm having a hard time finding a website that has up to date statistics. The latest I could find is from 2000. Can anyone help me in that regard?

Thanks for the input Mr. Good Day. Your post got my girlfriend a little more excited to move to Cleveland. She's having a hard time moving from S. Florida. She hates the cold and she doesn't like the prospect of living in the city. I am trying to convince her that the city is where it's at but she's a suburbian at heart. She wants to move to Strongsville, actually, and wants to check out Lakewood. We're gonna be butting heads in a few weeks. I have to come up with a plan to make the suburbs look like shit and put downtown in the best of light.

Nah. It says the "2nd Friday of June." But whatever. I'll be sure to be back on the site with pictures and a first time visitor's perspective. Hopefully I will have a place lined up, although it may be a bit early to get a place for August 1st.

Can somebody answer this question for me? I googled it but it looks like I will have to pay to get the info. What are the zip codes for Ohio City and Tremont?

What's that all about?

I'm going 6/9 through 6/12.

You trying to lease your place to me? I'm looking to rent starting August 1st.