minerva

Minerva, the first post is duplicated because I combined your two identical threads into one in the appropriate board, "City Life". The moderators on this and most web boards do this to keep the forum neat and to keep conversations about a given topic in one place. I will go ahead and delete one of the "lead in" posts to tidy up the thread. Makes sense. I am all for being tidy. Now I have all my answers in one place. By the way I think I am making progress. Thanks to this forum I now know that Shaker Heights and Shaker Square are not the same place.

Sorry Minerva.... inside joke ;) LOL! I think it's a funny picture. Actually I get along really well with my "whippersnappers." They listen to my stories and I get invaluable information on how to work these dang computers from them. :wink:

Whoops. I just realized I posted the same first post twice. Sorry folks. As I tell my very young whippersnapper co-workers I don't always get this computer stuff right. I wasn't born with a mouse in my hand like they were. :wink: Anyway, I want to thank everyone for the great information. It may be a year before I actually move. I began saving and planning to relocate a few years ago and now I feel I am making progress. I picked Cleveland to check out because way back in 2005 I read that Cleveland was one of the most livable cities in the US. Of course things have changed everywhere since then but it's all relative. The friends I connected with in Cleveland were people I hadn't seen in about 20 years. We used to meet at a convention in Chicago. The minute I emailed and told them I was coming to Cleveland to look around I was invited to stay with one of them. We met up with a couple of others. So that made it a nice visit. I liked the neighborhoods we went through. I think I could be happy in Cleveland but I want to be sure so I will continue to check out other places on my list. Cleveland ranks high though. And from the great responses I have gotten here, I think Cleveland people are very helpful and friendly.

That's good to know. She said that there once was a grocery store withing walking distance from her house but it closed. You describe her neighborhood well. I don't think it's my kind of place actually. But I did like the three you mentioned. We went through them briefly but I could see they had more to offer.

We did go to Cedar-Fairmont and found Dave's which was walking distance. My friend knew about this one. Thanks for clearing up the Shaker-Hieghts Shaker-Square thing. I thought they were the same. I think we went through Coventry but we drove around so much I started getting confused as to where we were. I think my friend is being over-cautious. She told me to stay away from the West part of town although we did drive through Ohio City. She would be afraid to live in places neither I nor most people would fear. I am getting a better perspective on Cleveland neighborhoods on this forum as well as the Cleveland forum on City Data.

Wow, thanks everyone. I am really getting some quick answers. I am female and 64 years old. My first neighborhood growing up in Chicago was Garfield Park then Ravenswood and then border between the more "seemy" side of Rogers Park; Clark and Devon. I never had any crime problems until I moved briefly to Evanston where I was attacked by a rapist (I fought him off and escaped) so to me a "bad" neighborhood isn't necessarily always unsafe any more than a "good" one is always safe. I agree that a woman's view of safety is different than a man's for different reasons.

Hi, my friend lives in Cleveland Heights. She lives near Penfield and Woodridge. We drove around a lot but I couldn't say exactly where. I asked her to look for supermarkets so we could sort of "radiate" away from them to determine just where the nearest housing was but she could only find a few. I saw many apartment buildings in Cleveland Heights but didn't see supermartkets nearby. Often when people are used to driving they are unaware of what is walking distance and what isn't. We briefly went through a part of Shaker Heights. Again my friend didn't feel all parts were safe. I am beginning to think she is a bit overcautious. We didn't get to Tremont although I have heard about it. One thing I found I could do is Google an area or look on Craig's List for rentals and then check out the mapquest feature that tells you how close another address is to one you are looking at. I will be semi-retired when I move. I will be living on Social Security and a small pension but I want to work part time to supplement them. I have a lot of experience in health insurance as a claims adjuster and will be taking a course in medical coding. I have an eye on the Cleveland Clinic for work or University Hospital. It looks like they have clinics throughout the city and good bus routes to get to them. I check on their websites from time to time to see what they have available. I also will be checking out insurance companies. Ideally I would have a job waiting for me but I know it is difficult to obtain one long distance. Meantime I could survive on the SS, savings and pension until I am able to get work. I probably won't be relocating for another year and I am checking out other places. I actually got the idea to put Cleveland on my list several years ago thinking about retirement. Now I am close so it won't be long before I make it happen.

I have looked at many threads regarding relocation to Cleveland but haven't found a similar situation to mine. Cleveland is on my list of places to which I would like to relocate but I have major issue: I don't drive. I visited friends in Cleveland last week and was taken through the East side: Cleveland Heights and Lakewood. They were nice but there were not too many rentals close to supermarkets which is my main concern. There were some that were near public transportation so that was helpful. We traveled through the West side, Ohio City and although I am not a young person (it seemed that was the majority of the population I saw) I liked the area and it seemed to be very convenient in terms of everything I would need being walking distance. My friend however told me this was not a safe area. From what I saw, I think I have lived in more unsafe neighborhoods in both Chicago and Portland so I don't know if that is totally true. Can anyone give me their thoughts on the neighborhood? Also if this is not a good idea, what neighborhoods would you suggest for someone in my situation? Thanks!

Thank you all for your responses. I have lived in Portland for 30 something years and I am pretty tired of it all. Jobs are difficult to come by, pay is low and the city has long lost the individualism I loved so much when I first moved here. It's a city of ever widening haves-and-have-nots with the haves taking over. I have had many friends leave this town these past 5 years or so because they lost a job and could not find another. The cost of living is extremely high but salaries do not keep up. Oregon is a beautiful place but it isn't easy to make a living here. I met some people from Cleveland awhile back and they just raved about their town. It sounded like a good place to live. So I researched it and it seems to be true. I'm originally from the Midwest and have worked in health insurance, contract development and courthouse clerking. I have a BA and a paralegal degree. The only barrier, not for me, but for some potential employers is that I am 61 years old and although I want, like and need to work many employers do not like to hire older people. But I am willing to give it a try. Confiteordeo's description sounds great. One of my other possibilities is Minneapolis. Both cities have the things I like: museums, theater, libraries, symphonies etc. I also like a thriving downtown area where housing nearby is fairly safe and not overly expensive. I'm going to make my decision my the end of the year and then I'm going to pack up the cat and move on.

Hello everyone. I am now living in Portland Oregon and am seriously thinking of moving back East. I'm originally from Chicago. Cleveland is on my list of possibles. I would love to get your opinions on Cleveland such as job opprtunities, neighborhoods, public transportation etc. Do you like living in Cleveland? What do you like and dislike? I'd appreciate any input anyone may give. Thanks!