Cedar-Fairmount has a supermarket (Dave's) right at the heart of the strip.

 

Little Italy has a brand new little market (Murray Hill Market) but does not have a 'supermarket'.  But just right around the corner on Euclid is the new Uptown project which will include a grover, but probably not large enough to qualify as a supermarket.

would it be hard to get free parking if I drive. this coming semester all my classes start at 6pm or after

Thank you Hts121

would it be hard to get free parking if I drive. this coming semester all my classes start at 6pm or after

 

You will have to pay for parking, which I think is like $150 a semester. Total random guess but you could check CSU's website for more parking information.

Have you considered Heritage Suites? I think they are apartments/dorms run by Cleveland State. From what I see, the rent is $420-$669 a month with parking being $50 a month. Units are fully furnished and utilities are included. You also have access to laundry facilities and a TV lounge. I believe you have to be over 21 to live there so its not younger kids straight out of high school.

 

You might want to stop by Positively Cleveland and pick up a copy of downtown digs. It lists almost all of the apartments downtown and the price ranges/parking fee and many of the amenities. I believe they would have a copy.

But just right around the corner on Euclid is the new Uptown project which will include a grover, but probably not large enough to qualify as a supermarket.

 

 

No, definitely not large enough to qualify as a supermarket.

 

Sorry.  Had to.

 

Welcome thabe!

StrapHanger...lol...you kill me...love it...

and clevelandohio...thank you for the great advice

Given the additional information that you hope to be transferring to Case in the future and don't want to move, I would also suggest Little Italy or Cedar-Fairmount. You may or may not be interested to know that there is an area immediately east of downtown that has a high population of Asians, it's our sort of "Asiatown" with a lot of Asian restaurants of all stripes (Korean, Chinese, Thai, Viet) and associated groceries. I believe the apartments in that area would be a little cheaper than in downtown proper, and it will be quieter with less students. I can't provide info on specific buildings as I've not lived in that area, but that might be something for you to consider if comfort is a factor. I am one of the (few) females on the board by the way, and for what it's worth, in my PERSONAL opinion, I would not recommend Shaker Square.

Hi RockandRoller.

Thank you for the advice. What is the name of the neighborhood you are talking about. Is it safer than Shaker Square?

It's simply referred to as the "Asiatown" neighborhood, I believe. I think there is some petty crime there, like there is everywhere, but in my personal opinion it is safer than shaker.

It's simply referred to as the "Asiatown" neighborhood, I believe. I think there is some petty crime there, like there is everywhere, but in my personal opinion it is safer than shaker.

 

Minor point, but R&R, I assume you mean "safer than shaker square. "

 

thabe, as you've probably figured out by now, Shaker Heights (often referred to simply as "Shaker") is a bedroom suburb adjacent to the city of Cleveland and contains some of the highest income neighborhoods in the state, though isn't uniformly high income.  Shaker Square is a neighborhood in the City of Cleveland that is right near the boarder with Shaker Heights... and is best not referred to simply as "Shaker" because it sews confusion.  On top of this, Shaker Boulevard, a major E-W thoroughfare that passes through Shaker Heights and the City of Cleveland is also referred to as "Shaker" at times.

 

My opinion: the corridor of apartments north of Shaker Square (on North Moreland and Kemper) is totally fine, and largely populated with grad students, medical residents, young professionals, etc.  [i'm sorry I don't have any specific building or management company info to pass on.] The area just north of Shaker Square is also great because Larchmere Ave is right there, which has some useful stores and a couple restaurants, there's good bus service to University Circle, and it's just a couple blocks from an awesome park system that offers miles of biking, jogging and walking through Shaker and Cleveland Heights.  I would guess that most of the folks who had bad experiences living near the Square lived south and west of it, where there's not a lot of separation from much rougher parts of town.

 

Asiatown is awesome but feels to me a tad isolated from the the other parts of the city you are likely to frequent, especially as a newcomer  Probably fewer traditional rental apartment options than other neighborhoods too, but maybe some cool industrial loft spaces.  Great food and Asian grocery options though. There are some Asiatown residents on these boards who could give you more detailed info you'd like.

 

Really, I'm sure you'd be happy in any of several neighborhoods people have recommended.  Cedar-Fairmount and Shaker Square (esp. north of it) give you a slightly leafier setting while Little Italy puts you closer to all the amenities of University Circle and offers a lot of great stuff itself.  I'd just go for the best apartment you find in any neighborhood you think works, knowing that they're all close to one another, so you'll be able to enjoy them all when you're here :)

My opinion: the corridor of apartments north of Shaker Square (on North Moreland and Kemper) is totally fine, and largely populated with grad students, medical residents, young professionals, etc.  [i'm sorry I don't have any specific building or management company info to pass on.] The area just north of Shaker Square is also great because Larchmere Ave is right there, which has some useful stores and a couple restaurants, there's good bus service to University Circle, and it's just a couple blocks from an awesome park system that offers miles of biking, jogging and walking through Shaker and Cleveland Heights.  I would guess that most of the folks who had bad experiences living near the Square lived south and west of it, where there's not a lot of separation from much rougher parts of town.

 

I agree.  That is a good explanation of it.  I have been in a few buildings along the south side of Shaker Blvd just west of the Square and they are definitely in the 'economy' class.  Several of these neighborhoods around town come with the same caveats.  For Coventry, it is probably best to stay south of Mayfield (or, maybe better put, don't go north of Mayfield).  Tremont has that 'triangle' thing that I still don't understand.  Lakewood has the RR tracks some say you should stay north of.  Trust me on this, if SS 'as a whole' was truly unsafe to any significant degree, several people I know who live there would definitely be moving or have already moved.  But they are quite happy there.  They enjoy the atmosphere it offers.  It isn't for everybody.  A lot might depend on whether you are accustomed to a more urban environment.

Lakewood has the RR tracks some say you should stay north of. 

 

 

The only tracks in Lakewood you should stay north of are the tracks along Berea Road. ;-)

thank you

On the Cleveland side of West 117th, however, staying north of the tracks north of Detroit Ave is a good idea. :)

Sorry straphanger and others, I meant shaker, not shaker square. My Mom lived on Kemper actually, since you mention the street. Her car was broken into several times and someone in her building was robbed while she was living there, an elderly woman.  I have relayed my personal experiences of being verbally harassed on shaker square on the board here.

 

I personally would say, if you have enough money to own a HOUSE in Shaker, you'll be in a fine neighborhood, one of the nicer ones. If you are a renter, you could have a different experience.

 

I actually just called my Mom to ask her, in her experience, what she didn't like about living there, outside of the crime she experienced. She said it's not close to anything and you have to drive 20 minutes to get to anywhere, like a highway or a big grocery store (this was awhile ago, so I can't tell you if there's a close by grocery now), that it was overly crowded - hard to find parking places at close-by stores and too many people in those stores, and that in the shops in that part of town, the sales people were snooty and snobby and didn't seem to have a good sense of customer service or friendliness. She also said that it was uncomfortable for her to go out for a walk because if you go too far in one direction by even a couple of blocks, it goes from a fine neighborhood to one that is decidedly not safe feeling, so she limited her duration and path of walks to a small area and felt confined by it.

 

Now, my Mom is obviously not the age of the original poster, and she only lived there a couple of years. My own experiences of shaker are largely centered around shaker square itself outside of the times I visited my Mom or the bazillion times I drove through shaker when I worked in beachwood.  So I'm not saying what I have to say about shaker is gospel, and I know there are plenty here who will vehemently disagree with what I have to say, but those are the reprsentative sample experiences of 2 females who have lived in and around Cleveland for over 20 years. I stand by what I said earlier, which is that I personally would not recommend living there.

You do realize that Shaker Square is not in Shaker?  I'm just asking because you say you say your own experiences of Shaker are largely centered around Shaker Square.

 

Also curious, "as a female", what are the places you suggest living that has a nice urban lifestyle?

Yes, I am aware. As I said, my personal experiences are around having spent a lot of time in shaker square. I also pointed out my Mom's experiences, which were not limited to the square. And I don't think someone is going to live in Shaker and not be a regular visitor to the square, so I'm not sure why those experiences are irrelevant?

 

I offered a suggestion (Asiatown) and have offered many others in other threads, depending on what the poster is looking for and on what we know about them. If I were in my 20s and just moving to town, I would go back and recommend to myself either Lakewood (where I actually lived when I first moved here), Coventry, Cedar-Fairmount, Gordon Square and maybe Tremont.  I really don't see why my responses are deserving of scorn. I am as entitled to my opinion as anyone, and have offered qualifiers explaining that they are MY opinions, and what those opinions are based upon. Being argumentative isn't going to help the poster find some place to live.

I wasn't scorning you.  I was honestly curious and mainly wondering if you would recommend C-F or Coventry, which I guess you do.

I would recommend both Heights neighborhoods over SS for someone in the OP's position.  My original post in this thread also made clear that only certain areas of SS are problematic, which seems to be the concensus.  It's kind of like the "stay south of Mayfield" thing around Coventry.

I would recommend both Heights neighborhoods over SS for someone in the OP's position.  My original post in this thread also made clear that only certain areas of SS are problematic, which seems to be the concensus.  It's kind of like the "stay south of Mayfield" thing around Coventry.

 

The rule is (or at least should be) "don't go north of Mayfield".... but, yes, I agree that it is similar.

R&R, I don't doubt a word of your crime experiences, but you must have some of the worst luck/timing/karma of anyone I know. Maybe it's because men (most criminals are men) act like bigger jerks around women than they do around other men. I couldn't say. But I feel very bad that those things have happened to you.

 

BTW, Shaker Square has a full-service grocery store, first-run movie theater, drug store and 24-hour restaurant.

My women friends have always said I get more "attention," both positive and negative than they do/did. It's pretty much always been that way. If I was single and out with a group of girlfriends, I was usually the one that got approached by someone first or got a drink sent over because my friends were always razzing me about it, either because it was lucky (if he was cute) or because of my bad luck (if the guy was gross). I guess in general I probably do attract more attention than an average person, both positive and negative. Maybe it's because of how I carry myself?  I'm often asked for directions by people who are lost downtown, strangers talk to me quite a lot. I guess I'm someone people notice and they either want to approach me (to hit on me, ask directions, chat at the stop light) or to give negative attention, such as with lewd comments about my body, leering looks, etc. Personally, I don't get it. There are a lot better looking women around than me, for sure. I'm an overweight, middle-aged mom, not some hot piece of ass out flaunting my wares to the masses.

 

Considering the REALLY bad things that have happened to me WRT men, which I won't go into at this time, being catcalled, wolf-whistled or followed by someone repeatedly asking for your phone number is not that big of a deal, but I don't like the harrassment.

 

Wasn't there a shooting at that movie theater not too long ago? I wouldn't be encouraging people to go there, but that's just me.

There was a shooting/murder at McDonald's in Lakewood too....would you still recommend living there? 

fwiw, I've lived on shaker square 2 years, and its been a great experience. so much so we bought a home and are raising our family there.

Not a shooting, but a robbery at an 11 p.m. movie at the Shaker Square Cinemas last year.....

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/06/5_people_were_injured_by_two_r.html

 

....it's the only incident I could find.

 

It also happens in the 'burbs:

 

Solon:

http://solon.patch.com/articles/five-people-charged-for-aggravated-robbery-at-park-east-apartments

http://solon.patch.com/articles/911-call-zeppes-worker-in-solon-jumped-by-four-people#video-5473025

 

Mentor:

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/teen-charged-in-violent-mentor-robbery

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/08/mentor_police_arrest_4_people.html

 

Parma:

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-parma-brothers-shot-txt,0,2274364.story

 

Strongsville:

http://www.fox8.com/videobeta/2a50c8e5-e523-49ce-b67d-51a51c8b293c/News/Strongsville-PD-Looking-for-Couple-in-RobberyNews/Strongsville-PD-Looking-for-Couple-in-RobberyNews/lifestyle/thatslife/wjw-rs-newemail-info,0,4698314.storyNews/Strongsville-PD-Looking-for-Couple-in-Robbery

 

Berea/Strongsville:

http://www.wkyc.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=128965

 

Middleburg Hts:

http://www.woio.com/Global/story.asp?S=8666841

 

Westlake:

http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=108448

 

The only serious crime in which I was the victim occurred when I lived in Berea. I was car-jacked while at a convenience store in Berea, and the drugged-up woman robber hit me with my own damn car. Thankfully the car was low on gas so the robber abandoned my car nearby. A few days later a clerk at the store told me she overheard a girl she knew from the neighborhood saying she was the one who stole my car. The clerk didn't want to go on the record with police but I called the police and convinced her to speak to them. The girl got three years of electronically monitored house arrest despite her aunt's pleas to me to drop the charges. I refused.

 

I've witnessed a few violent crimes here in Lakewood, and covered countless crimes -- including a number of murders -- when I covered the suburban and city crime beats for 15 years on the west side. I got so used to covering crimes and seeing crime scenes that I started developing a dark, cynical "cop humor" about it.

 

Point is, sadly, it happens everywhere.

Having been to both the movie theater in shaker and the the mcdonald's in lakewood, I would say yes, I would. The mcdonald's is not full of angry kids cursing and throwing things and talking trash to people walking by. The movie theater was, at least the last time I went.

And to be clear, I am assuming this is the mcdonald's on 117th. I would absolutely NOT recommend anyone living there, no. When I recommend Lakewood, I recommend specific areas and this isn't one. I lived very close to 117th and was a crime victim more than once (apartment burgled, outgoing mail/checks stolen twice), and the police I talked to when I went through the citizens police academy there said the further E you go in Lakewood, the more crime there is. More bikes stolen, more vandalism, more car break ins, more burglaries. I never said Lakewood was mecca.

Another case of bad luck, RR.  That is not par for the course at the movie theatre by any stretch of the imagination.

 

^^^KJP, funny story about the car running out of gas.  A buddy of mine lived on Mayfield and Coventry and woke up one morning to find that his car was missing.  He urged me to wake up and make it over there ASAP to find it.  I asked him if he was crazy and said that his car was long gone.  He said just to trust him and get my arse over there pronto.  Sure enough, we found it just a few blocks away in the middle of the street and when I asked him how he knew, he said he was so low on gas that he was worried about getting the car started, let alone getting the 200 feet it needed to go to pull into the gas station.

Ok, but last year weren't some people hit in the head with bats while watching a movie? How many incidents does it take before it's actually not safe to be there vs. just a single unfortunate incident?

Yes, they were hit on the head by an unknown object. But I'm not sure what you mean "how many incidents does it take?" as I saw only one Shaker Square theater incident in the news database, and it goes back to 1982.

 

BTW, I have lived at the east end of Lakewood for 15 years (as of this November). I recommend it to anyone and everyone. I don't anticipate moving from here anytime soon, but if I do someday, it will be one of the saddest days of my life. I love it here.

It's the same, single, unfortunate incident.  Compare this link with the one KJP posted - http://www.woio.com/global/story.asp?s=12732601

 

To answer your second question, a helluva lot more than you will see at Shaker Square.

 

Unfortunately, there are people out there who want to see Shaker Square and areas like it fail.  They just consider it a dump (for a variety of reasons) and can't understand how someone could enjoy an environment like that.  These biases lead to an effect not unlike a game of telephone with these types of instances and by the time the story makes its way around, you would have thought that SS looked something like Beruit circa 1980's when this was going on.

 

 

... i also lived right on the cleveland 117th border for several years post college, had a great experience there and never experienced any incidents.

^Luck of the Irish, I guess.

The Game Stop in Solon has had two armed robberies in the past couple of years (one of numerous armed events in Solon the past few years)

 

Have been in the Colony movies on SS at least 50 times in my life with large and small crowds.  Never an incident.  I guess I am just lucky or smart.

I certainly do not wish to see ANY area of Cleveland fail, I'd like to make that clear. But it doesn't mean I love every area and don't see any problems anywhere.

 

 

One of the reasons I liked SS was because of all the amenities. I also liked the idea of having a farmers market at my doorstep. I liked the easy access to transit. But most of all I felt safe. The area looked very diverse and multicultural ( I liked the areas near Case for the same reason). Living in Korea right now...I am so tired of always feeling out of place and like I dont belong. I am often referred to as Waywoogen (which means "outsider").

Its so heard because money plays such a big role in this choice.

I think that no matter where I do end up I will be ok. I have heard from people who live all over and you are all happy where you live and have a lot of good information about everywhere. I feel that I will be making an informed decision.

^Good attitude.  And good luck with your search! 

 

And please excuse our bickering (my contributions included).  We've got a lot of strong opinions about our neighborhoods which tend to bubble up in funny places.

thabe, I think you will be happy in either Shaker Square or in Little Italy-University Circle. You will experience a duality in Clevelanders. They are very friendly and helpful to newcomers, but most Clevelanders have had generations of family live here. So they will be friendly and will welcome you, but they tend to keep to a close circle of friends and may be slow to let you in. But that situation may not apply with fellow students who are often more ready to befriend strangers.

Ok, but last year weren't some people hit in the head with bats while watching a movie? How many incidents does it take before it's actually not safe to be there vs. just a single unfortunate incident?

 

 

Inside the theater?  Really?

 

 

I've live here for 20 years and come and go at all times, I've never once had in issue.

 

 

fwiw, I've lived on shaker square 2 years, and its been a great experience. so much so we bought a home and are raising our family there.

CONGRATS!