General Introduction

 

I have been wanting to do a comprehensive Cleveland Heights thread for awhile.  An inner-ring suburb (with streetcar community roots) of about 50,000 residents, it is my hometown.  It is surrounded by the Cleveland neighborhoods of Little Italy and University Cirle to the west, and the political subdivisions of Shaker Heights to the south, University Heights to the southeast, South Euclid to the northeast, and East Cleveland to the north.

 

The name "Heights" comes from the fact that it is elevated from the lake level.  If you were to look at the topography, you will notice that the eastern suburbs with the exception of East Cleveland and the lakeshore communities like Euclid and Bratenahl, are built on an elevation which is shaped by Euclid Avenue to the north and MLK Blvd to the west and goes as far east as the Chagrin River.  CH and the communities around it are sparingly referred to as the "Hillcrest" area of Greater Cleveland because they sit right at the top after coming up the hill from Cleveland proper.

 

Not to play favorites, but I would put CH up to the pepsi challenge against any other city in the state in terms of adherence to urban principles and diversity…. racially, economically, religiously…. just about any demographic characteristic you can think of calls CH home.

 

As those who put these threads together know, it is quite a bit of work.  I actually started taking these pictures on Memorial Day 2011.  In fact, probably about half of the shots are from that day.  While it was nice to have a free day to wander around, it also meant that a lot of the stores were closed and not as many people were out on the streets.  Also, if you remember, this past Memorial Day was steaming with temps topping out near 100f.

 

In the end, I realized I would have to break the thread down into several subparts.  I divided the threads into neighborhoods or grouping of neighborhoods, essentially representing the following:

 

Part I – Coventry Village

Part II – Overlook

Part III – Cedar Fairmount

Part IV – Fairmount Historic District

Part V – Cedar Lee & Fairfax & Cain Park

Part VI – Taylor Road & Severance Circle

Part VII – Superior Triangle & Cumberland & Mayfield Lee & Forest Hills

Part VIII – Inglewood Historic District & Center Mayfield & Noble Monticello

 

The threads cover Cleveland Heights only, so any overlap of these neighborhoods into other cities (such as EC’s Forest Hill’s area) were not photographed.  Of course, I couldn’t cover every single inch of the City, so there are some notable omissions, such as the area around Roxboro Middle School, North Taylor, and North Park.  Other areas are given much greater coverage than the rest, because I thought they had more relevance to this site.

 

I would like to give special thanks to a couple things that made these threads possible – my trusted Raleigh Mohave which took me around, my wife’s Lumix point and shoot, and, of course, iPhoto.

 

 

 

Part I – Coventry Village

 

 

Coventry is often recommended to many people who visit this site and are looking for urban living.  One could certainly argue that Coventry and its surrounding neighborhoods are more urban friendly than any part of Cleveland proper.  The neighborhood is centered around a retail/entertainment strip on Coventry Road between Mayfield Rd. to the north and Euclid Heights Blvd to the south.  It is a diverse area, with the Cleveland border (and Little Italy) within walking distance.  Some of the nicest areas of Cleveland Heights are immediately to the south and the worst area (IMO) of Cleveland Heights is immediately to the north.  The strip is mixed use, with apartments over retail and dining/entertainment.  There is an abundance of boutique shops, pubs/bars, and eateries.  It has an eccentric/hippie feel to it and is very “artsy”

 

Coventry has gone through multiple evolutions.  It was a hippie hangout, was a favorite of the Seattle style grunge group during my youth, and has more recently become very popular with the college aged crowd as a nightlife destination.  Very recently, it was the subject of a new City ordinance preventing minors from roaming the area after 6pm, which was obviously well-intended but has drew a lot of criticism and concern as well.

 

 

We will start out with some random shots around the strip (keeping in mind that most of the stores and bars were closed for the day)

 

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This old movie theatre was transformed into an incredible space for a bar, but the owners have had some difficulty attracting a consistent crowd

 

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Ah… I caught the reflection of a pedestrian out on this miserably hot day

 

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Like I said… eccentric

 

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Turning the corner onto Mayfield Rd.

 

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I always liked these houses hidden among the apartment buildings and behind the brush along Mayfield Rd.

 

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Back to the strip to demonstrate (next four shots) good examples of blending the main street with residential streets to the west of Hampshire and Lancshire

 

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Some random shots along Hampshire, Lancshire, and Euclid Heights Blvd to the west of the strip

 

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duplicate

 

 

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IMG]http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz254/dapowell/Coventry%20Village/P1010898.jpg[/img]

 

 

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Urban playground

 

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(limited) Parking in the rear

 

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Euclid Hts Blvd has a certain level of “grand” to it…

 

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Meeting back up with the strip

 

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At the south end, there is a branch of the library

 

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And the park (and former elementary school)

 

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The other side of Hampshire leads into a residential neighborhood with quintessential Heights character

 

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I think I’ve found the owner of that bike pictured earlier

 

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They will get around to putting in a driveway for their garage at some point….. no rush, it’s Coventry after all…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awesomeness.  Although now I want a sub from Grum's and a milkshake from Tommy's.  Damn you!!

Thanks for the pictures! Ive been waiting for you to post them! lol. Every time im over there, I always go down Hampshire. One of the best residential streets in Northeast Ohio in my opinion.

Love the east side character.  You captured it well. 

you've been very busy! But how did you have the time to take all these pictures when you're online all the time?? Seriously, these are all very impressive, really (see, I have nice things to say :-))

A few thoughts about Coventry:

 

Is that the supposed haunted house in picture #91?  I think it's on the southeast corner of Hampshire and Cadwell?

 

Also, you should have gotten some shots of Rock Court.

 

There are a lot of hidden gems in Cleveland Heights, I'm anxious to see if you got a chance to get them in your photo-shoot!

Very nice!!! This is also required viewing for any UrbanOhioan.

 

Duplicate photos #43 & #44.

 

And I always loved the "transition" from brownstone residential on Euclid Hts Blvd to the Coventry strip in #66 -- which is to say there is no transition. I just ends/starts. I would have loved to live in one of those brownstones that are so close to the strip.

^Thanks for pointing out the duplicates.  I caught a couple of those while editing.

 

you've been very busy! But how did you have the time to take all these pictures when you're online all the time?? Seriously, these are all very impressive, really (see, I have nice things to say :-))

 

Simple.  Multi-tasking and time management skills.  Get on the bike and ride around town (Gym) under the steaming hot sun (Tan) and then go home and do Laundry while surfing the internet.

What an impressive set of photos; what an impressive neighborhood!  Thanks, Hts121, for a wonderful tour!

Interesting place. Lots of brick apartment buildings! Is Cleveland Heights a separate city/town from Cleveland, or is it in the city of Cleveland?

^As Hts121 indicated in the introduction to the thread, it is an inner ring suburb.  It borders Cleveland (just to the east of the city) including the University Circle and Little Italy neighoborhoods of Cleveland.  Lots of Case Western (which is located in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland) students live in the "Heights" as it is an easy walk to campus.  It is about 12-20 minutes from Public Square depending on whether you live in the western or easter part of the city.

Always loved Coventry.

 

Simple.  Multi-tasking and time management skills.  Get on the bike and ride around town (Gym) under the steaming hot sun (Tan) and then go home and do Laundry while surfing the internet.

 

What is this Jersey Shore? Lol. Gym Tan Laundry

 

Simple.  Multi-tasking and time management skills.  Get on the bike and ride around town (Gym) under the steaming hot sun (Tan) and then go home and do Laundry while surfing the internet.

 

What is this Jersey Shore? Lol. Gym Tan Laundry

I can't see any of the pictures!

It appears Photobucket will require an upgrade from me.  I will do so later tonight.

Awesome! There looks to be a really good mix of density, and a lot of really beautiful buildings in the neighborhood. 

One other cool thing about Cleveland Heights is the street names and their English ties. 

 

http://www.chhistory.org/FeatureStories.php?Story=StreetsofClevelandHeights&View=OurLondonConnection&section=2

I have really enjoyed all the Cleveland Heights threads!  I can't help but see the striking similarities between CH and University City (a suburb of STL).  My Urbanohio thread on U. City can be seen here:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,12545.msg177904.html#msg177904