I prefer to think of my past like that of someone with an addiction - to partying and sex. Now I'm in the life-long recovery stage, AKA marriage/motherhood. :)

If you're talking about all of Lakewood overall, I honestly think there are more Middle Easterners there than gays. The Edgewater neighborhood does have a high concentration, but I think moreso just over the Cleveland border due to lower rents/tax than on the lakewood side.

 

There are a TON of single, straight, young people in Lakewood. There are like a bazillion bars and miles of tail to be had. I should know, I had 5 apartments in Lakewood and was one of those hot young ladies back in the day, bar hopping all through Lakewood and hooking up. Particularly the trio of Around the Corner, the West End and the Riverwood, all clustered together at the very west end of Detroit, that can be a good hang, but there are literally hundreds of restaurants with good bars and just regular bars that serve food, to little divey type places dotting Lakewood on Madison and Detroit from the East to West ends of Lakewood.

 

P.S. Being very gay-friendly -  having gay friends - real friends, being open to going to gay bars without hangups, being completely accepting of gay people and liking being close neighbors with gay people gets you MORE female tail, not less. It also makes you much more likely to have FRIENDLY and HELPFUL neighbors as opposed to the aforementioned douchebags, who wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire.

 

Agreed my cousin met his wife in a gay bar (Keys) with me.

I prefer to think of my past like that of someone with an addiction - to partying and sex. Now I'm in the life-long recovery stage, AKA marriage/motherhood. :)

 

I imagine there's probably a few young men (and maybe a few b&tiches!) who have changed their plans and are heading out Lakewood bars this weekend in search of Miss Goodbar! Either that or they're shopping at Dr. Emmit Brown's DeLorean Emporium in the hopes of hooking up with RnR back in the day.  8-)

 

And in an attempt to bring this back on topic, that's just some of the fine city life you'll find in our fair city of Lakewood!

LOL.

 

student, I'm glad you chose/got accepted to CSU! I think you will be happy here.

Just got confirmed for CSU earlier today, which I expected would happen since it eventually rose to being my top choice (just not on the merit of the institution lol) considering issues I had with other programs and this program seemingly being a good fit for me, personally.

 

And with it looking like I will be a more regular Cleveland poster on here, I should warn you guys I bitch a lot about substandard urban design. I'm an enigma on OKC Talk, which I first joined back in 2001 (when I was 13 ha), and since then I've just become a good for nothing complainer that developers say is never happy. Actually, quality development makes me really happy though.. as rare as that is in this country. Just wanted to warn you guys what you are getting..  :shoot: lol

 

I just now noticed you are from Stillwater.  I have friends from Michigan that go to OU down in Norman.  I actually spent 5 months in Edmond.  Seriously, OKC and Cleveland are two different worlds.  OKC sprawls for 600 miles, a downtown that could fit within Cleveland's Public Square it seems.... Bricktown was ok.  lol they should just be in different countries.  Obviously OKC never grew to what Cleveland did, never had the money or companies that call Cleveland home, as well as the diversity in its people.  I easily can see why you would be pissed with urban development in OKC.  If you're coming from Oklahoma, I'm pretty sure you will find what you're looking for in Cleveland.

Hi all, I'm a college student considering doing a semester on exchange at CSU. Was wondering if there were any nearby housing options that were cheaper than CSU's official dormitory facilities.

 

Also very interested in local perceptions of the area around Euclid, as I understand there is a lot of redevelopment along that corridor. At the same time, I understand that a very rough area (Central) is fairly nearby CSU, so curious about that as well.

 

Right now I have a cute little garage loft near my campus in Stillwater, OK that I pay $400/mo for, and I can bike anywhere in the area. I know public transit in Cleveland makes Oklahoma look pathetic, but I'm curious how the city is for bicyclists.

 

Also feel free to suggest any particular apartments, or offer any detailed information. This would be for either this fall semester or next spring. Thanks for your help!

 

Reading through your posts, you sound a lot like myself.  I did a year as an urban studies major at CSU.  I loved it.  When I read your opinion on urban studies and architecture sharing the same core requirements, I couldn't agree more and immediately had to post on here.  Anyway, I left Cleveland for the south after my freshmen year for the University of Florida in Gainesville.  I hated the south, the cities had no character, and their idea of a great new restaurant opening up in downtown Jacksonville or Orlando was an Outback, I couldn't believe it all.  So I decided to head back north where I am now a cultural/urban geography major.  The best thing about Cleveland is it offers world class amenities at a fraction of the cost of New York and Chicago.  You are literally within a days drive of 60% of the nation's population.  Cleveland has awesome neighborhoods, the best food, people from all over, and the friendliest people in a major city.  Every time I go to Cleveland I can easily put on 5 lbs.  I was in downtown on Friday without calling up all my friends from CSU just to explore the city by myself (I am a huge urban geek).  I walked Little Italy, University Circle, downtown, Edgewater, and Ohio City.  There is a great vibe in Cleveland.  It's being in a major city with friendly people, walking in Little Italy and smelling the food, walking down the steps at Wade Lagoon and seeing the art museum on the other side... looking up at Severance Hall where one of the world's best orchestras play.  The lights of Playhouse Square.  The tree-lined streets with outdoor eating in the Warehouse District.  Or walking past the crowds of people on East Fourth.  It is so hard to explain all of what Cleveland brings to the table in one post.  I destroyed my brand new pair of Aldos I paid a ridiculous price for at Beachwood walking around Cleveland on Friday.  But I wouldn't take it back.  Cleveland has history, amazing architecture, awesome parks and neighborhoods, the best people around, extensive public transit, food from every corner of the globe, you name it.  Coming from a small town on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border, going to Asia Town and seeing the frogs jump around in their tanks at the Asian grocery stores was an interesting sight.  Cleveland is the reason I fell in love with cities.

 

On that note, you will like Cleveland State University.  Not only is Cleveland booming right now, CSU's campus is changing drastically.  I can't believe how much has changed in the two years I have been gone.  So many corners of campus looks completely different.

 

Living options:

 

Downtown is extremely hard to get into right now because there are waiting lists.

 

Lots of great apartment options by CSU's campus.  A lot of rehabs over that way.

 

Check out surrounding neighborhoods by downtown.  There are a lot of options in these areas, you have to look though.  I wish you the best of luck.  Your story sounds very similar to mine.  Come to Ohio, you will love it here.  We have a plethora of cities, each with its own unique character, and we are within in few hours drive of some of America's great cities and you can live in a very good price range in Ohio.  Like I stated before, Cleveland offers the larger city amenities i.e. Chicago, New York at a much cheaper cost of living.  I plan on finishing up my last year as undergraduate and looking to move to Cincinnati to go to University of Cincinnati (my dream school).  Cincinnati is another amazing city completely different from Cleveland, but that's another post.  Cleveland won't let you down, I promise.

Just got confirmed for CSU earlier today, which I expected would happen since it eventually rose to being my top choice (just not on the merit of the institution lol) considering issues I had with other programs and this program seemingly being a good fit for me, personally.

 

And with it looking like I will be a more regular Cleveland poster on here, I should warn you guys I bitch a lot about substandard urban design. I'm an enigma on OKC Talk, which I first joined back in 2001 (when I was 13 ha), and since then I've just become a good for nothing complainer that developers say is never happy. Actually, quality development makes me really happy though.. as rare as that is in this country. Just wanted to warn you guys what you are getting..  :shoot: lol

 

I just now noticed you are from Stillwater.  I have friends from Michigan that go to OU down in Norman.  I actually spent 5 months in Edmond.  Seriously, OKC and Cleveland are two different worlds.  OKC sprawls for 600 miles, a downtown that could fit within Cleveland's Public Square it seems.... Bricktown was ok.  lol they should just be in different countries.  Obviously OKC never grew to what Cleveland did, never had the money or companies that call Cleveland home, as well as the diversity in its people.  I easily can see why you would be pissed with urban development in OKC.  If you're coming from Oklahoma, I'm pretty sure you will find what you're looking for in Cleveland.

 

Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of shared perspective on not just urban studies/planning but the built environment in general. Obviously Chicago is an urban city for which there is no substitute for .. but I've also always been attracted to nice middling urban cities like Cleveland, Cincinnati, OKC or Austin even, etc. I think Cleveland has one of the more pervasive personalities of these nice urban middlings, and that's a good thing. I'm definitely excited about this.

 

Think you're a little hard on OKC though, which is definitely revving up like Austin in the 2000s, Charlotte in the 90s, etc...not sure of any metros under 2 million with more downtown development. Yeah - Bricktown sucks (least favorite downtown district), but at least it doesn't have an Outback Steakhouse like you complained about Orlando. Bringing this back to Cleveland, I will say I was very dismayed when I read in another thread on here that Toby Keith was building a restaurant in Cleveland.. for shame that I didn't arrive sooner so that I could help you guys organize to stave off such an embarrassing train wreck of a concept.

 

I am so very sorry that you had to live in Edmond though. I don't have the words to convey my sympathy LOL.. I grew up around NW23/Classen if that gives you any idear of my mindset/self-image of "home," which is probably as far from Edmond as one could get. Probably the "Lakewood of OKC" if we were to draw parallels back and forth haha...which is too superfluous to even seem reasonably worthwhile.

 

 

I would be curious if there is a bike/ped trail that leads to downtown from Tremont.

Kindof... You can take Abbey ave to Lorain and then there's a pedestrian/bike path on the side of the Lorain/Carnegie bridge that I've ridden across but I'd never recommend to anyone. I guess both Abbey and Carnegie are getting new bike lanes this year, but I haven't been keeping up with the status on that.

 

May I ask why you wouldn't recommend the bridge? Carnegie looks like it would be a fairly direct path, I'll look into those bike lanes..

Traffic seems to ignore the speed limit and treats Carnegie like a freeway so riding on the road is a little too dangerous for me plus the curb is about 8 inches high (high enough you're in danger of catching pedals if you're close to it). The sidewalk is too narrow to pass pedestrians or oncoming cyclists without getting close to that high curb. It's certainly doable (I'm sure someone on here does regularly ride it), but there's a reason it's scheduled to be redone.

 

Ah, I can perfectly visualize that.. sounds harrowing indeed. Hmm.. would you guys happen to have any insights alternatively about biking into downtown from the west (I guess across the Flats?).

 

As for your predilection for complaining about subpar urban design...well you'll find plenty of like minds here. After local news, I'd guess b!tching about skywalks and street edges sucks up the second highest number of key strokes on UO.  And I mean that in a good way.

 

Sounds like my kinda place. Skywalks are kinda like the northern version of the corporate plaza plague in the south..or that's my theory.

 

I would say your assessment of Tremont is pretty accurate. This is just my assessment, but Tremont has struck me as a great urban place to live if you work out in the suburbs, owing to Tremont's freeway access. I do know people who live in Tremont and work downtown too, but I don't think it's the best place to live if you work/school downtown especially if you don't have a car or if you do and want to keep it parked at home.

 

Lakewood isn't any one thing. The people, the houses, the restaurants, the shops -- they are like snowflakes. No two are identical. Dozens of languages are spoken in the school system, many from Eastern European, Middle Eastern and Latin American origins. Lakewood's reputation as a gayborhood is overblown as many have said. There are many here, including in my building. But from what I know of my neighbors (I've lived in this building for 15 years) and based on the dates they bring home, family members living with them, partners, etc., I would guess that perhaps 10 percent of them are gay. Lakewood is a very diverse place. Even if you see two white people standing next to each other, one person may be Albanian-born and the other from Belarus.

 

So the area around the west tip of Edgewater Park (like around Lake/West) is rough? That is a huge shame because I liked that area specifically. Or are the bad areas just confined to across the tracks from there? What about Gordon Square?

 

At the intersection of Clifton/Lake, the area south of the tracks gets rough. The area along and north of Baltic is fine. Where Baltic ends at the intersection of Clifton/Lake, if you follow Lake east of there, the areas north of Lake and then north of Detroit are better -- and getting better all the time. Think of the line of demarcation as an upside-down V. Even then I hate to use a "line" because neighborhoods don't start to suddenly get better at a line. But the railroad tracks (both sets of tracks) south of Baltic are about as close as you can get to a line. The Gordon Square area is fine, and is getting better too. It used to be a pretty rough area as recently as 5-10 years ago. The farther east from here you go, the areas get a little better the farther south from Detroit. A little bit south of Lorain is as far south as I would go in Ohio City proper, that's an improvement over 5-10 years ago too.

 

EDIT: By the way, you may notice a cultural difference between East Side and West Side. The University Circle, Murray Hill, Cleveland Heights area will make you think more of an East Coast city. It is faster-paced, more "in your face", the architecture is more East Coast, and there are more African Americans, Italians, Jews, Asians and Indians. Even the food is different -- not to mention the Coca Cola. Yes, you can Kosher Cokes with real sugar in Cleveland! The West Side of Cleveland, Lakewood and Rocky River are more like Chicago. It is slower paced, more laid back, flatter, the architecture makes me think more of Chicago, and there are more new-immigrant Eastern Europeans, Latinos and Middle-Easterners. Of course, you will find mixes of all attributes on both sides of town, but this cultural difference between east and west is decades, if not centuries old. There was even a book written about 20 years ago titled "Cleveland - Where the East Coast meets the Midwest."

 

I get what you are saying about the folly of rigid good-bad neighborhood demarcation - but I appreciate you indulging some of that for me anyway, against your better judgment, just because a lot of those are nuances I can only truly appreciate in person and after gaining some familiarity. It's almost daunting for me to consider going to another city to study urbanism just because I I probably know all of OKC and Dallas like the back of my hand by now. Going somewhere that resembles a totally blank canvass of stories and experiences to be gained is exhilarating for a hard core urbanophile such as myself.

 

The diversity of Lakewood also sounds exhilarating. Honestly, everything said about Lakewood, even previous concerns about the overblown gay reputation, make it seem like a really cool urban area. My only concern was that it would be too heavily weighted toward one thing and as a result of being such a strong oasis for one minority group, not be so for others. Obviously that was an unfounded concern, and perhaps that is Lakewood's real strength, not just one minority (gays) but the strength of all of its discordant minorities.

 

So as far as the west side goes, it seems like the "good parts" resemble an airplane wing (flattened inverted V as you put it), with some complicated hang-down machinery around West Blvd... if that made any sense to anyone but myself. And what I'm getting is that Gordon Square and the Detroit corridor eventually just blend into Ohio City, where not much further south of Lorrain matches up pretty well with the impression I have collected. And I will say Chicago is one of my favorite world cities, so perhaps that isn't a bad dichotomy up against "East Coast." I had figured Gordon Square would be nicer/more expensive than you put it..gentrified only 5 years? Looks pretty far ahead of that in streetview and bird's eye, but perhaps that just shows how fleeting the reliability of that method is.

 

Obviously if I were looking for a more prestigious address, it would either be downtown or the developing Uptown area in University Circle, but I think I'm at a more simple stage. My grandmother, upon hearing I was moving to Cleveland, informed me all about the Cleveland Orchestra ... and while I know it's hardly just that in the University Circle area, just seems to typify the kind of amenity with less bearing on my life than good neighborhood coffeeshops for example. That coffeeshop culture seems stronger on the west side, or perhaps I am wrong there? It would seem congruent with the Chicago-esque, more laid back image of the west side.

 

 

If you are in lakewood/detroit shoreway. 

 

Depending on how far west you are.

 

Bike on Lake/Clifton to Detroit or on Detroit (depending on where you are situated North/South) and across the Detroit superior bridge.  Then at public square head down Euclid which has a dedicated bike lane (I believe)

 

Alternatively you could use Franklin which parallels Detroit to the south.

 

This allows you to make the journey "at grade" if you will,

 

If you really want to go down into the flats you can turn left on W, 25th before getting to the D/S bridge head into the flats go over the Center street swing bridge and then there are 3 or four routes you could take to get back up top including going into the tower city parking lot and taking the escalator/elevator to return to the top.

 

They were supposed to put some bike lanes along the shoreway, and a bridge connection whiskey island/Wendy park to the other side of the river, which would allow you to get from where Edgewater park starts to the East Bank of the flats while avoiding surface streets but that is now in some doubt of being completed.

 

 

I have seen plenty of bikers on Detroit, probably not the ideal road to bike, but I do see people doing it all the time  AND the Detroit Superior Bridge was re-constructed recently, they removed a traffic lane and widened the sidewalk and added bike lanes.

 

Living anywhere along Detroit through D/S into the far end of  lakewood gives you access to the 24 hr 26 bus line.  And RTA passes are included in your tuition at CSU.

 

The newly re-built Sylvia building On Franklin Blvd is currently renting....being a student you could very well meet their low income guidelines, I have a flyer at home with the rental rates, I think a studio was below 400, and a 2 bdrm was  below 600.  PM me and I will dig up the numbers and who you should contact.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/rentals/plaindealer/index.ssf/2011/11/the_sylvia_renovation_brings_dynamic_new_apartments_to_clevelands_west_side.html

 

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/Ribbon-cutting-caps-building-renovation-in-Clevelands-Detroit-Shoreway-neighborhood

 

http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/historicsylviarenovation092911.aspx

 

 

Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of shared perspective on not just urban studies/planning but the built environment in general. Obviously Chicago is an urban city for which there is no substitute for .. but I've also always been attracted to nice middling urban cities like Cleveland, Cincinnati, OKC or Austin even, etc. I think Cleveland has one of the more pervasive personalities of these nice urban middlings, and that's a good thing. I'm definitely excited about this.

 

Think you're a little hard on OKC though, which is definitely revving up like Austin in the 2000s, Charlotte in the 90s, etc...not sure of any metros under 2 million with more downtown development. Yeah - Bricktown sucks (least favorite downtown district), but at least it doesn't have an Outback Steakhouse like you complained about Orlando. Bringing this back to Cleveland, I will say I was very dismayed when I read in another thread on here that Toby Keith was building a restaurant in Cleveland.. for shame that I didn't arrive sooner so that I could help you guys organize to stave off such an embarrassing train wreck of a concept.

 

I am so very sorry that you had to live in Edmond though. I don't have the words to convey my sympathy LOL.. I grew up around NW23/Classen if that gives you any idear of my mindset/self-image of "home," which is probably as far from Edmond as one could get. Probably the "Lakewood of OKC" if we were to draw parallels back and forth haha...which is too superfluous to even seem reasonably worthwhile.

 

I was with friends from Michigan who were from the Lansing area and went to both OU and OSU.  Lets just say I was really not impressed with much of Oklahoma (not to bash it in anyway).  This was right after high school and I was looking to go to school down there.  We will just put it this way, Oklahoma was completely different from what I was use to growing up back east, and I didn't like it.  OKC is certainly doing some great things, but there is a lot of voids to fill in not just in the downtown area, but within surrounding neighborhoods.  I guess it has a very southern city vibe to it with the rundown office style warehouse deal, if you catch what I'm trying to say.  Either way, they are making progress, but from what I have seen outside of Devon Tower, I haven't been too ecstatic.

 

About Toby Keith, that's fine because downtown Cleveland certainly makes up for it in the restaurant scene elsewhere in downtown from Playhouse Square, East Fourth, Gateway, Warehouse Districts, etc.  Toby's is just going to be a part of a brand new mixed use development that will offer more than some chain.  I can see it being a big hit in OKC, don't they have one though? 

My brother lived for years in Oklahoma and my nephews still live there. They all bounced back and forth between the Tulsa, McAlester and Krebs areas. Granted, I realize those are all much smaller towns than Oklahoma City. But when my nephews came to Cleveland for the first time a few years ago at the ages of 30 and 28, it was a very different world for them. They enjoyed their stays here, especially to visit family they had never seen. But they said they could not live here. It was too hectic here, the traffic too much, and too crowded. It was a very different pace for them. Since you are from Oklahoma City, I suspect you will not notice much difference in the traffic or crowds. But the pace may be a little different. I will be interested to hear your reactions.

 

BTW, my nephews also had to adjust to the cooler and more humid weather here. Even though it was the middle of summer when they visited, it was only in the 80s in Cleveland. But it was in the low 100s in Oklahoma. The humidity was higher here, and that took some getting used to. Also the much more lush vegetation was of interest to them, as was our clay brown/black soil. They were used to seeing red soil everywhere. Here, the soil is only visible in construction areas. Everything else is green lawns or thick wooded areas. Even friends from Columbus, about 100 miles south, are amazed at how big our trees are -- especially near the lake. In Cleveland, a lawn will become a young forest in just 20 years if it is not trimmed.

Pulled out the DSCDO flyer

 

 

The Sylvia now leasing

 

Effieciency. 390

1 bdr.        450

2 bdr.        490

 

All asterixed  some income restrictions may apply

Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of shared perspective on not just urban studies/planning but the built environment in general. Obviously Chicago is an urban city for which there is no substitute for .. but I've also always been attracted to nice middling urban cities like Cleveland, Cincinnati, OKC or Austin even, etc. I think Cleveland has one of the more pervasive personalities of these nice urban middlings, and that's a good thing. I'm definitely excited about this.

 

Think you're a little hard on OKC though, which is definitely revving up like Austin in the 2000s, Charlotte in the 90s, etc...not sure of any metros under 2 million with more downtown development. Yeah - Bricktown sucks (least favorite downtown district), but at least it doesn't have an Outback Steakhouse like you complained about Orlando. Bringing this back to Cleveland, I will say I was very dismayed when I read in another thread on here that Toby Keith was building a restaurant in Cleveland.. for shame that I didn't arrive sooner so that I could help you guys organize to stave off such an embarrassing train wreck of a concept.

 

I am so very sorry that you had to live in Edmond though. I don't have the words to convey my sympathy LOL.. I grew up around NW23/Classen if that gives you any idear of my mindset/self-image of "home," which is probably as far from Edmond as one could get. Probably the "Lakewood of OKC" if we were to draw parallels back and forth haha...which is too superfluous to even seem reasonably worthwhile.

 

I was with friends from Michigan who were from the Lansing area and went to both OU and OSU.  Lets just say I was really not impressed with much of Oklahoma (not to bash it in anyway).  This was right after high school and I was looking to go to school down there.  We will just put it this way, Oklahoma was completely different from what I was use to growing up back east, and I didn't like it.  OKC is certainly doing some great things, but there is a lot of voids to fill in not just in the downtown area, but within surrounding neighborhoods.  I guess it has a very southern city vibe to it with the rundown office style warehouse deal, if you catch what I'm trying to say.  Either way, they are making progress, but from what I have seen outside of Devon Tower, I haven't been too ecstatic.

 

About Toby Keith, that's fine because downtown Cleveland certainly makes up for it in the restaurant scene elsewhere in downtown from Playhouse Square, East Fourth, Gateway, Warehouse Districts, etc.  Toby's is just going to be a part of a brand new mixed use development that will offer more than some chain.  I can see it being a big hit in OKC, don't they have one though?

 

Well, bear in mind OKC was a shithole in the 90s and earlier 2000s. I remember it well. It used to seem like only bad things happen here, ie., dust bowl, then bank crashes, oil bust, tornadoes, the bombing - OKC literally was the south's Detroit for a long time. In the last five years I think the state per capita income (which obviously is higher in OKC/Tulsa than elsewhere) went from #49 to #36, and OKC was the fastest growing city in the country in 2011, has had lowest unemployment for the last 4 years, etc etc.. some of it is obviously due to the oil and gas boom, but more of it is due to OKC investing in QoL - a lot of smart prognosticators have deemed OKC a sort of unsuspecting Portland on the Prairie. I can honestly say the rundown city I grew up in is no more. So I think there are some parallels to Cleveland in many ways, although honestly I despise BRT and anyone who's stupid enough to substitute that for proven rail-based transit. OKC's modern streetcar project (MAPS 3), which is already funded and breaks ground in a year, will really take the evolution to another level.

 

The cool thing about OKC is right now every single week there are new downtown development deals announced. So that's what I mean when I say you're a little harsh on OKC, and naturally, anyone who hasn't visited in the last 2 years won't fully grasp just how extensive our rapid public makeover has been. It makes our first makeover in the 90s (MAPS 1) pale in comparison to what all is going on now. I think it's particularly telling that Bricktown, which in the early 2000's had the entire downtown spotlight to itself, is now the red-headed step child and has totally been overshadowed by Midtown (with its beautiful traffic circles), Automobile Alley (North Broadway), and particularly Deep Deuce which is the go-to area for major mixed-use infill. Devon Tower has spurred a ton of development on the west side of downtown (CBD, Arts District, and the new Film Row area which sprung up from nowhere).

 

So I don't know how extensive and rapid-paced Cleveland's makeover has been, but as far as I know, OKC's is pretty unrivaled. Other cities that have thrived on similar makeovers, like Kansas City, Pittsburgh, possibly Chicago, definitely Milwaukee, and others come to mind. I think Cleveland's makeover is at least as drastic as KC's, and while I wouldn't put it up with Pittsburgh just yet, I also think it was overblown to an extent just how far Cleveland had fallen. Prognosticators may have been mixing racial indicators for prosperity indicators. Ie., Cleveland's east side is overwhelmingly African American, including some nice areas, which tends to suggest an African American upper class that has to be accounted for. Minority upper classes also tend to be very indicative of just how progressive/advanced a city really is, but I must admit I'm really interested in learning more about the racial cleavages in urban Cleveland, which is why I'm enrolled in Cleveland: The African American Experience at CSU.

 

OK, that last paragraph was mostly extraneous, I just hate making a whole post solely about OKC when I already know everything there is to know here lol, and Cleveland is what I'm interested in now! I think the parallels are certainly there. I also think you guys would be surprised, among most of my civic friends and connections up here, Cleveland actually has a pretty positive reputation. Despite BRT  :whip:

My brother lived for years in Oklahoma and my nephews still live there. They all bounced back and forth between the Tulsa, McAlester and Krebs areas. Granted, I realize those are all much smaller towns than Oklahoma City. But when my nephews came to Cleveland for the first time a few years ago at the ages of 30 and 28, it was a very different world for them. They enjoyed their stays here, especially to visit family they had never seen. But they said they could not live here. It was too hectic here, the traffic too much, and too crowded. It was a very different pace for them. Since you are from Oklahoma City, I suspect you will not notice much difference in the traffic or crowds. But the pace may be a little different. I will be interested to hear your reactions.

 

BTW, my nephews also had to adjust to the cooler and more humid weather here. Even though it was the middle of summer when they visited, it was only in the 80s in Cleveland. But it was in the low 100s in Oklahoma. The humidity was higher here, and that took some getting used to. Also the much more lush vegetation was of interest to them, as was our clay brown/black soil. They were used to seeing red soil everywhere. Here, the soil is only visible in construction areas. Everything else is green lawns or thick wooded areas. Even friends from Columbus, about 100 miles south, are amazed at how big our trees are -- especially near the lake. In Cleveland, a lawn will become a young forest in just 20 years if it is not trimmed.

 

Yeah, no doubt it's a different climate, but you'd actually be surprised - there isn't much humidity/rainfall difference between Cleveland and OKC (which avgs around 35 in/year) but the difference is the heat. The heat in OKC is scorching, today it was only 93 and I felt totally zapped after playing tennis. Most of continental Europe, which is extremely lush, gets around 20-25 in/year by comparison. The difference is they don't have scorching heat waves like the continental U.S.

 

Krebs is awesome though, one of the best Little Italys ever - a big source of debate in Oklahoma is your favorite Italian restaurant in Krebs - mine is Pete's Place, which also has a brewery (where Choc beer is from). McAlester is an interesting town, I was offered an internship with their main street program, their politics are pretty infamous..Gene Stipe (who is now in jail) was the Godfather of Little Dixie and ruled state politics between the 70s and his indictment in 2003, which wouldn't have happened if the Dixiecrats hadn't lost their 80-year strangle hold on state politics. I hope your nephews kept you entertained with stories of political intrigue, their home is definitely the place for that!

 

It's unlikely that I will be fazed by the fast pace of Cleveland, but we will see. I previously lived in a city of 12 million (Moscow) and that was exhilarating, I loved it. But I honestly think sometimes a fast pace comes in the way of style, for example, nobody would argue St. Louis or New Orleans are fast-paced cities, but talk about bastions of style...

Interesting about the precipitation difference. You will notice a big precipitation difference just between the east side of Cleveland vs. the west side. Because the angle of the Lake Erie shoreline, the direction of the wind and the slightly higher elevation, areas east of downtown Cleveland get twice as much snow (and some added rain especially in fall and spring). You will soon come to know the term "Lake Effect" which occurs when cold winds blow across the relatively warmer lake waters and pick up moisture. All official weather reporting for Cleveland is done at Hopkins International Airport, which is on the southwest side of the city -- the least precipitation-prone area of the city. As you get closer to the lake, the rain/snowfall rates increase. Then as you move east of downtown, especially up the pre-ice age lake escarpment and into the Allegheny plateau east of the city and, especially, north of US 322, the precipitation rates grow dramatically. It is not unusual for lake-effect storms to dump several feet of snow. The heaviest lake-effect storm I can remember lasted several days and dumped five feet of snow on the prime snow-belt areas of Chardon and Thompson in Geauga County. Those areas average nearly 50 inches of water precipitation per year. Considering Hopkins Airport gets only 36 inches of precipitation, downtown Cleveland and its eastern suburbs probably get about 40-45 inches. To appreciate some thick vegetation and some pretty scenery, drive Chagrin River Road along and near the Cuyahoga-Geauga County line.

 

I don't think my nephews are into politics. They've never told me about such shenanigans. That's OK. I'm not much into  politics either.

 

I've never been to Moscow but I have been to Kiev (about 5 million people). To me, Kiev is slightly calmer than Cleveland. People don't move as fast there or talk as fast but they make up for it by driving faster and crazier! Traffic laws are a rumor in Ukraine. The rest of the country is downright sleepy compared to America.

It's unlikely that I will be fazed by the fast pace of Cleveland, but we will see. I previously lived in a city of 12 million (Moscow) and that was exhilarating, I loved it. But I honestly think sometimes a fast pace comes in the way of style, for example, nobody would argue St. Louis or New Orleans are fast-paced cities, but talk about bastions of style...

 

Yeah, I can pretty much guaranty you won't be fazed by Cleveland's "fast pace."  I say this with affection for the city, but if anything, you may be surprised how empty so much of it feels so much of the time.  And the breadth of neighborhood decline might be an eye-opener too. It's not Detroit, but the share of the city proper exhibiting observable physical distress is pretty nuts. Tons of good stuff to offer though, so hopefully you'll dig it.

 

Regarding biking from Tremont to Downtown: it won't be finished till late 2012, I believe, but the there is a very substantial upgrade to this bike connection about to get under way: http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D12/PlanningEngineering/Pages/Lorain-Carnegie%28HopeMemorial%29BikewayImprovements.aspx

Strap, I'm basing that "fast paced" comment on my nephews' reaction to being in Cleveland. Comparing Cleveland to New York, Chicago, LA, etc., of course the "fast paced" comment is silly. But comparing Cleveland to much of Oklahoma is another matter. I've heard Cincinnatians claim that Cleveland is faster paced. And I believe Pittsburgh is faster paced than Cleveland.

 

It all depends on your frame of reference. For example, a former roommate of mine spent a month in Montana for a work-study sustainability project. When he returned, he commented "I don't know how this nation stays together. Forget about the differences between Montana and New York City. Just the differences between Montana and Cleveland are worlds apart."

 

Your frame of reference is NYC, and thus for anyone to claim anything less than NYC, London, Tokyo, etc. as fast-paced is ridiculous. You live at the extreme. Grant the rest of the world its gray areas.

I don't think the precipitation difference (^2x as much snow) applies to any of the areas "east of downtown" which have been recommended.  Sure.... the "snowbelt" gets 2x or even 3x as much snow as Lakewood, but I don't think Little Italy, UC, etc. does.... or even the Hillcrest areas.  They get more snow, but the difference isn't double.  I could be wrong...

No, not two times as much. But I do consider this to be a meaningful difference (see below). FYI: Hopkins Airport is in the 50-60 inch snowfall band, as the city's official average annual snowfall is 55 inches........

 

Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of shared perspective on not just urban studies/planning but the built environment in general. Obviously Chicago is an urban city for which there is no substitute for .. but I've also always been attracted to nice middling urban cities like Cleveland, Cincinnati, OKC or Austin even, etc. I think Cleveland has one of the more pervasive personalities of these nice urban middlings, and that's a good thing. I'm definitely excited about this.

 

Think you're a little hard on OKC though, which is definitely revving up like Austin in the 2000s, Charlotte in the 90s, etc...not sure of any metros under 2 million with more downtown development. Yeah - Bricktown sucks (least favorite downtown district), but at least it doesn't have an Outback Steakhouse like you complained about Orlando. Bringing this back to Cleveland, I will say I was very dismayed when I read in another thread on here that Toby Keith was building a restaurant in Cleveland.. for shame that I didn't arrive sooner so that I could help you guys organize to stave off such an embarrassing train wreck of a concept.

 

I am so very sorry that you had to live in Edmond though. I don't have the words to convey my sympathy LOL.. I grew up around NW23/Classen if that gives you any idear of my mindset/self-image of "home," which is probably as far from Edmond as one could get. Probably the "Lakewood of OKC" if we were to draw parallels back and forth haha...which is too superfluous to even seem reasonably worthwhile.

 

I was with friends from Michigan who were from the Lansing area and went to both OU and OSU.  Lets just say I was really not impressed with much of Oklahoma (not to bash it in anyway).  This was right after high school and I was looking to go to school down there.  We will just put it this way, Oklahoma was completely different from what I was use to growing up back east, and I didn't like it.  OKC is certainly doing some great things, but there is a lot of voids to fill in not just in the downtown area, but within surrounding neighborhoods.  I guess it has a very southern city vibe to it with the rundown office style warehouse deal, if you catch what I'm trying to say.  Either way, they are making progress, but from what I have seen outside of Devon Tower, I haven't been too ecstatic.

 

About Toby Keith, that's fine because downtown Cleveland certainly makes up for it in the restaurant scene elsewhere in downtown from Playhouse Square, East Fourth, Gateway, Warehouse Districts, etc.  Toby's is just going to be a part of a brand new mixed use development that will offer more than some chain.  I can see it being a big hit in OKC, don't they have one though?

 

Well, bear in mind OKC was a sh!thole in the 90s and earlier 2000s. I remember it well. It used to seem like only bad things happen here, ie., dust bowl, then bank crashes, oil bust, tornadoes, the bombing - OKC literally was the south's Detroit for a long time. In the last five years I think the state per capita income (which obviously is higher in OKC/Tulsa than elsewhere) went from #49 to #36, and OKC was the fastest growing city in the country in 2011, has had lowest unemployment for the last 4 years, etc etc.. some of it is obviously due to the oil and gas boom, but more of it is due to OKC investing in QoL - a lot of smart prognosticators have deemed OKC a sort of unsuspecting Portland on the Prairie. I can honestly say the rundown city I grew up in is no more. So I think there are some parallels to Cleveland in many ways, although honestly I despise BRT and anyone who's stupid enough to substitute that for proven rail-based transit. OKC's modern streetcar project (MAPS 3), which is already funded and breaks ground in a year, will really take the evolution to another level.

 

The cool thing about OKC is right now every single week there are new downtown development deals announced. So that's what I mean when I say you're a little harsh on OKC, and naturally, anyone who hasn't visited in the last 2 years won't fully grasp just how extensive our rapid public makeover has been. It makes our first makeover in the 90s (MAPS 1) pale in comparison to what all is going on now. I think it's particularly telling that Bricktown, which in the early 2000's had the entire downtown spotlight to itself, is now the red-headed step child and has totally been overshadowed by Midtown (with its beautiful traffic circles), Automobile Alley (North Broadway), and particularly Deep Deuce which is the go-to area for major mixed-use infill. Devon Tower has spurred a ton of development on the west side of downtown (CBD, Arts District, and the new Film Row area which sprung up from nowhere).

 

So I don't know how extensive and rapid-paced Cleveland's makeover has been, but as far as I know, OKC's is pretty unrivaled. Other cities that have thrived on similar makeovers, like Kansas City, Pittsburgh, possibly Chicago, definitely Milwaukee, and others come to mind. I think Cleveland's makeover is at least as drastic as KC's, and while I wouldn't put it up with Pittsburgh just yet, I also think it was overblown to an extent just how far Cleveland had fallen. Prognosticators may have been mixing racial indicators for prosperity indicators. Ie., Cleveland's east side is overwhelmingly African American, including some nice areas, which tends to suggest an African American upper class that has to be accounted for. Minority upper classes also tend to be very indicative of just how progressive/advanced a city really is, but I must admit I'm really interested in learning more about the racial cleavages in urban Cleveland, which is why I'm enrolled in Cleveland: The African American Experience at CSU.

 

OK, that last paragraph was mostly extraneous, I just hate making a whole post solely about OKC when I already know everything there is to know here lol, and Cleveland is what I'm interested in now! I think the parallels are certainly there. I also think you guys would be surprised, among most of my civic friends and connections up here, Cleveland actually has a pretty positive reputation. Despite BRT  :whip:

 

I'm not being harsh on OKC, being harsh would be calling it East St. Louis and saying it has failed to do anything positive in the urban environment.  How is my last paragraph irrelevant when all you have been talking about is OKC and its revival?  This post I quoted you in is a perfect example of that lol.

 

Also, Cleveland isn't relying completely on its BRT (Euclid Avenue).  It has a very extensive rail system that links all areas of the city and inner ring suburbs.  It's hard to explain to people who don't know Cleveland and look at google streetview and think they know the answers, but Cleveland is NOT Pittsburgh and I can't stand when people say it needs to or hasn't followed Pittsburgh's revival.  I'm from the Mahoning Valley, another thing which is very hard for people to understand Cleveland vs. Pittsburgh. I have family from every corner of Pittsburgh and Western PA.  I can leave my house (and depending on traffic on the parkway west) and be in downtown Pittsburgh in 45 mins. Cleveland is nothing like Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, or Milwaukee.  So what Cleveland is doing, is great.  Just like what Milwaukee is doing is great.  Completely different cities going after what is best for them.

 

I'm not surprised either about the positive Cleveland reputation.  I lived down south and heard plenty of positives about it.  I'm sure plenty here in NE Ohio would be surprised to hear that OKC is not some cow town in the middle of the Great Plains.  I have defended Oklahoma a lot since having stayed there for 5 months and visiting friends in Norman.  I just don't think I could ever live there, and that's why I left.  Get use to coming east.  Things are greener ( a lot greener), you don't see farms that are 20,000 acres and no trees ANYWHERE lol where it is just flat and barren.  Also, get use to density.

^ I don't think urbn was saying your last paragraph was extraneous, but rather his (second to) last paragraph was.

hey, i have an idea, let's talk more about Oklahoma

O-hio, O-klahoma... What's the difference? It's all flyover country.

^Duh, flyover country is someone else's inland state, not one's own. I sometimes think how hysterical our too frequent 3C pissing matches must look to outsiders who don't know and don't care about the differences between Cincy, Columbus and Cleveland.

^ I don't think urbn was saying your last paragraph was extraneous, but rather his (second to) last paragraph was.

 

That is correct, I apologize if any of you don't log in to read about Oklahoma, I was just apologizing for my part in that since I am here asking you guys about Cleveland.. of course I'm happy to get in a dialog exploring some common lessons between OKC and Cleveland. That said, I assure you 3C rivalries couldn't be near as vitriolic as OKC v. Tulsa. There is also a lot of animosity between DFW/Houston and KC/STL. States without a real clear urban center tend to fracture a lot in competition for attention, accolades, investment, state funding, etc.

 

My niche is definitely comparative urban studies, which admittedly all too often is an endowment measuring contest between morons. I like to think I take a more objective and open-minded approach.. that said BRT is the red headed step child of fixed guideway infrastructure.  :-P

 

Retrospect is always a spurious thing, and I'll concede that the BRT has worked better than I would have thought, but if LRT was cost prohibitive there is an "express streetcar" model that would have been cost neutral with BRT and more ideal to boot. I personally subscribe to the urban school of thought that worships modern streetcar (a la Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, Tucson, OKC, Fort Worth, and all over Europe).

Is Tucson's running already?

Tucson has actually broken ground, but not running. Tacoma is the newest and latest system.

Then you should have included Cincinnati on your list, since it has broken ground, too...and this is Urban Ohio, after all!

 

BTW, the Cincy streetcar thread is the longest and most notorious thread on the forum. Well, most notorious after UO in Greece.

Then you should have included Cincinnati on your list, since OS has broken ground, too...and this is Urban Ohio, after all!

 

BTW, the Cincy streetcar thread is the longest and most notorious thread on the forum. Well, most notorious after UO in Greece.

He's new here, no need to mention that thread.

Then you should have included Cincinnati on your list, since OS has broken ground, too...and this is Urban Ohio, after all!

 

BTW, the Cincy streetcar thread is the longest and most notorious thread on the forum. Well, most notorious after UO in Greece.

He's new here, no need to mention that thread.

 

Yes, we do not want to scare him off by mentioning the UO In Greece thread.

 

I don't know about you, but I found the information about OKC's revival interesting. I've heard little bits and pieces about it, but not a historical timeline like that. I like to see how cities ebb and flow economically. Lord knows Cleveland has had lots of 'em!

 

That being said, Cleveland is an odd mix. There's parts of the city that have been "Detroited" into urban prairies with lots of ruin porn. You can see them along the Blue/Green Lines between the East 55th and East 93rd stations, and along the Red Line from East 55th to East 105th/Quincy. It's like a ride in the countryside. But there's other areas like the Red Line through University Circle that's like a ride through parts of Washington DC, Philly, New York City or Boston. It may get even more dense in that area in a couple of years:  http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,11359.0.html

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,26994.0.html

 

Then you get back into the 'hood east of UC. BTW, I wouldn't call Cleveland's rail system "very extensive." I think some people are surprised that we have five rail routes coming out of Tower City Center. But our rail system still measures only 33 route-miles. Akron Metro RTA owns more route-miles that (51) but most look like this section between Akron and Hudson....

 

He would have ignored my offhand remark, but now he's going to dig for it because you guys didn't let it go.

He would have ignored my offhand remark, but now he's going to dig for it because you guys didn't let it go.

True, but now he's been warned.

He would have ignored my offhand remark, but now he's going to dig for it because you guys didn't let it go.

 

Of course he will!

Doesn't really matter.  He is planning on moving to Cleveland, and I believe all of the 'guilty' parties hail from the complete opposite corner of the state (Cincy).  No self-respecting Clevelander (gay or straight) would have been caught dead doing a cartwheel in low-rise capris... (cold chill rushes through body)

He's a Philadelphian now.

He's a Philadelphian now.

 

UO in Greece!  ROFLMAO.  God, I love that thread.  Anyway............How about those apartment near CSU?

It's all greek to me, but strange pictures in that thread. I've already been misunderstood for being homophobic in this thread, so let me just counter by saying I'm just dying to go to Greece now!

 

As for apartments, I've been sending out a ton of emails and calls and mostly getting rejected on the premise of a half-year lease. I have no obligations past December when I graduate, but then again a year-long commitment probably isn't in the cards for me. I have gotten a few apartments that said they'd do 6-month leases. I'll get a fuller list here soon for you guys to vet, but for now these look like my most promising apartment leads:

 

Walker & Weeks Building on Carnegie - $850/mo a bit more than ideal

Plaza Suites, 3200 Prospect - questionable area?

1900 Euclid Avenue - would have to be on waiting list

 

These would be furnished apartments. I'm still more interested in getting a double in Little Italy or westside, but like you guys said I'll just have to wing that when I do a pre-visit in July. The Plaza Suites look great and the price is right, but is the area along Prospect west of the interstate right? The coordinator at CSU who I've been talking to even insinuated it might be dangerous because there isn't much activity...which confirms my fears about the area. All of the reviews talk about cars being broken into and homeless people getting in and wandering the hallways.

 

This is the property:

http://plazasuitescleveland.com/plazasuitescleveland.com/Available.html

Problem with a 6-month lease is it's going to keep you out of the best areas, best buildings. You may be able to compensate for that by paying a bit more per month. But as long as a building is in a popular area like downtown, Little Italy, downtown Lakewood, Gold Coast, Ohio City, Edgewater, etc. the landlord can demand a 1-year lease and still get tenants.

 

Did they give an idea how long (names, timewise) the waiting list is for 1900 Euclid? I don't know anything about the building, but location-wise it's clearly the best. There's an increasing number of restaurants and shops you walk to nearby.

 

I've considered Walker & Weeks and I liked what I saw there, but I wish the building was more into the middle of the action. Same deal with the Plaza Suites -- although I don't know anything about that building. It is farther from the action, but it's on a stretch of Prospect where there is increasing development and still has some of its original housing stock. It was a step down from the Millionaires' Row along Euclid Avenue, a block north, that went away after 1915 when the streetcar line that bypassed Euclid for Prospect was ultimately routed via Euclid. By the 1950s-70s, Prospect was infamous for being the city's red light district. Today it is vastly cleaned up. Whether it was revitalized enough to make you feel safe there is the question. But I when I travel down it I am in wonder over how much better that street is today vs when I grew up in the 70s.

 

Can you get out of a six-month lease with no penalties? I ask because you might be able to grab one of these less-than-ideal places for the time being while you look around at other neighborhoods and homes in them.

 

Have you searched craigslist? You will be able to find a decent double in Little Italy or westside/Lakewood using that. I see numerous apartments in Lakewood, University Circle area, and Larchmere. If you like Little Italy, you may like Larchmere too. It a terrific commercial district north of Shaker Square with lots of shops, galleries and taverns. It is close to the 'hood, which means I wouldn't recommend going for a walk west past East 116th on to Woodland.

 

Here's a couple of Craigslist that caught my eye:

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/apa/3049734187.html (very close to Edgewater Park)

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/apa/3049783110.html (Little Italy!)

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/apa/3033033772.html (Next to Lakewood football stadium -- I hope you like football!)

There's more but I got to get some work done today! :)

 

Check Craigslist each morning and jump on something if you like it. The best units will go fast!

There are a handful of apartments near University Circle that have shorter leases for Case students and tend to have slightly cheaper rents than the apartments near CSU, but again they'll go fast and might not all be listed online. (Or at least had cheaper rent than I could find downtown when my wife and I separated for a while a couple years ago.) I'll second craigslist as a good place to look.

This is urbplannstdt, lost my password but I like this name a lot better, and losing 13 post count isn't a big issue obviously. Anyway, I will check all those out around Case - is there a source or something to go off of for those? University Circle seems like a big void of private development honestly, more of a business, entertainment, cultural hub, less of a residential community - but I could be wrong. Thanks for the tip as with all the rest.

 

And interesting thing about that improving stretch of Prospect (again, all I care about is if the walk from there to downtown is safe at day and night) is that it is listed on this Cleveland crime map as one of the safest enclaves on the east side, yet the crime map paints a pretty damning picture of downtown HOWEVER I assume that is overstated due to the relative density of other uses (the per capita adjustment is for residential population).

 

Larchmere looks incredible too, at least on streetview. I will be in Cleveland July 9-11 it seems to figure out where I will be living August-December, who knows I may decide I love it so much I won't ever leave (but I've always become attached to where I settle down, perhaps that means I'm territorial lol).

 

On a side note, about.com is smoking some pretty good stuff. Their geographic description of Little Italy is so erroneous that even I, someone who has only researched Cleveland on the web a lot, knew it was bad. "Little Italy sits above University Circle, bounded by Euclid Avenue to the south, Cedar Road to the east, Mayfield Road to the north, and Lake View Cemetery to the west." It's scary that people actually get paid to write for that site, usually they have a paid writer for each city.

:-(

Here is that same crime map, but I took the time to highlight a few highways and major streets to get a better sense for the lay of the land..

 

What's with south of Detroit and east of W65, and likewise, practically all of Ohio City and Tremont? Darker the blue the better.

This is urbplannstdt, lost my password but I like this name a lot better, and losing 13 post count isn't a big issue obviously. Anyway, I will check all those out around Case - is there a source or something to go off of for those? University Circle seems like a big void of private development honestly, more of a business, entertainment, cultural hub, less of a residential community - but I could be wrong. Thanks for the tip as with all the rest.

 

And interesting thing about that improving stretch of Prospect (again, all I care about is if the walk from there to downtown is safe at day and night) is that it is listed on this Cleveland crime map as one of the safest enclaves on the east side, yet the crime map paints a pretty damning picture of downtown HOWEVER I assume that is overstated due to the relative density of other uses (the per capita adjustment is for residential population).

 

Larchmere looks incredible too, at least on streetview. I will be in Cleveland July 9-11 it seems to figure out where I will be living August-December, who knows I may decide I love it so much I won't ever leave (but I've always become attached to where I settle down, perhaps that means I'm territorial lol).

 

On a side note, about.com is smoking some pretty good stuff. Their geographic description of Little Italy is so erroneous that even I, someone who has only researched Cleveland on the web a lot, knew it was bad. "Little Italy sits above University Circle, bounded by Euclid Avenue to the south, Cedar Road to the east, Mayfield Road to the north, and Lake View Cemetery to the west." It's scary that people actually get paid to write for that site, usually they have a paid writer for each city.

:-(

 

Check with the ADMINs they can probably merge your old account with the new and you can keep the new name.

 

Larchmere is not a neighborhood, it's one street in the Shaker Buckeye neighborhood.  It's one block North of Shaker Square, the major destination of the area.

 

Places like about.com may have "paid" writer but many of those writing article have no or little first hand experience on the subjects they write.  Take it with a grain of salt and trust the people on UrbanOhio over national sites.

What's with south of Detroit and east of W65, and likewise, practically all of Ohio City and Tremont? Darker the blue the better.

 

The near west side has a lot of concentrated public housing.  The central west side has a lot of gang activity, perhaps more organized than that of the east side.  I've worked with kids in these areas.

Anyway, I will check all those out around Case - is there a source or something to go off of for those?

Craigslist and "For Rent" signs are about all most landlords use because most of them are just renting out the 2nd or 3rd floor of their own house.

Ah, fair enough. And apparently CleHts has some bizarre ordinance banning 3rd floor working kitchens, so it looks like 2nd floor is where it's at around Case, just for the benefit of anyone else reading this thread.  :wink:

 

What's with south of Detroit and east of W65, and likewise, practically all of Ohio City and Tremont? Darker the blue the better.

 

The near west side has a lot of concentrated public housing.  The central west side has a lot of gang activity, perhaps more organized than that of the east side.  I've worked with kids in these areas.

 

Interesting. Is there anywhere to rent a bike for a day in Cleveland or a bikeshare system of some sort? I really want to just take one for a spin myself and see what I think of biking Detroit Ave to downtown. I've never really biked much in a big city, only in small southern or European college towns, so it's hard to place my trepidation on the matter..

 

TwoSense, you're right that the advice is a lot more accurate on boards like this, but that's a strange concept to me. You guys obviously aren't getting paid, and, in some cases are instead paying for this board for those good samaritans out there. About.com writers get paid to write crap, and from a friend of mine who used to do it for the OKC page, it's not bad money comparable to free lancing major circulation papers. Tsk tsk

Ohio City Bicycle Co-Op rents out bikes.

 

http://www.ohiocitycycles.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15&Itemid=53

Sweet!

Ohio City Bicycle Co-Op is a bit hard to find the first time. It's behind a bunch of buildings on Columbus Road, and faces the river and not the road.

So does the Bike Rack downtown on e.4th:

 

http://www.clevelandbikerack.com/

So does Fridrich's in Ohio City, one of the neighborhood's oldest continuously operating businesses, since 1883....

http://www.fridrichs.com/

So does the Bike Rack downtown on e.4th:

 

http://www.clevelandbikerack.com/

 

Oh, nice, I've been meaning to ask about this exact thing.  Eurokie, for location alone this place is probably your best bet.

Thanks guys. So I'll be in town next week. I think I'm going to sign for an apartment around E32/Prospect or a place in Shaker Square, I'm not sure which I'll do. Probably Shaker. I think I'll flip a coin. Too bad every property management company in Cleveland has the worst reviews ever, although some are in the BBB's graces.

 

I'll be staying in Lakewood though. Apparently since the #55 Bus doesn't run on wknds, public transit access from that area has fallen a bit, so I'm not sure I wanna live that far west - but I'm also scheduled to tour apts around Detroit Shoreway. Will be sure to take a bike for a spin, have one full morning of meetings at CSU, etc.

 

I could also use a good recommendation for a downtown lunch spot, preferably around Playhouse Square.

 

Lastly, If you guys want any photos, let me know what and where. I could definitely use a few tips on the most photogenic vantage points, less keen on big towers (ie., what you see from R&R HOF) and more keen on beautiful critical mass density (ie., what you see from the Flats, etc). I definitely plan on getting some photos of the new Uptown development, and anything else this board wants to see. :)