Hello all, I am looking to move to the Cleveland area and need to find an ideal city/town. I was born and raised in Medford, Ma., a mid size suburb of Boston. It's about 10-15 mins north of Boston, pretty laid back. I am looking for a place with lots of trees, parks, good schools for my 12 yr old son but close enough for no more than a 30 min comute to Cleveland.(where i hope to work) I would be looking to rent, preferably a house in the $750-1200 range. My ex-wife and 14 yr old son currently live in Howland but since I work in the hotel industry I figured Cleveland would bring me more job opportunity. I need to get closer to them so the boys can spend more time together.  Any and all suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!

Yes I'm a Pats fan but don't hold that against me.

Hello all, I am looking to move to the Cleveland area and need to find an ideal city/town. I was born and raised in Medford, Ma., a mid size suburb of Boston. It's about 10-15 mins north of Boston, pretty laid back. I am looking for a place with lots of trees, parks, good schools for my 12 yr old son but close enough for no more than a 30 min comute to Cleveland.(where i hope to work) I would be looking to rent, preferably a house in the $750-1200 range. My ex-wife and 14 yr old son currently live in Howland but since I work in the hotel industry I figured Cleveland would bring me more job opportunity. I need to get closer to them so the boys can spend more time together.  Any and all suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!

Yes I'm a Pats fan but don't hold that against me.

 

Welcome, we'll try to over look the "Pats fan" part!  Just remember this is Browns Nation.

 

Being from Medford I would suggest looking at homes in Cleveland Heights, University Heights and Shaker Heights.  Along with The Shaker Square and University Circle/Little Italy sections of Cleveland.

Welcome Bill! I love your screen name (I'm very familiar with your part of the world).  At that price range, I believe you'll have some good choices, especially if you're OK renting part of a two-family house.  For trees, parks, schools and good commute to downtown Cleveland (assuming that's where you want to commute to), you might look in Shaker Heights on the east side of town, and Rocky River and Berea on the west side. Maybe also Lakewood on the west side.

Thanks I'll look into those suggestions. I don't want to actually live in the "city" but want to be close enough for work. Medford is perfect in the sense that it's close to Boston and a few major highways but far enough away that it's not too heavily populated.

^I think you'll find many of our close-in suburbs (e.g., Shaker Heights, Lakewood, Berea) to be similar to Medford in those ways. And Shaker Heights is served by a light rail system very similar to Boston's Green line.

I'm from Howland.  The NW portion of Cuyahoga County is most similar, I think.  AKA the "West Shore" suburbs.  Shaker Hts is notably far from freeways, so unless you're commuting right downtown, it's a great place to live but a bad place to commute from.

I just looked into Berea, looks ideal. I also looked at housing on Craigslist and that looks promising as well. Thanks for the suggestions!

Hey, the Pats are a great organization. If anything, I'm jealous of them!

 

BTW, a great drive is to head east on US422 in the morning, which takes you to Route 82 and Howland Township. You can take the Ohio Turnpike, which may be a bit faster but is more expensive as a toll road. I drive this often as I have business and relatives in the Youngstown-Warren area.

 

Anyway..... If you like Meffa (Medfahd?), then there are several east-side suburbs you might feel comfortable in... Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, and even Chagrin Falls. I suggest the latter because it has a waterway, the Chagrin River, is of similar size to the Mystic River. And Chagrin Falls is also a New England-style community with a town square, Western Reserve architecture and lots of rolling hills.

 

Shaker Heights is served by the Blue and Green lines to downtown, where there are a number of hotels including some new or rebuilt ones (Aloft, Westin, etc) that are looking for people. Several hotels are within a 5 minute walk the downtown rail stations, including Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Marriott, Aloft, Holiday Inn Express, and Residence Inn. There are also several hotels to the east of Shaker and Cleveland Heights, along I-271 -- especially in Beachwood (an otherwise nice, but boring community, IMHO). FYI, the quality of the schools in those three suburbs would put Chagrin Falls at the top, then Shaker Heights and then Cleveland Heights. There are lots of parks and big trees in all three cities. The reason is because they get lots of preceip -- the area is in the snowbelt. The snowbelt, caused by lake-effect storms, starts east of downtown and gets snowier the farther east you go. The heaviest snow area is south of I-90 and north of US322/Mayfield Road.

 

The downside? Finding rentals in this market can be a challenge because the rental market is moving pretty fast right now. Housing sales are not. But you don't have to find the perfect home the first time out, though it would be nice. :)

 

Try looking here for some ideas.......

http://www.rentals.com/Ohio/Shaker-Heights/houses-and-homes-property-type-5-miles-1z13z0r/

http://www.rentals.com/Ohio/Cleveland-Heights/houses-and-homes-property-type-5-miles-1z13z0r/ (FYI: the property listed as "Newer Cleveland Colonial" is not Cleveland Heights or in an area you've described as desirable).

 

Good luck. I hope you find a nice place and a good job that brings you closer to your son. Feel free to ask more questions. We like helping people find their way here. :)

I just looked into Berea, looks ideal. I also looked at housing on Craigslist and that looks promising as well. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

Berea might actually be good because it's near the airport (lots of hotels) and is close to the Ohio Turnpike (fast trip to Howland). I wrote a few comments about Berea (where I used to live) here....

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,27887.0.html

To be a little closer to Howland, but still in Cleveland area, I'd recommend staying on the east side.  Consider - Shaker Hts, Chagrin Falls, Aurora, Solon, maybe even Hudson. 

 

 

For more recommendations, check out this post:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,27869.0.html