Hi, my wife and I will be in your town briefly on Labor Day.  I have been to Cleveland several times and have enjoyed it, but this time I want to take a drive that will give me a good cross-section of the city and its most interesting suburbs.  We don't have a lot of time there as we are stopping there on our way home from New York.  But there are some places that have piqued my interest:

 

Lorain Ave -- is this a good drive?  I have heard it was.

Shaker Heights -- I actually have cousins here, what's the best drive from downtown?

Lakewood -- been there, but what's the best drive to get there?

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

To shaker the Quickest way would be to drive down Cedar or Carnegie Avenues to University Circle (4-5 miles), Get on Stokes Boulevard (South/East), about 1.5 miles. Make a right on MLK Jr. Drive (South) and stay on it for about a mile then make a Left onto Shaker Boulevard (East) (2-4 miles). You'll be able to see a slice of University Circle and a pretty fair swath of Cleveland City proper, as well as a couple of our light rail lines. 

 

Another route would be to take any of the Avenues from Downtown To East 55th Street. Make a right (south) and stay on it until you reach Woodland Avenue, then make a left (East). You can take Woodland all the way into Shaker Heights.

 

And yet Another would be to tkae the RTA green or Blue lines out to Shaker Heights.

 

Lakewood from downtown would be OH Rt. 2 West, turns into Clifton Boulevard and shoots right into Lakewood. (Pretty quick trip and views of Lake Erie)

Lorain Ave -- is this a good drive?  I have heard it was.

 

Lorain Avenue might appeal to your taste for grit, and it does have some interesting spots between the West 20s and West 40s.  However, it also gets dicey around the West 50s-West 70s so have your wits about you (and the doors locked). That said, there's quite a nifty antiques strip including Suite Lorain - you could spend a lot of time in there.

 

Shaker Heights -- I actually have cousins here, what's the best drive from downtown?

 

I would take Chester Avenue (since Euclid is torn up) towards University Circle. Once Chester intersects Euclid (near the Oil Can church), turn left on Euclid and go to Mayfield Road. Take Mayfield through Little Italy, up the hill to Coventry Road. Take Coventry south to Euclid Heights Boulevard and make a left at (help me out forumers, the north-south street by the Alcazar Hotel) which puts you on Cedar. Make a left and then veer right onto Fairmount. Take Fairmount east to Lee Road, make a right on Lee and then another right on Shaker. You'll see quite a bit with that route.

 

Lakewood -- been there, but what's the best drive to get there?

 

From downtown, go north on East 9th towards the Lake. Make a left onto Rt. 2 (aka the West Shoreway). Although it's a freeway, it does have good views (particularly eastbound towards downtown). Anyways, take the Shoreway west past Edgewater Park. You'll see signs for Lake Avenue, Edgewater Drive, and Clifton Blvd. I personally think Edgewater and Lake are the most scenic. All three are east-west routes that lead to West 117th, the north-south dividing line between Cleveland and Lakewood. I'd take Lake Avenue to West 110th and make a right onto Edgewater. Make a left onto Edgewater and take it past West 117th to Cove. Make a left on Cove, and you'll be at Lake. Head west on Lake, past the Gold Coast condo towers to Nicholson. Make a right onto Nicholson and then a left onto Edgewater. In Lakewood, Edgewater is broken up but you can always take Lake as an east-west route.

 

Hope that helps, let me know if you need more info. I'll be in Cincy that weekend.

to Euclid Heights Boulevard and make a left at (help me out forumers, the north-south street by the Alcazar Hotel)

 

Derbyshire Road is the intersection, but it forks at the Alcazar and Surrey Road continues to Cedar.

^That's the one! Thanks! :-)

Hello, if you are coming into Cleveland from the west, I would suggest the following detour into the suburbs:

 

You are probably coming in from I-80/90 (turnpike), so when the two split in the city of Lorain (not the street), take I-90 East towards Cleveland. I would pass right thru the outer suburbs like Avon, Westlake, and Rocky River. Take the Warren Road Exit, #165 into Lakewood. Go north on Warren Road (AKA W. 150th to the south) towards the lake. This way, you will cross right into downtown Lakewood, with the opportunity to go down Madison Avenue, Detroit Avenue, and Clifton Boulevard - the 3 best streets in Lakewood. The first two are mostly shops/bars/misc. shops throughout, while Clifton will bring you right into the junction of W. 117th, where Lakewood borders the Edgewater neighborhood of Cleveland. There, you will find a very dense atmosphere of people, many places to hang out (Flower Child, Clifton Diner, Truffles, etc.). Go back to Detroit (not literally). Take Detroit all the way down to W. 65th St. This is Detroit-Shoreway. Explore that area, then proceed south on W. 65th over to Franklin or Bridge. You can ride those down to the lower W. 20's for a taste of Ohio City until you come out on W. 25th where you will find a lot of different things to do. Cross either of the bridges W. 25th that lead into downtown and then once in the Central Biz District, hit up the eastside by taking Carnegie (Lorain turns into Carnegie). By riding down Carnegie, you will get to see the Cleveland Clinic and parts of University Circle. At this point, Carnegie turns into Cedar. Take Cedar into Cleveland Heights and explore all around, as this is a fun inner-ring suburb with 8 or 9 different retail districts throughout. To the south is Shaker Heights (Shaker Square), to the east is University Heights (John Carroll/Notre Dame), and to the north is East Cleveland and Collinwood (all sorts of nitty gritty fun!!). If you must see more suburbs, I would suggest Lyndhurst and Beachwood to the east of University Heights. Just stay on Cedar and you will eventually cross thru all of the eastside suburbs.

 

Lorain Avenue is such a long street, so it's hard to summarize what it's like. I would agree with Mayday about the lower W. 20's being fun as well as the W. 70's being crummy. However, Lorain also has a lot of funky stuff between W. 117th and Rocky River Drive, where many small shops exist. Lorain between Rocky River Drive and the outer suburbs is nothing but commercial stores for about 5-10 miles straight, climaxing at the Great Northern Mall.

 

Enjoy!

Labor day weekend? If you see fighters and bombers buzzing the city don't be scared-its the air show going on LD weekend. I think a nice drive is MLK drive south from route 2 through the park to Univ circle and then to shaker heights following the directions of prior posters. 

 

Unless you like Harvey Pekor/American Splendor style grit, Lorain is not a "nice" drive, but Mayday is correct Suite Lorain is an awesome store I think in the 7000 block area. 

 

Also I think Fairmount (did I spell that right?) Blvd is the nicest Cleveland Heights/ Shaker Heights drive.

Wow, you guys, I'm overwhelmed.  Thank you so much.  I am really excited to explore the Cleveland metro area.  As much as we urbanites love cities, I also like seeing suburbs.  I will definitely heed all your advice and see as much as I can in the time I have.  Again, thank you so much, and if any of you are ever in Saint Louis, I'd be happy to make some suggestions myself. 

Lakewood -- been there, but what's the best drive to get there?

 

From downtown, go north on East 9th towards the Lake. Make a left onto Rt. 2 (aka the West Shoreway).

 

Since the air show is in town at the lakefront airport, I would avoid the intersection of East 9th and the Shoreway/Route 2 at all cost. It gets gridlocked and traffic cops sometimes will send you in the exact opposite direction you wish to go just to clear the intersection.

 

Instead, from downtown to Lakewood, take East 9th (or any other parallel streets like Ontario or West 3rd) north to Lakeside Avenue and turn left (west). Continue west on Lakeside and look for the direct access ramps to get on the Shoreway/Route 2. It's much simpler!

I'll just throw in an alternate route to Shaker Heights, since I dislike Chester Avenue (I think it shows the city at its worst, bearing countless signs of misguided urban renewal plans).

 

Take Carnegie Avenue from downtown to Stokes Boulevard (near E. 115th in University Circle), passing the Cleveland Clinic. Carnegie's not in great shape, but it retains more of its original urban fabric than many East Side arteries. Turn right on Stokes, past the (beautiful) water treatment plant and past MLK Drive. Stokes changes names to Fairhill (you don't have to do anything special). Turn right on E. 127th and go one block to Larchmere. Turn left on Larchmere (a very cute street), and go for a few blocks until you hit North Moreland. Turn right to take in Shaker Square, still in the city of Cleveland. Go around the Square and head East on Shaker Boulevard into Shaker Heights.

I live in the Shaker Square Area.  It's Cleveland's BEST neighborhood!  'nuff said! :-D

 

personally, I wouldn't drive all the way up to lee road to get to Shaker Square.  At fairmount, you can make a right and drive right into shaker blvd.  Keep in mind, this might be the "nice view" its not the fastest.

Forget about Woodland I forgot its torn up for construction.