We are currently living in Kansas City Missouri. We are seriously considering moving to Ohio where my husband's family lives. His sister in law has a rental house in Cleveland Heights that she said she would rent or sell to us. But, I am really needing info on this area. I have a 15 year old son and a 3 year old daughter.  So, school is important. Although, I will homeschool my 3 year old in the next couple of years. I am looking for a safe and friendly neighborhood/town. Somewhere that feels very "community" like and kid friendly, yet with lots of character. I love the old houses in Cleveland Heights. I can hardly believe the prices. They are really good. Some of the houses that I see go for around $125,000 there would easily be $250,000 here. So that is very appealing to me. But it does make me wonder why the prices are so low. My sister in laws house that we would probably live in is near Monticello Blvd and Noble Rd. There is a park a few blocks away called Quarry Park South and also Dennison Park. Any advice or info on this neighborhood would be greatly appreciated. We would also need to find a good non-denominational church and a grocery store or Farmer's Market that has all natural and organic food. Thanks a bunch!

If you like Cleveland Heights and want a neighborhood setting, I suggest the areas around Coventry, Fairmount-Cedarl, Cedar-Lee and Mayfield-Lee, to name a few.

 

Here's a couple of food markets in the area with natural/organic food:

 

http://www.clevelandfood.coop/ (just down the hill from Cleveland Heights in the University Circle area)

http://www.northunionfarmersmarket.org/ (see Shaker Square info)

 

A short drive/train ride west takes you to the grandaddy of food markets, the West Side Market:

http://www.westsidemarket.com/

 

As for housing prices, I looked at Realtor.com to see some of the homes/prices in Kansas City. Looked the same housing types for the same housing prices here. The north end of Cleveland Heights has had some issues, being next to the troubled community of East Cleveland, so that may have been an issue regarding housing prices in that area. But there are a lot of housing options, locations and styles throughout the Greater Cleveland-Akron area which has a metro population of 3 million. Depends on where you go and what you're looking for.

 

Cleveland Heights schools are decent, but I'll defer to others who have kids (especially those who live in or grew up in Cleveland Heights). There are always private, parochial and charter schools in the area. Shop wisely with charter schools. There's some good ones, but many leave much to be desired. Beachwood schools have an excellent reputation, but you won't find many superb, walkable neighborhoods there.

 

The East Side of Greater Cleveland looks more like an East Coast metro area, and has the cultural and demographic make-up of one. The West Side is more Midwestern, with Lakewood reminding many of a Chicago inner-ring suburb. Lakewood has housing options similar to Cleveland Heights and has decent schools as well.

 

Check out some of the photos of different areas of Cleveland on this website's gallery (http://urbanohio.com/Cleveland.htm). If you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask. And I'm sure more will chime in soon....

With Cleveland Heights most areas are nice. Houses range from rentals to the millions in the southern parts of the city.

 

As for neighborhoods to stay away from I'd say the area immediately bordering East Cleveland, between Taylor and Noble roads are the worst and this area extends south/east to about Woodview The area north of Noble road is nice and quiet and Oxford Elementary and Noble Elementary schools are nearby. The schools in Cleveland Heights are decent and you can expect a good education as long as your kids do their work and stay focused.

 

Cleveland Heights has many parks and a huge recreation center and always has community events going on. Its good you will be renting first so you can get a lay of the land and see where you may want to buy a home.

 

As the day goes on I'm sure more forumers will be able to help you out. Its slower here on weekends than weekdays anyway.

 

Good luck.

 

 

please rent first! one of the reasons the prices are so low is b/c the homes are hard to sell. I do not have kids, but I think CH school system, esp the high school, is trying to do some innovative things with education (small schools within the school). Shaker Heights, the community next door, has a great school system and that great housing you love. Both communities have some non denominational churches or you might like the Unitarian ones... esp the one in Shaker Heights (cant think of the name now)  I would say that the height areas lean toward progressive when it comes to religion. the area you describe it not dangerous but maybe the not the best either. I would spend some time in the area before committing as a heights house can take over a year to sell if you decide it is not the place for you( a realtor can get you the current averages). On the grain of what mov2ohio said, CH school outcomes are as good as what you put into it. Currently outcomes sadly depend on the SES and background of the students family (if we could only change that so everyone could succeed!) . For a motivated student, I think there could be some great things happening at CH HS...but you should go check it out with your teen. I think Lakewood is nice too -old houses, lots of families, a school system also trying to adjust to modern challenges in innovative ways. There is a Whole Foods near Cleveland Heights, but they are expensive- I would go for the food coop the KJP mentioned.

Just neighboring Cleveland Heights is University Heights, which has a Whole Foods Market.

 

http://www.wholefoods.com/stores/cleveland/index.html

 

I moved up to the Cedar-Lee neighborhood a few months ago and am really pleased with the atmosphere and the sense of community involvement. The homes are more tightly placed in Cedar-Lee compared to around Monticello and Noble. I don't know how much that will impact the "community" feeling, but wherever you go, I've found that the city does offer quite a bit in terms of parks, activities and the like.

I'm a Heights resident with no kids so I can't comment on that aspect. (same goes for being church going).

 

I hate agreeing with any "avoid" areas, but if there was one area that is less desirable than the rest of Cleveland Heights, Mov2Ohio's description is fair. I'm not saying the area is bad or anything like that, but relative to the rest of the heights, you could do better.

 

Oh, and screw whole foods, go to Zagara's. The guy has been there for years on Lee Road.

 

http://www.zagarasmarketplace.com/

I live in the Heights and pretty much agree with what has been posted above so I won't re-hash.

 

While housing is affordable in Greater Cleveland as a whole compared to many parts of the country, I do have to question what you might be able to find for $125,000 in Cleveland Heights.  In my experience a house at that price in CH is either in an iffy neighborhood, is very small or needs significant work (even if it looks nice from the outside).  Remember, CH is a community of older homes.  Even its upscale housing needs constant attention due to the age of houses.  To certain people this is a pain and to others, who really get into their homes, it is a joy.  The reality is that even in the current buyers market, if  you are seeking a good sized house (perhaps 2,000 sq. feet ) in CH in decent shape in a good neighborhood you will have to pay between 175,000-200,000 at a minimum.

the area in the Orthodox Hood usually has all the steals in Cleveland Heights. (less than 125k, good shape).

 

East of Taylor, South Of Mayfield, West of Warrensville, North of uh......Blanche?

 

Yes the homes in CH are older and likely to need attention, but the CH Code Violation guys are notorious fascists.

Yes the homes in CH are older and likely to need attention, but the CH Code Violation guys are notorious fascists.

 

And have been ever since East Cleveland started swirling around the circular drain more than 40 year ago.

^hey, they had to build a barrier to keep "them" out.

Yes the homes in CH are older and likely to need attention, but the CH Code Violation guys are notorious fascists.

 

And have been ever since East Cleveland started swirling around the circular drain more than 40 year ago.

except for the portion of Upper East Cleveland.  The homes in that area are stunning.

I lived in the Orthodox part of CH. We had a funky wood frame we bought from an artist when we moved to the area from out of state.  I did not know anything about Orthodoxy when I moved in-we thought it would be was kind of cool and charming to live in the middle of an ethnic enclave. The problem is in the 2.5 years total we lived theire not one Orthodox neighbor would speak to me..not one one word, even a returned hello or handshake attempt to introduce myself. My husband was able to get some brief  hellos. I later learned females like me are not accepted- doing yard work in shorts and tank tops w/o a head covering or wig (which counts as a  head covering) . when we decided to move into the city, it took a year and a half to sell our home (priced in the same range , and eventually less than our neighbors homes which were in run down condition, at least cosmetically) B/c our place was a little more eclectic than the other homes on the street, it took an Clev Inst. of Art student  moving in from out of state to appreciate it and buy it. I think my point is probably any sociologist will tell you we like houses decorated and designed to look like "us" if it is too different then we mentally cross it off the list. You will probably not feel a sense of community in this area-ie looking to chat with  neighbors on the porch, borrowing tools, house sitting etc.  I never saw the Orthodox kids hanging with the non Orthodox.

 

The condo we live in now, has much more community, watching each others pets when out of town, a quick cocktail after work to talk neighborhood politics and gossip and such. I actually know a large number of people in my building.

 

Now regarding the point of sale code stuff in CH. We only had the house 1 years after it had passed point of sale inspection by the city, and we put it on the market.  when we listed and had the city come out again...they found odd ball things. In just a year all of a sudden there are issues?  obviously it is very arbitrary depending on the inspector .

 

I am not really sure I agree these are the best maintained homes or yards, but the area is VERY safe.  never a problem really, except one that was our own fault...we started helping out a pan handler by giving him some odd jobs. He addicted to drugs and started getting a little too assertive. But we finally set him strait after he scared the crap out of my step daughter. But I digress

MY "curb appeal" impression of the Orthodox section is not that favorable.  Also, while I have no first hand knowledge of this, a builder who did some work on my house told me he does many add ons to houses in the neighborhood (big families) and he said the additions are done on the cheap.  To code and good enough to pass inspection but nothing that is going to improve the neighborhood as a whole.

So, where is the "Orthodox" area??

With Cleveland Heights most areas are nice. Houses range from rentals to the millions in the southern parts of the city.

 

As for neighborhoods to stay away from I'd say the area immediately bordering East Cleveland

 

 

As someone who was born and raised in cleveland hts. I'd disagree, not all the areas that border East Cleveland are bad.  The area off Lee Road is nice and on par with homes in Cleveland Hts.

 

please rent first! one of the reasons the prices are so low is b/c the homes are hard to sell. I do not have kids, but I think CH school system, esp the high school, is trying to do some innovative things with education (small schools within the school). Shaker Heights, the community next door, has a great school system and that great housing you love. Both communities have some non denominational churches or you might like the Unitarian ones... esp the one in Shaker Heights (cant think of the name now)  I would say that the height areas lean toward progressive when it comes to religion. the area you describe it not dangerous but maybe the not the best either. I would spend some time in the area before committing as a heights house can take over a year to sell if you decide it is not the place for you( a realtor can get you the current averages). On the grain of what mov2ohio said, CH school outcomes are as good as what you put into it. Currently outcomes sadly depend on the SES and background of the students family (if we could only change that so everyone could succeed!) . For a motivated student, I think there could be some great things happening at CH HS...but you should go check it out with your teen. I think Lakewood is nice too -old houses, lots of families, a school system also trying to adjust to modern challenges in innovative ways. There is a Whole Foods near Cleveland Heights, but they are expensive- I would go for the food coop the KJP mentioned.

 

As a Heights alum, has something happened to Heights that its a bad school?  It was like attending college, you couldn't slack at Heights and expect to pass.  Many of the teachers there were professors or held Doctorate degrees.

 

I too think a person should get to know the area. 

 

I live in the Heights and pretty much agree with what has been posted above so I won't re-hash.

 

While housing is affordable in Greater Cleveland as a whole compared to many parts of the country, I do have to question what you might be able to find for $125,000 in Cleveland Heights.  In my experience a house at that price in CH is either in an iffy neighborhood, is very small or needs significant work (even if it looks nice from the outside).  Remember, CH is a community of older homes.  Even its upscale housing needs constant attention due to the age of houses.  To certain people this is a pain and to others, who really get into their homes, it is a joy.  The reality is that even in the current buyers market, if  you are seeking a good sized house (perhaps 2,000 sq. feet ) in CH in decent shape in a good neighborhood you will have to pay between 175,000-200,000 at a minimum.

 

I was thinking the same thing, were in Cleveland Hts could you find a house for $125k, that seem pretty low.  The only area I could think of is the area between coventry and Superior, that borders East Cleveland.

 

I lived in the Orthodox part of CH. We had a funky wood frame we bought from an artist when we moved to the area from out of state.  I did not know anything about Orthodoxy when I moved in-we thought it would be was kind of cool and charming to live in the middle of an ethnic enclave. The problem is in the 2.5 years total we lived theire not one Orthodox neighbor would speak to me..not one one word, even a returned hello or handshake attempt to introduce myself. My husband was able to get some brief  hellos. I later learned females like me are not accepted- doing yard work in shorts and tank tops w/o a head covering or wig (which counts as a  head covering) . when we decided to move into the city, it took a year and a half to sell our home (priced in the same range , and eventually less than our neighbors homes which were in run down condition, at least cosmetically) B/c our place was a little more eclectic than the other homes on the street, it took an Clev Inst. of Art student  moving in from out of state to appreciate it and buy it. I think my point is probably any sociologist will tell you we like houses decorated and designed to look like "us" if it is too different then we mentally cross it off the list. You will probably not feel a sense of community in this area-ie looking to chat with  neighbors on the porch, borrowing tools, house sitting etc.  I never saw the Orthodox kids hanging with the non Orthodox.

 

The condo we live in now, has much more community, watching each others pets when out of town, a quick cocktail after work to talk neighborhood politics and gossip and such. I actually know a large number of people in my building.

 

Now regarding the point of sale code stuff in CH. We only had the house 1 years after it had passed point of sale inspection by the city, and we put it on the market.  when we listed and had the city come out again...they found odd ball things. In just a year all of a sudden there are issues?  obviously it is very arbitrary depending on the inspector .

 

Peabody, without point a finger, I've read some of your prior posts, could it be your personal experience living in CH is making it deifficult for you to be objective?  It sounds bitter.

 

So, where is the "Orthodox" area??

 

Give or take a block or two in any direction except the Northern board, the Norther border is Serverance mall, Southern border is Superior/Washington Rd., Western boarder is Taylor and the eastern border is Maple or Fenwick.

 

 

 

With Cleveland Heights most areas are nice. Houses range from rentals to the millions in the southern parts of the city.

 

As for neighborhoods to stay away from I'd say the area immediately bordering East Cleveland

 

 

As someone who was born and raised in cleveland hts. I'd disagree, not all the areas that border East Cleveland are bad.  The area off Lee Road is nice and on par with homes in Cleveland Hts.

 

 

Oh, I know in my post I said between roughly Taylor, and Noble, extending south to about Woodview, is the worst. I should have clarified more I guess. Those Californian style ranch homes off Monticello and Forest Hills are beautiful and the smaller ones in EC are cool to, and almost weren't built, but that's another story.

 

Heights as an institution is still a great school and in my opinion, I think you could get better prepared for college than at a lot of the other subruban districts. There is still lots of extra curricular activities and programs, the schools are kept up well and there is a strong PTA that is very active. The problem is the same with other districts that seem to have fallen on hard times (relative to the State standards released annually). Kids with no/little guidance that don't care about their education are increasing in number and thus bring down the school in rankings and in perception. 

My sister in law's house, which is in CH, is off of Noble Rd. and Bluestone Rd. It's on a street called Erieview, close to Quarry and Dennison Park. She said her house would sell for around $125,000. I have been in her house and it's big and it's nice. So I was under the assumption you could get a nice house in a nice neighborhood for that price. Is this not a nice neighborhood? I have also started looking at University Heights. From my research, this is a little bit nicer area than CH. I found a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath house for rent for $1,000 or to buy for $110,000. http://cleveland.craigslist.org/apa/367092204.html  That's what has been so appealing to me about CH and UH is the price of the homes and in a nice town with a community feel. But maybe I don't have this right. Maybe I am looking at not so good neighborhoods. Please shed some light. Thanks!

 

Mara

Is that what your sister paid for her house or what it is worth today?

 

if that was her purchase price, could be way off of that neighborhoods market price.  That just seem like such a lowball figure.

 

Personally I think CH is nicer than UH.  However, all of the Hillcrest communities (CH, SH, UN, SE, Lyndhurst & beachwood) have a warm fuzzy feeling.

There are some people who will say your sister-in-law's house is in a nice neighborhood and others that will say that its in a neighborhood that is very susceptible to decline (or already is in a state of decline). If you were to rank the neighborhoods of CH, that neighborhood would be in the bottom half of the rankings, imo. I put it in that position mainly because there are so many charming areas around the Cedar-Lee, Coventry and Cedar-Fairmount commercial districts.

Yes, I have been hearing that Cedar-Lee, Coventry and Cedar-Fairmount are nice areas to live in. But could we find a 3-4 bedroom house for around $1,000 a month? I am aware that my sister in laws house is not in the best part of the town, yet not the worst. I guess I was looking at it's affordability.

 

Mara

The area you described off of Noble is OK but certainly not one of the best in CH.  Unlike other areas of Cleveland Hts. I doubt there will be much appreciation in the future.

 

Again, I have to question the $110,000.00 in University Hts.  It must need work.  I owned a house in UH (in a nice but hardly one of the best neighborhoods in the city) and sold it for 145,000.00 in 1999.  The couple who purchased from me just sold it this month for 206,000.  A decent house in UH is  going to cost at least 200,000.  Anything much below that probably will need some work.

 

I enjoyed living in UH.  Good city services (garbage pick up in the back yard) and I had very friendly neighbors with whom I still socialize even though we are spread out all over Greater Cleveland now.  I think the city (along with Shaker Hts) is know for its block parties.

Again, I have to question the $110,000.00 in University Hts.  It must need work.  I owned a house in UH (in a nice but hardly one of the best neighborhoods in the city) and sold it for 145,000.00 in 1999.  The couple who purchased from me just sold it this month for 206,000.  A decent house in UH is  going to cost at least 200,000.  Anything much below that probably will need some work.

 

I can find you a house in SE for less than 100k in perfect shape, the only thing that needs updated is the Kitchen (little old lady, no update to the kitchen in quite a while) She kept up on everything else (furnace, roof, etc.)

 

EDIT: just realized i was lying, the house is in South Euclid

I'm confused.  My cousin looked at houses by Dennison Park (i think thats the name).  There were houses on Blue Stone and Avondale that were very nice.  There neighborhood was well maintained.

 

HtsGuy & mgrigsby - Is this the same area?  That looks like a great family friendly area.

3231- how could you rank that in the lowest portion of CH nabes?

 

Yes, I have been hearing that Cedar-Lee, Coventry and Cedar-Fairmount are nice areas to live in. But could we find a 3-4 bedroom house for around $1,000 a month? I am aware that my sister in laws house is not in the best part of the town, yet not the worst. I guess I was looking at it's affordability.

 

Mara

 

I would also suggest the area near cumberland park.   The area between Lee Road to Coventry and from Mayfield south to Cedar Road are some might fine looking homes. I don't know how pricey the area is but the homes look very nice and well maintained.

 

There's also the area between Monticello and Mayfield - Lee Road & Taylor.  Again, I don't know prices, but the homes appear well cared for.

 

Another area to look at is near the Cleveland Hts Library, my parents between the library and fairfax school and they say thats a nice area.  I vaguely remember going to the Y, the library and the fairfax playground before we moved.

 

I just think that Cleveland Heights has great housing stock and beautiful homes.  The homes are less generic then the homes in Shaker Heights.

 

The one thing to remember is taxes are sky high in Cleveland Heights, but the city does prove excellent city services.

 

 

When I was house-shopping 4-5 years ago there were homes in that area... Colonial-type houses with ask prices from 115-135 that were not in bad shape, so that's not way off.  I agree with 3231, it's lower-end for Cleveland Heights but CH does have that ambiance, and a lot of other places that are really great.  I play tennis at Denison Park all the time, and I think the Quarry Parks are part of South Euclid.  Denison has a pool and lit tennis courts and of course the CH Community Center is right down the road.

on the grand scheme of CH, its is in the bottom half. Just drive down Fairmont Blvd and its pretty clear. (I live in the bottom half by my own definition)

 

On the grand scheme of affordability, its in the upper half.

on the grand scheme of CH, its is in the bottom half. Just drive down Fairmont Blvd and its pretty clear. (I live in the bottom half by my own definition)

 

On the grand scheme of affordability, its in the upper half.

 

Well I don't include the areas bordering Fairmount, because those mansions are ridiculously expensive.

 

I was thinking about mid class/upper mid class neighborhoods, since mgrigsby current has a three year old and probably wants to expand the family.

Avondale and that series of streets looks heaps better than it did a while back as they repaved a lot of the streets, new curbs, it looks great although driving by there are a whole lot of houses for sale. I think as you shift west towards Noble it loses lustre. 

 

As mentioned above, those were the houses around 125k, and as the Pope said, South Euclid has even less expensive homes albeit in a less interesting area aesthetics-wise.  For me it was less expensive as the key which is why I ended up there.

geez, I did not mean to come off as bitter, but that is why I described in detail MY experience and opinion-that is what was asked for right? I tried to balance it with safety and how cool I thought my house was.  The truth is we lost a lot of money too. Sale prices had taken a decline from the time we bought to time we sold (not sure whats up now).  And as I described in other posts we moved from out of state with an illusion of a really diverse and harmonious neighborhood. while some neighborhoods in CH have this charactristic, the truth is a lot are very segregated by street which was kind of disappointing. We actually selected CH b/c of its diversity on paper, but the neighborhoods are not necessarily integrated.. If i were purely bitter I would say something stupid like CH sucks! which it does not at all BTW.  I just think that some areas do a better job having diversity than others.  The other piece I did not mention here is we wanted to move to the city to support the economy and we spent all are time in the city (basically CH is where we laid our head at night) so it did not make sense to live in CH. Now had we been really passionate about our neighborhood and friends with out neighbors the decision to move into Cleveland may have been harder.  I think the neighborhood the OP is mentioning is just fine to rent in and get the lay of the land, but it is risky to move from out of the area and purchase. Mostly b/c it is really hard to sell. I am sorry my experience sounds so odd, but I suggest anyone that is buying anywhere to approach the neighbors and try and talk to them about the area. Had we done that we would have known what we were getting into. I am not insulting the culture when I tell this story, however I learned interacting socially with the secular world is frowned upon in the more conservative circles. This is not good or bad but just the way it was