Good call on Honey Hut and Drink skorasaurus[/member]. I too mostly grew up at Plymouth Park!

I get the feeling that Old Brooklyn and West Park are both benefiting from the renewed interest in urban living, but focused more on younger people who want to be close, but don't want to pay the premium for Ohio City, Tremont, Detroit Shoreway, etc. Good places for a starter home for young couples.  They may continue to benefit as millenials settle down and want to buy, but it will probably depend somewhat on how the local schools do.

Replies #398 - 401 are spot on.

 

Just to add a few things; if you are looking for homes constructed around 1910-1930, OB is the place to find thousands of them, and most are in decent shape. For homes of the 1950-1970's, there are three areas of OB that feature these types of homes, all of which are in the same part of OB, the eastern end. A bunch of ranch homes are on Plymouth Ave. which is off of S. Hills Dr. North; there is the Sky's neighborhood which is east of OH-176 off of Spring Rd.; and the other section of 1950-1970's ranch or split-levels are off W. 11th St. between Spring Rd and Schaff Rd.

 

There are also a lot of Cape Cod Bungalow's throughout OB. The largest selection of this style home are in the OB North neighborhood which is in the area of Ridge Rd & Memphis Ave. This sub-neighborhood of OB borders the Brookside Park Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks.

 

The oldest part of OB with homes that go back to the 1800's would be north of Memphis Ave. and west of  Pearl Rd. IMO there are a lot of beautiful homes in this area, and some are ripe for renovation/restoration.

 

The heart of OB is considered to be Pearl Rd at Broadview Rd. This is the area in which the CDC is working to establish a go to place for locals and outsiders, with new businesses unique to OB. It is a long time coming though, and has a long way to go. But again, OB is no OC/Tremont/Detroit Shoreway as others have stated already.

 

There are no large shopping centers in OB, so most of your shopping would have to be outside of the neighborhood. But as others have already said, there are some mom & pop places that people in the neighborhood (outside too) love to frequent (Honey Hut, Dina's, etc...).

 

The most expensive homes in OB would be the South Hills section and the OB North section. And imo the most beautiful street in OB is Oak Park Ave. which is only one block north of Lowe Park which has a farmers market every Tuesday in the summer.

I was just visiting friends and family in Parma and Old Brooklyn over the holiday weekend.

 

I think there's a very positive demographic change going in both areas over the last several times I visited: There are immigrants with large families primarily from the Middle East moving in as older families and empty nesters move out. It's not widespread but it is happening at a steady rate. The proximity to the fairly large Mosque in Parma probably helps to drive this change. It also helps the housing stock is cheap and the split levels are built to accommodate a family with a lot of children as well.  Large immigrant families settling into one area helps in turning around population loss, even moreso than gentrification, I'd argue. Maybe this is the path for Old Brooklyn.

Immigration is the sole reason why the populations of the biggest legacy cities like New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia etc. are growing. It's even more pronounced in Canadian cities. Lakewood is a pretty pro-immigrant city, with supportive city programs and school system.

There's quite a bit of consumer, destination businesses opening recently, the most that I've seen in Old Brooklyn in the past 20-30 years.

 

Within the past 12 months: Old Brooklyn got its first 2 coffee shops (it's been 5-10 years since the OB last had one), a bicycle shop, Guatemalan and Ethiopian restaurants, and a wine bar (rumored to be tied with Karen Small/flying fig) is opening up where Drink just closed. Pearl Road, the main drag in Old Brooklyn got a new streetscape and repavement (road is still is a bit too wide, imho, and only has bike sharrows),

18 months ago, Broadview was repaved and had a road diet; went from 2 lanes both ways to one lane each way, a center turning lane, and dedicated bike lanes (striped but not physically separated from the road).

 

Old Brooklyn is arguably one of the largest, if the, largest neighborhoods in housing stock in Cleveland, and there certainly many, many houses available (many are move-in ready) with also a variety of housing stock available.

There's quite a bit of consumer, destination businesses opening recently, the most that I've seen in Old Brooklyn in the past 20-30 years.

 

Within the past 12 months: Old Brooklyn got its first 2 coffee shops (it's been 5-10 years since the OB last had one), a bicycle shop, Guatemalan and Ethiopian restaurants, and a wine bar (rumored to be tied with Karen Small/flying fig) is opening up where Drink just closed. Pearl Road, the main drag in Old Brooklyn got a new streetscape and repavement (road is still is a bit too wide, imho, and only has bike sharrows),

18 months ago, Broadview was repaved and had a road diet; went from 2 lanes both ways to one lane each way, a center turning lane, and dedicated bike lanes (striped but not physically separated from the road).

 

Old Brooklyn is arguably one of the largest, if the, largest neighborhoods in housing stock in Cleveland, and there certainly many, many houses available (many are move-in ready) with also a variety of housing stock available.

 

OB's residential growth could be beneficiary from Lakewood's insane rise in pricing.

^ maybe a little but it’s more likely due to people getting priced out of the near westside. 

There is a young professional event tomorrow called Old Brooklyn Rising, with a little walking tour of the neighborhood.

 

http://www.engagecleveland.com/event/7582/?instance_id=704

There's quite a bit of consumer, destination businesses opening recently, the most that I've seen in Old Brooklyn in the past 20-30 years.

 

Within the past 12 months: Old Brooklyn got its first 2 coffee shops (it's been 5-10 years since the OB last had one), a bicycle shop, Guatemalan and Ethiopian restaurants, and a wine bar (rumored to be tied with Karen Small/flying fig) is opening up where Drink just closed. Pearl Road, the main drag in Old Brooklyn got a new streetscape and repavement (road is still is a bit too wide, imho, and only has bike sharrows),

18 months ago, Broadview was repaved and had a road diet; went from 2 lanes both ways to one lane each way, a center turning lane, and dedicated bike lanes (striped but not physically separated from the road).

 

Old Brooklyn is arguably one of the largest, if the, largest neighborhoods in housing stock in Cleveland, and there certainly many, many houses available (many are move-in ready) with also a variety of housing stock available.

 

Does anyone have pics of the new streetscape?  The last I checked, Google street view hasn't caught up

 

 

Here's one goo

There's quite a bit of consumer, destination businesses opening recently, the most that I've seen in Old Brooklyn in the past 20-30 years.

 

Within the past 12 months: Old Brooklyn got its first 2 coffee shops (it's been 5-10 years since the OB last had one), a bicycle shop, Guatemalan and Ethiopian restaurants, and a wine bar (rumored to be tied with Karen Small/flying fig) is opening up where Drink just closed. Pearl Road, the main drag in Old Brooklyn got a new streetscape and repavement (road is still is a bit too wide, imho, and only has bike sharrows),

18 months ago, Broadview was repaved and had a road diet; went from 2 lanes both ways to one lane each way, a center turning lane, and dedicated bike lanes (striped but not physically separated from the road).

 

Old Brooklyn is arguably one of the largest, if the, largest neighborhoods in housing stock in Cleveland, and there certainly many, many houses available (many are move-in ready) with also a variety of housing stock available.

 

Does anyone have pics of the new streetscape?  The last I checked, Google street view hasn't caught up

 

Here's one side-by-side comparison with some pics that I've uploaded: https://www.mapillary.com/app/time-travel/skorasaurus?lat=41.44138560000002&lng=-81.7051591&z=18.496061987261676&pKey=SCfAdMCstfTh0b6wbcwIEg&dateFrom=2017-05-17&focus=photo&cKey=ZIlDoPluJ2jGPt3-xqWE1Q&x=3.4122803679538363&y=0.23009108619693988&zoom=0

 

This scene here must be right after it began (power lines buried, repaving, etc) https://www.mapillary.com/app/time-travel/skorasaurus?lat=41.44138560000002&lng=-81.7051591&z=18.496061987261676&pKey=SCfAdMCstfTh0b6wbcwIEg&dateFrom=2017-05-17&focus=photo&cKey=ZIlDoPluJ2jGPt3-xqWE1Q&x=3.4122803679538363&y=0.23009108619693988&zoom=0

 

Cool front page...

 

For those who would like to read the article referenced in the tweet KJP posted:

 

Retail, restaurant boom heats up Old Brooklyn

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio – It’s the middle of a weekday afternoon, and Sabor Miami Café and Gallery on Broadview Road is bustling.

 

A table of young women near the window carries on a lively conversation on Spanish over coffee drinks, while a group of business people conduct a meeting while noshing empanadas. A young family eats in the back near an array of colorful paintings, and soft Cuban music wafts through the air.

 

Full Article Here...

 

The Old Brooklyn Cheese Company is expanding to a second location to increase their production space (aging, curing) of cheese; the location will be in Old Brooklyn although Mike (the owner) did not specify exact location since it's not finalized.

Awesome to hear. I've had their cheeses at Western Reserve Meadery - its absolutely fantastic.

Holy crap. Just did a walk through of the neighborhood with my Grandpa, who grew up on Bucyrus off of Pearl. We walked around the intersection of Pearl and Broadview. My God, this neighborhood has improved VASTLY in just twelve months. And I spoke to someone who said home sales in the neighborhood have recently spiked dramatically as well. 

It's kind of flying under the radar, but I think Old Brooklyn is turning into Cleveland's next "hip" neighborhood- centered around local food/beverage producers.

21 minutes ago, X said:

It's kind of flying under the radar, but I think Old Brooklyn is turning into Cleveland's next "hip" neighborhood- centered around local food/beverage producers.

 

Well that intersection is extremely walkable from most streets and has great bones to host a vibrant neighborhood CBD

It's a weird place, I've rented in OB for twoish years and the transformation has been pretty crazy (but there's still a ton of work to go). Tons of storefronts ripe for development (Broadview), and a few major arteries into town make it nice. A lot of folks I know have been priced out of trendier areas and are moving into the neighborhood. That said, it's the largest neighborhood in Cleveland and with that, there's some great areas and meh areas haha. Once the CDC revamps the old theater on Pearl it'll just add to what's there. Also, hopefully the cellphone businesses on the corners get bumped out of there - it's a shame for folks to go to the beautifully restored Aerial Pearl and then have few options (Opal on Pearl is about it) but to leave and go to better areas.

 

Edit: Also, once the old dump by Burger King turns into an actual park that'll mark a big transformation, oh, and if you like biking the neighborhood is right off the towpath! And come back in summer once the Ben Franklin Garden is in full swing, it's a great long running tradition (even if most gardeners are from out of the neighborhood). I swear I don't work for the CDC lol 

Edited January 9, 20196 yr by GISguy
Additional info :)

4 minutes ago, GISguy said:

It's a weird place, I've rented in OB for twoish years and the transformation has been pretty crazy (but there's still a ton of work to go). Tons of storefronts ripe for development (Broadview), and a few major arteries into town make it nice. A lot of folks I know have been priced out of trendier areas and are moving into the neighborhood. That said, it's the largest neighborhood in Cleveland and with that, there's some great areas and meh areas haha. Once the CDC revamps the old theater on Pearl it'll just add to what's there. Also, hopefully the cellphone businesses on the corners get bumped out of there - it's a shame for folks to go to the beautifully restored Aerial Pearl and then have few options (Opal on Pearl is about it) but to leave and go to better areas.

 

I have a friend of mine who was working with a $250k budget for a home and looked in Ohio City for a year, and got beat on several homes by cash offers. He bought a 1,500 sq foot home in OB for $180ish. 

45 minutes ago, X said:

It's kind of flying under the radar, but I think Old Brooklyn is turning into Cleveland's next "hip" neighborhood- centered around local food/beverage producers.

 

Plus you have tech firm MCPc's electronics recycling center in the old RTA bus garage at State & Pearl. It's helped pump new life in that area that's missed those RTA jobs since 2003.

Crap wrong topic

 

Edited February 2, 20214 yr by GISguy