My post last night was lost when the servers crashed.  Short story: my wife and I are moving to Cleveland.  We will be buying a house.  She's originally from NE Ohio and I've been to Cleveland about 5 times. 

 

We're down to three choices: 1) Shaker Heights 2) Cleveland Heights 3) Lakewood.  I somewhat understand what each area offers.  East side has nicer houses, more culture, good shopping, mass transit, but closer to crime and not convenient to highways.  The westside is more accessible and has the lake nearby, but limited number of houses with a yard and limited cultural areas (although I may be wrong here). 

 

Please share the postives and negatives from each area, and if you could pick one place to live (from these three), what would you choose?

 

We are not interested in living in a good school district.  Also, we have a dog and want a relatively nice backyard.

 

Thanks again.

I hope you saw my message before it was lost. It was too long for me retype it.

 

Short version: check western Lakewood for larger lots, as well as along Clifton and Lake continuing into Cleveland's Edgewater neighborhood. Clifton has frequent bus service on the #55, and southern Lakewood has two stops on the Red Line. Lakewood has the Beck Center for the Arts, but doesn't compare with University Circle. In Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights, areas within walking distance of retail/commercial districts tend to be of higher density, thus smaller yards. You can always compromise with the proximity of parks, which are available in high-density areas. Cleveland Heights locations require bus transfers to the Red Line to reach downtown in non-rush hours. Shaker of course has the Blue and Green lines, the latter line is pretty close to southern Cleveland Heights.

 

I live in Lakewood so you know what my answer is!

Google Maps or Windows Live Earth aerial photos should be great tools for finding neighborhoods with larger lots sizes in the city, as they may not be apparent from driving by.  I know alot of Tremont and Ohio City's lots are actually quite long, though you wouldn't know it without an overhead view.

 

Out of the three listed, I'd probably choose Lakewood because it offers most of what Cleveland Heights has, but is less expensive and has more retail options.  It is a bit more downscale than the Heights, though.  Shaker Heights is beautiful but a little quiet for my tastes.  All three are great, though.

Depending on the type of built environment you like, any of those three could be very nice. Shaker is relatively quiet, but the lot sizes tend to be very large, and the majority of the community is very park-like (due to the meandering boulevards and the ... well ... many parks). Cleveland Heights to me has the "hippest" vibe, but that's hard to quantify and probably reflects my own biases as an east sider (well, a near east sider). Lakewood is nice, too, with lots of density in areas and definitely an abundance of retail.

 

As for your mention of crime rates in the heights, I'm not sure I agree. Shaker Heights has always seemed to me to be very safe (though I couldn't find crime statistics). FBI statistics from 2006 actually show Cleveland Heights with comparable or lower per capita crime rates than Lakewood (per 100,000 residents):

 

Violent crime: Lakewood, 203.0; Cleveland Heights, 39.5

Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter: Lakewood, 1.9; Cleveland Heights, 2.1

Forcible rape: Lakewood, 7.5; Cleveland Heights, 0.0

Robbery: Lakewood, 114.7; Cleveland Heights, 35.3

Aggravated assault: Lakewood, 79.0; Cleveland Heights, 2.1

Property crime: Lakewood, 2,402.6; Cleveland Heights, 1,258.4

Burglary: Lakewood, 490.7; Cleveland Heights, 166.4

Larceny-theft: Lakewood, 1,620.6; Cleveland Heights, 911.0

Motor vehicle theft: Lakewood, 291.4; Cleveland Heights, 181.0

Arson: Lakewood, 16.9; Cleveland Heights, 0.0

 

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_08_oh.html

 

That being said, the FBI warns against trying to rate "safety" between different municipalities based on crime rates. Moreover, all three are very safe.

 

One final note, I also wouldn't give up on living in the city proper. Particularly if school systems aren't important, you could live in a Cleveland neighborhood adjacent to Lakewood, Cleveland Heights or Shaker Heights with comparable or better lot sizes, access to retail/culture, rental/mortgage rates, proximity to mass transit, etc. Equally importantly, if you're considering buying, Cleveland has the highest number of new construction starts of any of the municipalities (as well as a ton of rehabbed spaces, many of which are historic "century homes") and the most competitive tax abatement program in the region. A number of lenders also offer low-interest rate home loans within the city (or at least they did prior to the current housing environment emerged ... will have to check and see if they're still out there). Specific areas that come to mind (given your preferences) are the bluffs overlooking Little Italy, the housing in and around Shaker Square, the Edgewater neighborhood in the 100s and 110s and the Cleveland properties near the Rocky River Reservation.

 

Not trying to dissuade you from Lakewood or the heights, all of which are very nice. Just want you to be aware that living a couple of blocks over could mean substantially lower property taxes with comparable amenities.

I think Lakewood and Cleveland Heights are very similar in style;  Don't think you can go wrong living in either. If  you have no kids and can just sponge up the nightlife and shopping etc in your new community, I would say either of these are good. East side offers Little Italy and Chinatown and Downtown all closeby to Cleve Hts; Lakewood offers Lakewood, OC and Tremont plus Downtown all close by -- so I would pick either of those two. Kind of think Cleve Hts has a bit more rental options that offer walking distance to entertainment. But Lakewood is not shabby either lol  Just my two cents

 

I certainlyl would not give up on City Proper either. But if you are picking out of these three then....

Let me also say if you HAD kids both of those communities would be good! Just thinking you guys and your dog might be looking for some nightlife action :-)

Lakewood, Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights are pretty similiar in that they're all suburbs directly bordering Cleveland and developed around the same time. However, Cleveland Heights and Lakewood are more similiar, because they are more diverse, more dense, and have more rentals and commercial areas than Shaker Heights. Shaker Heights has considerably more taxes and a considerably better school system than Lakewood or Cleveland Heights.

 

I'm from the outer west side burbs, but I've graduated from college and I've been living in Lakewood for the past several months. I'll compare Lakewood and Cleveland Heights directly, because they are more similiar.

 

I wouldn't say there are necessarily nicer homes or larger lots in Cleveland Heights compared to Lakewood. They offer very similiar options in terms of housing, (although Lakewood includes high-rises while Cleveland Heights does not).

 

Public transit may be better in Lakewood than Cleveland Heights, as KJP Mentioned. Frequent routes between downtown and Lakewood include #55 along Clifton and #326 along Detroit.  The W.117th and Trisket Rapid stations on the Red Line make it easy to get to the Airport, Ohio City, Downtown and University Circle. Those stations also include free parking.

 

Shopping and finding other amenities in and around Lakewood is not a problem. I walk to run most of my errands (grocery, bank, dry cleaners, post office, drug store, etc.) For specialty items or higher end goods and services you only need to cross the border into Rocky River, or hop on I-90 to get to Crocker Park in Westlake.

 

Cleveland Heights is closer and more convenient to get to University Circle institutions. However, Lakewood is maybe a little closer and a lot more convenient to get to downtown for nightlife, dining, special events and Playhouse Square. Lakewood includes the Beck Center and is also near these Near West Side arts and cultural neighborhoods (all of which are up-and-coming); www.restoretremont.com, www.ohiocity.com, www.gordonsquare.org.

 

Lakewood has a nice park on the Lake and the Rocky River Reservation of the Metroparks and is great for every kind of recreation (including a dog park).

 

If you want to live closer to the Lake and have easier access downtown and the near west side, than pick Lakewood. If you want to live closer to University Circle and the shopping centers in the outer east side, than pick Cleveland Heights or Shaker Heights. 

Oh, here's something else I said in my earlier message that got lost: consider the West Park area of Cleveland. It might have a lot of what you're looking for -- relatively large lots for city living, two city parks, two rapid transit stations, walking/biking distance to Warren Village and Kamms Corners shopping centers, West Park library and proximity to one of the largest and best parks in the country -- the Cleveland Metroparks, including its bike paths, recreation, science center and vistas of soaring bridges.

 

X, good idea about visiting Google Earth to see the sizes of backyards, especially in city neighborhoods like Tremont (I never realized how deep the lots are in that neighborhood until I started walking around there).

 

But I'm partial to www.live.com maps/satellite images where you can also get bird's eye views of neighborhoods from four angles.

Good luck J. Rollins with the move.  To repeat the chorus- all three choices are great.  Also, I agree with 8Shades that any perceptions of Shaker or Cleveland Heights having more crime than Lakewood may be illusory.  In any case, location within each city will matter more regarding crime than any difference among them as a whole.

 

Certainly if there is any chance of kids entering the equation, that should factor in too.

 

Putting that question aside, if I were moving back to town and looking for a lot larger than what I'd get in the city proper, I'd probably be looking near Cedar-Fairmount or Coventry Village in Cleveland Heights.  Both are very close to University Circle/Little Italy as well as the other inner-ring east side nodes of activity (Shaker Square, Cedar-Lee (home of the areas best artsy cinema at the moment)), and both would offer easy walking to retail/food and full or decent grocery options.  For me, proximity to University Circle and its crowd (the institution faculty, staff and students) is a big plus.

 

Although Cleveland Heights and Shaker are not served directly by freeways (resident activism defeated attempts to run a highway through a few decades back), the drive to the airport is still surprisingly fast (less than half an hour from the western sides of each) and the drive downtown is pretty painless via Carnegie and Chester Avenues.  Unless you work in the western or southern burbs, you wouldn't likely find it to be a problem.  Transit access from Shaker is probably tops in the region (the entire city is in easy walking to distance to a rapid stop), but Lakewood's bus access is pretty stellar too, and the buses actually get you closer to most downtown destinations than our limited rail system does.  As KJP pointed out, Cleveland Heights bus access off peak requires a transfer to the red line to get downtown, but from Cleveland Heights you can easily drive to a Shaker park and ride lot if your main aim is to avoid downtown parking rates and city traffic.