Is that a possible combination? I really need to move downtown to be closer to work. The commute is KILLING me. But it seems all the apartments are pricey. Plus 100-150 dollars for parking. Plus many of the downtown apartments don't pay your heating. So you're looking  at spending at least $900 and perhaps more every month total. I guess to a NewYorker - it's nothing. But coming from the suburbs in Cleveland where I get free heating and parking and pay $700? But honestly, the commute is killing me!! It's like I live on the road. I-71 is a nightmare, and in winter? Calculating the number of sleep-hours of lost because I had to wake up really early to beat the traffic!!

 

OK, enough with the complaining already. I need advice on a safe affordable downtown apartment - safe for a single lady who often comes back from work late at night, and leaves really early in the morning.

 

Also, it seems that a lot of the downtown apartments have size as a plus. But what of someone whose not interested in size. I would have thought there would be a variety - small size, big size.

 

Anyway, any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have had many close shaves with falling asleep behind the wheel, and it's scary!!  :cry:

 

 

Thanks

 

 

Welcome narcoleptic, I mean Deedee. :wave: :wave: :wave:

 

without putting you off, have you reviewed any of the previous "downtown" threads?

 

Tell us more about you, your likes, dislike, where downtown (as in location) you work, etc.

 

If downtown is not affordable, would living in an adjacent downtown neighborhood (Ohio City, Tremont, Asian Village?) be interesting to you?  I'm asking what is your "plan b"?

 

If you move downtown, would you still need/want your car?  Maybe if sold, the money budgeted (expensed) to your car payment/insurance/maintenance can be redirected to housing?

To take MTS's suggestion a bit further, an inner-ring suburb or other Cleveland neighborhood's might also suit you. Consider Lakewood (lots of low-cost apartments at the Gold Coast area of Lakewood along Clifton, Lake and Edgewater). There's also decent apartments in the Edgewater area of Cleveland (also on Lake and Clifton). The commute to downtown on the West Shoreway is easy, and there's very frequent/fast bus service on this route that also takes the Shoreway (see http://www.riderta.com/pdf/55.pdf).

 

On the other side of town consider Shaker Square and Shaker Heights (especially along Van Aken). Much of Van Aken is lined with apartment buildings, and there are few areas of Greater Cleveland as wonderful as Shaker Square. It's a very walkable New England style urban neighborhood. All these areas are linked to downtown via the RTA's Blue and Green rapid transit lines. See http://www.riderta.com/pdf/67X-AX.pdf

 

Ultimately, weigh the costs of driving from the suburbs versus living in an inner-ring community or even downtown. Perhaps you get free parking at work. If you don't, that's another cost you may not have to pay anymore if you lived downtown or in an inner community/downtown. Then of course there's gas. If your employer pays for parking, perhaps they would pay for transit and get reimbursed by the IRS (they are probably already getting reimbursed from the IRS for the parking so the additional paperwork is minimal). See: http://www.riderta.com/pro_commuter.asp

Check out the Chesterfield on East 12th street/Chester. It's one of the more affordable buildings downtown and I've heard that heat is included. Also, I believe that they have security guards at the door 24/7.  However, I'm sure parking is extra.

 

 

I live on East 4th, and for what you're implying as a price range, it might fit.  East 4th itself is very safe, though I'd use caution on Prospect or Euclid later at night.  They should be completing another building this spring or summer, so there will be openings there as well as the any open units in the existing buildings.

I agree with KJP; if downtown looks too pricey, take a look at the inner-ring suburbs. I live in Lakewood and pay $650 for rent, heat, water and a space in our parking lot. If you really want to save some money, dump the car and take RTA downtown. What I have been doing is driving to the Rapid station at W.117, which offers the advantage of being able to wait for your ride in a covered, climate-controlled environment. It definitely adds some time to the drive (getting downtown via car from my place takes like 10 minutes), but you save money on gas, downtown parking and you can just relax and read a book. When the weather sucks, you don't have to deal with all that stress, either.

 

Thanks. I'll look into Lakewood. 10 minutes drive is fine compared to what I drive now. I have seen some apartments on Lake Avenue and also on Clifton Avenue. It seems most of them have no air conditioning - unit or central. I wonder what happens in the summer.  I'll be looking for one that has an air conditioner and if possible carpeting ( I doubt I'll find that in Lakewood though, hardwood floors seem to be the Lakewood signature!). And of course rent that includes heating. As earlier stated, safety is the key word here. I'll check out Lakewood in the next few weeks and see what I find. Thanks a lot people!

Little Italy is also comparable to Lakewood when it comes to rent rates and not having to drive downtown.  There are two rapid stops that border the edges of Little Italy plus it may be considered a little safer when compared to Lakewood as well.  Is Ohio City out of the question for you??

In my building every unit has window A/C. In my place, the A/C is placed in a way that most of the time the cold air doesn't get to my bedroom, though, so when I'm really dying I end up sleeping on the couch in my living room. It's not ideal, but I'm not that picky.

 

Now, if you want window A/C and a garbage disposal AND a dishwasher, well, good luck. Actually, you might want to investigate the condo towers on Edgewater (the "Gold Coast"). A guy I work with is renting a place on the first or second floor for $600, and he has carpeting and central air conditioning. Plus they have all the parking you could ever want. You won't get a good view, but you'll probably still have access to the rooftop deck.

Oh no, I don't care about a dishwasher. Not at all. I'll also look into little Italy. I actually never thought of that area.  Each time I think about Little Italy, I think about the impossible parking. But it would be nice to live there though, in the center of it all! Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. ( I put up this post less than 24 hours ago and I've gotten lots of info already!)

A few years ago, the parish office at Holy Rosary kept a list of available rentals in Murray Hill/Little Italy - not sure if that is still true, but it's worth a call.

If you're going to look at Murray Hill/Little Italy.  Check Shaker Square as well.

Also, with the completion of the Silver Line, University Circle would be another place to check out - Hessler St and the little block of E115th between Mayfield and Cornell have affordable rentals.  I had a friend who lived at 2032 E 115th - he called the building the six pack because of its round rooms on each corner.  The benefit of the Silver Line over the other Rapid Lines is that it will have multiple stops within downtown, which may get you closer to your work destination.

 

http://www.universitycircle.org/content/living_here.asp

 

I've always thought this was a cool building too, right across from UH on Cornell Rd at E 115th:

 

http://www.montlackrealty.com/building.aspx?id=16

 

 

Public transport is not an option. I'll definitely drive because of my work hours.

No, Ohio City is not out of the question. It's just I couldn't find anything there. Searching online for an apartment in Ohio City is impossible cos it's not a separate city like Lakewood or Parma.

 

Lakewood seems to have tons of apartment. Driving along Clifton , and then along Lake avenue, I must have seen about 30 different apartment buildings. Good to know I have a lot of choices. Some of the building look uninhabited though. I'll probably drive by there at night to find out which ones actually have humans living in them.

 

I'll try and find out about Little Italy, but it's tough like OhioCity - hard to find online. I'll probably need to drive through and call the numbers on the rental notices.

 

 

I'm not aware of any vacant buildings along Clifton (where I've lived for 12 years) at the east end of Lakewood or west end of Cleveland. You can pretty well tell the neighborhood of a given apartment building if the website gives the address. Anything in the West 20s, 30s or 40s south of Detroit or north of Lorain is pretty decent in Ohio City. There aren't that many streets in Little Italy so figuring out where an apartment is isn't that tough.

Check the apt adds in Scene and Free Times as well.  They tend to focus on the trendier neighborhoods like Ohio City or Little Italy.

I like craigslist cleveland. you can search for pictures and specific communities. I think it is worth it to try and find something close.

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/apa/

http://www.pluggedincleveland.com/

 

also has some listings by neighborhood.

A few years ago, the parish office at Holy Rosary kept a list of available rentals in Murray Hill/Little Italy - not sure if that is still true, but it's worth a call.

 

Correct, they still do. 

 

FYI, I would honestly estimate 80%-90% of the Little Italy properties are not listed in the paper or online.  Hitting the neighborhood would be your best strategy if it's on your list.

A few years ago, the parish office at Holy Rosary kept a list of available rentals in Murray Hill/Little Italy - not sure if that is still true, but it's worth a call.

 

Correct, they still do. 

 

FYI, I would honestly estimate 80%-90% of the Little Italy properties are not listed in the paper or online.  Hitting the neighborhood would be your best strategy if it's on your list.

 

Yes, Clevelanders don't often "blog" (I was in a meeting about this yesterday) as compared to other cities.  So often online reviews, websites or information is incorrect, incomplete/oudated or (completely) missing.