My family is relocating to Cleveland from Madison, WI.  We'd like to be in the city, but have a five year old so finding a neighborhood that is safe and has plenty of kids is a top priority.  Of course, if can take advantage of Cleveland's property tax abatement that would be even better. 

 

We like the location of Battery Park, but are concerned about a lack of children.  We also like Mill Creek, but have found limited information about it.  If anyone has additional info about these two areas or any others that might fit our needs, I'd be grateful.  Thanks

Have you considered Woodhaven by the Cleveland Clinic?  (also a Zaremba development like Mill Creek)  I don't live there, and I'm not sure that anyone on UO does, but I do drive by every day and see people out and about with strollers and such.

I would consider Battery Park, personally.  Its like any other development, it will seem desolatewhile being built, but the end product will yield a nice neighborhood.  Your child is safe there if you are out and about with him/her.  You can walk right through the tunnel to edgewater park and there are swarms of families over there.  In any neighborhood, im sure you wouldnt let your child wander away...so its just the same with this one.  By the time your 5 year is about 10-12, it will be a filled in area...not to mention the property value will probably have increased.

I have no idea if there are many children in Battery Park, although I think there are a fair amount of children in the neighborhood. I know many attend Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and that school has a very good reputation.

 

Although Detroit-Shoreway is up-and-coming, West Park is a very sound middle class family-oriented neighborhood within the city of Cleveland. You may want to look at homes there.

 

Lakewood - the suburb just west of Edgewater - has no shortage of children. There is a development similar to Battery Park being built there with tax abatements, although I don't think they are quite as generous. http://www.rockportsquare.com

divehpu,  are you primarily interested in larger planned communities?  Tax abatement is available for all new construction in the city, not just specific large projects, so if that is a benefit you are interested in and you like new construction, you might also be able to find it in in-fill houses or smaller projects in other neighborhoods, like Tremont or Ohio City. 

 

There are at least a couple forumers here who have young families in Detroit Shoreway or Ohio City that might be able to tell you more about the kid-friendliness of these areas.  Depending on school plans, you might also be curious about proximity to specific public, parochial or independent schools.

Thanks for all the responses.  I'm curious about any safe neighborhood with numerous kids located within the city.  While the tax abatement is nice, its not mandatory. 

 

I'd like to hear from any parents raising kids in the city and am interested in any info pertaining to independent private schools.

For a family neighborhood within the city limits, I automatically think first of West Park - lots of municipal employees live here because of the residency requirements, there are good parochial schools (Our Lady of Angels, St Patrick) and also a new public elementary (Riverside off Warren Rd).  Housing stock is well-maintained mid-century bungalows and colonials, lots of tree-lined streets (some even brick).  Check out the photos in the UO gallery: http://www.urbanohio.com/gallery/index.php?album=Northeast+Ohio%2FCleveland%2FNeighborhoods%2FWest+Park

 

I can't believe we don't have a Collinwood photo gallery in the Cleveland neighborhoods section!  There are some nice lakefront dead-end streets in North Collinwood north of Lake Shore Blvd between Villa Angela and East 185th, along with some newer townhomes.

 

Another option would be Clifton/Edgewater with a lot of nice older housing stock, close to Edgewater Park and beach.  And there's some small part of the Shaker Square neighborhood that is in the city of Cleveland but Shaker Schools, but I'm not familiar enough with that to know the exact streets.

 

Progressive Urban Real Estate has some nice descriptions of Cleveland neighborhoods and inner suburbs on its site, and allows you to search for listings by neighborhood in the city of Cleveland, instead of some other sites (Realty One, Howard Hanna) that lump all of Cleveland listings together.  http://www.progressiveurban.com/homepage_hires.htm

I would also recommend the Old Brooklyn area, if you're interested in the city of Cleveland. There are a couple of photo threads in the Ohio photos section. Just use the search function to find them.

 

There are a number of older "streetcar suburbs" that offer urban living, and might be worth checking out. They include Lakewood, Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights and University Heights.

I'd like to hear from any parents raising kids in the city and am interested in any info pertaining to independent private schools.

 

If you are a resident of Cleveland and send your children to private grade schools and high schools in the city of Cleveland, you receive a voucher (regardless of income?). There are a number of very reputable Catholic grade schools especially in the West Park neighborhood, and St. Joseph Academy in West Park (all girls) and St. Ignatius High School in Ohio City (all boys) are prestigious college prep schools. Also, John Carroll University gives nearly full tuition scholarships for city of Cleveland residents regardless of income. 

I'd like to hear from any parents raising kids in the city and am interested in any info pertaining to independent private schools.

 

Are you talking about the private prep schools where tuitions are $15-20k per year?  If so, there are many in greater Cleveland including University School, Laurel, Hathaway Brown, Lake Ridge, Andrews Osborne, Hawken.  Cleveland Magazine does an annual issue featuring the private schools.

 

If you are looking at Ohio City or Detroit Shoreway, then Urban Community School is an option: www.urbancommunityschool.org

If you are looking at Ohio City or Detroit Shoreway, then Urban Community School is an option: www.urbancommunityschool.org

 

I've heard there is quite a waiting list to get your child in that school. The *joke* is that if you want to get your kid into kindergarten at UCS, better get them on the waiting list when they're born.

Our Lady of Mt Carmel School (Detroit Shoreway)goes year 'round!  As a parent, I'm all for it!  The kids get 3-4 four week vacations throughout the year.

Tremont Montessori isn't supposed to be bad, either.

I've got a baby, so I guess I can weigh in here.  I live in Detroit Shoreway (just west of Ohio City, centered around W. 65th & Detroit Avenue - there are a couple threads on here about it) and did, in fact, register my daughter for UCS within 3 months of her birth!  I'm part of a young families "babysitting" co-op that was founded in Ohio City and has now spread to Detroit Shoreway.  Some of the families have been in the neighborhood for years (we used to run into them while walking our dogs... now it's with our strollers) and others have just arrived from other parts of the country.  There are at least 2 families from Chicago and 1 from Detroit that I know of.  Most of our friends have kids under 4 years of age, so I don't know much about 5 years and up, but I can attest that the two catholic schools in the neighborhood have kept a good number of families in these blocks and there are plenty little rugrats riding their bikes around and causing trouble!  I would count Battery Park as one of the safest parts of this community, with solid blocks of old homes around the developing area and lots of families.  The councilman lives on an adjacent block and the block clubs are active and positive.  The access to the beach and waterfront parks is unparalleled in the city.  The other threads can address the other neighborhood assets (movie theater, restaurants, etc.).

 

I won't speak much to other neighborhoods mentioned on here, but I'll add that the Shaker Square neighborhood in Cleveland is very popular with young families because of the housing stock and a partnership with the Shaker Heights public schools. 

 

Welcome to Cleveland!

I live in Ohio City with my wife and two very young kids (3 and 7 months). Ohio City/Detroit-Shoreway has seen a mini-baby boom over the past two years. Urban Community School is definitely a great choice and tuition is on a sliding scale (depending on income levels). Google it and you'll see it is sort of a dream school.

 

 

 

For a family neighborhood within the city limits, I automatically think first of West Park - lots of municipal employees live here because of the residency requirements, there are good parochial schools (Our Lady of Angels, St Patrick) and also a new public elementary (Riverside off Warren Rd). Housing stock is well-maintained mid-century bungalows and colonials, lots of tree-lined streets (some even brick). Check out the photos in the UO gallery: http://www.urbanohio.com/gallery/index.php?album=Northeast+Ohio%2FCleveland%2FNeighborhoods%2FWest+Park

 

I can't believe we don't have a Collinwood photo gallery in the Cleveland neighborhoods section! There are some nice lakefront dead-end streets in North Collinwood north of Lake Shore Blvd between Villa Angela and East 185th, along with some newer townhomes.

 

Another option would be Clifton/Edgewater with a lot of nice older housing stock, close to Edgewater Park and beach. And there's some small part of the Shaker Square neighborhood that is in the city of Cleveland but Shaker Schools, but I'm not familiar enough with that to know the exact streets.

 

Progressive Urban Real Estate has some nice descriptions of Cleveland neighborhoods and inner suburbs on its site, and allows you to search for listings by neighborhood in the city of Cleveland, instead of some other sites (Realty One, Howard Hanna) that lump all of Cleveland listings together. http://www.progressiveurban.com/homepage_hires.htm

 

Shaker Square.  Almost anything East of 129 Street is in the Shaker School district, although some street between Westbound Shaker Blvd. and Fairhill extend further west.