I am considering a move from Lansing, MI to Cleveland after visiting the city for a random event and being surprised by how much I liked the city. To be honest, I think I was expecting a rustbelt city and not something as nice as what I saw. I have an interview at Steris in Mentor; but I would really prefer to live in downtown Cleveland and commute out there. Does one of the light rail lines or a bus route make it all the way out to Mentor from downtown Cleveland? Probably not, but I thought it was worth asking.

 

Thanks for your help!!!

Hi clevelawesome, great name BTW!

 

Glad you like our fair city. We've been trying to keep a secret but more people like you are discovering what we've known for a long time. This is a very nice place to live.

 

To answer your question (though you may not like the answer):

 

You can take the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) bus #39 to the Shoregate Shopping Center in Willowick (in Lake County).

 

There you would transfer to the Laketran #6 bus route to any bus stop along Mentor Avenue (US Route 20) between Reynolds Road and Plaza Boulevard.

 

There you would transfer to the Laketran #1 bus route to the intersection of Heisley Road and Mentor Avenue.

 

Get off the bus and walk (or bike) the approximately 2.25 miles along Heisley Road from Mentor Avenue to Steris Corp.

 

OK, I realize you're probably not going to do that. But that's the only transit option available.

 

Sadly, there are three express bus routes that travel to/from downtown Cleveland via the freeways from the interchange of Heisley Road and State Route 2 (ie: 3,000 feet from Steris Corp). Why sadly? Because all of these are scheduled to take Lake County commuters to work in downtown Cleveland in the morning and back to Lake County in the evening. So unless you're working at Steris from about 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. four days a week, the schedule isn't go work for you.

 

Here's a map of the bus routes in Lake County:

 

http://www.laketran.com/docs/fixed_rts_map.pdf

 

Schedules are available here:

 

http://www.laketran.com/

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Worse, you will learn what "lake effect" is from behind the steering wheel of your car. And you may be astonished at the suddeness of the micro-climate of the snowbelt which quickly appears once you get into Lake County.

Actually the Laketran #12 route has one route in the morning from Downtown out to Willowick (There's 2 afternoon routes back) where you could catch the #6 at Vine and E. 322nd. It wouldn't really save you a whole lot of time over KJP's route above, but it would at least be another option and you could get by with only one bus pass then. Laketran doesn't allow bikes on their commuter routes so it's still not a good option though.

Carpool!  Seriously.  The mister and I just moved downtown a couple months ago - he works at Parker Hannifin in Mentor on Tyler Blvd. right by Steris.  Not only him, but one of his co-workers is moving in next door!  If you get the job, and you decide to move downtown, let me know, and maybe you guys can set something up!

or better yet, go to the CEO fo Steris and tell him to move his butt downtown. (that should be a good first impression)

Actually the Laketran #12 route has one route in the morning from Downtown out to Willowick (There's 2 afternoon routes back) where you could catch the #6 at Vine and E. 322nd. It wouldn't really save you a whole lot of time over KJP's route above, but it would at least be another option and you could get by with only one bus pass then. Laketran doesn't allow bikes on their commuter routes so it's still not a good option though.

 

I didn't suggest that service because there's only one bus, unlike the #39 which has relatively frequent service. And you still have to transfer to the Laketran #6 bus, then to the Laketran #1 bus route, and then walk 2.25 from Mentor Avenue to Steris Corp.

 

Sounds like docbroc has a great idea -- if your work schedules are similar.

Sounds like docbroc has a great idea -- if your work schedules are similar.

 

Yeah, that'd help.  The guys at Parker usually work 7:30am-4:30pm ish.  Even if you can't carpool every day necessarily, it's better than nothing!

Actually the Laketran #12 route has one route in the morning from Downtown out to Willowick (There's 2 afternoon routes back) where you could catch the #6 at Vine and E. 322nd. It wouldn't really save you a whole lot of time over KJP's route above, but it would at least be another option and you could get by with only one bus pass then. Laketran doesn't allow bikes on their commuter routes so it's still not a good option though.

 

I didn't suggest that service because there's only one bus, unlike the #39 which has relatively frequent service. And you still have to transfer to the Laketran #6 bus, then to the Laketran #1 bus route, and then walk 2.25 from Mentor Avenue to Steris Corp.

Yeah, it's a lousy option, but it's an option. You said "that's the only transit option available" and I was just giving the other lousy option. Carpooling would certainly be faster and easier.

 

Whether you end up driving by yourself of carpooling, I don't think living in Downtown and working in Mentor would be reasonable without a dependable car. If you're coming from MI, I'm sure you know about winter, but be forewarned about the snowbelt. God blessed the East side of the Greater Cleveland area with more frequent decorative coatings.

Also... the reverse commute is a breeze in this town.

Actually the Laketran #12 route has one route in the morning from Downtown out to Willowick (There's 2 afternoon routes back) where you could catch the #6 at Vine and E. 322nd. It wouldn't really save you a whole lot of time over KJP's route above, but it would at least be another option and you could get by with only one bus pass then. Laketran doesn't allow bikes on their commuter routes so it's still not a good option though.

 

I didn't suggest that service because there's only one bus, unlike the #39 which has relatively frequent service. And you still have to transfer to the Laketran #6 bus, then to the Laketran #1 bus route, and then walk 2.25 from Mentor Avenue to Steris Corp.

Yeah, it's a lousy option, but it's an option. You said "that's the only transit option available" and I was just giving the other lousy option. Carpooling would certainly be faster and easier.

 

Whether you end up driving by yourself of carpooling, I don't think living in Downtown and working in Mentor would be reasonable without a dependable car. If you're coming from MI, I'm sure you know about winter, but be forewarned about the snowbelt. God blessed the East side of the Greater Cleveland area with more frequent decorative coatings.

 

Meh, it's not that bad, especially if you already know how to drive in snow.  Only like the two times each winter where we get massively dumped on in short periods of time....  I drive a Honda Civic, and I've only ever gotten stuck once, and that was trying to get back in my driveway after the plows plowed the streets and left a big pile of snow in the way.  Personally, I think living downtown is worth the couple frustrating days  :-D

When clevelawesome gets back to checking this thread, he's going to be really surprised at all the discussion. He'll probably think "You like me! You really really like me!!" Of course we do! We love all newcomers!

Doesn't the Laketran no. 10 go directly from DT to Mentor with the terminus a few miles west of Steris?  That would at least be a one-bus option, even if it still meant walking/biking/whatever for the last leg.

It does, but not with a reverse-rush hour schedule (ie: leaving Cleveland in the A.M. for Mentor, leaving Mentor in the P.M. for Cleveland):

 

http://www.laketran.com/docs/route10_schedule.pdf

 

Too bad, because the route runs a half-mile from Steris when it exits Route 2. Sadder still is that Laketran runs "backhaul" buses that don't let any passengers on board on reverse rush-hour trips, but only to get buses back out to Mentor so it can pick up Lake County riders working in downtown Cleveland. Under state law, I don't think Laketran can carry passengers on these runs without a special agreement with RTA, yet they do offer the lone #12 bus on a reverse schedule. I suspect that each of these routes (including RTA's #39) is covered under an individual agreement. Just guessing though.

Thanks for the clarification.

Thanks KJP and everyone for your comments! Well, the first interview yesterday (Friday) went well and 4 hours after it they called me back for the 2nd interview with the manager for 4pm on Monday so things look hopefull. So hopefull, that my wife (who's the public relations director at a media company in Lansing) and I decided to make a last minute trip back to Cleveland last night to see the nightlife and sightsee some more to make sure it's what we want. We stayed at the Mariott at the Key Center and wandered around last night and today before leaving and we're pretty sure that a condo in downtown Cleveland is what we're looking for. We're both in our mid-20s and have friends in Philadelphia, Chicago and D.C., and we've travelled alot to NYC and Stockholm and Cleveland seems to have the best all around set-up for us...decent sized city, good night life in the warehouse district, some good touristy things for visiting friends, mass transit, decent skyline, clean city and affordability.

 

Don't want to put the cart before the horse, but we're hoping this works out. I might be coming back to this forum in a while to see about some of these ideas, but it sounds like carpooling is going to be my best bet. Hopefully my wife can find a job downtown that she can walk to or ride the bus/train.

Congrats on the initial success of the interviews, Clevelawesome.  Don't be a stranger if all goes well!

Good luck to you. Keep us posted on your situation. If you do get the job, let us know and we'll help you get the most out of this city, including finding some gem-out-of-the-way stores, restaurants, cafes that some "lifers" may have never heard of.

They paid for me to fly in, stay at a hotel and a rental car yesterday for my 3rd (1st in-person) interview yesterday. It went well so I think they'll probably make an offer; it's more a matter of how good of an offer. So now my wife is starting to look for work downtown. The interview was 9am-3pm so we just had enough time to look at the Avenue District townhouses and they were awesome. We probably couldn't afford them until my wife finds a job, so hopefully that works out. We originally preferred the lofts on St. Clair, but the home owner's dues are ~$200/month compared to ~$60/month at the townhouses. (Townhouses have alot less common area for upkeep compared to the lofts: elevators, parking garage, etc.). They seem to be very customer service oriented; maybe it's just a sign of the market but they are very open to alot of different scenarios, rent-to-own, letting us live in one place renting until another one is finished and then paying for movers to move us to the new one, and on and on. Also, I'll add the roof-top terraces on the townhouses were incredible. The skyline to the west was truly amazing, and if you're in the homes on the west side of the complex and facing north there's a great view of the lake.

WONDERFUL!

 

It's great to hear the opinions for someone new to the area.

 

If you need more information on The Avenue district, ask DocBroc.  DocBroc is a resident and very knowledgeable of the the development.

 

If that area doesn't work out.  Please ask us about other areas.

I certainly will MTS! Thanks for the help. We are open to anything downtown, preferrably on the east side of downtown such as the Ave. District seeing how I would be commuting to Mentor.

Great to hear. You might also want to send a personal message here to Strangebrew. He is in a position to help you with a purchase at the Avenue District. But if you want an unbiased opinion ;), Doctabroccoli is an impartial commentator.

if you want to shorten your commute, downtown willoughby kinda has an urbanized small town feel with some yupscale restaurants and bars, shops, tattoo parlors, etc.  there are always a lot of people milling about. 

if you want to shorten your commute, downtown willoughby kinda has an urbanized small town feel with some yupscale restaurants and bars, shops, tattoo parlors, etc. there are always a lot of people milling about.

 

Stay in Cleveland proper!

Great to hear. You might also want to send a personal message here to Strangebrew. He is in a position to help you with a purchase at the Avenue District. But if you want an unbiased opinion ;), Doctabroccoli is an impartial commentator.

 

Of course I'm impartial ;).  Well, I try to be fair to all the new developments in the city of Cleveland, but sometimes I end up adding shameless plugs for the Avenue District :-D.  PM me, Clevelawesome, if you wanna chat about what it's like to live in the townhomes.

 

EDIT:  And may I remind you that there are two people who work in Mentor already living in the townhomes :-D

Shameless. Absolutely shameless...

So an offer was made from Steris, so now I am trying to find the best housing option before I make a final decision. I like the Avenue District, but I'm also interested in the Stonebridge Tower condos...I like the townhouses at Avenue, but I also like higher condos with views and the Stonebridge has 2bed/2bath for $234k which is a really good deal in my mind and Avenue District condos won't be ready in time. So does anyone have any dirt or great things to say about the Stonebridge Tower (not Plaza) condos? Feel free to PM me if you're not comfortable mentioning on he forum. 

off topic and I don't want to get anything nasty started, but I love the idea of getting my paycheck from the suburbs and spending it downtown...as much as I'd rather work downtown, that is kinda nice to think about. Here in Lansing I refuse to shop/spend money in the suburbs/townships. Not that I want them to fail, but they have plenty of people already working downtown and spending their money out there.

There are 4 or 5 people that live in the Stonebridge Complex.

 

Have you looked at any photo or development threads on the complex?

off topic and I don't want to get anything nasty started, but I love the idea of getting my paycheck from the suburbs and spending it downtown...as much as I'd rather work downtown, that is kinda nice to think about.

 

I like that way of looking at it.

 

There are 4 or 5 people that live in the Stonebridge Complex.

 

 

Did you mean that there are 4 or 5 people here at UO who live at Stonebridge? If so, dude, you've been slippin' lately!

MTS, do you mean 4or5 people on this forum live there? I assume that's what you mean and not 4or5 people live in the complex.

 

I read through the thread on Stonebridge in the Northeast Ohio Projects and Construction folder; I didn't see a thread in the Ohio photos thread but I didn't look more than a couple pages in...if there is one in that folder I will dig deeper. But as far as the thread on the development, it had interesting discussions in the involvment of casinos, the arch at the entrance etc., but I wonder if anyone familiar with the project might offer insights into if the building was constructed with quality materials, if it was designed well, if people living there or familiar with it are happy with the quality/cost/size/layout, or any other information people might think would be helpful to know before buying a condo there.

 

If there's a thread with those types of discussions already, could you mention the folder they're in and I'll go find it. Thanks for the help.

I haven't gotten a chance to visit it in person, so I've only seen pictures, so that's a big part as to why I'm asking these questions. It's a 200 mile drive one way that I've already made 4 times this month and I'll be back Nov. 7th, but I want to get moving on things so I thought getting some inside info. could be a good start beyond the internet researching of the development I've already done.

I haven't gotten a chance to visit it in person, so I've only seen pictures, so that's a big part as to why I'm asking these questions. It's a 200 mile drive one way that I've already made 4 times this month and I'll be back Nov. 7th, but I want to get moving on things so I thought getting some inside info. could be a good start beyond the internet researching of the development I've already done.

 

I mean 4/5 people from urban ohio, live in the complex, where thousands reside.

 

Search the photo threads for stonebridge.  I recall someone posted pictures of units in the two most recent buildings.