Already have a longer topic on Shaker Heights from a month or so ago. Our house hunt is going to be kicking into high gear soon though and just want to make sure we don't miss any neighborhoods. Looking for a 4 bedroom house in the 225k-325k price range.

 

Looking for a safe, family oriented neighborhood within 10-20 minute drive of Case Western. Even at rush hour don't want to be driving much  more than 20 minutes..that's about the limit.

 

Basically, just want to make sure I'm not missing any neighborhoods. I'll list below the places we're looking at. Let me know if I missed any or if you think any that I've listed are not good options.

 

Shaker Hts

Cleveland Hts

Beachwood

Mayfield Hts

Pepper Pike

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

Villain, This is in a neighborhood that was previously talked about (Shaker Hts) 

 

Open house today, but looks like an adorable house in a great neighborhood. 

$250,000 with 4 bedrooms. 

 

http://www.trulia.com/property/map/3002316530-3339-Grenway-Rd-Shaker-Heights-OH-44122

Thanks. Hadn't seen that one yet but we found a good amount of prospects in Shaker Hts. Think we have about 15 or so targeted so far and about 11 or 12 are in Shaker. Saw a few of them have open houses this weekend. We're out of town now and won't be able to make it up in person until early March so hopefully most of the houses we want to look at are still on the market then!

 

Shaker definitely seems like it has the most options for us..just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking any other areas!  I've got the other areas I listed about on our search criteria but there isn't much that comes up, and most of what does come up doesn't look as good as the Shaker houses we've found.

I was going through the just added ones today and had like that one. :wink:

 

I think your on the right track as far as neighborhoods.  I think your looking for the same thing we are, in the same areas.  We are just not quite ready for the move yet.

 

You can also check out stuff in Bratenahl, thats just through Rockefeller park and along the lake.  Mostly larger old mansions there, but also some other things that are in between...

 

Otherwise we have mostly narrowed down areas of Cleveland Hts, north and south of Cedar (Ambler Hts/Euclid Park/Fairmount areas) and several areas of Shaker Hts. 

The site I posted is good for filtering things like "new listings, size and price reductions" etc.  Ive been keeping a file of them, so if you are going to be in Cleve., and you want some links just pm me.     

Good call, that house IS adorable!

Bratenahl is not much of a "family" neighborhood IMO.  More of an older crowd down that way.

 

To toss another hat in the ring, check out Highland Hts.  It would be at about the extent of your territorial limit, but probably faster to get to CWRU than most parts of Mayfield and Pepper Pike.  HH is often rated as the top suburb on the east side.  Part of the Mayfield school district and great city services.  But much more "suburban" than Shaker and CH if that matters to you.  Houses are newer so the utilities won't get as outrageous as they can in some of the pre-war homes of those other neighborhoods.

 

Mayfield Village is comparable to HH, so you may want to include that as well.

 

Good luck

 

Good luck

I would drop Pepper Pike from the search as it's a bit far out for your commute, especially in winter.  In place of Pepper Pike, I would also suggest University Heights, especially the southern border streets near Fairmount (Claridge Oval area).

 

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2604-Fenwick-Rd_University-Heights_OH_44118_1115142395?mp=1

 

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2443-Dysart-Rd_University-Heights_OH_44118_1108738545

 

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2619-Dysart-Rd_University-Heights_OH_44118_1113407863?mp=1

Keep in mind that Villain is looking for something that may have been missed on their previous thread here.

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,21787.0.html

 

I suggested Bratenahl as another option (that hadnt previously been mentioned), and is very easy to get to University Circle.  There are some nice family streets there as well as the "old mansion" crowd, and its close to the lake.

 

Who could pass up that house on Grenway (All of Fernway is desirable in my opinion).  You can tell the current owners gave it a lot of TLC.

Was South Euclid part of the earlier search? I really like a lot of the housing along/near Belvior or near John Carrol University.

Thanks for the suggestions. Haven't looked much at University Hts, Highland Hts, Mayfield Village or South Euclid.

 

How do each of those areas rank/compare to the areas I'm currently looking at like Shaker & Beachwood as far as safety, schools, community?

 

Thanks

To look at school districts, check the Ohio Department of Education's district report cards at:

http://ilrc.ode.state.oh.us/Districts/Default.asp

 

This might give you a start on checking on a community:

http://www.bestplaces.net/default.aspx

 

It does have info on the violent crime rate, but you have to compare it with another community for the data to show up for the city you want. It doesn't report property crimes, nuisance crimes, etc. however. There is another database out there that does, but I can't seem to find it.

 

University Hts shares a school district with Cleveland Hts, but they don't join up until high school.  It is nicer than some of the "rougher around the edges" parts of Cleveland Hts but does not have the luxury neighborhoods that CH does.  Safety is not an issue.  Drive around the neighborhood surrounding John Carrol University and you will get a feel.  Check Miramar and the streets surrounding it.  Nice brick homes that meet your specifications (see pictures above).

 

South Euclid is more middle class and shares a school district with Lyndhurst.  I am pretty sure that the schools combine at the Junior High level.  Safe neighborhood.  Much more middle class than Shaker.  The size home you are looking for will be more rare than in the other communities, but cheaper also.  You can get a 4 bdrm, 2 1/2 bth in S Euclid for less than $200,000.

 

Highland Hts and Mayfield Village are very similar.  They don't get any safer, that's for sure.  Very suburban, but not distasteful IMO.  Both are part of the Mayfield school district, which is one of the top rated public school districts in the area.  Excellent facilities and amenities.  But you will notice the difference in home prices.  It will probably cost you an extra $100,000 to $200,000 to buy the same 4 bdrm, 2 1/2 bath house in either of those communities.

 

UH and SE are more diverse than MV and HH.

I grew up a few houses from Ridgebury near Richmond which is the Lyndhurst-Highland Heights line. It's a safe neighborhood, very quiet but not many children. And if you want diversity, this is not the place to live. It was like that 30 years ago, and it's still like that today.

Mayfield's school district has increased in diversity though.  Mostly due to some of the more modest neighborhoods in Mayfield Hts and the apartment complexes near 271/Mayfield.

 

There are also some newer neighborhoods in HH off of Highland where you will find more families/children.  Check the streets around Highland and Trebisky.  It would be an easy drive to Case from there, as Highland dumps you on Euclid at E 185th (or at least what eventually turns into E 185th)

Great..thanks for the info. We'll definitely add HH & Mayfield to our list of places we're watching. Did a quick search and there seems to be a few houses that match our criteria for sale in those areas. Places from UH look nice as well.

 

Also, thanks for the bestplaces site. I'll definitely be using that to compare the areas we're considering. Interesting to see all the stats broken down about housing stock, values, renters, buyers, vacancies, etc.