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Good day and thank you in advance for any advice you can offer. I am
thinking about moving back to Cleveland suburbs, and wish to learn
more. I grew up in the So. Euclid-Lyndhurst area, but that was long
ago. It was a friendly, pleasant area conducive to biking, running,
and walking. My last visit to Cleveland, though, was 20 years back.
I'm currently outside Boston, and have seen the increase here in
population, traffic, and strip malls, and a decrease in green space.
Rather than walk out the door and step into woods, it's hope the
traffic isn't too heavy, and accept the ever-present din of traffic
in the background. Thus, thinking about Cleveland.
My initial search showed many apartments in Mayfield Heights. I'm
hoping to avoid the skyscrapers and large strips of asphalt within
spitting distance of a highway. Just want a simple apartment (for
one senior) with trees around and a pleasant place to walk and run.
Is what I describe available in So. Euclid, Lyndhurst, Univ Heights,
Cleve Heights, Mayfield Heights, Gates Mills, or other nearby areas?
Any recommendations?
Your wisdom much appreciated.
I was thinking of the Pine Ridge Apartments in Willoughby Hills, but you still would have to navigate the busy Route 91 intersection of I-90 to get to the Cleveland Metroparks North Chagrin Reservation. Check out the nearby Hack-Otis Sanctuary and Pleasant Valley Park as well. There are other apartments nearby as well.
The Willoubhy Hills Senior Apartments would appear ideal for you, as they are practically adjacent to the North Chagrin Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks.
Any apartments in Fairport Harbor might meet your requirements. Check out the Lake Metroparks Fairport Harbor beach. Fairport Harbor has a very good seniors center.
Walban Apartments in Painesville on Bank St. sits just above the very nice Beaty Landing Lake Metropark. I'm not certain about the quality of those apartments; they aren't modern. Helen Hazen Wyman Metropark also is nearby, certainly within biking and, depending upon the length of your jogs, jogging distance. Ditto, the Lake Metroparks Greenway Corridor. The access to Beaty Landing on Walnut St. is steep; you would get excellent exercise! There is a B&B on Bank St. if you want to check out the neighborhood. The Steele Mansion, Fitzgerald's and Rider's Inn are more prominent B&Bs in Painesville.
My suggestion is to check out all five of the metropark systems in Greater Cleveland, identify adjacent communities that are attractive to you, then check out apartments. Apartments in Kirtland would be convenient for several excellent Lake Metroparks and Holden Arboretum.
E.g., there are many apartments and condos on Euclid Ave. near the Euclid Creek Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks.
Also, check for apartments near great local parks, such as Lakewood Park, or Sims Park in Euclid (many apartments and condos on Lakeshore Blvd.) nearby Sims Park and Euclid's new, acclaimed lakefront trail next to the Sims Park pier. See posts 31 and 32 here.
The Willoughby Hills Senior Apts does check some boxes. Proximity to
the North Chagrin Reservation would be great. I'll need to balance
that against proximity to SOM and 271. Apartments.com lists
"soundscore 78" and "traffic active".
The Cleveland Metroparks are outstanding. Euclid Creek was a
favorite spot to run. I hadn't thought about Euclid Ave, but you've
got me thinking of it now.
The Willoughby Hills Senior Apts does check some boxes. Proximity to
the North Chagrin Reservation would be great. I'll need to balance
that against proximity to SOM and 271. Apartments.com lists
"soundscore 78" and "traffic active".
Good catch!
Freeway sound can be atrocious, even miles away, and aggravated in certain weather conditions. I have a friend that lives a couple miles from I-90, and the freeway drone sometimes is persistent outside during summer months.
I guess the developer may not have spent extra money sound proofing the apartments. I wonder if any units are located only on the south side of the complex, benefiting from northern units (towards the freeway blocking the sound).
My brother lives in a deluxe, senior living apartment near a freeway, but he is hard of hearing so the noise doesn't bother him....
However, I'm somewhat surprised freeway noise is a problem there as a hill was excavated there for I-90 and the freeway is scores of feet below ground level.
Perhaps the problem is noise from Route 91 and Chardon Road, the intersection of which is near those apartments, if I remember correctly. Both of those roads are well traveled.
Oops! Looking at a map, I realize the freeway noise problem likely is not from I-90, but perhaps from I-271 with its 10 lanes of traffic, as you mentioned in your post. It is to the west of the apartments.
I only use Route 91 to go south towards Chardon Road from I-90 for the Willoughby Cleveland Clinic family center, Gale's Garden Center (which has a good farmers market) on Chardon Road and for some good restaurants just west of the intersection on Chardon Road (especially Mario Fazio's). I don't remember hearing a freeway drone noise in that area. I don't have the greatest hearing.
It would be great if you could talk to some residents there. I wonder how much sound meters cost, as it may be a worthwhile investment if you're sensitive to noise.
Also, could the noise problem be poorly sound-proofed walls, e.g., enabling a person to hear a neighbor's TV, especially if turned up loudly as some seniors are prone to do, an extremely aggravating situation?
As for the Euclid Ave. area near the Euclid Creek Reservation, housing is relatively very cheap there because of the subpar Euclid schools in the area. I had a friend that bought a great house there for an amazingly low price a couple years ago. So I would imagine rents there also are relatively low. I wonder how safe that area is for jogging. My hunch is that Lakeshore Blvd. near Sims Park is safer, but I could be wrong.
Sliderules in his posts has mentioned how to check local crime statistics. Looking at city-wide crime statistics for Euclid could be very misleading, as areas around Lakeshore Blvd. are very different than areas south of I-90. Perhaps private message SR for some advice.
The South Euclid Lyndhurst School District (Brush HS) also isn't of the same quality as in the past.
Highway noises here have increased to the point where opening windows
which face the wrong direction is just not worth it. Sometimes while
walking outdoors, I wear earplugs -- too painful otherwise. That's
what I hope to leave behind.
I need to check locations during rush hour. Traffic noise in rainy
weather can be even worse.
Crime stats are another perspective I would be wise to consider.
Thank you. I have a comfort level in those suburbs in which I have
familiarity. The reality, however, is that my perspective is based
on old experiences.
Appreciate all the advice.
Last edited by J23456; 03-21-2022 at 04:55 PM..
Reason: typo
Hello everyone! I am a married ~30-year-old with a young kid, and we are moving back to the Cleveland suburbs after growing up on the east side of Mentor. We are looking for somewhere roughly within 30 minutes of this area.
I work 100% remotely and my wife is a stay-at-home mom, so location doesn't matter besides wanting to be close-ish to family on the east side of Mentor.
Things that matter to us:
•<30 minutes from east side of Mentor
•Newer houses/recently renovated houses <$350-400k (seems like there aren't many newer builds in Lake County?)
•Bigger yard with lots of trees around (not those post-WWII builds that are tiny and packed together, e.g. west Lake County)
•Neighborhood with social neighbors around our age with kids, not on a main street and not far away from the neighboring houses
•Lower crime
•Lower property taxes
•Proximity to highways
•Proximity to the lake and parks
Other things that would be nice:
•Walkable downtown would be nice (I know Lake County only really has Downtown Willoughby and maybe Painesville or Fairport)
•We are Catholic so a younger/more active Catholic community would be nice
•Good schools aren't a dealbreaker since we will probably send our kids to Catholic schools, but might be nice
Which area would be good for us? So far I'm thinking Willoughby (+Hills), Mentor, Concord, Kirtland (+Hills), Chardon, or maybe Chesterland. All places I grew up near and enjoyed going to, and the last few options are nice hilly forested areas that are pleasant to look at.
And maybe on the bubble we have Painesville Township, Mayfield Village, Highland Heights, or Richmond Heights (the last few seem like boring suburbs with older ranches and no sidewalks). We are on the fence about Mentor-on-the-Lake/Headlands since the housing is more packed together and the kids I grew up with were a bit odd (sorry lol, at least when I grew up there), but the proximity to the lake seems amazing. We like going to the beach so maybe we'd consider Fairport/Grand River too although I imagine it's similar to MOTL/Headlands?
We don't want to explore more rural options further east from Cleveland like Perry, Madison, Geneva, etc. We don't like the packed-together housing in the older areas (e.g. Euclid, Wickliffe, Willowick, Eastlake, Mayfield Heights). And Painesville (city) hasn't improved much from what I've heard so we've ruled it out unless we're wrong on that.
Hello everyone! I am a married ~30-year-old with a young kid, and we are moving back to the Cleveland suburbs after growing up on the east side of Mentor. We are looking for somewhere roughly within 30 minutes of this area.
I work 100% remotely and my wife is a stay-at-home mom, so location doesn't matter besides wanting to be close-ish to family on the east side of Mentor.
Things that matter to us:
•<30 minutes from east side of Mentor
•Newer houses/recently renovated houses <$350-400k (seems like there aren't many newer builds in Lake County?)
•Bigger yard with lots of trees around (not those post-WWII builds that are tiny and packed together, e.g. west Lake County)
•Neighborhood with social neighbors around our age with kids, not on a main street and not far away from the neighboring houses
•Lower crime
•Lower property taxes
•Proximity to highways
•Proximity to the lake and parks
Other things that would be nice:
•Walkable downtown would be nice (I know Lake County only really has Downtown Willoughby and maybe Painesville or Fairport)
•We are Catholic so a younger/more active Catholic community would be nice
•Good schools aren't a dealbreaker since we will probably send our kids to Catholic schools, but might be nice
Which area would be good for us? So far I'm thinking Willoughby (+Hills), Mentor, Concord, Kirtland (+Hills), Chardon, or maybe Chesterland. All places I grew up near and enjoyed going to, and the last few options are nice hilly forested areas that are pleasant to look at.
And maybe on the bubble we have Painesville Township, Mayfield Village, Highland Heights, or Richmond Heights (the last few seem like boring suburbs with older ranches and no sidewalks). We are on the fence about Mentor-on-the-Lake/Headlands since the housing is more packed together and the kids I grew up with were a bit odd (sorry lol, at least when I grew up there), but the proximity to the lake seems amazing. We like going to the beach so maybe we'd consider Fairport/Grand River too although I imagine it's similar to MOTL/Headlands?
We don't want to explore more rural options further east from Cleveland like Perry, Madison, Geneva, etc. We don't like the packed-together housing in the older areas (e.g. Euclid, Wickliffe, Willowick, Eastlake, Mayfield Heights). And Painesville (city) hasn't improved much from what I've heard so we've ruled it out unless we're wrong on that.
You seem to have a good grasp of your options, but I'm not certain you've properly characterized Highland Heights and Mayfield Village. You might consider Moreland Hills, Pepper Pike, Gates Mills and Aurora, IF you could find any houses in your price range that also meet your criteria. Especially Chagrin Falls and Solon are your most obvious omissions, but Solon's distance may not appeal to you and Chagrin Falls may be out of your price range. Use zillow.com to check out markets, beginning with home values for any community.
Actually, if you could find something in Mentor that appeals to you, it would seem ideal given its low property tax rates, awesome recreational amenities (especially with the purchase of Heisley), great retail and excellent nearby park systems and Holden Arboretum. The Cleveland Clinic also is building a new hospital there. The big negative IMO of the gigantic high school won't matter to you if you'll send your kids to Lake Catholic. Perhaps check out carefully the Bolton area developments off Johnnycake Ridge.
My biggest advice for you is to hire an excellent "buyer's" real estate agent with great knowledge of central Lake County and Geauga County.
Speaking of neighborhoods with sidewalks, perhaps consider Euclid neighborhoods north of Lakeshore or the Wells Development. Certainly consider the neighborhoods off Lloyd Road north of Route 2 in Euclid, Willowick and Wickliffe, again predicated (Euclid) on not using public schools.
Your desire for walkable neighborhoods (with sidewalks?) and mature trees would greatly reduce your options.
It would be best if you started your own thread, and something like this thread would be immensely valuable for others, and to you.
This thread may have some posts that interest you, reading post 3 first. I wonder if you've properly weighed the benefits of living closer to University Circle. Many persons who grew up in Lake County don't truly understand the exceptional growing experiences that are offered to children (and adults) in UC.
My hunch is that new construction that meets your parameters may be difficult to find within your budget. Actually, in the last couple years the sprawl of new construction in Lake County has been very noticeable; much open space has disappeared, especially in Concord Township. BTW, Concord Township off Morley Road (such as Barchester, Tiffany Drives) has some older, very pleasant neighborhoods that might appeal to you. Generally, no sidewalks but also little traffic. A concern there and, believe it or not, in many areas of Lake County, may be the drone from I-90 traffic in the summer; obviously, something easy to check out with a visit.
Also, based on my discussions with parents, Painesville City may be a sleeper, especially for the south side. Its schools all are new and apparently very well designed with good amenities. Its school ratings are distorted by dropouts (often Mexican immigrants with no citizenship, I'm told), but it reportedly has good AP options including classes at Lake Erie College. I've talked to parents whose kids were admitted to places like Cornell and Univ. of Chicago. I think (check for any community if a concern) it buses kids to Lake Catholic and other Catholic schools in Mentor. Its parks and the Central Y are very good (including Lake Metroparks and the Greenway Corridor). The Route 20 retail strip in Painesville Twp. into Mentor is very good, as you probably know. Do you know about the building of Shamrock Boulevard (I wouldn't buy in this area for several reasons despite much new construction) to connect Jackson St. and Heisley Road? Painesville City and Concord Twp. have relatively cheap public utilities, but perhaps less so with increasing natural gas prices (First Energy customers apparently are benefiting greatly from relatively cheap Perry nuclear plant supplies).
Definitely familiarize with municipal income taxes and residential tax credits. Townships don't have income taxes.
Good luck, and definitely share with us your final decision and location.
I'm thrilled to see this thread dedicated to helping those interested in moving to our vibrant city! As a longtime resident of Cleveland, I understand the importance of finding the right neighborhood that suits your lifestyle and preferences.
Whether you're looking for a bustling urban vibe, a quiet suburban retreat, or something in between, Cleveland has a diverse range of neighborhoods to explore. From the historic charm of Ohio City to the lively energy of Tremont, there's truly something for everyone here.
If you have any questions about specific neighborhoods, streets, amenities, or anything else related to relocating to Cleveland, feel free to ask! Our community is filled with knowledgeable locals who are passionate about sharing their insights and helping you make the best decision for your move.
Let's work together to make your transition to Cleveland as smooth and enjoyable as possible. Welcome to the Land!
Best regards,
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Where to move <30 min. from eastern Mentor?
