Need help renting: University Circle vs Lakewood (Cleveland, Euclid: for sale, apartments)

[Pratapn]

I might be moving to cleveland soon and I'm looking at different rental options. I'll be working in downtown but have a car. I'm single and want to be in an active part of town with good restaurants nearby. I'm looking for a one bedroom (500-1000 sq ft) with a budget between $1000 - $ 1750 (including parking). The places I've short listed after browsing the net and going through this forum are as follows...

Downtown - bingham, 668 Euclid. They both look very good but I'm not into late night clubbing and I'm not too keen on being very close to work. Like switching off once I'm out of the office and that'd be hard to do if you keep seeing your office nearby. Any good high rise out there? 15-30 floors kind of place

University Circle - sounds beautiful. Both uptown and hazel 8 sound good. This is on top of my list right now. If you have friends/family/date coming over, is it as nice and safe a stroll as it sounds?

Lakewood - right now, I live in a high rise (on the 21st floor) with a stunning view. The only area in cleveland that looks to have those kind of views is the Gold Coast. But, all the high rises seem old and most growth in cleveland seems to be happening in uc or downtown. A view is important. But, I'd rather live in a smaller building in uc with a beautiful neighborhood vs. an old not so great condo on lakewood even though the view is great. But, the right condo in lakewood would be my first choice if there is one. Can't seem to find any.

Beachwood - looks high end. But, seems a little boring in comparison to the other 3 areas. And not many places to eat out.

Advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Cleverfield]

Sounds like you're looking in the right places for what you want. UC is still a little rough around the edges, but is up and coming. I wouldn't feel safe walking around all parts at night, but Uptown and Hazel 8 areas should be fine. In addition to what you looked at, I would check out 1 Bratenahl Place condos in Bratenahl. You can get some really good deals on some really nice condos that have foreclosed (google sarver realty). The condos are in 2 high-rises right on the lake, they have tennis courts, pool, and lots of nice amenities.

[Mr216]

I say UC like you said it's booming right now, not a major club area which you would seem to like, it's very safe so the strolls shouldn't be a problem. You said you are tired of the old looking Lakewood well UC is the opposite and it's very good on public transportation as well with the Healthline on Euclid, the new University Circle rapid station, and Little Italy rapid station (soon to be built) which all will all take you straight downtown to work. Nice amounts of young professionals moving in and also if the Intesa high rise is built then you will have your desire for a high rise to be there for the taking. A final note if you are to be working downtown without a car I feel as if it is more convenient to take a 10 minute rapid trip, or a 20 minute healthline ride than to ride from lakewood for 40 minutes on the bus with no rapid access. Hope this helps!!!

[TBideon]

Definitely University Circle. Follow the momentum.

[Pratapn]

@cleverfield - Thank you for pointing me towards bratenahl. It looks awesome. I don't think they have any condos for rent. Their website only listed condos for sale. I'll call and find out tomorrow.

@mr216 - I have a car. And anything less than a 30 min commute works for me. So, both uc and lakewood work. But, yeah.. I'd rather stay in apartments/condos built in this millennium. The intesa project looks neat. Probably a couple of years away though.

@tbideon - yeah, that's sort of my thinking too. I like living where there is growth and momentum. People are more positive and optimistic :-).

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by Mr216

A final note if you are to be working downtown without a car I feel as if it is more convenient to take a 10 minute rapid trip, or a 20 minute healthline ride than to ride from lakewood for 40 minutes on the bus with no rapid access. Hope this helps!!!

It does not take anywhere near 40 minutes to get downtown from Lakewood's Gold Coast via bus. No more than half that, at most. And driving only takes 10 minutes.

[Clevelander17]

You may also want to consider Cleveland Heights, particularly the Cedar-Fairmount or Coventry neighborhoods, as potential options as well. They're both just "up the hill" from University Circle and offer many of the same amenities.

I would stay away from Beachwood unless you like malls and want to have to drive everywhere.

[costello_musicman]

Also if you pick UC, you'd be in close proximity to Coventry/Cleveland Hts and Little Italy.

As mentioned, both the Healthline and Red Line are straight shots Downtown.

[Bimmer_Rich]

Both the University Circle/Heights area and Lakewood are great places to live. I have been all over the Cleveland area, and bought my house in Lakewood.

Bars and restaurant wise, it's close but Lakewood is the winner.When you factor in value, the west side is clear winner. Cleveland has no shortage of awesome restaurants. In UC, you're near Cleveland Heights (Coventry Road, Lee Road), Little Italy and are close to Beachwood. Lakewood has a ton of bars and restaurants. There are a lot of stand outs and awesome happy hours. Pier W has an awesome happy hour with $5 meals and the best view in Cleveland, on a cliff over Lake Eerie looking at the skyline -- Lakewood is also 5 minute drive to Ohio City and 10 to Tremont which are both unique and cool up and coming neighborhoods with lots of restaurants and bars.

One downside of University Circle is that it borders rough sections of Cleveland and East Cleveland. The demographics are also very different.

[usernametaken]

I love the University Circle/Cleveland Heights/Coventry/Little Italy area. Used to hang around there a lot when I lived in Cleveland. Place is booming now with new construction and record CWRU student enrollment, and has great character perhaps because there is such a contrast when you move east to East Cleveland, Euclid etc... Loved driving down Euclid at night through East Cleveland, but most people would think that is a bad idea:-) Anyway, you can avoid East Cleveland at night completely and still live in nearby regions for years so do not let that dissuade you.

Lakewood is good, but I prefer University Circle any day. If you like beach volleyball, Lakewood is great as I think most of it is closer to Whiskey Island where I used to play for half the year.

Look at places on Murray Hill in Little Italy, and near here where you can get to from downtown without using the highway:

https://plus.google.com/107906624573...ut?gl=us&hl=en


Check out the underground bar (there are two next to each other, and I mean the one with lots of foreign beer selections) in Coventry next to Mongolian BBQ.

You will like Algebra on Murray Hill a lot.

On Euclid, there is a Hooka Bar, relatively newer Indian restaurant and new Chipotle that I saw during my visit back several months ago.