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I don't have to worry about remembering the Y story correctly, since my friend has shown me the site on Google Maps many times--it's still there and still has the same inadequate number of parking spots. And I've also been to Cleveland and heard the same story from the librarian across the street who remembers when the Y was first built (by the way, it's really fun visiting a town after you've met someone who was a city planner there--if you ever get the chance to do something like that I recommend it). Anyone who's interested can see it at 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, OH. The building is now being used as a little theater--hopefully the small parking lot is better suited for something like that. Plus, a few year ago they tore down some houses on Corydon to make an additional lot that's across the street, which I'm sure helps the situation.
To bring this back to the original topic, after you're done looking at this site take a look down Lee Rd. for an example of a middle income suburb that is extremely livable. This is not a wealthy area by any stretch of the imagination, but it has many amenities. There are ample sidewalks, and a nice assortment of useful stores (as well as coffee shops and yogurt stands). Near the intersection of Cedar and Lee there is a nice little pedestrian mall. Near the intersection of Lee and Superior you see a park system that includes an outdoor amphitheater and an ice skating rink. Libraries, churches, stores, municipal buildings, theaters, etc. all see to be within a 2 mile radius and there are sidewalks galore. The only thing I might not be happy with is the traffic on Lee Road (which I hear is pretty bad) but hey, no place is perfect and that's something I can tolerate.
If I ever needed to move to Cleveland, I would want to live in a suburb like Cleveland Heights. To borrow the terminology from the OP, sure Cleveland has issues but they aren't so bad (and I hear Cleveland is solving a lot of these issues right now, and is becoming an increasingly attractive place to live). It wouldn't matter to me. City life just isn't the right fit for me. Cleveland Heights is the kind of the town that suits my taste--I loves me the burbs.
I don't have to worry about remembering the Y story correctly, since my friend has shown me the site on Google Maps many times--it's still there and still has the same inadequate number of parking spots. And I've also been to Cleveland and heard the same story from the librarian across the street who remembers when the Y was first built (by the way, it's really fun visiting a town after you've met someone who was a city planner there--if you ever get the chance to do something like that I recommend it). Anyone who's interested can see it at 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, OH. The building is now being used as a little theater--hopefully the small parking lot is better suited for something like that. Plus, a few year ago they tore down some houses on Corydon to make an additional lot that's across the street, which I'm sure helps the situation.
To bring this back to the original topic, after you're done looking at this site take a look down Lee Rd. for an example of a middle income suburb that is extremely livable. This is not a wealthy area by any stretch of the imagination, but it has many amenities. There are ample sidewalks, and a nice assortment of useful stores (as well as coffee shops and yogurt stands). Near the intersection of Cedar and Lee there is a nice little pedestrian mall. Near the intersection of Lee and Superior you see a park system that includes an outdoor amphitheater and an ice skating rink. Libraries, churches, stores, municipal buildings, theaters, etc. all see to be within a 2 mile radius and there are sidewalks galore. The only thing I might not be happy with is the traffic on Lee Road (which I hear is pretty bad) but hey, no place is perfect and that's something I can tolerate.
If I ever needed to move to Cleveland, I would want to live in a suburb like Cleveland Heights. To borrow the terminology from the OP, sure Cleveland has issues but they aren't so bad (and I hear Cleveland is solving a lot of these issues right now, and is becoming an increasingly attractive place to live). It wouldn't matter to me. City life just isn't the right fit for me. Cleveland Heights is the kind of the town that suits my taste--I loves me the burbs.
I don't know Cleveland Heights all that well, (a friend once had an apartment there that was very cool/vintage) but I've used it more than once as an example of the kind of suburb I wouldn't mind living in. It is quite literally a streetcar suburb. I think most of the pro-suburban folks would find it to be too urban, for the most part.
I don't know Cleveland Heights all that well, (a friend once had an apartment there that was very cool/vintage) but I've used it more than once as an example of the kind of suburb I wouldn't mind living in. It is quite literally a streetcar suburb. I think most of the pro-suburban folks would find it to be too urban, for the most part.
From the views I could find, it didn't seem that urban to me, though houses were on noticeably small lots.
A suburb I would like would be similar to Brookline, MA. Though it's pricey and parts are rather urban. It also literally a streetcar suburb; and some of them are still running. The density is much higher along the streetcar line than elsewhere.
From the views I could find, it didn't seem that urban to me, though houses were on noticeably small lots.
A suburb I would like would be similar to Brookline, MA. Though it's pricey and parts are rather urban. It also literally a streetcar suburb; and some of them are still running. The density is much higher along the streetcar line than elsewhere.
It's not that urban for an east coast resident. Cleveland Heights is just about as urban as most Ohio cities. AFAIK, Cincinnati is the only Ohio city that has row housing in a significant quantity, for example.
It's not that urban for an east coast resident. Cleveland Heights is just about as urban as most Ohio cities. AFAIK, Cincinnati is the only Ohio city that has row housing in a significant quantity, for example.
Whoops. I missed that part, that's more urban looking than other parts I found. That's what you get from not being there and thinking a quick glance at street view can give a good sample of a place.
Here's one of the more urban sections of Brookline:
The density gets much less when you get away from certain corridors, usually the train lines.
I noticed Cleveland Heights has had a sever population decline. Is there flight from the inner suburbs as well as the city in the Cleveland metro? Boston has had a 25% population decline, but most of the inner suburbs have had stagnant populations (probably because it's hard to build new housing in them). Maybe Cleveland's inner suburbs experienced a population decline because the core has had a large economic decline, so there's little value in living near the center city?
Whoops. I missed that part, that's more urban looking than other parts I found. That's what you get from not being there and thinking a quick glance at street view can give a good sample of a place.
Here's one of the more urban sections of Brookline:
The density gets much less when you get away from certain corridors, usually the train lines.
I noticed Cleveland Heights has had a sever population decline. Is there flight from the inner suburbs as well as the city in the Cleveland metro? Boston has had a 25% population decline, but most of the inner suburbs have had stagnant populations (probably because it's hard to build new housing in them). Maybe Cleveland's inner suburbs experienced a population decline because the core has had a large economic decline, so there's little value in living near the center city?
I couldn't say with any authority why Cleveland Heights had a population decline. I think you're right; the region lost population because of economic decline. But also, IMO, because it's "inner ring" it is facing the same problems as Cleveland. As people continue to sprawl into the far suburbs, it becomes easier for the "less desirable element" to move from the city into the inner 'burbs. ("less desirable" means different things to different people: race, wealth, etc.) This, and the problems associated with it, (i.e. increased crime, dipping school performance, etc.) encourages more people to leave. It's a downward spiral.
It's not that urban for an east coast resident. Cleveland Heights is just about as urban as most Ohio cities. AFAIK, Cincinnati is the only Ohio city that has row housing in a significant quantity, for example.
This is another thing I like about Cleveland Heights. For a fairly small suburb it has quite a lot of variety. It has Coventry, the hip area that you visited. It has the area near Lee Road, which is all middle income single family homes, it has some upper class homes and a street of mansions (Fairmont Blvd.), and it has a lower income area too (the section closer to East Cleveland). It's a great illustration of how suburbs can take many different types of forms and appeal toa wide variety of people.
I couldn't say with any authority why Cleveland Heights had a population decline.
I think the entire Cleveland area saw a decline, not just the inner ring suburbs; IMO a lot of it was because the steel mills and other factories closed, TRW largely relocated to California, and Cleveland didn't react as quickly as Pittsburgh did as far as trying to remake itself. Also, you're right that it has a bit of a stigma being "inner ring", especially since it's right next to East Cleveland (a town with some poverty and crime issues).
In Pittsburgh as well, the suburbs lost population along with the city. In fact, it's still going on, or was anyway, at the 2010 census. These rust belt cities are not in the same position as the sunbelt cities of the south and west.
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Cleveland Heights is just about as urban as most Ohio cities. AFAIK, Cincinnati is the only Ohio city that has row housing in a significant quantity, for example.
