What is Cleveland, OH like?

[Anonymous]

If anyone has ever been here or from Cleveland I am wondering what it is like?
(weather--summers/winters, stable economy, safe, schools) TIA

[Anonymous]

cheap but boring

[Anonymous]

Mistake by the lake.

[Anonymous]

It is a once great American City which is reshaping itself, mostly around the Cleveland Clinic and things medical related. There is some banking and industry there, but nothing like the heyday of the 1920's-1950's.

There are some beautiful close-in neighborhoods, and standard suburban fare. Housing is super cheap compared to DC, but then, you are in Cleveland.

The summer is great, but short, and the winter very grey and with lake-effect snow, icy and snowy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:.

There are some beautiful close-in neighborhoods, and standard suburban fare. Housing is super cheap compared to DC, but then, you are in Cleveland.

.

What are the names of the neighborhoods/suburbs please?

[Anonymous]

Like Buffalo without the charm.

[Anonymous]

Extremely depressing right now. They are also a self-loathing lot. Dh is from there...we just spent a weekend there. I've been going back there with him 1-2 times a yaer for the past 14 years. Thankfully---everyone in his family...extended relatives, parents..have finally fled...only his brother's family is left.

Winters are absolute h*ll. There is a permanent grey dark cast (like living in Moscow).

The recession hit Cleveland extremely hard. The city has a lot of crime and poor public schools.

On a bright side--you could buy a place for next to nothing since nobody can sell their houses. My MIL ended up just fleeing and leaving her one son the house.

[Anonymous]

I lived in cleveland for six years and hated it. this was in the 1990s, when they got a new baseball stadium, new basketball arena. the rock and roll hall of fame opened there. everyone was excited that cleveland was in the midst of a revival. guess what? still boring!

I'm from NYC and DC. if you think DC is sleepy (which it defintely can be) cleveland is awful.

then again, I didn't have kids then, so my perspective might be different today. I lived in the edgewater park neighborhood, which is on the west side. beautiful neighborhood and cheap. I had a gorgeous one bedroom in a beautiful pre-war building near lake erie for $400!

I don't know if you're interested in just visiting or actually living there, but the schools are crap. I'm sure you can find better schools in the suburbs, but in the city they're just awful.

if you're interested in suburbs, I found Lakewood (west side), Shaker Heights (east side) and Cleveland Heights (east side) to be nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If anyone has ever been here or from Cleveland I am wondering what it is like?
(weather--summers/winters, stable economy, safe, schools) TIA

There is a good reason it is called " the mistake by the lake." Think about it--how many people do know who have moved from ohio as opposed to those who move to Ohio? Go to Chicago, instead.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in the area and spent most of my life there. Pretty much everything that people have said is true. Winters are long, dark and dreary. On the other hand, it's really nice to live so close to the lake (Erie). Not much industry left there and the recession is still going strong (I have a fair amount of friends/family unemployed right now - we moved here due to job loss ourselves). As someone mentioned, housing is rock bottom cheap right now -- I have first hand experience in that department (want a lovely house in Lakewood?) I will say this though -- there are many very nice suburbs with very lovely old (or new, depending on the suburb) homes and good schools. The east side of Cleveland is where the Clinic is and the Universities and the Art school, etc. - it's got a very artsy feel to it and quite a bit of charm. The west side is nice too - just more modern and suburbian (although Lakewood is older - my house was built in the 1920's, as were most of the homes there). Cleveland has it's pros and cons. I wouldn't recommend moving there for the hell of it right now --but if you had a job there or some other connection - there are plenty of nice areas. I'm happy to email you off list and answer any questions for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If anyone has ever been here or from Cleveland I am wondering what it is like?
(weather--summers/winters, stable economy, safe, schools) TIA

There is a good reason it is called " the mistake by the lake." Think about it--how many people do know who have moved from ohio as opposed to those who move to Ohio? Go to Chicago, instead.

Native Clevelander here -- Don't be a hater!

[Anonymous]

I lived in Cleveland for three years. It sucked. The winters are long and grey and you'll never really fit in if you aren't from there. There's tons of self-loathing and yet, an abundance of city pride. The only people I know who LOVE cleveland are the people who grew up in cleveland.

That said: shaker heights has the best homes and school district. Beachwood has a great school district (primarily jewish community) but the homes are ugly. Cleveland heights is not bad, but city taxes are oppressive for what you get. The west side isn't great in terms of schools, but for what you save in housing costs moving from DC, you could send your kid to private school easily. There are a few there (especially Catholic schools, if you are interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Native Clevelander here -- Don't be a hater!

I second this. I grew up there. I did leave as a young adult for some of the reasons stated above. However, there are many plusses. including housing that is insanely cheap compared to DC. You can get gorgeous, huge old homes for $300,000 or less, as well as newer ones.

For diversity and charm of older neighborhoods, look at Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights. Solon is a newer, farther out suburb that's popular with good schools.

One difference with schools in the Cleveland suburbs is that each suburb has its own school system, meaning its very small, for better or worse. It's good because there's less bureaucracy, but worse because each suburb must pass its own funding for the school system. That's a hard sell in this economy as super cheap houses/foreclosures = less property taxes going to schools.

Cost of living is also low. Groceries are far cheaper as are services, from car repair to plumbers.

Winters suck. No way around that. Cold and snowy from November through early March. (however, streets are plowed almost immediately) But on the flip side, the summers are so much more livable, with temps in the lower 80s much of the time. Autumn is also nice. Lots of sugar maple trees that turn a gorgeous red.

[Anonymous]

the houses in Bratenahl are gorgeous, and right on the lake. Think Great Gatsby. The city itself is economically depressed though.

[Anonymous]

Native NE Ohioan here who spent a few years in Cleveland and really liked it.

Yes, the winters suck because of the gray weather but it's not as cold as other places in the north *comparatively* speaking because of the proximity to the lake (20s vs teens and below 0). Yes, there is a bit of self-loathing going on. Not unlike what you used to see in DC when you scratched the surface. (There used to be this secret fear in DC that even though we're an international capital, we're really Cleveland when it's all said and done.)

But I've always found that Cleveland lacked the pretentiousness so evident in DC. Mostly because we didn't have anything to be pretentious about. Do any of you ex-Clevelanders remember the Plain Dealer's deeply misguided attempt to equate Cleveland to a plum? They gave out free bumper stickers saying: New York's the big apple but Cleveland's a plum!" (easily changed to "slum") But, to be honest, I didn't really like DC until I moved out of Georgetown into a more down-to-earth Cleveland-like neighborhood.

What is really interesting about Cleveland to me: You have a similar black-white racial breakdown except with an edge to whites but instead of all the whites being upper and middle class, there are white working class neighborhoods with big Eastern European communities. Makes for interesting restaurants. The manufacturing past is also rather interesting. Depressing yes, because the economy is bad but it also gives the city a perspective more common in other parts of the country that you don't get in DC. Some of the old warehouses and buildings are absolutely beautiful.

It's a city that wears its heart on its sleeve. Baltimore is the city most like it around here but even Baltimore stole our damn football team! (I don't even like football and that really hurt) And now Lebron James is leaving for Miami. I can just feel the rejection even now.

Okay, none of this will most likely endear Cleveland to you. I learned to love it even though I lived there in the 70s when it was truly a national joke and the quality of life has actually improved since then. But then I have a soft spot in my heart for places down on their luck.

But as the pp said, don't listen to the haters, keep an open mind and see for yourself.