The jumping off discussion area for the rest of the Deck. All things Lakewood.
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I am seeking advice on moving to Lakewood. My husband and I currently rent in Cleve. Hts. and are looking to buy a house next Spring. We are in full research mode as to where we want to "settle". We love the Hts., and thought we would buy here, but as of late we are opening up our minds to other areas.
We know Lakewood offers similar benefits as the Hts. that we value such as walkability, strong sense of community, parks, things to do, etc. Our commuting distance would increase slightly, but commuting time would increase by a smaller degree because we would go from mostly city driving (you know the lack of freeway access in the Hts.) to mostly freeway driving. My commute would decrease if I were to eventually transfer to the downtown location of my company.
Anyhow, we are a couple in our early 30's with no kids (not sure yet) who are ready to invest in a home and settle. We value outdoor activities such as hiking with our dog and biking; walking to coffee shops or the local tavern; indie films and good music and trying unique restaurants. We are also looking to live in a safe place where neighbors are friends and there is a communal fee. Is this a utopia which exists anywhere?
So, for those of you that live there, why should we consider Lakewood over the Hts? Any specific areas to consider?
To make things more complicated, we are also conflicted about purchasing a single family home, or a duplex/double and living in one half/renting the other. Advice? Resources to point us to?
I am so glad I found this forum, and I greatly appreciate any advice!!
I think you came to the right place for advice and discussion.
So...why Lakewood? If you like Hiking and biking, the Rocky River reservation (known affectionately as the Emerald Canyon) borders the west end of Lakewood. Miles of biking, walking paths, a fantastic "dog park", and minutes away from both Big Met and Little Met. Of course there's also the Lake Erie sunset views from Lakewood Park, Sunday (free) band concerts.
Housing is affordable (for any or your scenarios), and should you decide to start a family, the schools are building and renovating all the buildings, which would provide you with state of the art schools for your kids.
A newly constructed YMCA is nearing completion in Downtown, just a few blocks from the Library which is in the middle of a 16 Mill. expansion renovation. Programming at the library is second to none, and in recent years it has been selected as the best library in the US (for our population).
Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Italian, fine dining Middle east, ribs.....all generally within walking distance. Standard coffee shops, but also unique Lakewood locals (Phoenix and Bela Dubby).
You need to stop by...Talk with Jim O'Bryan, Ken Warren, myself...take a walking tour. And don't miss the Arts festival...first weekend in August, I believe.
The Lakewood Observer’s Gourmet Food Security Network, a Baker’s Dozen of communally minded Lakewood citizens working with Covered Bridge Farm in Jefferson on food, community and embodied sustainability practices for Lakewood, has its First Harvest Soiree today at Bela Dubby 13321 Madison Avenue today at 4 p.m.
That would be a perfect time to get a flavor of opinions.
We are celebrating a birthday, too, with Carrot Cake.
We’d love to meet you and provide the skinny on the good life in the Wood.
I can give you a similar perspective in that my wife and I just moved to Lakewood from the Heights (we lived near Cedar/Fairmount). We decided to settle down and get a house and plant some roots. So we looked around, and decided Lakewood was the place. The housing stock is good, and the prices of housing can't be beat. While I enjoyed the Heights, housing there was more expensive, and since we plan on having children, we also wanted a town that had better schools. The fact that the citizens of Lakewood made the investment to renovate their old schools and build brand-new schools deeply impressed us. So did the new YMCA building, a nice short walk from our house, and the expansion of the library. We also like that the Rocky River Metropark is also a relatively short walk from our house, and the great array of locally-owned shops, taverns, and restaurants. We also liked that there were a great many lifers in Lakewood, while Cleveland Heights generally has more of a transient population of students, college faculty, and hospital personnel that are constantly moving in and moving out.
So we started looking here, and it took us some time ... while I like Lakewood, there were a good number of houses for sale that hadn't been updated since the 1970s (or earlier), and we weren't looking for a renovation project, because I'm definitely not Norm Abrams, though I do religiously watch "This Old House." So it took a little time to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. But we found a house that was nicely upgraded and only requires some cosmetic work (mostly painting, which we're not good at, but we're learning), and the price was more than reasonable. So we've planted our roots, and hope they eventually grow deep.
And neither one of us has regretted it for a second. In fact, it didn't take long to realize we made a great decision. For one, you'll find Lakewood is really friendly. I'm not used to this from the Heights, where people rarely even say hello to their neighbors ... but here, people stop and talk to you no matter where you are. I was heading out of Angelo's Pizza (which frankly, has the best damn pizza I've ever eaten) one day and the Angelo's delivery guy not only held the door open for me, but started chatting about the weather, and then we got into a conversation about home maintenance. Never met or saw the guy before, but he was the friendliest guy. And even when we talk walks around the neighborhood in the evening, people on the sidewalks stop and say hello to us, or people say hello from their porches.
I think we're also in a great location. Lakewood's full of locally-owned shops that we enjoy, but when we get in a mood for shopping at a chain store, they're readily available close by in Westlake or Rocky River. I used to shop all the time at Trader Joe's in Woodmere, and was delighted to find out now that the Trader Joe's in Crocker Park is an even closer drive! We also like having easy freeway access; it's made my commute downtown a lot easier, and though my wife has a longer commute (she works in University Circle), it's an easy trade-off for having a nice house that we can afford, that has a great front porch that we enjoy, space for plenty of kids if we so choose, and in a nice community that really FEELS like a community.
And a final plus, the traffic here is nowhere near as bad as the East Side ... our realtor apologized one day and said that traffic was bad on Detroit. I looked at it, and said that rush hour on Detroit or Madison is the equivalent to 3am on Cedar or Mayfield Roads ... boy, I LOVE the traffic in Lakewood!
If anything, the only thing I miss about Cleveland Heights is Coventry (because I was a big aficionado of Big Fun), and La Gelateria in Cedar/Fairmount. But we've got Rosati's Frozen Custard in my neighborhood which is awesome ... and Mitchell's is just a hop, skip, and jump away in Rocky River ... and while I can't easily walk to Aladdin's in Lakewood like I could in my old neighborhood, it's only a couple of minutes by car.
Like I said, we've not regretted our decision in the slightest. And we must have done something right, because several of my friends from the East Side have either relocated to Lakewood like we have, or are in the process or relocating. And because Lakewood has that great small-town feel to it, it's wonderful running into them at the grocery store, at Lakewood Park, at Nature's Bin, or at the library.
Jen-- Let me add my welcome. You have outlined a broad list of possibilities that you'd like to consider. Let me suggest this as a plan of action.
Since you are relatively nearby, you and your husband could plan some Saturday or Sunday trips. Bring your bikes and ride around some. Get to know the streets and neighborhoods.
Drop into the Phoenix for a cup of coffee and some conversation. Or, just spend some time at Lakewood Park and strike up some talk. (Although our park is very popular with non Lakewoodites so they may be visitors, also)
Make sure one of your trips includes the pup and a visit to the dog park. Lakewood Dog Park.org can give you a preview.
The Observation Deck is the best place for up to date info. But if you want to spend some time with any of us Jim or Jill will notify you about our next get together.
Stan Austin
Wow, I truly appreciate everyone's thorough responses. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to give advice. Obviously I expected pro-Lakewood response coming to this forum , but you all seem sincere and excited about the town you live in.
C. Dawson, your response was especially helpful since you moved from the Hts. The school issue is an important consideration and one of our biggest concerns being here in the Hts (whether or not we decide to have kids).
We plan to cross the river on Sunday and do some exploring!
Hey Chef Geoff... a more inclusive list of places to go out for Sunday brunch along with the Chef Geoff way to brunch at home would be a good column...
“One of they key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace. Good people don’t go into government.”- 45
Actually, that would be a cool subsection for the Observer forums ... restaurant reviews. Everyone could review restaurants/taverns/coffeeshops or any other place they eat, so that when someone's curious about trying a place, they can check out the forum and see if anyone's reviewed it yet.
That'd sure be a help for newcomers like me, though I haven't been disappointed yet by any place in town.
Jen, good luck; and don't worry about crossing the river, I've spent nearly my whole life on the East Side, and I've survived crossing the Great Divide quite well. And if you and your husband decide to look around for houses in town, I can even recommend my realtor, John Craighead of Realty One (though I'm sure other folks have good recommendations for realtors), who's also my neighbor and a lifelong Lakewood resident; he was great at showing us around town, recommending places to eat (and boy, was he ever right about Angelo's ... and I can say that as someone who was addicted to Mama Santa's), and also really watching out for us as we house-hunted, pointing out possible problems with some homes, and highlighting good qualities we missed in other homes. And he's still great in giving me recommendations for local contactors and service vendors, as I look into getting a little work done on my house. And since he lives in the house he grew up in (with 9 other siblings ... not sure WHERE they all fit!), he's also great at letting me know the ins and outs of Lakewood homes, what needs fixed and when it should be fixed.
My own recommendations; check out Lakewood Park ... the walkway along the lakefront is really nice, and if you're thinking about having kids, look at the playground there, it's great! Check out the Rocky River Metropark a little bit ... nice place to walk, ride a bike, or otherwise explore. Stop in for a cup of coffee at Phoenix Coffeehouse in downtown Lakewood ... drive by the Lakewood Post Office on Warren and see the GiANT parking lot ... it NEVER gets backed up or jammed like the Cleveland Heights Post Office (and if that's not a bonus, I don't know what is), drive by the new YMCA building, stop for lunch at Sullivan's on Madison(first place my wife and I ate at in Lakewood, and still a favorite ... though the seafood deep dish pizza at Angelo's might convince you there and then to pack up and move here), and pick up a copy of the Observer somewhere in town so you can get a feel for the city, and the passion people have for it (every week we came out looking at houses, we picked up a copy at the library). We spent a lot of time driving up and down every street in the city, looking at houses, and we were pleasantly surprised by how nice folks keep their houses (on a weekend, you'll see a lot of people out working in their yards or on their house), and all the kids out playing. That's what we looked for in our searches. We wanted a street where people cared about their houses, and also a slew of young kids out and about. I will say some streets are better than others, but you'll find that in any town, especially the Heights. You'll also see some of the new developments in town, like the YMCA and the library, along with the Rockport project and Rosewood project, and see that there's some serious money being invested in the city, which is lovely to see. Oh yes, also stop by Breadsmith on the corner of Detroit and West Clifton ... great place for bread, though I'm also fond of the Bavarian Pastry Shop, Elmwood Bakery, and Tommy's Pastries. And the chocolate at Sweet Designs on Detroit is some of the best you can ever have ... my sister-in-law in Chicago is now addicted to it.
And while we don't have kids yet, undoubtedly you'll see me out in the front yard on sunday, trimming up some hedges, and fiddling with the front garden. Gotta keep the place looking good!
Just to keep things equal-time for our household, I also emailed my wife and asked her what she liked about Lakewood, and she wrote: "the people over here are nicer and it seems like all the places we like to shop at are closer and more convienent. I also feel like the whole city is safer as opposed to Cleveland Heights where I felt safe in some areas, but not in others ... I'm very happy in Lakewood so far."
There are two formal Volkmarch walking tour guides available in Lakewood's Main Library at 15425 Detroit Avenue. One is the "Lakewood History Walk." The second is "the Clifton Park Trail Walk."
There is a Emerald Canyon Volksmarch coming up on August 5, the day of the Lakewood Arts Festival. Starting time is between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at your convenience.
Our deputy director Kim Senft-Paras has spear-headed these walks. She says to call her at 226-8275 ext. 102 if you need any information on formal walking tour guides or if you care to probe her positive estimation of the learning potential and quality of teaching in the Lakewood City Schools.
Frank Mills, from Urban Repair, has conducted exploratory neighborhood walks in cooperation with the library.
Frank is a big advocate for Birdtown, where the Thai Kitchen on Madison rules, and he is another resource available through the Lakewood Observer.
Actually, that would be a cool subsection for the Observer forums ... restaurant reviews. Everyone could review restaurants/taverns/coffeeshops or any other place they eat, so that when someone's curious about trying a place, they can check out the forum and see if anyone's reviewed it yet
I'll set up a thread for reviews under the CHef Geoff area....if it gets traction, we'll see about giving it a separate category. Good idea....but always important to know the reviewer's expectations...
You're all making me hungry and want to drive over right now!
When my husband hears about the deep dish seafood pizza he will be sold!
Thanks for the realtor tip too.
We will be taking all the suggestions here to heart. I am looking forward to exploring....we'll pick up a walking tour guide at the library....or just roam randomly.
, but you all seem sincere and excited about the town you live in.