Living in and around Cleveland

Downtown is a place Boomers as well as Millennials are calling home—largely because of the quality of life: easy access to work, excellent entertainment venues, world-class restaurants and reliable public transit. The East Bank of the Flats is alive and bustling and vibrant and jumping. If you’re coming here from New York and Manhattan is your baseline, downtown might be just the place for you. Tremont is another neighborhood that has become attractive to young professionals and hipsters. It’s noted for galleries, restaurants and shops, and there’s even a monthly art walk. The Warehouse District is a classic example of a neighborhood revived by artists to the point where artists were priced out of the market. If you’re someone who likes being on the leading edge of a neighborhood in redevelopment, St. Clair Superior is showing signs of being such a place.

In the suburbs, Bratenahl is one of the originals. Bordered by the city on three sides and by the Lake Erie shoreline to the north, Bratenahl has been listed as the 92nd wealthiest community in the U.S. Incorporated in 1905, it was founded by Cleveland industrialists who needed summer cottages along the lake. Bratenahl has 700 households and a population of 1,200. When you move in, you’re likely to meet the chief of police. The village is populated by people who (a) want to be close to downtown and (b) can afford lakeside mansions. Noted residents have included former Cavaliers coach Mike Fratello, Cavaliers guard Larry Hughes, and Indians Kenny Lofton and David Justice.

With Cleveland’s West Side (including Westlake, Avon, Avon Lake, Lakewood, Rocky River, Berea and Strongsville), you’re in for a classic Midwestern suburban experience. It’s a more laidback vibe here—a vibe you might already know and expect if you actually hail from a Midwestern suburb. Also laid back is the traffic and the weather. There isn’t as much traffic congestion on the West Side. And there tends to be less lake weather here, which means less wind, rain and snow. There are also some excellent schools on the West Side, and can be just the place for a family that wants to have a real, Midwestern lifestyle with access to the downtown scene.

Are you an Easterner relocating to Cleveland? The East Side (including Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, University Heights, Mayfield Heights, Beachwood, Pepper Pike, Gates, Mills and Moreland Hills)is going to seem familiar—not only in terms of the vibe, but the weather. The feeling here is similar to the Eastern seaboard, with a faster pace, more ethnic diversity, higher taxes, more rain, more snow and more wind. (You Bostonians are already feeling right at home, aren’t you?)