The city and where you want to live:
Cleveland is broadly divided into the East and West sides, both of which have numerous suburbs. The overwhelming majority of the cultural institutions in Cleveland are located on the East side in or around ?University Circle?. As you might have guessed, this is where Case Western Reserve University is located, along with University Hospitals of Cleveland and the medical school (CWRU). The circle and university itself is situated at the east margin of the city of Cleveland proper, at the foot of a hill leading up through a neighborhood called Little Italy into Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights, two east side suburbs. The Cleveland Clinic (the hospital and medical school - CCF) is located about ? mile west of University Circle on Euclid Avenue, one of three main arteries from University Circle to downtown Cleveland.
CCF does not (generally) have much housing within walking distance, and the closest housing will be the same housing that CWRU students will use. There may be a few apartment buildings nearby, but I have not been in them. Hence, everything mentioned about housing here applies both to CCF and CWRU
As one starts at the first suburb on the east side (Cleveland Heights) and moves (roughly) east to west, the ?wealth? of the suburb increases ? again, very generally ? and therefore the cost of housing tends to go up as you move farther east ? although there are certainly a few blips in cost along the way. Let?s start at or near campus.
At the foot of the campus and hospitals there is situated the Triangle Apartments, a collection of two high rise apartment buildings. I think these were built in the early 1990?s, and therefore make them among the newest apartment buildings in the area. They have a covered garage and are located by a rapid station. I lived in a one-bedroom apartment there in the late 1990?s and it cost me $750 a month. I have it on good word that the same apartment today would be about $850-900. Anyway, I found it clean and comfortable and EXTREMELY convenient to school.
Little Italy is an ?historical district? adjacent to the medical school. When I lived there, it was a total dump (and parts of it still are) and there is little there to suggest that it deserves the designation that it has. Rumor has it that in the 1960?s, the neighborhood lobbied for designation in order to prevent the University from buying up all the properties there for expansion. Of late, it has gentrified considerably. Half the housing in little Italy is rental, and consists of converted homes into multiple units. In my day, I have visited many that have smelled like vomit, while others were quite nice. You have to shop around. The rest of the housing is owned. Some of it original (meaning, falling down) and the rest consisting of uber-expesive brand new town homes ($400,000 and up) overlooking the city and university. There is also a converted school house in Little Italy with 12 or so condo units. These are ultra nice, and expensive. Many medical students live in the rental apartments in Little Italy and simply walk to school (5 minutes), go home for lunch, etc.
As you move up the hill, you hit Cleveland Heights. At the top of the hill on Overlook Road you will find the Waldorf Towers ? a quite building on a fairly quite street. This would be one of my favorite places to live. It?s about 12 stories, covered and lot parking (available and I think free). A HUGE studio in this building was about $450 in the lat 90?s. I?m guessing closer to $600 now. A one bedroom is closer to $750, I?m guessing, and up from there. This building is from the 1950?s, and some of the units have the original kitchens. But the units are clean and comfortable and few people have any complaints. Also within walking distance to the med school.
Cleveland Heights is one of Cleveland older communities, with a good smattering of turn of the century mansions, gentrified uber-expensive town-homes and a fairly good share of smaller apartment buildings (3 or 4 story buildings with 6-8 large units each). Some of these buildings are better than others (despite appearing almost identical from the outside) and will be reflect in price. Parking for these buildings can be difficult depending on the street (particularly those on Euclid Heights Blvd). Expect to pay $600 ? $800 a month for 3 bedroom units. Cleveland heights is a large suburb, and therefore depending on where you live, you may or may not be able to walk to school.
Moving a bit more east (and south, mostly south) you come into Shaker Heights, the most ?stately? of the Cleveland suburbs, with tree lines streets of $5M homes (Al Lerner, the namesake for the Cleveland Clinic program, owner of the Cleveland Browns and MBNA credit card company lives here, as well as a host of wealthy philanthropists) and long-rise apartment buildings of all price classes. This is a huge, varied and diverse (rated the most diverse community in the US in 2000 due to a 50/50 white/black ratio) community with plenty of places to live. I?ve always liked Shaker Heights and would have bought a home here but most of them are steam heat, which means no AC, which means I couldn?t have tolerated the summers - I am an AC sissy. For those with kids, Shaker Heights ALWAYS has the best (or nearly the best) schools in Cleveland (with the property taxes to match). Very pretty tree lined streets in most of the owned housing residential areas.
Moving east you come into University heights, which is named for John Carol University, and very picturesque Catholic liberal arts school. I like University Heights a lot because it is quite and clean, and fairly affordable. Some of the street are lined with low-rise red-brick with white trim apartment buildings that look great. Look for places to live near the ?Fairmount traffic circle?, on which JCU is situated. JCU has a nice library to study in, which will be nice because it?s way to far to walk to Case.
Finally, as you move out farther you hit Beechwood, the ?nuevo riche? community on the east side. Apartments near and around Beechwood mall and Legacy Village (the two ?upscale? malls in Cleveland? can run $1300-1500 for a one bedroom, and MUCH MUCH more. Some other less expensive apartments and condo?s abound, but still expect to pay 50% for all space in Beechwood compared to Cleveland Heights.
For those who don?t mind a bit of a drive, and want a slightly slower pace of life, there is the west side, which is where I live. Housing tends to be about the same price, but property taxes are lower, and there is more undeveloped space. The west side of Cleveland is more ?soccer mom?, if you know what I mean, particularly as you get out to Westlake. On the other hand, Lakewood (the nearest west side suburb) is pretty trendy and young, with TONS of low-rise apartment buildings (and a few expensive high rise ones as well). Expect to pay 500-600 for a one-bedroom. The drive to campus is about 20 minutes, which I do happily.
And then there is downtown. Over the past 10years or so Cleveland has been converting warehouses in the flats into expensive (and sometimes not so expensive) lofts and apartments for young urban professionals. I?m not sure how successful it has been since Cleveland still does not have that ?residential? feel to it downtown (for instance, no grocery stores, video rental places, etc.) But I have seen some of the apartments, and some are stunning. So, something to consider. Expect to pay $800 and up for HUGE one-bedroom. Cleveland also has some traditional high rise apartment buildings, but expect to pay plenty. Driving from downtown to campus is 5-10 minutes without traffic and a bit longer at rush hour.
If you have any questions, don?t hesitate to ask me. Next, I?ll talk about shopping and eating.
Judd
Still waiting for the (hopefully) generous fin aid Case will give me.
