Househunting, Part I: The Neighborhood Grocery Store
For the last three months, Jim and I have been looking for a house. This is the self-appointed foreclosure capital of America, so I thought this would be a piece of dobos torte.
It hasn't been.
It's been really difficult, because it turns out there aren't a lot of places that suit our needs. As it turns out, we have a lot of needs.
For example, we need to walk to a grocery store but it can't just be any grocery store, it has to be a locally-owned grocery store that's a) got a good produce section and b) not Marc's. We're sort of willing to take public transit to this locally-owned-non-Marc's grocery store, but (I kid you not) the formula goes something like this:
time spent walking (t) must be lesser than or equal to the weight of the grocery bags (w) times the number of transfers (n) squared.
Yeah.
We found one house we loved out in western Lakewood which was great because we could've walked to Nature's Bin, but it was just too far out and too inconvenient for Jim to get to work (he works in Valley View, which is probably the LEAST best place to work when you're trying to go car-free). And besides Nature's Bin, there wasn't too much else to walk to.
So at least in terms of the grocery store, what I seem to want is either to plop Nature's Bin down into downtown Lakewood OR to plop a cheap Lakewood house down in Ohio City between the West Side Market and Dave's.
But that gets into the price of houses, and I'm saving that for Part II.
It hasn't been.
It's been really difficult, because it turns out there aren't a lot of places that suit our needs. As it turns out, we have a lot of needs.
For example, we need to walk to a grocery store but it can't just be any grocery store, it has to be a locally-owned grocery store that's a) got a good produce section and b) not Marc's. We're sort of willing to take public transit to this locally-owned-non-Marc's grocery store, but (I kid you not) the formula goes something like this:
time spent walking (t) must be lesser than or equal to the weight of the grocery bags (w) times the number of transfers (n) squared.
Yeah.
We found one house we loved out in western Lakewood which was great because we could've walked to Nature's Bin, but it was just too far out and too inconvenient for Jim to get to work (he works in Valley View, which is probably the LEAST best place to work when you're trying to go car-free). And besides Nature's Bin, there wasn't too much else to walk to.
So at least in terms of the grocery store, what I seem to want is either to plop Nature's Bin down into downtown Lakewood OR to plop a cheap Lakewood house down in Ohio City between the West Side Market and Dave's.
But that gets into the price of houses, and I'm saving that for Part II.
posted by Christine Borne at 1:28 PM
15 Comments:
Just curious, what do you have against Marc's? I used to live by one and I really miss the inexpensive produce.
Well, sorry if this makes me sound like a snob but I've never found the selection of food to be that great. (I actually am a snob about food, I probably shouldn't apologize for that.)
Then there's the fact that Marc's stores never seem to get cleaned and - now this is hearsay - I had a friend who worked at Marc's in high school and he always said that employees were treated like dogs. I'm always kind of suspicious of "discount" places for this reason - you know, how well can these people be getting paid?
I don't know if you're willing to venture back to the east side, but there are lots of houses within easy walking distance of the Zagara's on Lee and the Dave's stores at Shaker Square and Cedar-Fairmount. Of course, none of those places offer convenient routes to Valley View, either.
I've only been living here a year, but Marcs actually has been improving since I got here. They also have very good prices on some usually expensive items at other stores. For example, they have a huge range of Bob's Red Mill flours at prices you can't beat anywhere. It may be worth checking out again. Or at least check the one that would be near your new home.
I concur with your feelings about Marc's, C. Also, ever think about getting a used vespa? Pretty cheap and could make a quick jaunt to a grocery store that is otherwise a bit too far to walk more of an option. I'm thinking about getting one when the weather improves.
I've thought about getting a vespa, but not very seriously. my balance isn't so good, i never learned how to ride a bike, and it would be an expense i don't really want or need. that said, i wish i saw more of them on the road. the university circle police force has this souped-up segway thing - that would be pretty cool, too.
Hard to think about good local groceries without thinking of Heinen's, although it's unlikely you'd find a location to suit you. (University Heights?) Even though they're not in the city, Heinen's is an awesome asset.
That said, Dave's in Ohio City has way better background music.
Okay--fess up. You want to have kids, but you don't want them to have to go to school with the "damaged" kids in Cleveland. Christine--visit Benjamin Franklin School on Spring Rd. in South Hills. You can have your cake and eat it, too. You can buy fresh produce and bakery goods from Foote's Farm stand on Canal Rd. Your husband can ride a bike to work. Does that work for you?
Jeanne- I do like Heinen's, even more than I used to because the guy who used to own Danny Boy's Farm Market is the produce buyer there now. We used to live by the Heinen's in Shaker Heights. It was sort of walkable, if you could get over the cars (mostly piloted by old ladies) who weren't watching out for you.
BBC- we're not planning on having kids, actually. I have no interest in or desire to give my life over to a child or children - that's for tougher, more dedicated (and less moody) people than me. But I hope someone else reading this can use your school recommendation! Foote's is actually closed for most of the year, too, unfortunately.
For us, it's not a suburb vs. city issue so much as the fact that so much of Cleveland proper is unwalkable. And the handful of neighborhoods that are sort of walkable are also way too expensive for us (like Ohio City). Central Lakewood, Cedar-Lee, and even Coventry are just much better walking neighborhoods. It's just a somewhat disappointing technicality that they're not in the city limits.
I am not being mean...but I detect elitism in your shifting rationale. My neighborhood IS the most walkable neighborhood in Cleveland or the suburbs. I can assure you of this fact. I have lived Cleveland east and west, north and south and the suburbs.
BBC- I'm not sure what you mean by "elitism" or "shifting rationale."
Maybe I haven't made myself clear - or maybe I've said what mean in too many different blog posts, and never in one place!
I need to be within walking distance of a good business district. A good business district to me includes a grocery store, a drugstore with a pharmacy, someplace to get a drink, preferably a selection of dentists and doctors, a couple of restaurants I like, a place to buy newspapers, magazines and greeting cards, a pet supply place (or at least a drugstore with more than 2 brands of cat food), a library, a POST OFFICE (which is someplace I really don't want to have to take the bus to, particularly when I've got packages), a branch of my bank, AND easy access to the RTA routes I use most, that will get me to/from University Circle (where I work) the most expediently. (I'm also not willing to buy along just any bus route, because RTA can cut bus routes at will.)
Granted, that's a lot of stuff. And there's not any neighborhood in Cleveland proper or its suburbs that has all of those things, that I've determined. I don't know where you live, so I can't say for sure if your neighborhood is the most "walkable" for me.
Frankly, I want to continue living within walking distance of the West Side Market - this has consistently been about my favorite place in the world since I was a little kid. But...we haven't found any houses within our price range within a reasonable walking distance from the train station. So I might have to just give that up.
And frankly, I don't *want* to live in a suburb and work in Cleveland and be submitted to that ridiculous, parochial, antiquated double-taxation thing.
If you think all that's elitist, that's certainly your prerogative. I'll be the first to admit I *am* elitist about certain things (food, for one), but this isn't one of them.
I shudder to think what fiscal shape Cleveland would be in if it didn't have the ability to tax the incomes of workers at big employers such as the Cleveland Clinic.
Kamm's Corners has all of those things.
I live in Brooklyn Centre, as I have mentioned..oh, almost every time I log on to a computer. So, if you check your check list, you will see that Brooklyn Centre has all of the must-haves you have enumerated in your walkable neighborhood. Check, check, check...I won't bother you again...and I doubt this will show up on your blog, since librarians are the worse censors out there, and, believe me, I hate to criticize a fellow librarian, professional courtesy and all, but you need to work on your research skills.
BBC- I think we'd both agree that the *best* censors are not librarians, but those people who think Harry Potter is the agent of the devil and that children shouldn't read anything other than the Bobbsey Twins.
I regret that you seem to be offended somehow by the fact that Brooklyn Centre isn't the right neighborhood for us. Before you cast aspersions on my research methods, however, please consider that the main reason Brooklyn Centre and Old Brooklyn (and, for that matter, anyplace on the east side) isn't what we're looking for is that it doesn't fit our RTA transportation needs (which should, in retrospect, have been at the TOP of the list). In short, it'd be a pain the ass to get to some of the places we need (and like) to get to on a regular basis. (I used to live near Ridge and Memphis, which isn't quite Brooklyn Centre, I know, but it's close enough that I remember how cumbersome some of those carefully calculated bus transfers were.)
In the spirit of Christmas, however, just so no one goes away with hurt feelings, I promise we will take one day to look at some houses in your 'hood. Any suggestions?
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