Walking distance
I just wrote this in a comment on my househunting: part one post, and I think it bears repeating.
In order for a neighborhood to be really walkable, it's got to have more than just sidewalks and pretty houses to look at. It's got to have all of those things that people without cars need to access or to buy.
Here's what I want to have within walking distance:
a grocery store,
a drugstore with a pharmacy,someplace to get a drink,
preferably a selection of dentists and doctors,a couple of restaurants of varying price-range,
a place to get my hair cut,a place to buy newspapers, magazines, stamps, 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 mostAlas, no such neighborhood seems to exist in Cleveland or environs, so I'm having to prioritize. Am I willing to get on the bus laden with grocery bags? How far am I willing to go to get library books? Would it be prudent to switch banks? (Asking me to switch banks is sort of like asking me to pull out my own eyelashes).
posted by Christine Borne at 4:41 PM
6 Comments:
Not to be a homer, but Cedar-Lee in the Heights really meets several, though not all, of your requirements. The only exceptions are in terms of grocery stores (though Zagara's is only a little way down Lee Road), a post office (there could be one close but I haven't looked and one doesn't come immediately to mind), and your bank (though I don't know where you bank). I also don't know how good of a RTA hub the area is.
The center of Lakewood would meet that criteria, somewhere around Warren and Detroit--you'd pretty much have all that, a library on Detroit, a post office and pet store at Warren and Detroit, Giant Eagle (which I know doesn't exactly fit your criteria for where you want to buy groceries, but it is a grocery store) down at Bunt's and Detroit with both a bank and a pharmacy, bars and restaurants along Detroit. I don't know about haircuts since it's been two years since I had one...
I've lived in the Coventry area, Ohio city and now Lakewood about five blocks up from 117th, and so far Lakewood has been the best walking neighborhood. And with a bike and a backpack or baskets on the bike, it's even better.
It appears to me that there is exactly one post office in Cleveland Heights, somewhere around Severance Town Center. Corrections cheerfully accepted.
i'll vouch for the cedar-fairmount area of cleveland heights. There's a great Dave's supermaret with a good foreign food section and produce. The 32 is a reliable bus that runs every 45 minutes that can get you to cedar-lee in less than 10 minutes, there is a circulator that can get you around little italy and coventry, a bus that can get you to severance (post office, Home depot) and all can be caught in or very near this area. Its a beautiful neighborood to ride your bike in the summer (maybe a little hilly). Close to University Circle and Case and very Close to the Red Line for no-transfer-trips to the west side market. The Moreland Bus can get you to Shaker Sqaure (Green and Blue Lines)and the Larchmere neighborhood with art galleries and lots of good restaurants everywhere, 99% local.
as long as you don't mind all the pre-med students, who are very nice i'm sure, this is a great place to live.
Ever thought about a neighborhood near a mall?
I'm within walking distance from almost all of those (a 2-10 minute walk depending) in Lakewood near St. Eds. Can't speak to the RTA routes since unfortunately I have to drive to work each day.
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