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LIVING IN
SHAKER HEIGHTS
Alex Kolesar
Moving to Shaker Heights Ohio Tips - 2021
Published March 2021
Shaker Heights is a hyper planned community founded back in 1911 by the Van Sweringen brothers. If you want to know exactly what its like to eat, sleep, live and play all right here in Shaker Heights Ohio, then this article is just for you! Living in Shaker Heights offers residents an urban suburban mix feel with tons of restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. My name is Alex Kolesar, Im a Real estate agent here in Northeast Ohio so if you’re looking to move to the area, make sure you reach out to me so we can connect. Watch the video below to learn about the pros and cons of living in Shaker Heights Ohio.
Shaker has a ton of stuff to do. The Van Aken district, which cost around $100 Million, is an upscale, modern place, that’s super fun area that’s perfect for gatherings. This is known as the downtown area and the RTA train system actually ends here so transportation is very easy.
Way over on the West side, you also have Shaker Square, which was actually designed by the Van Sweignen brothers and is the oldest shopping district in Ohio, this is a busy intersection that offers a bunch of shopping and restaurants. The blue line runs through both districts and goes all the way to downtown Cleveland.
Now back over to the Van Aken District, which is also the downtown, you have an amazing rock climbing facility, Shaker Rocks. I’ve been here a few times and fox 8 actually did a special on it, link in the description below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN2OAdb0FrA
Right down the street, you also have Thornton Park which has an ice skating rink, swimming pool, skate parks, and tennis courts.
Now I love golf and shaker only has the county club which you need a membership to play at, but around Shaker in neighboring cities there are a ton of awesome courses like Highland park and Canterbury.
If you don't enjoy golf but want to head outdoors with the family, the Nature Center at Shaker lakes is a great park with awesome trails. The trails were renovated recently and. They look great. This nature center was founded in 1966 to prevent a highway from destroying the land.
Shaker is a very diverse community and according to Niche.com, Shaker actually ranks Shaker as the #6 most diverse city in the Cleveland area with 70% of the residents saying diversity is the one phrase that describes Shaker Heights. You’re gonna see different people from all walks of life, but really where the diversity shows is in the local food.
There are endless options to choose from and my favorite part is the fact that majority of the restaurants are not big chain stores. If you're interested in seeing the best places to eat, click here. If you're looking for good food, Shaker has it!
Shaker Heights Neighborhoods
Shaker Heights Wins “Best town to Raise a Family” in 2020 parent choice awards. The neighborhoods are super walkable, there are exceptional schools, tons of parks, and there’s, in my opinion, the perfect mix of suburban and urban living. On the main road, it’s going to be busy. You feel like you’re in a big city. Then you hop onto a side street and you have nice and quiet neighborhoods.
There are 9 different areas in Shaker and all are slightly different from another. Malvern is the most expensive neighborhood, Ludlow is the least expensive. The average home in shaker is around $250,000 which is slightly above the national average. The cheapest area is Moreland with an average price of $72k and the most expensive is Malvern with an average price of $512k.So the cost of living is definitely a little more expensive here. If you're interested in moving to Shaker, make sure you reach out so I can point you in the right direction.
Cons of living in Shaker Heights Ohio
There isn't a ton of businesses in Shaker. You have your mom and pop shops, restaurants, and even a Cleveland Clinic hospital, which is nice to have in your back yard, but not having a large business presence means a lot of people have to commute to jobs located in other cities. In addition to that, having large business presence in a city really helps pay a significant portion of The local taxes.
Cons - Cost of living. Shaker does have the second most expensive tax rate in all of the Cleveland Metro at 4.01%, just behind Cleveland hts area. Link is below in the description of all of Cleveland suburbs tax rates.
https://treasurer.cuyahogacounty.us/pdf_treasurer/en-US/LevyImpacts.pdf
Cons - Traffic
Shaker isn’t a huge city but its densely populated with 27,000 residents. That’s the one thing that pretty unique about Shaker is that You’ll notice along Streets like Van Aken, Shaker Blvd and Moreland Blvd and Warrensville center rd that their are huge apartment complexes and condo that tower over the streets.
Because there is so much traffic, most of the main streets are one ways and you can see that you share the road with the trains as well. Now there isn't any overnight parking from 2am - 6am, but during the day, the streets are full of parked cars that you have to go around. My first time to the city I got a little lost and overwhelmed. There was people walking everywhere, cars around me and then you got a train that you have to worry about, but you’ll get used to it.
Con - Crime
Like all cities, there are going to be your good areas, and your bad area. You know the says, once your cross over the rail road track in you’re in a different neighborhood. You have the blue line that runs along Van Aken and according to this crime map, the most dangerous areas are found below that area. If you’re curious on looking up this information on your own, link in the description.
Communities Served
In Conclusion, Who Is Shaker Heights Right For?
It's a top destination in Cleveland for families, with an excellent education system and lots of family-friendly community activities. Most of the homes here are very old but very luxurious and large in square feet. Just make sure that you check the taxes because they can be expensive!