Why we chose the Heights

We bring you this new Web page because we love livin’ in the Heights. Don’t you?

My husband and life partner Mike and I moved to the Cleveland area twice – once for his job, more recently for my job. Both times we chose the Heights. Why? Because we wanted a quality of life that only the Heights could provide. We had been long-time residents of Ann Arbor, home to a world class university and Zingerman’s Deli. We loved A2’s walkability; it’s a compact town with all the culture and lifestyle advantages that a small college town can offer.

The Heights has that and more! A cool city by a great lake! The inner ring cities of Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, University Heights and South Euclid, share much the same college feel that Ann Arbor has, but they have so much more: They share a major-league city with major-league museums, a symphony, and world-class live theatre. They share a cool urban experience, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum, and an increasingly more accessible waterfront.

I’m also an impatient driver. I don’t want to spend my life in a car, cooling my jets in traffic jams. I wanted a short drive to my job at Cleveland State University in downtown Cleveland. I wanted to be able to bike to the lake. I wanted to be able to walk to my local grocery store (Zagara’s rocks!), to Cain Park, to Little Italy, to great bars and restaurants, to libraries, to movie theaters… count them: plural. We have three movie theaters within walking distance of our home!

And did I mention the housing stock? In Ann Arbor a modest two bedroom home could cost you $300,000 to $400,000. This buys you a 1,600 square foot Cape Cod or ranch with no personality. The Heights communities have a fantastic selection of beautiful homes at very affordable prices. In fact, our Cleveland Heights home, a beautiful 1920s English Tudor in a terrific neighborhood, would have cost over twice as much in Ann Arbor, if it had even been available. Ann Arbor has only three blocks of homes that match, in quality, the 1920s English garden homes of the Heights.

Lisa Gaynier lives in the old Coventry School neighborhood with her husband Mike and their cat Andie. She teaches and directs a Masters program in Diversity Management at Cleveland State University.