Rediscover your feet; walk our great Heights neighborhoods
Walkability is as important as location in choosing a home. So says a new study by the CEOs for Cities, a group of urban redevelopment advocates.
According to a Jan. 9 article in the New York Times, the study found that “the street corner beats the cul de sac. It looked at sales of 90,000 homes in 15 markets to estimate how much value was associated with something called the Walk Score. Using a 100 point scale, this score rates the number of destinations, including libraries, parks and coffee shops, within walking distance of home.”
When Mike and I moved back to Cleveland we did exactly that. We wanted a condo but we also wanted a safe, established neighborhood with mature trees, friendly neighbors and with good restaurants, libraries, museums, movie theaters….. The condo Mike wanted was in Lakewood on Detroit Avenue in an area that couldn’t match the Heights for amenities on anybody’s scale.
The neighborhood and lifestyle we both wanted is in the Heights.
Mike literally triangulated between the business districts of Cedar Lee, Cedar Fairmount and Coventry. We found a perfect Tudor house on Berkshire Road, within 15 minutes' walk of each of these districts.
The day we moved in, a neighbor invited us to a party. Two and a half years later, Mike and I enjoy many friends along the street, entertaining in our classic Heights home and tending our beautiful gardens.
Our neighborhood, which I call the Old Coventry School neighborhood, is rated as very walkable by Walk Score. Click to get a walking score for your neighborhood. We have a five-minute walk to Coventry Village District with the library, Coventry School park, Big Fun, Tommie’s, Cav du Vin, Bodega, Hunan, Mint Café and Dave’s Cosmic Subs, to name a few attractions.
Fifteen minutes walk gets us to the Cedar-Lee District with its movie theater, pharmacy, 15+ restaurants and bars, and the “to die for” Mitchell's Fine Candies. Down the hill toward Cleveland is Cedar Fairmount, with an assortment of ethnic restaurants, Nighttown for world class jazz, banks, a bookstore, hair salons, and The Alcazar, a fabulous hotel.
There are hundreds of shops within walking distance and if you need to use your car, you needn’t drive more than five miles in any direction for a great (and BIG) selection of automotive shops, hair solons, restaurants and specialty shops. The Heights is also home to great family-owned grocery stores. Corporate supermarkets have a tough time of it competing here because of Zagara’s, Heinen’s, Dave’s and Marc’s.
The Heights is also home to great green spaces. Our neighborhoods are graced with 100-year-old oaks. And if that’s not green enough for you, you have your choice of Shaker Lakes and Forest Hills Park (great for cross country skiing); Cain Park with its theatre and music venues, sledding hill and summer arts fair, and Lake View Cemetery–285 acres overlooking Lake Erie.
Just down the hill from the Heights is the the Case Western Reserve University campus, home of the Garden Center, Wade Oval Circle, the fabulous reflecting pond in front of our world-class Art Museum. Further along is Rockefeller Park with its international gardens. We love to bike down to Lake Erie through campus and these beautiful gardens. Even in winter these spaces can be enjoyed. Walk in any of these parks and enjoy nature in the middle of our cityscapes.
Reconnect with your feet! Rediscover your city unencumbered by moving metal! Do your heart a favor and walk. Tell your friends to move to 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.