Best Places To Live: University Heights

Elle Mahlbaum, 31
Rabbi

We moved here a year ago for work. We’d planned to drive to Cleveland to house-hunt in April 2020, but then the pandemic started, so we did everything fully virtually from Long Island. We didn’t end up seeing our house until we arrived in Cleveland and got the keys. 

The synagogue where my husband and I work is six minutes from here, so there’s no lengthy commute. At this stage of our family life, with a small child, we knew we wanted to live close to where we were working. 

We're getting to know our neighborhood by foot, and we love the walkability. 

Our street feels like a microcosm of University Heights. It’s a diverse area, and it’s also really generationally mixed — a couple of snowbirds, some younger grandparents and some young families, as well as folks that don’t have kids. 

We've been trying to taste the neighborhood. Maybe it’s because we’re a rabbi and cantor couple, or maybe it’s because we came here from New York, but a priority for us was finding a good bagel. We really lucked out being right up the street from Bialy’s. 

Visit clevelandmagazine.com/bestplacestolive to read more about Cleveland’s 77 Best Places To Live.