What Makes Greater Cleveland a Great Place to Live? Good Neighbors: Best Places To Live: 2026

There’s a word Fred Rogers kept coming back to, one that sounds simple until you sit with it: neighbor. 

Not just the person next door — but the one two towns over, bagging oranges at the library so a stranger can take home dinner. The boutique owner quietly collecting what other women will need on a hard morning. The retiree who’s unloaded pantry trucks for years and calls the whole place a little neighborhood unto itself. The folks teaching a suburb to slow down and really taste its coffee. The gardener coaxing bees and butterflies back to a lawn, one native plant at a time. 

Northeast Ohio, it turns out, is full of good neighbors. We found a few.

Bags of Hope: A partnership between local libraries and the Greater Cleveland Food Bank helps Northeast Ohioans in their times of need

Rising costs are pushing working families in Cleveland's suburbs to food banks in record numbers. Despite government cuts, volunteers and organizations like the Greater Cleveland Food Bank serve over 400,000 people annually — proving that community-driven "neighbors helping neighbors" remains a vital lifeline against growing food insecurity.

Read more on Bags of Hope

Lawns Go Wild: A nonprofit’s Cleveland chapter helps Northeast Ohioans be better neighbors to the pollinators and animals that call their lawns home

A Berea woman transformed her lawn into a thriving native garden, then co-founded a nonprofit to inspire neighbors across Greater Cleveland to embrace Ohio's natural ecosystem together.

Read more on Lawns Go Wild

From One Girl to Another: As a drop-off center for I Support the Girls, Sanity helps reach women all across the region

A Chagrin Falls boutique quietly doubles as a donation hub, connecting neighbors' gently used bras and hygiene products to local women's shelters — proof that community care thrives when it happens organically.

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Community Fit: This local thrift reflects a larger mission, helping refugees and immigrants find stability, connection and a place to belong

A Liberian refugee found community and purpose at Common Threads, a thrift store where neighbors helping neighbors isn't just a motto — every purchase funds Cleveland nonprofits serving those rebuilding their lives.

Read more on Community Fit

Coffee Connection:  Mentor’s only specialty coffee shop connects its neighbors through the thing it does best

In Mentor, Calico Jack Coffee Roastery's monthly cupping classes are turning neighbors into a tight-knit family — bonding over loud slurps, wild tasting notes, and a shared love of craft coffee.

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This Year’s No. 1 Suburb Is Chagrin Falls: Local business owners and longtime residents explain how the neighborhood continues to foster a strong sense of connection

In Chagrin Falls, generations of neighbors have built something rare — a walkable, tight-knit town where kids walk home safely, businesses back each other, and everybody genuinely knows your name.

Read more on top suburb Chagrin Falls

Our Top 25 Suburbs

It’s interesting to see that each Cleveland suburb that makes our annual list is a better place to live because of its friendly neighbors and active community involvement.

Read more on the top suburbs

Meet Your Neighbors: With a little help from our neighbor (and contributor) John Skrtic, we chose eight people who show ways to be helpful around town

These eight neighbors share why they find being a good neighbor uplifting and rewarding.

Read more about these eight neighbors

From the Editors

Here is how we put together our package of top suburbs.

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