On-the-move millennials take note: Tremont and Ohio City aren’t the only areas aflutter with hip restaurants, fashionable boutiques and an energetic urban vibe.
Cleveland Heights offers a colorful plumage of roosts for young homebuyers with a mix of cozy bungalows, grand Tudors, impressive Georgians and even a new townhome development on the former John L. Severance estate.
“There’s this legit sense of old city here,” says 36-year-old Kent Stricker, sitting on a sofa at the Wine Spot. Located in the former Seitz-Agin Hardware store, the Lee Road wine and beverage shop takes pride in its terroir with fixtures and furnishings crafted from reclaimed wood, art showcasing the work of nearby Cleveland Institute of Art students and a host of local brews on tap.
“My wife and I moved here from New York thinking we would be out of touch,” says Kent, who relocated from Manhattan a decade ago and now owns AV Club, a home tech installation company. “That’s definitely not been the case.”
Less than 10 minutes from downtown and University Circle’s cultural institutions and health care centers, the streetcar suburb offers a hub of food, culture and recreation. Browse Heights Arts on Lee, a well-to-do gallery specializing in vibrant abstract works. Take a jog or bike through Cain Park before a jazz matinee. Meet friends for some killer tibs at Zoma Ethiopian Restaurant or pomegranate martinis on the Fairmount’s candlelit patio. Own a guitar? The Heights has several open mics for budding musicians. Head to the Grog Shop on Coventry after you’re good.
As one Phoenix Coffee Co. shop-goer sums it up: “This place has a lot of purpose.”
That idea fit well with Kent and his wife, Katherine, a librarian at CIA. They didn’t want to raise kids in the Big Apple and found a $112,000 century-old Craftsman with a huge lot on Lee Road. “A total steal,” says Kent, who doesn’t even mind the high property taxes considering what the city has in amenities and services.
Yet it’s the spirit of cultural diversity and character, Kent says, that’s kept him and his growing family of four from flying the coop.
“I swear the Heights feels just as it did 10 years back,” he says.
Neighborhood Profile
2016 Total Home Sales: 815
2016 Median Home Sale Price: $102,000
Education Ranking: 47
Safety Ranking: 65
