R at i n g t h e

Suburbs
photo by Bonnie Holland / portraits by
additional photoS by
Eric Mull
Brittany Schenk

What’s Inside
136 Top 20 Suburbs
138 No. 1 Suburb
139 Historic Towns
140 Walkable Cities
141 Rural Living
142 Retail Hot Spots
143 Nature Centers
144 Boomtowns
145 Lake Living
146 Bargain Suburbs
147 Top 15s
148 Vital Stats
150 Education Stats
L E V E L ASafety
134 C154 N D / June Stats
2010
Finding the right place to live means different things
to different people. Yes, we’d all like great schools, a safe
community and low taxes. Then there’s the extras that really
make a town special — a historic feel, access to Lake Erie or
plenty of shopping and dining nearby. We’ve got something
for everyone — whatever your taste may be.
Edited by
Kim Schneider

clevelandmagazine.com / C L E V E L A N D 135
 Suburbs

Top 20 Suburbs
Rating the

2010

Numsbales (200

Total
Owneousing un
EDUC RANK

Envir raction
Medisale price)*

Prop$e100,000)
(per valuation
h

sidew
Roadalks (%)
home price

home price

commervices
2004 sale

r-occ its
er of 9)*

i
SAFET K

onme s
(% ch

n
(% ch
an ho

10-yeale
ATION

f
rty ta

s
RAN
RANK

( 20 09

s wit
upied
-09
home

unity
s
ange)

ange)

ntal
me

ar

x
[2009 ranking]
Y

h
Twinsburg [15] 1 19 15 126 $222,750 -4.81% 26.20% 77.3% $1,600 4 14 56.0%
Co m m u ni ty

Orange Village [7] 2 21 6 35 $280,000 -20.79% 43.04% 95.7% $2,110 0 13 13.5%

Avon [17] 3 31 19 275 $245,000 17.37% 43.07% 88.3% $1,700 2 13 16.4%
Solon [2] 4 25 1 209 $252,000 -0.10% 12.00% 87.8% $2,000 6 14 40.6%
Aurora [6] 5 28 9 83 $294,000 29.94% 68.48% 81.9% $1,720 1 10 14.3%
Pepper Pike [8] 6 12 6 61 $383,000 -6.93% 18.76% 95.6% $2,190 0 14 0.1%
Richfield Village [1] 7 15 8 21 $168,000 -1.75% 24.44% 88.9% $1,680 1 11 3.4%
Kirtland [NR] 8 7 16 31 $270,800 18.25% 55.19% 86.7% $1,780 1 9 0.7%
Moreland Hills [9] 9 1 6 30 $350,500 -1.54% 11.27% 95.0% $2,120 0 12 0.0%
Rocky River [5] 10 27 5 253 $186,000 -18.78% 3.33% 71.2% $2,330 0 14 94.7%
Beachwood [13] 11 48 7 109 $255,000 -12.07% 19.72% 64.4% $1,920 0 12 90.0%
Independence [3] 12 38 25 54 $187,950 -12.58% 6.19% 94.6% $1,680 5 14 89.4%
Hudson [4] 13 32 2 202 $285,000 -0.39% 16.92% 90.4% $2,020 1 10 26.2%
Bay Village [14] 14 3 12 220 $173,250 -4.81% 13.98% 92.2% $2,510 0 11 100.0%
Avon Lake [11] 15 22 13 54 $189,000 6.24% 11.83% 87.0% $1,800 6 12 54.3%
Mayfield Village [NR] 16 6 28 25 $212,500 -11.94% 11.84% 81.8% $1,970 0 13 31.0%
Westlake [18] 17 30 10 314 $208,350 -10.29% -13.01% 74.8% $1,940 2 13 100.0%
Medina [16] 18 17 21 339 $136,500 -18.26% -4.68% 66.3% $1,700 9 14 96.8%
Bath [NR] 19 40 8 52 $284,450 16.10% 35.45% 91.8% $1,850 0 7 0.9%

Best Bargains
Willoughby [NR] 20 4 34 83 $149,700 7.12% 21.96% 59.8% $1,730 5 13 51.6%

As in years past, we looked at the 30 suburbs with the lowest

median home sale value (which was $136,000 or less) and
rated them the same way we compile our overall rankings.

Mayfield Heights [5] 1 51 28 164 $133,500 -3.96% 16.09% 50.8% $2,150 0 13 94.6%
Commun it y

North Olmsted [6] 2 36 30 231 $136,000 -12.26% -1.45% 79.7% $2,460 1 14 75.0%
Eastlake [1] 3 34 34 104 $123,200 -0.04% 19.73% 78.0% $1,720 4 11 18.6%
Amherst [NR] 4 47 31 140 $132,350 -15.70% 1.22% 85.4% $1,610 0 8 89.8%
Willowick [4] 5 44 34 123 $119,900 -6.51% 11.53% 83.2% $2,100 0 10 100.0%
Wickliffe [7] 6 45 40 95 $119,300 -8.23% 6.52% 84.4% $1,720 1 11 95.6%
Berea  [NR] 7 39 38 171 $119,000 -6.48% 7.21% 71.2% $2,270 2 12 94.7%
Lyndhurst [9] 8 14 43 171 $130,000 -14.47% 4.00% 88.0% $2,660 1 11 81.8%
Cuyahoga Falls [NR] 9 64 39 377 $117,000 0.00% 19.39% 65.7% $1,870 8 13 53.9%
Mentor-on-the-Lake [8] 10 43 20 39 $120,300 -4.90% 17.37% 68.9% $1,860 0 4 23.1%
Brook Park [10] 11 62 38 134 $114,450 -9.88% 1.73% 83.6% $2,010 8 12 77.6%
Cleveland Heights [NR] 12 56 49 315 $133,200 -1.33% 26.56% 62.1% $3,080 1 14 100.0%
Oakwood  [NR] 13 29 50 7 $118,900 -23.54% 26.49% 72.4% $1,920 0 7 8.9%
Lakewood  [NR] 14 53 37 407 $122,000 -11.27% 6.55% 45.2% $2,640 5 12 99.0%
Parma [NR] 15 67 44 604 $109,000 -11.88% 0.93% 77.5% $2,120 3 11 98.8%

136 C L E V E L A N D / June 2010

 Top 15 Top 15

RANK

RANK
education Safety

ranki
ranki
stats stats

2009g
2009g

n
n
1 Solon [1] 1 Moreland Hills [1]
Below level (%

District

Co m m u ni ty
2 Hudson [3] 2 Sagamore Hills Twp. [4]
(% min
Popu

Diverority)
pove )

3 Chagrin Falls [2] 3 Bay Village [14]

la

sity
tion

rty

4 Brecksville-Broadview Hts. [7] 4 Willoughby [19]

5 Rocky River [8] 5 Highland Heights [5]
17,394 2.1% 13.1%
6 Orange village [4] 6 Mayfield Village [8]
3,258 3.6% 18.5%
7 Beachwood [5] 7 Kirtland [7]
17,086 1.9% 3.0%
8 Revere [6] 8 Hinckley Twp. [9]
21,866 2.5% 12.2%
9 Aurora [12] 9 Chester Twp. [29]
14,548 3.6% 4.3%
10 Westlake [10] 10 Seven Hills [10]
5,715 3.7% 10.1%
11 Kenston [9] 11 Broadview Heights [15]
3,576 3.5% 2.6%
12 Bay Village [11] 12 Pepper Pike [11]
7,362 2.3% 1.5%
13 Avon [26] 13 Strongsville [12]
3,064 3.3% 7.0%
14 Olmsted Falls [18] 14 Lyndhurst [20]
18,900 2.3% 3.2%
15 Twinsburg [32] 15 Richfield village [35]
11,108 4.3% 13.5%
6,770 3.6% 2.4%
23,037 1.7% 5.3% education property tax
14,606 3.1% 2.0% how we rate Sources: Individual school districts and the Sources: 2009 rates of taxation are from coun-
how do you decide which Ohio Department of Education 2008-2009 Lo- ty auditors’ offices and include the 10 percent
23,996 2.3% 2.7% cal Report Card district data files. rollback and 2.5 percent reduction for owner-
suburbs are in the top 20?
In the years that we’ve rated Cleveland’s sub- Twenty-eight of the state’s 30 indicators for occupied residential property.
3,121 2.6% 5.6% student performance are based on standard-
urbs, we’ve evaluated three major factors:
30,546 2.5% 7.1% safety, education and housing. We’ve added ized tests. The other two standards are atten- population
dance and graduation rates. The state’s Perfor- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 estimates
other qualities that make a suburb desirable
25,824 5.7% 5.4% mance Index rewards the performance of every
— such as public services, diversity and walk- environmental infractions
ability — based on our readers’ feedback and student, not just those who score proficient or
10,188 1.3% 4.6% higher. The state tests students in reading and Source: The Ohio Environmental Protection
our 2006 survey of suburban Clevelanders, Agency’s database of reported polluted sites,
22,561 5.8% 3.5% which asked what they valued most in a com- math every year from third through eighth
grade and also tests writing in fourth grade which is continuously updated and includes
munity. Our standards are limited, to a degree, reports of polluted sites that the EPA has not
by what is quantifiable. and seventh grade and science and social stud-
ies in fifth grade and eighth grade. The 10th fully investigated
Scores are assigned to each suburb for
every category used in the rankings. Those grade state graduation test and 11th grade test
include reading, writing, social studies, science community services
scores are based on this year’s available num- The mayor’s office of each suburb informed us
bers for all of the communities. We then add and mathematics. Achieving adequate yearly
progress (AYP), part of the federal No Child Left which of the following services are available to
up the category scores, weighting certain cat- all residents: tennis courts, basketball courts,
egories more than others. Safety and educa- Behind Act, means increasing student achieve-
17,737 6.3% 8.2% ment incrementally over a 12-year period with baseball/softball diamonds, indoor or outdoor
tion, for example, are given more weight than ice rink, indoor swimming pool, outdoor swim-
31,319 4.1% 6.0% property tax, which is given more weight than the goal of 100 percent proficiency. The state’s
value-added ranking measures students’ prog- ming pool, public playground, recreation cen-
environmental infractions. ter, public skateboarding park, senior services,
19,520 5.0% 2.6% The top 20 are those suburbs with the ress from year to year. Districts whose students
exceed the state’s growth expectations get a youth services, free mulch, free leaf pickup, free
11,724 2.1% 3.2% highest combined scores — in other words, garbage pickup and recycling programs.
the suburbs that perform best in all of the cat- “green” rating from the state and extra points
egories combined. in our formula; a “yellow” rating means the
13,727 4.5% 2.2% roads with sidewalks
students met growth expectations; and a “red”
rating, which shows that the students did not Each suburb provided information on the
12,983 6.5% 4.6% miles of roads and sidewalks. When unavail-
17,987 5.5% 8.5%
how we did it meet growth expectations, means points lost in
able from the city, miles of roads were deter-
our formula.
Overall rankings are determined using raw The state was not able to calculate student- mined based on data from the Ohio Public
13,848 2.5% 3.3% data that is converted into points calculated teacher ratios for 2008-09 because of techni- Works Commission. Percentage of roads with
from the average in each category. Rankings cal problems with its data. We are publishing sidewalks was determined by dividing center-
51,090 6.1% 4.2% line miles of roads by half the miles of side-
for safety and education are awarded based the 2007-08 ratios this year but not counting
8,288 5.7% 2.9% on the total scores in each category. them in our ratings formula. walks (assuming sidewalks on both sides of
For more detailed reports on local state re- the street) and converting to a percentage.
19,194 4.6% 5.5% safety port cards, visit www.ode.state.oh.us.
Sources: Statistics for calendar year 2009 are poverty, diversity and
45,827 10.6% 47.5% provided by each suburb. Crimes per 1,000 in owner-occupied housing
median home-sale price
Richfield Village are based on the combined Sources: Cleveland State University’s Max- Source: 2000 U.S. Census; Diversity points are
3,719 6.3% 59.3%
populations of Richfield Village and Rich- ine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs awarded based on the suburb’s percentage of
50,704 8.9% 6.9% field Township, since the Richfield Village po- (1999, 2004). Figures for 2009 provided by minority residents (as defined by the Census),
lice patrol both and do not keep separate vil- the county auditors’ offices and include valid with the most points given to those suburbs
77,947 4.9% 4.3% lage stats. sales of single-family homes. closest to a 50 percent balance.

*These categories were not used to calculate ratings. clevelandmagazine.com / C L E V E L A N D 137


If you always wante d to b e i n t h e
Top suburbs
Twinsburg
1
Laura Leonard
loves a good
story. As the
director of the
Twinsburg
Public Library,
she’s read a
lot of them, discover-
ing other places and
times. But as a born-
and-raised Twinsburg
resident, the 42-year-
old prefers her reality
to any book.
“There’s a lot of security here
— familiar places, familiar peo-
ple,” she says of deciding to set-
tle down in her Summit County
hometown after attending col-
lege out of state. “It’s perfect to
live and work in the same town
you grew up in.”
Taking the No. 1 spot in this
year’s Rating the Suburbs, the
city of Twinsburg has many
stories to be proud of. Ten years
ago, the city saw a boost in pop-
ulation that changed the small
community of about 9,000 into
one almost double in size. The
economy was up, businesses
expanded, and others moved
to town. That healthy tax base
soon led to new single-family
developments.
Today, the school system has
an excellent with distinction
rating from the State of Ohio
Department of Education for
the second year in a row, and
city amenities include an af-
fordable fitness center. The pub-
lic library Leonard oversees has
been ranked No. 1 for its size
six out of the past 10 years, in-
cluding this year as it celebrates
its centennial.
138 C L E V E L A N D / June 2010
Services, schools and low taxes
lift this city to our top spot.
Leonard’s list of favorite
things about her city includes
Liberty Park, where she takes
her cavalier King Charles span-
iel, Calamity Jane, to play.
“We get people from outside
the community who come in
and are stunned by what Twins-
burg has to offer,” she says.
But the city has faced adversi-
ty, too. The recent closing of the
city’s Chrysler plant will result
in the loss of 1,000 jobs and a
revenue shortfall of about $4
million for the city. Twinsburg’s
leaders have already passed a
city budget 8.5 percent lower
Laura Leonard oversees
the top-ranked Twinsburg
Public Library.
than last year’s and hope a new
Cleveland Clinic medical facili-
ty set to open in 2011 and bring
300 new jobs will help offset
some of that lost revenue.
Leonard has seen her city
band together to get through
tough times before, specifically
the death of police officer Josh-
ua Miktarian in 2008.
“That was one point where
old and new Twinsburg melded
together,” she says. “It affected
everybody. To see the street shut
down and all the people out for
him was truly amazing.”
// Kim Schneider
More
Top Suburb
Options
6
Aurora
Orange Village
2 Schools that consis-
tently rank in our Top 10 (No. 6
this year), a strong median home
sale value (the fifth-largest jump
between 1999 and 2009), and
the most diversity of any Top 20
suburb propelled this 3.75-
square-mile village to another
finish near the top of our list.
Avon
3 This booming Lorain
County town may be working to
hang onto its country charm, but
the suburb’s growth during the
past decade has boosted median
home sale values an impressive 43
percent between 1999 and 2009.
It’s been a consistent Top 20 fin-
isher, coming in at No. 14 in 2007
and No. 17 the past two years.
Solon
4 This East Side suburb
has topped our school rankings
for three of the past five years,
falling only to No. 2 on the occa-
sions it didn’t come out on top.
That sterling schools performance
alone gives Solon a solid leg up.
Moderate taxes and abundant
city services, including many
activities for people with disabili-
ties, cemented the city’s finish.
Aurora
5 This outlying suburb
experienced the biggest jump in
median home sale value (68.5
percent) between 1999 and 2009,
reminding us of pre-real-estate
bust figures. Schools are also
a big reason Aurora made our
Top 5. After improving its finish
in each of the past three years,
Aurora’s school system broke the
Top 10 (No. 9) in our education
rankings this year.
 Rating the Suburbs
I f yo u wa n t a p i e c e o f

History
This city pays
homage
■ Chardon ■ Medina
to its past The 141-year-old Medina’s Public
with careful Geauga County Square anchors a
Courthouse looks nine-block historic
planning, down on a square district, built mostly
detailed that’s filled with between 1871 and
lunch and dinnertime 1882. Residents can
architecture picnickers in summer, buy a single nut or
and well-kept a row of brick store-
fronts built after an
bolt and get fix-it
advice at 139-year-
homes. 1868 fire, and streets old Medina Hardware
Dick Parke lives of exclusive century and enjoy century-old
in an 1842 Greek homes. marching-band music
Revival farmhouse. at festivals on sum-
■ Kirtland mer Fridays.

Shaker Heights
The Mormon church’s

w
years in Kirtland, in ■ Olmsted
the 1830s, still define Falls
the town’s character, This city still has its
from the vintage early downtown,
hen Dick Parke was mill of the North Union Shakers. buildings at the His- built in the 1830s
a kid, he knew every The religious community, 300 strong at toric Kirtland Visitor’s through 1860s: the
century-old home in its peak, lived just south of Fairmount Bou- Center to the Kirtland old town offices, Civil
Shaker Heights. “As levard for 67 years. But its practice of celiba- Temple up the hill. War veterans hall
we’d drive around,” cy was a poor strategy for growth; the last 27 The temple is now a and other buildings
he recalls, “my mother would say: ‘That of them left the area in 1889. Oris and Man- tourist destination, are now restaurants,
house is 100 years old! Isn’t that cool?’ ” tis Van Sweringen bought the Shakers’ for- host for commu- shops and residences.
He caught the bug. Parke became a histo- mer property in 1905, razed the abandoned nitywide holiday Its historic district in-
ry buff, a Civil War memorabilia collector. buildings, and started planning Cleveland’s religious services and cludes 257 buildings,
At his alma mater, University School, he’s most meticulously crafted suburb. a favorite field trip including houses
a math teacher, but he also runs a history Each home has fine detailing: roofs, win- for the public schools from the 1830s to the
club. The students know he carries a Civil dow panes, balconies. The Van Sweringens a block away. 1930s. // ET
War bullet with him at all times. “were taskmasters,” Parke says. “They were
Parke, 56, now lives in one of those cen- very specific in how you were allowed to
tury homes. In 1997, he and his wife, Jude, build your house, how you landscaped it, More
bought an 1842 Greek Revival farmhouse what colors you were supposed to use.” Historic
on Shaker Heights’ Fairmount Boulevard. Those exacting standards continue today in Options
John D. Rockefeller is said to have hung out the city’s strict zoning. 5
on the home’s side porch, planning Sunday “I often take the long way to get places,
school with his pastor, who lived there. just to look at the architecture and the beau-
“[When I] go to sleep at night, if I’m tiful homes,” Parke says. He will turn down
having trouble, I’ll close my eyes, and my a side street to see one of those century
mind will picture what this looked like in homes, silently thankful to all the owners
1852 without any streetlights or telephone who’ve kept up their slate roofs.
poles,” Parke says. “I’ll picture a guy with a “I don’t go to art museums,” Parke says.
horse and wagon coming down the street.” “I get more aesthetic and visual pleasure
Parke commissioned a muralist to paint out of walking, riding a bicycle, or driving
an 1860s scene above his mantle. It imag- down a street like Shelburne, North Park,
ines what the area looked like then, depict- South Park or Townley Road.
Olmsted Falls
ing Parke’s house, a church and the grist “To me, that’s art.” // erick trickey
clevelandmagazine.com / C L E V E L A N D 139
 Rating the Suburbs
If your b o ots a r e m a d e f o r

Lakewood
This inner-ring suburb has made
building a thriving, walkable community
one of its foremost goals.
Sheila Knill-Schreiner lik-
ens herself to the mailman. The
veteran West Side dog walker
hits Lakewood’s sidewalks
year-round, through rain, sleet,
snow and bright sunny days.
“We’re like the post office,” she
says. “We get there.”
Knill-Schreiner, 45, is a for-
mer Lakewood resident who’s
run Yuppee Puppee for a de-
cade now. She’s covered a lot of
ground in the 5.5-square-mile
city with 185 miles of side-
walks. Although she no longer
Walking
calls Lakewood home, most of
her clients live there. For her,
the city’s best perk is its easy
transition from urban hot spot
to natural environment.
Knill-Schreiner and her furry
west-end clients not only stroll
through the city’s neighbor-
hoods during regular half-hour
walks, but they also take ad-
vantage of easy access to the
Cleveland Metroparks Rocky
River Reservation and the Lake-
wood Dog Park just inside its
entrance.
Dog walker Sheila
Knill-Schreiner loves
Lakewood’s west end.
In April, Lakewood also be-
gan a one-year trial program
that allows leashed dogs in both
Lakewood Park and Kauffman
Park — city-owned properties
that had previously outlawed
man’s best friend.
Lakewood has been building
on its strength as a pedestrian-
friendly community in other
ways, too. Last year, the non-
profit revitalization group Heri-
tage Ohio certified Lakewood
as an Ohio Main Street Com-
munity. The recognition comes
after five years of effort from
citizens, business owners and
volunteers for LakewoodAlive.
They’ve worked to keep local
businesses open and bring new
ones in, giving residents more
restaurants, shops and other
conveniences unique to success-
ful, densely populated cities.
Given that focus, it should
come as no surprise that 90 per-
cent of Knill-Schreiner’s clients
are young business profession-
als and families, something she
attributes in part to the city’s
many affordable and nice rental
properties and the community’s
family-friendly feel. “There are
enough parks in Lakewood that
if you have young children, you
should be within walking dis-
tance of one, no matter where
you live,” Knill-Schreiner says
Beyond that, 10 public
schools dot Lakewood’s neigh-
borhoods, making it a short
walk for most kids, and more
than 1,100 businesses, the ma-
jority locally owned, line Lake-
wood’s main arteries.
Pet’s General Store and the
Furry Nation are ”two good
reasons to have a pet in Lake-
wood,” Knill-Schreiner says.
We’ll add one more: It’s a
great place to roam, no matter
what end of the leash you’re on.
// A mber M atheson
More
Walkable
■ Berea Options
Created as a 6
utopian village
and railroad town in the 1800s
by John Baldwin, this city is
compact and easy to stroll
through. The historic down-
town, Baldwin-Wallace College
and the sandstone cliffs in the
Metroparks’ Mill Stream Run
Reservation are within walking
distance of one another.
■ Oakwood Village
This city seems like your run-of-
the-mill suburb — until you see
the sidewalks. Five miles of un-
dulating paved trails wind in and
around the village, transporting
bikers and hikers through quiet
neighborhoods into the Tinkers
Creek Watershed.
■ University
Heights
John Carroll University’s Gothic
brick buildings and 60 acres
of manicured lawns coexist
beautifully with the city’s stately
homes. An impressive shopping
area with a Whole Foods, Target
and Macy’s is less than a mile’s
walk from campus. // AM

Cleveland Heights
Twelve shopping districts are peppered
throughout this 8-square-mile city — all of
them easy to get to on foot. Be sure to check
out the Cedar-Lee intersection’s indie movie
house and Coventry’s hippified hangouts.

140 C L E V E L A N D / June 2010

 If you’re a little b i t

Country
Hinckley
The hills and valleys of this
rural community attract more

w
than those famous buzzards.

alking the grounds of

Al Bowman’s Hillside
Orchard in Hinckley,
it’s easy to imagine
you’re back in a time
of family farms and simple living.
“Hinckley is a beautiful place, topo-
graphically and geographically, and that
draws people,” Bowman says. “Plus, you
can’t put large developments in Hinckley,
the lay of the land just doesn’t allow it.”
At just 5 square miles, Hinckley’s wood-
ed hills, valleys and 35-year-old zoning
requirement that lots be 2 acres or larger
make it an attractive suburb for solitude
seekers. “[The zoning change] brought the
people out who wanted space, who wanted
rural-type living,” says Bowman, 71.
Much has changed. This proverbial
one-stoplight town now has five, and the
farmland that once surrounded the origi-
nal 108-acre Bowman family farm has
been replaced by a neighborhood of 50
homes with half-million and up price tags.
Even as Hinckley has grown up, the Bow-
mans’ 62-year-old roadside market and
12-acre orchard endures as a landmark of
the community’s rural roots. The enclosed
market sits on almost the same Route 303
spot where a 9-year-old Bowman once kept
watch over his dad’s display of apples on
a board supported by two cement blocks.
Today, Hillside still does brisk business in
locally grown and handmade foods. Bow-
man is known locally as Papa Bear, and
now the third generation of Bowmans —
Scott “Baby Bear” Bowman — is working
alongside his father.
With a small light-industry zone and a
sprinkling of local businesses, such as Fos-
ter’s Tavern and bait-and-tackle shop Hinck-
Hillside
Orchard’s
Al Bowman
has lived in
Hinckley his
entire life.
ley Outfitters, at the town’s center, Hinckley
is largely home to commuters — and, of
course, its famed buzzards, which are actu-
ally turkey vultures. The birds return every
March to the Hinckley Reservation, one of
the few Cleveland Metroparks properties
outside of Cuyahoga County and home to
the 90-acre Hinckley Lake.
If spacious living and a small-town feel
are what brought so many of Hinckley’s
residents here, that’s what also keeps the
community resolute against traditional de-
velopment, according to Bowman. “Most
of the people who are here want it the way
it is.” // Jennifer Keirn

More ■ Bainbridge
Rural Township
Options The huge red barn vis-
6 ible from US-422 lets
you know you’re in
the country. It’s part of the exclusive
Canyon Lakes development — the
perfect symbol for today’s Bainbridge
Township, with lily-white farmhouses
and million-dollar mega-homes on
sprawling green lots.
■ Concord Township
Even as high-end homes sprout in
new subdivisions, this suburb is work-
ing to preserve its history, renovating
its former town hall from 1870 and
approving smaller lot sizes if develop-
ers set aside preserved land. Two
golf course communities share the
township with horse farms and Lake
Metroparks.
■ Olmsted Township
Cuyahoga County’s quiet southeast
corner abounds with 5- to 10-acre
lots perfect for small farms. New
subdivisions are packed with romp-
ing kids, thanks to a building boom
that peaked in 2004, while longtime
residents live in older homes clustered
along the main drags.
■ Richfield Village
The verdant village of about 3,500
holds a charming symmetry between
past and present, as evidenced by the
restored century-old red barns recall-
ing American Gothic not far from
secluded mansions more akin to
MTV Cribs. // John H itch

clevelandmagazine.com / C L E V E L A N D 141
 I f yo u h av e a ta s t e f o r

Food & Shopping

clock tower on the village
green to its century-old
Victorian homes. It’s the
kind of place where many
of the city’s residents walk
downtown to grab lunch or
listen to a band play at the
gazebo.
So it was important that
the 2004 opening of First
& Main, a new retail devel-
opment built on the site
of the former Morse Con-
trol property behind Main
Street, was done right. City
leaders required it to fit in
with Hudson’s Western Re-
serve architecture.
Today, First & Main
doesn’t feel like a shopping
Katie Coulton owns
center. It has brick roads,
the Grey Colt on
a public square at its cen-
Hudson’s historic
Main Street.
ter and an artfully hidden
parking garage. And while
■ Beachwood ■ lyndhurst
Yeah, it’s close to High-ends stores
neighboring Legacy such as Crate &
Village and Eton Barrel, Restoration
Chagrin Boulevard, Hardware and the
but this East Side Viking Store mix
suburb has plenty of well with popular
shopping and dining eateries such as the
destinations of its Cheesecake Factory,
own. The upscale Claddagh Irish Pub
Beachwood Place is and California Pizza
home to Northeast Kitchen inside the
Ohio’s only Saks shopping Disneyland
Fifth Avenue and of Legacy Village.
Nordstrom.
■ Rocky
■ Chagrin River
Falls The historic Beachcliff
The charming and Market Square has
historic 1800s mill been revitalized with
town has great views an updated marquee
of its famous natural that now belongs to
waterfalls along the Pub while na-
with a bustling town tional chains such as

Hudson
it is home to plenty of local
businesses such as Hein-
en’s supermarket, Luchita’s
Mexican restaurant and
girls clothier Nicky Nicole,
Mixing local stores with national chains it also has national chains
square that makes Ann Taylor Loft and
shopping at its more Jos. A. Bank moved
than 80 locally owned into new retail space
independent shops next door. The Old
and restaurants seem Detroit Road area
like a vacation. Cloth- has Adesso Fashion

w
while preserving a small-town feel is no such as Coldwater Creek
and Ann Taylor Loft.
ing store Sanity and
Rick’s Café, known for
for Men and Amy’s
Shoes, along with
easy feat, but this town has pulled it off. Some independent busi- its ribs and hamburg- restaurants Tartine
ness owners initially ques- ers, are just some of Bistro and Salmon
indow displays are tioned the decision to bring more retail to the hot spots. Dave’s. // KS
a source of pride the area when existing places were having a
for Katie Coulton. A tough time making it. Saywell’s Drug Store,
mannequin dressed a city mainstay since 1909, closed in 2005. More
in a bright yellow “It was the last true anchor of Main
Shopping
dress with a scarf tied around its neck makes Street,” Coulton says. “We lost a lot of those
Options
those who walk by take a second look. people who were coming downtown to
As the 61-year-old owner of the Grey wait for their prescriptions or to get things 5
Colt, the oldest shop along Hudson’s his- at the soda fountain.”
toric Main Street, Coulton knows that the But those fears have lessened during the
right necklace or handbag can catch the eye past six years. Visitors routinely come from
of those strolling by her store. out of town to check out the 30-plus retail-
“The success of the business is knowing ers and more than a dozen restaurants that
the customer base,” she says. “We know call Hudson’s downtown home.
what they’ve bought in the past. We help “The retail part of the town is big enough
people put things together. That’s a lot of that people who live here don’t feel like
why our store has survived.” they have to go to cities like Beachwood,”
The city of Hudson is known for its Coulton says. “It’s convenient. They enjoy
credit

Chagrin Falls
touches of New England from the iconic the small-town feeling.” // KS
142 C L E V E L A N D / June 2010
 Rating the Suburbs
Earl Waltz, a
member of
the Cleveland
Hiking Club,
leads hikes in Cuyahoga Falls
the Brecksville Locals know the city’s namesake rushes
Reservation. through downtown. In addition to a great
outdoor concert venue, Blossom Music Cen-
ter, the city’s 5,800 acres of land within the
Cuyahoga Valley National Park system help
make the Falls 63 percent parkland.

Reservation (3,022 acres) plus
1,070 acres of the Cuyahoga
Valley National Park, making
the town one-third parkland.
Within that sea of green are
seven gorges, wetlands (in the
lowlands) and sweeping vis-
tas (in the highlands). Sixteen
miles of the statewide Buckeye
Trail wind through the park,
as do 20 miles of bridle trails,
a small portion of the Ohio &
Erie Canal Towpath Trail and
almost 10 miles of paved paths
for bikers, runners and baby
strollers. The reservation even
has a golf course within its
If you hear t he c all o f
More
Nature
■ Bath Options
This green-minded 6
township is home
to two “living
laboratories” — The University of
Akron Field Station (an ecological
research lab inside the Bath Nature
Preserve), and the Crown Point
Ecology Center (a sustainable
farming initiative) — as well as the
295-acre O’Neil Woods MetroPark,
a former farmstead with hiking
trails and a picnic area.
■ Mayfield Village
A Green Corridor Master Plan
approved in 2009 ensures the

Nature
boundaries.
Waltz has led hikes as long
as he’s belonged to the 90-year-
old club, which counts almost
1,000 members among its
ranks. He revels in spring and
fall. When the colors change,
he’ll take a group out to the Sta-
eventual completion of a north-
to-south trail system through the
village. It’ll be a boon to a city
that’s already almost a quarter
parkland because of the Cleve-
land Metroparks North Chagrin
Reservation, which includes
Manakiki Golf Course, a nature

Brecksville
Home to the largest reservation of the
Cleveland Metroparks, this town has nature
on its side.
The Cleveland Metroparks’
Brecksville Reservation perches
on the edge of the Cuyahoga
Valley then tumbles into
it. There are lowlands and
highlands, and they’re com-
pletely different from one an-
other. Earl Waltz hikes the trails
through the wetlands surround-
ing Chippewa Creek, and he of-
ten heads to a scenic overlook
to see the water rushing down
the gorge.
“It’s all been cut out over the
years,” he says. “That’s the nic-
est aspect of it. … It’s not just a
flat, grassy field.”
As a 23-year veteran of the
Cleveland Hiking Club, Waltz,
75, has tromped through most
of Northeast Ohio, but he ad-
mits to still getting a bit turned
around in his own reservation.
It’s easy to see why. The city
of Brecksville lays claim to
almost all of the Brecksville
tion Road Bridge, a pedestrian-
only walkway that allows views
downriver.
“I like to walk and talk and
gawk,” he says, and Brecksville,
where he’s lived since 1971,
provides him with plenty of
opportunities for all three.
There’s the hike that starts at
the Brecksville Nature Center
and the one down the Towpath
Trail to Hooker’s Run, where he
stops his group to discuss theo-
ries behind the creek’s suspect
name.
Nature spreads its tendrils
outside the reservation, too.
Waltz’s home borders the park,
and its inhabitants often end
up on his property.
“I can look out my window
at trees, birds, lots of deer,
wild turkeys roaming in my
clevelandmagazine.com / C L E V E L A N D
center and a boardwalk through
Sanctuary Marsh.
■ Sagamore Hills
Brandywine Falls, one of the
Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s
most popular destinations, lies
within this township’s borders.
Scenic lookouts and a trail into
the gorge provide access to the
60-foot watery drop. Want your
H2O crystallized? Brandywine Ski
Resort will feed your fix. // AM
yard, even some coyotes,” he
says. Even the animals recog-
nize Brecksville’s assets. “I was
watching a couple of Canadian
geese walk up our street,” says
Waltz, chuckling. “They looked
just like people. It’s a great
walking area.” // AM
143
 More
Boomtown
Options
6
■ North Ridgeville
The city, which is celebrating
its bicentennial, has seen 3,798
new houses in the past 10 years.
Empty nesters and young families
have both been lured by its ranch
homes and lower taxes. And
even with all the building, there
are places to play, like the Shade
Drive Complex, which offers 13
baseball and softball diamonds.
■ Streetsboro
Those who haven’t been to Por-
tage County’s second-largest city
in the past decade would be sur-
prised to see how many houses
have cropped up (1,024) and the
number of businesses that have
staked claims along state Route
14, the city’s main drag.
■ Strongsville
The boom in this southwest
suburb began in 1996 with the
opening of SouthPark Mall and
continues today with a new $20
million shopping plaza. The city
is also developing an addi-
tional 169 acres of its 1,693-acre
Strongsville Business & Technol-
ogy Park, the largest industrial
park in Northeast Ohio.
■ Westlake
Although its once-rapid housing
growth tapered off between 2001
and 2008, culminating in just 12
housing starts last year, this West
Side suburb barely resembles
the city it was a generation ago
— in a good way. The opening of
Crocker Park in November 2004
gave the community both a focal
point and a huge retail boost.
// Mir a n da S. M i l l e r
144 C L E V E L A N D / June 2010
Taylor J. Smith once
owned the 75 acres
where Avon Commons
stands today.
If you nee d t h e s p e e d o f a
BoomTown
Avon
A blend of new
development and
historic preservation
has resulted in
growth for this city.
taylor J. Smith wants to make
one thing clear from the start.
“There isn’t necessarily any
conflict between historic pres-
ervation and development,”
says the 76-year-old president
of the Avon Historical Society
Streetsboro
and a crusader for historic pres-
ervation in the town he’s called
home since birth.
Smith is also the man who
sold 75 of his acres for $7.5 mil-
lion to the developers of Avon
Commons, the city’s 800,000-
square-foot shopping center.
Yes, this guardian of Avon’s
heritage held the door open
for the boom while enforcing
a spirit of balance that’s kept
Avon from becoming develop-
mentally generic.
“Development’s going to
happen. Do you stand there
and be stupid about it, or do
you try to direct it into con-
structive channels?” Smith says.
“There are certain ways to do
things that can be obstruction-
ist, and you end up with noth-
ing in the end or a disaster.”
With easy Interstate 90 access,
quality schools, a sustained
small-town feel, and a balance
of industrial, commercial and
residential development, Avon
has handled its boomtown sta-
tus with style. Historic buildings
blend with new storefronts, and
local businesses such as Buck
Hardware have survived not far
from their big-box progeny.
“People are usually surprised
by how many small businesses
there are here,” Smith says. Many
are owned by Avon residents.
This 20-square-mile suburb,
once blanketed in a patchwork
of farms, is now largely occu-
pied by neighborhoods. The
city has seen more than 2,700
housing starts in the past 10
years. Population has jumped
more than 20 percent during
the same period.
In addition to Avon Com-
mons, which opened in 2000,
Avon is also now home to a
massive recreation complex
that includes a Frontier League
baseball stadium and the new
French Creek YMCA. Next up is
a $90 million Cleveland Clinic
health campus scheduled to
open in 2011 and an I-90 inter-
change at Nagel Road.
Smith says Avon’s newer ar-
rivals are largely supportive of
preserving the community’s
heritage. “A developer can be
convinced not to just bulldoze
a building, but to incorporate
it into their development,” he
says. “The best way to preserve a
building is to make sure there’s
a viable business in it.” // JK
 Rating the Suburbs
As manager of
the Rose Café
in Lorain,
Pamela
If you love the Hellinger

Lake
often sees
sunsets over
Lake Erie. More
Lake
Options
6

The city’s
access to Lake
Erie provides Mentor
recreation, Headlands

commerce and ■ Avon Lake ■ Euclid

options for lake- More than 450
homes lie within
front living. a stone’s throw of
the water in this
12-square-mile
city on Lake Erie.
The public beaches
here aren’t staffed,
so city officials would
really prefer you
didn’t use them for
swimming. Instead,

Lorain Many people don’t think about Lorain

the way Hellinger sees it. With a population
But even residents
without their own
residents in this East
Side city enjoy private

l
topping 70,000, it’s a large, urban city with lake access can enjoy access to about 20
all the challenges that come with it. And, af- the shore by heading members-only beach
akeview Park doesn’t enjoy the ter spending generations making steel and to two city beaches: parks sprinkled
same popularity as Huntington cars, times have changed. The steel plant is Veteran’s Memorial, liberally along the
Beach. It doesn’t draw West Sid- a shadow of what it once was. Ford Motor a mini-beach with shoreline. Probably
ers from miles around like its Co. shuttered its Lorain Assembly Plant in lifeguards, and the beats whatever lies at
smaller, Bay Village counterpart. 2005. That’s what most outsiders know. larger Miller Road the end of your street.
But if you’re looking for a But the more time you spend in Lorain, Park, with a swim-at-
place to spend a summer day, the more you become aware of its dual na- your-own-risk policy, ■ Mentor
Lorain’s 40-acre lakefront park is waiting to ture. It’s a gritty, blue-collar city built along playground, boat The mile-and-a-half-
wrap you in a big, sandy embrace. So why a naturally beautiful lakeshore. There are, launch and free sum- long sand beach at
is it that Bay Village’s beach is the one we of course, waterfront homes with mani- mer concert series. Mentor Headlands is
hear more about? cured lawns, but what’s more common are the largest in Ohio,
“[Outsiders] don’t realize exactly what we the small, tidy homes of the working class. ■ Bay Village but it’s not Mentor’s
have,” explains Pamela Hellinger. “We’ve And while Lake Erie is undoubtedly Think Bay Village only lakeside ame-
got a beautiful beach.” Lorain’s biggest recreational asset, it’s also in the summer, and nity. The city also has
As manager at the Rose Café, the lifelong been the 176-year-old port city’s lifeline. For Huntington Beach the Mentor Lagoons
Lorain resident sees on a daily basis what decades, ore boats have traveled across Lake inevitably springs to Nature Preserve, 450
many others never will. The cafe she oper- Erie and then headed south down the Black mind. The half-mile- acres of wooded
ates is located inside Lakeview Park’s reno- River, which cuts through the middle of the long swath of sand parkland that
vated 1917 bathhouse. It’s perched on a city, ferrying raw materials to the steel mill. lies on the sheltered stretches for another
grassy knoll that looks out across the park’s In a historically blue-collar community like curve of shoreline mile and a half along
wide sand beach. Lorain, even the lake is a workhorse. that gives the city its Lake Erie. Swimming
Since Hellinger, 47, started managing the But if you ask Hellinger, she’ll tell you name and provides is not an option here,
cafe two and a half years ago, she’s watched Lake Erie’s power is best seen long after sweeping views of but hiking and biking
storms blow in and witnessed incredible quitting time, on summer nights when the downtown Cleveland paths are ample and
sunsets. She loves the quiet morning, when sun begins to drop below the seemingly as well as Bay’s west- open to everyone.
the beach is peaceful and solitary. endless horizon. ern neighbors. // AM
“You can come down and have a cup of “To see the sunset between 8:30, 9:00 is
coffee on the beach,” she says. “People read just — sometimes you just don’t believe
their papers and start their day off.” that you’re really here.” // AM
clevelandmagazine.com / C L E V E L A N D 145
 Rating the Suburbs

If you’re hunti n g f o r a

Bargain
Willoughby
With homes that are less expensive than The deals
comparable properties in other cities, this at Denise

a
suburb may be the region’s best-kept secret.
woman walked into
Twice Loved resale
shop last year with
a pocket full of jew-
elry from Tiffany &
Co. They were relics from a relationship
gone bad, and she wanted them out of her
house. She sold the whole lot to the shop’s
owner, Denise Selan-Tegge, for a fraction of
its original cost. Anyone who stopped by
her downtown Willoughby store back then
could have left with a silver Tiffany neck-
lace in perfect condition for as low as $25
— definitely a bargain.
Deals aren’t something new to Willough-
by, a boot-shaped city of about 22,000 peo-
ple with Interstate 90 running across the
sole and just over a mile of lakefront land
at the very top.
It’s the kind of place where Selan-Tegge
recently heard about a lakefront cottage that
sold for $45,000 and where houses in pre-
mier neighborhoods can cost tens of thou-
sands of dollars less than similar homes in
Selan-Tegge’s
resale shop
aren’t the only
good buys
you’ll find in
Willoughby.
other cities “They’re the
Polos and Ralph Laurens,”
Selan-Tegge says of pricier
suburbs. But Willoughby is
the L.L. Bean, offering the
same quality but without
the cache. “You can get a
really nice home here for
$150,000 to $350,000.”
Willoughby has the
same charm that makes Hudson and Cha- distance of downtown, especially Wal-
grin Falls so desirable. Its downtown is damere and Brown avenues. “If there’s a
packed with so many Greek Revival, Itali- house for sale there that’s fairly priced, it
anate and Classical Revival storefronts that goes right away.”
it’s on the National Register of Historic Just like that lakefront cottage. Yes, it was
Places. And, in recent years, it’s been packed tiny. Sure, it needed work. But it was on the
with nightlife, too. lake. Selan-Tegge loves a bargain, she loves
“My kids call it the little West Sixth Willoughby, and she still can’t stop think-
Street,” says Selan-Tegge, referring to the ing about that cottage and what a fabulous
trendy downtown Cleveland street of res- deal she could have gotten.
taurants and bars. Only, here you have Wil- “I was kicking myself,” she says. “Why
loughby Brewing Co., Gavi’s, Lure Bistro didn’t I hear about it?”
and Cork’s Wine Bar, to name a few. Ten years from now, people might be
Some of the city’s nicest houses, Selan- saying the same thing about Willoughby.
Tegge says, are on streets within walking // colleen smitek

More
Bargain School District has been rated excel-
Options lent with distinction by the state for
6 two consecutive years. Last year’s
best bargain in our rankings, Eastlake
boasts a median home sale value of
$123,200.
■ Mayfield Heights
Tidy rows of affordable ranches and
■ Eastlake two-story homes mingle off the busy
Über-cheap, ultra-entertaining Lake Mayfield Road corridor near Interstate
County Captains baseball isn’t the 271. Although residents once had to
only dollar getting stretched in this contend with gridlock, city engineers
town. The Willoughby-Eastlake City made changes with the completion
of a $17.5 million improvement
project, so traveling through the city
now takes three minutes on average.
For those who prefer to walk, the
4.2-square-mile Cuyahoga County
suburb has 95 percent of sidewalks
throughout.
■ North Olmsted
North Olmsted’s median sale value
of $136,000 is about two-thirds of
its neighbor, Westlake. The yards may
not be as big, but the city-owned
recreation center, which has two ice
rinks, a gymnastics room, indoor and
outdoor pools and a giant skate park,
should keep your future Olympian or
X-Gamer busy.
■ Willowick
New families searching for a starter
home shouldn’t look past this lake-
shore suburb, which offers plenty of
two-bedroom bungalows for less than
$90,000. Big families can also save
a bundle. When we checked, many
spacious four-bedroom homes were
selling for less than $120,000. // JH

146 C L E V E L A N D / June 2010

 Vital stats 2010

Numsbales (200

Total
Owneousing un

Envirinfraction
E D U C RA N K

Below level (%
Medisale price)*

Prop$e100,000)
(per valuation
h

sidew
Roadalks (%)
home price

home price

comm es
2004 sale

(% min
er of 9)*

r-occ its

Popu
onme s
SAFEANK

(% ch

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an ho

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Diver ity)
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ATIO

rty ta

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( 20 09
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s wit
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home

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-09

unity
s
ange)

ange)

o
ntal

sity
me

ar

tion
TY

r
rty
x
N

h
Amherst 47 31 140 $132,350 -15.70% 1.22% 85.4 $1,610 0 8 89.8% 11,724 2.1 3.2
Co m m u ni ty

Aurora 28 9 83 $294,000 29.94% 68.48% 81.9 $1,720 1 10 14.3% 14,548 3.6 4.3
Avon 31 19 275 $245,000 17.37% 43.07% 88.3 $1,700 2 13 16.4% 17,086 1.9 3.0
Avon Lake 22 13 54 $189,000 6.24% 11.83% 87.0 $1,800 6 12 54.3% 23,996 2.3 2.7
Bainbridge Twp. 42 11 84 $276,950 0.71% 15.40% 92.3 $2,020 3 3 0.0% 11,150 4.2 6.9
Bath 40 8 52 $284,450 16.10% 35.45% 91.8 $1,850 0 7 0.9% 10,188 1.3 4.6
Bay Village 3 12 220 $173,250 -4.81% 13.98% 92.2 $2,510 0 11 100.0% 14,606 3.1 2.0
Beachwood 48 7 109 $255,000 -12.07% 19.72% 64.4 $1,920 0 12 90.0% 11,108 4.3 13.5
Bedford 65 50 62 $85,000 -22.37% -3.41% 60.1 $2,470 7 13 98.0% 12,965 7.6 21.0
Bedford Heights 63 50 45 $100,000 -20.92% 1.01% 53.1 $2,200 6 13 90.0% 10,485 7.6 72.1
Berea 39 38 171 $119,000 -6.48% 7.21% 71.2 $2,270 2 12 94.7% 17,987 5.5 8.5
Brecksville 33 4 120 $225,165 -11.27% 1.77% 88.4 $2,130 2 12 12.8% 12,851 2.5 5.1
Broadview Heights 11 4 175 $168,000 -24.92% -16.17% 77.4 $2,070 3 12 23.2% 17,274 3.2 5.0
Brook Park 62 38 134 $114,450 -9.88% 1.73% 83.6 $2,010 8 12 77.6% 19,194 4.6 5.5
Brooklyn 71 46 75 $105,000 -13.72% 1.20% 62.1 $1,940 2 13 99.4% 10,410 6.6 7.3
Brunswick 23 27 414 $136,584 -17.47% -7.02% 80.6 $1,570 0 13 66.2% 34,711 4.6 2.9
Chagrin Falls 16 3 64 $265,000 5.60% 22.12% 73.0 $2,450 5 10 41.7% 3,777 3.6 1.3
Chardon 60 26 38 $152,000 -9.77% 15.59% 60.5 $1,590 3 10 53.3% 5,210 3.8 2.2
Chester Twp. 9 18 48 $193,500 -5.15% 16.57% 93.5 $1,720 1 4 0.1% 10,907 1.7 1.9
Cleveland Heights 56 49 315 $133,200 -1.33% 26.56% 62.1 $3,080 1 14 100.0% 45,827 10.6 47.5
Concord Twp. 20 35 116 $277,500 20.65% 44.95% 91.3 $1,670 1 8 0.0% 16,405 2.7 2.5
Cuyahoga Falls 64 39 377 $117,000 0.00% 19.39% 65.7 $1,870 8 13 53.9% 51,090 6.1 4.2
East Cleveland 77 57 13 $79,000 -1.19% 33.90% 35.5 $2,330 1 9 50.4% 24,507 32.0 95.4
Eastlake 34 34 104 $123,200 -0.04% 19.73% 78.0 $1,720 4 11 18.6% 19,520 5.0 2.6
Elyria 73 47 669 $67,500 -33.27% -22.41% 64.6 $1,650 16 10 46.4% 54,979 11.7 18.7
Euclid 74 53 264 $86,000 -18.48% 0.00% 59.5 $2,530 12 13 100.0% 47,415 9.7 33.6
Fairview Park 18 36 180 $140,000 -6.04% 7.69% 73.2 $2,770 3 11 89.6% 15,762 4.1 4.0
Garfield Heights 69 48 161 $80,000 -19.23% -5.60% 79.9 $2,900 6 12 95.5% 27,734 8.5 19.3
Highland Heights 5 28 67 $222,600 -1.07% -9.14% 97.3 $1,970 0 9 39.7% 8,533 4.0 6.8
Hinckley Twp. 8 23 83 $202,000 -22.61% -7.34% 95.2 $1,460 1 4 0.6% 7,921 2.4 1.7
Hudson 32 2 202 $285,000 -0.39% 16.92% 90.4 $2,020 1 10 26.2% 23,037 1.7 5.3
Independence 38 25 54 $187,950 -12.58% 6.19% 94.6 $1,680 5 14 89.4% 6,770 3.6 2.4
Kirtland 7 16 31 $270,800 18.25% 55.19% 86.7 $1,780 1 9 0.7% 7,362 2.3 1.5
Lakewood 53 37 407 $122,000 -11.27% 6.55% 45.2 $2,640 5 12 99.0% 50,704 8.9 6.9
Lorain 76 56 809 $50,000 -36.06% -30.56% 61.2 $1,560 11 10 70.0% 70,239 17.1 30.3
Lyndhurst 14 43 171 $130,000 -14.47% 4.00% 88.0 $2,660 1 11 81.8% 13,848 2.5 3.3
Macedonia 37 32 80 $174,000 0.61% 10.30% 95.8 $1,620 2 9 0.0% 10,435 1.5 8.6
Maple Heights 75 54 117 $79,500 -17.19% -1.85% 83.8 $2,540 2 10 77.7% 23,667 5.9 48.4
Mayfield Heights 51 28 164 $133,500 -3.96% 16.09% 50.8 $2,150 0 13 94.6% 17,737 6.3 8.2

148 C L E V E L A N D / June 2010

 Suburbs

Vital stats
Rating the

2010

Numsbales (200

Total
Owneousing un

Envirinfraction
E D U C RA N K

Below level (%
Medisale price)*

Prop$e100,000)
(per valuation
h

sidew
Roadalks (%)
home price

home price

comm es
2004 sale

(% min
er of 9)*

r-occ its

Popu
onme s
SAFEANK

(% ch

(% ch
an ho

10-yeale

Diver ity)
pove )
ATIO

rty ta

servic
( 20 09
R

s wit
upied
home

la
-09

unity
s
ange)

ange)

o
ntal

sity
me

ar

tion
TY

r
rty
x
N

h
Mayfield Village 6 28 25 $212,500 -11.94% 11.84% 81.8 $1,970 0 13 31.0% 3,121 2.6 5.6
Co m m u ni ty

Medina 17 21 339 $136,500 -18.26% -4.68% 66.3 $1,700 9 14 96.8% 25,824 5.7 5.4
Mentor 49 20 307 $174,100 2.47% 19.25% 87.5 $1,600 5 11 48.4% 51,825 2.7 2.7
Mentor-on-the-Lake 43 20 39 $120,300 -4.90% 17.37% 68.9 $1,860 0 4 23.1% 8,288 5.7 2.9
Middleburg Heights 26 38 137 $145,000 -12.91% 1.40% 73.2 $2,010 4 12 42.8% 14,928 3.0 5.4
Moreland Hills 1 6 30 $350,500 -1.54% 11.27% 95.0 $2,120 0 12 0.0% 3,064 3.3 7.0
North Olmsted 36 30 231 $136,000 -12.26% -1.45% 79.7 $2,460 1 14 75.0% 31,319 4.1 6.0
North Ridgeville 24 41 620 $154,490 -0.82% 23.69% 88.8 $1,650 1 7 50.0% 28,153 3.2 3.6
North Royalton 41 17 179 $180,000 -6.49% -0.14% 74.9 $2,120 1 12 8.8% 29,331 2.3 3.8
Oakwood 29 50 7 $118,900 -23.54% 26.49% 72.4 $1,920 0 7 8.9% 3,719 6.3 59.3
Olmsted Falls 46 14 73 $138,000 -14.18% -20.89% 83.3 $2,390 0 9 35.0% 8,168 2.1 3.3
Olmsted Twp. 55 14 65 $178,000 -4.86% 14.84% 79.8 $2,440 0 5 53.1% 10,083 3.0 3.0
Orange Village 21 6 35 $280,000 -20.79% 43.04% 95.7 $2,110 0 13 13.5% 3,258 3.6 18.5
Painesville 35 51 53 $91,700 -10.97% 9.17% 52.1 $1,780 18 8 83.7% 18,474 16.0 23.0
Painesville Twp. 57 35 106 $157,170 14.51% 17.51% 78.0 $1,690 1 5 5.0% 19,101 4.6 3.3
Parma 67 44 604 $109,000 -11.88% 0.93% 77.5 $2,120 3 11 98.8% 77,947 4.9 4.3
Parma Heights 54 44 197 $112,000 -13.55% 3.70% 59.9 $2,220 0 10 88.9% 19,757 7.6 5.2
Pepper Pike 12 6 61 $383,000 -6.93% 18.76% 95.6 $2,190 0 14 0.1% 5,715 3.7 10.1
Richfield village 15 8 21 $168,000 -1.75% 24.44% 88.9 $1,680 1 11 3.4% 3,576 3.5 2.6
Richmond Heights 59 52 70 $133,750 -18.20% -6.22% 63.1 $2,330 0 11 63.2% 10,174 5.3 31.0
Rocky River 27 5 253 $186,000 -18.78% 3.33% 71.2 $2,330 0 14 94.7% 18,900 2.3 3.2
Sagamore Hills Twp. 2 32 50 $240,000 13.21% 31.15% 90.3 $1,740 0 3 10.7% 9,510 2.0 5.9
Seven Hills 10 44 108 $161,750 -7.57% 4.42% 96.6 $2,190 0 9 89.3% 11,616 2.6 2.8
Shaker Heights 61 33 220 $230,000 -6.12% 18.25% 64.9 $3,300 1 14 89.3% 26,460 6.9 40.1
Sheffield Lake 70 45 106 $69,450 -33.86% -22.83% 80.3 $1,850 0 5 32.1% 8,905 4.7 3.3
Solon 25 1 209 $252,000 -0.10% 12.00% 87.8 $2,000 6 14 40.6% 21,866 2.5 12.2
South Euclid 68 43 192 $110,000 -11.29% 10.00% 83.9 $2,720 1 9 93.3% 21,209 4.5 24.8
Stow 52 29 232 $171,500 12.09% 32.43% 72.1 $1,760 3 10 46.3% 33,899 2.9 4.8
Streetsboro 50 42 94 $150,000 4.53% 22.50% 70.6 $1,440 1 7 7.5% 14,488 5.3 4.6
Strongsville 13 24 360 $177,750 -8.85% -1.25% 82.7 $2,150 3 12 26.9% 42,617 2.2 5.8
Twinsburg 19 15 126 $222,750 -4.81% 26.20% 77.3 $1,600 4 14 56.0% 17,394 2.1 13.1
University Heights 66 49 148 $143,200 -11.06% 4.92% 75.1 $3,090 0 10 100.0% 12,519 5.8 24.6
Warrensville Heights 72 55 34 $75,000 -23.39% -8.54% 48.0 $2,380 3 8 82.9% 13,618 11.4 93.4
Westlake 30 10 314 $208,350 -10.29% -13.01% 74.8 $1,940 2 13 100.0% 30,546 2.5 7.1
Wickliffe 45 40 95 $119,300 -8.23% 6.52% 84.4 $1,720 1 11 95.6% 12,983 6.5 4.6
Willoughby 4 34 83 $149,700 7.12% 21.96% 59.8 $1,730 5 13 51.6% 22,561 5.8 3.5
Willoughby Hills 58 34 24 $251,300 8.09% 37.70% 54.5 $1,770 0 9 0.0% 8,540 3.4 11.2
Willowick 44 34 123 $119,900 -6.51% 11.53% 83.2 $2,100 0 10 100.0% 13,727 4.5 2.2

*These categories were not used to calculate ratings. clevelandmagazine.com / C L E V E L A N D 149

 education stats 2010

Teach

# Stu took AC
# Stu took SA
# 12t

Stand(out of 30
# 8th
# 1st

profits score

profi score

profits score

profits score

profits score

profi score
Stude007-08*

8th-gciency
6th-gciency
4th-gciency

5th-gciency
3rd-gciency

7th-gciency
er 2

tes f 200)

testsof 300)

tes f 400)

tes f 200)

tes f 300)

testsof 400)
(out o

(out
(out

(out o
(out o

(out o
dents T*
dents T*
h gra

SAT S

ards
ACT S
grade

grade

Averacore
Averaore*
RA N K

nts p

rade

rade

rade

rade

rade

rade
ders*

who
who

met)
rs*

rs*

ge
ge
er

Amherst 31 20.9 253 388 345 81 1608 236 23.2 28 182.0 275.2 326.3 180.3 265.6 305.3
distri ct

Aurora 9 19.8 189 250 201 137 1607 145 23.7 30 190.0 289.7 339.4 193.4 292.4 358.7

Avon 19 20.8 309 274 197 21 1700 139 23.0 28 188.4 283.7 347.6 185.3 283.3 319.7

Avon Lake 13 19.0 314 309 288 103 1652 198 24.1 30 189.1 285.4 349.8 189.8 282.9 348.4

Bay Village 12 18.6 183 204 186 119 1597 154 23.7 29 185.4 287.8 363.7 188.8 275.2 329.9

Beachwood 7 13.4 100 96 133 79 1763 125 25.4 30 185.7 279.7 361.0 187.6 279.9 366.7

Bedford 50 19.9 274 307 320 22 1223 188 17.4 10 157.0 223.9 183.4 139.7 232.1 186.8

Berea 38 17.9 475 578 619 165 1523 340 21.6 24 170.6 268.5 292.8 167.4 251.9 248.8

Brecksville-
4 21.6 250 341 423 207 1689 316 25.1 30 189.5 292.9 363.4 190.1 274.8 358.3
Broadview Heights

Brooklyn 46 18.7 87 125 120 9 1632 80 21.0 23 153.4 241.7 279.0 167.7 231.0 243.1

Brunswick 27 20.9 534 600 561 59 1559 308 21.7 29 173.7 279.7 322.7 185.5 262.2 318.0

Chagrin Falls 3 17.8 137 183 144 111 1737 108 25.5 30 190.2 282.1 355.4 191.4 288.3 358.6

Chardon 26 20.4 206 263 257 122 1556 202 22.7 29 187.5 277.1 336.0 176.7 258.0 328.9

Cleveland Heights-
49 14.7 370 454 390 135 1447 181 19.0 10 145.8 223.2 196.4 133.0 195.2 177.8
University Heights

Cuyahoga Falls 39 17.9 405 385 364 17 1461 240 20.4 24 166.5 253.3 286.3 161.1 236.1 274.7

Cuyahoga Heights 22 15.4 41 85 65 34 1501 38 22.1 30 192.0 284.7 343.9 192.1 279.7 337.2

East Cleveland 57 18.8 200 272 229 36 n/a 100 n/a 3 93.8 178.0 128.9 107.9 158.4 106.9

Elyria 47 16.6 618 614 457 25 1600 193 21.3 11 142.2 216.2 251.7 151.4 212.7 237.3

Euclid 53 15.9 359 476 495 136 1423 249 17.9 5 116.0 201.6 156.7 111.4 183.3 175.8

Fairview Park 36 21.7 116 129 149 31 1606 108 22.5 23 177.2 285.9 273.1 174.1 251.1 276.8

Garfield Heights 48 23.2 254 331 306 52 1457 134 19.5 15 143.8 245.3 219.2 151.0 219.4 175.2

Highland 23 21.4 235 274 268 78 1639 213 23.4 29 189.2 284.9 336.4 184.5 274.5 318.2

Hudson 2 17.9 313 435 412 297 1654 319 25.4 30 189.7 291.5 367.2 193.1 285.3 373.5

Independence 25 16.2 62 89 86 53 1558 61 23.0 29 194.3 272.7 361.3 178.8 287.9 339.2

Kenston 11 18.1 229 268 243 171 1585 181 23.4 30 190.4 284.8 343.7 184.0 283.6 345.7

Kirtland 16 17.7 85 94 93 25 1736 69 23.5 28 185.9 271.9 355.0 181.7 268.8 292.4

Lakewood 37 18.0 419 445 475 156 1610 231 23.1 26 152.2 252.6 285.3 160.9 249.5 298.6

Lorain 56 25.3 668 632 541 44 1226 284 18.2 3 114.7 202.2 149.5 109.6 169.3 153.9

Maple Heights 54 17.6 254 285 293 14 1294 229 16.0 6 136.9 202.1 138.5 125.7 179.2 163.9

150 C L E V E L A N D / June 2010

 Rating the Suburbs

Final2007-08
rate

Comm
# of A offer

Natio ists (F)

extra
Class

Admienditure
takin
Perfdoex Score9

2009 AYP**

exp

expe
Final d (C)*
Value ion**

Instrnditures*
Studemputer*

expe er pupil*
2008
11th- ciency
Gradtus score

Nona lars
profits score

Atten-09 (%)

% of s est*
In 008-0
gradu (%)
Tes of 500)

tes of 500)
(out

(out

Pay t
prervoegrams
Lang

curric
P cou ed

nal M /
ificat

co
ende

nistra s*
g AP t

p
2

p
rman

Dronption

uctio

nditu
grade

Overa

-Adde

nts p

thlet
danc

enior
Ohion
atio

Sport
ation

op
uage

Totals
rses

u
erit

tive
out
ce

nal

re
lay
er

ic
e

ll

s
s

s
F|C
457.5 484.0 95.5 97.9 101.0 yes ● 2 8 1 0|2 4 5 21 13 yes 10.6% 60.6% $8,436

486.9 497.2 96.5 97.4 107.3 yes ● 3 12 39 2|1 5 6 26 13 no 12.8% 55.0% $9,734

488.1 489.2 96.5 98.4 105.5 yes ● 3 7 19 0|3 3 4 19 12 no 11.0% 57.8% $8,001

483.8 487.7 96.0 98.7 106.6 yes ● 3 13 36 0|2 4 2.1 27 13 yes 10.8% 57.2% $10,334

486.9 499.0 96.1 99.1 106.2 yes ● 2 15 41 2|3 4 2.7 23 14 no 13.1% 54.4% $10,868

469.7 483.5 95.6 98.5 107.2 yes ● 6 14 46 6|6 5 2 27 14 no 13.5% 52.0% $20,038

356.0 412.8 95.0 91.9 85.3 no ● 4 8 10 0|2 5 3 26 11 no 12.0% 51.1% $12,639

431.2 471.6 95.2 92.6 96.1 no ● 4 8 22 0|1 5 2.5 36 13 yes 12.0% 54.2% $11,760

475.8 490.2 96.0 98.5 107.5 yes ● 5 17 33 0|7 4 5.4 24 15 yes 9.6% 55.1% $11,545

427.3 469.1 95.3 91.1 92.9 no ● 2 1 12 0|1 3 3 11 10 no 14.8% 58.7% $9,517

455.8 484.6 95.8 95.2 101.2 no ● 5 10 6 0|1 4 4.1 28 14 yes 10.8% 55.5% $8,944

486.5 500.0 96.0 100.0 107.0 yes ● 5 19 64 5|5 5 2.8 30 15 some 12.2% 55.6% $11,332

470.1 492.3 95.7 98.3 103.4 yes ● 3 14 22 2|0 5 3.5 24 13 yes 12.7% 54.3% $9,891

398.2 435.9 94.6 93.2 86.2 no ● 4 16 16 1|7 5 2.5 26 15 no 13.3% 51.2% $16,037

434.2 471.4 94.9 95.7 95.8 no ● 4 8 19 0|2 5 5 23 14 yes 10.0% 61.1% $9,182

486.3 498.8 96.0 96.7 105.1 yes ● 2 11 33 0|0 3 1 22 13 no 17.6% 42.1% $19,111

289.0 377.0 91.2 70.5 73.8 no ● 2 4 20 0|0 5 5 15 8 no 18.0% 51.1% $14,214

399.3 460.1 94.3 89.6 89.2 no ● 3 9 12 0|1 5 5.5 25 13 some 11.4% 55.4% $9,887

349.4 408.4 95.1 88.3 80.1 no ● 3 10 8 0|0 3 3 18 13 no 11.6% 56.3% $12,452

440.8 479.2 95.3 95.9 98.0 yes ● 3 6 25 0|0 3 3 18 12 no 12.1% 55.4% $12,178

400.5 466.5 94.7 90.2 87.9 no ● 2 4 9 0|0 4 4 18 15 yes 12.4% 51.5% $10,007

472.4 476.5 96.2 98.4 103.7 yes ● 5 9 38 3|3 2 3 24 11 yes 11.0% 52.9% $8,525

492.0 496.2 96.1 99.3 108.6 yes ● 5 17 79 12 | 16 4 3 32 17 yes 11.0% 56.6% $12,740

474.8 488.6 95.5 99.0 105.6 yes ● 2 9 21 1|2 3 1.6 24 11 yes 10.8% 46.4% $14,594

481.6 491.1 96.5 97.7 105.9 yes ● 4 16 35 0|4 4 4 24 15 no 11.7% 53.3% $10,915

491.6 495.6 96.2 98.7 103.4 yes ● 3 11 25 0|1 4 4 24 13 no 12.5% 53.8% $11,312

431.9 465.0 94.4 91.7 96.4 no ● 4 12 18 6|4 5 1.6 30 14 yes 7.3% 62.0% $12,714

346.5 417.8 91.7 80.8 78.6 no ● 3 5 13 0|0 4 2 20 12 no 13.2% 54.5% $10,410

337.3 401.3 93.5 94.3 80.8 no ● 2 3 9 0|0 4 4 14 9 no 21.7% 43.2% $11,112

*These categories were not used to calculate ratings. **See pg. 137 for explanation of overall AYP and value-added classification. clevelandmagazine.com / C L E V E L A N D 151
 education stats 2010

Teach

# Stu took AC
# Stu took SA
# 12t

Stand(out of 30
# 8th
# 1st

profits score

profi score

profits score

profits score

profits score

profi score
Stude007-08*

8th-gciency
6th-gciency
4th-gciency

5th-gciency
3rd-gciency

7th-gciency
er 2

tes f 200)

testsof 300)

tes f 400)

tes f 200)

tes f 300)

testsof 400)
(out o

(out
(out

(out o
(out o

(out o
dents T*
dents T*
h gra

SAT S

ards
ACT S
grade

grade

Averacore
Averaore*
RA N K

nts p

rade

rade

rade

rade

rade

rade
ders*

who
who

met)
rs*

rs*

ge
ge
er

Mayfield 28 16.2 258 306 334 131 1584 226 23.5 26 176.5 268.9 303.0 173.9 259.0 305.9
distri ct

Medina 21 19.2 579 562 580 169 1644 376 23.4 29 185.1 281.4 325.7 177.1 261.4 324.3

Mentor 20 17.7 553 660 799 300 1540 436 23.1 29 188.3 279.3 327.4 175.6 264.6 300.8

Nordonia Hills 32 19.2 270 314 329 66 1562 251 22.0 26 177.2 261.3 308.4 174.6 263.2 299.0

North Olmsted 30 18.7 255 349 378 123 1619 256 23.1 26 178.5 267.3 293.7 168.7 253.9 316.1

North Ridgeville 41 20.1 325 281 273 n/a n/a 159 21.1 23 167.5 264.4 308.2 176.5 219.8 238.5

North Royalton 17 21.3 299 350 405 103 1660 301 23.4 29 193.3 290.2 332.8 181.9 278.5 338.8

Olmsted Falls 14 20.9 262 295 293 128 1616 201 23.5 30 174.5 280.2 346.2 186.6 282.5 341.4

Orange 6 14.9 149 188 167 105 1659 118 24.2 30 179.4 279.0 343.9 186.7 270.2 356.3

Painesville 51 18.4 265 195 145 7 1810 62 19.0 7 130.6 211.7 196.5 122.2 186.9 202.9

Parma 44 18.1 801 974 1050 180 1539 587 21.1 24 153.3 245.9 286.8 162.5 241.9 272.3

Revere 8 17.9 190 262 228 88 1756 197 24.7 30 184.2 278.0 347.0 194.0 288.7 337.3

Richmond Heights 52 16.8 69 95 105 18 1326 71 19.1 10 136.6 214.1 191.4 138.6 205.2 229.5

Riverside 35 21.0 364 405 360 40 1610 260 22.4 27 177.0 268.2 318.0 168.9 257.0 279.3

Rocky River 5 20.4 182 203 246 124 1707 209 24.3 29 192.6 288.4 353.4 188.3 266.7 319.7

Shaker Heights 33 14.5 380 387 366 235 1714 288 23.0 23 177.2 253.8 276.1 168.8 236.5 268.9

Sheffield-
45 18.6 147 156 134 7 1590 59 21.7 22 172.0 251.1 253.7 173.0 245.1 261.5
Sheffield Lake

Solon 1 17.8 313 439 428 319 1714 373 24.8 30 186.8 287.5 361.9 190.5 288.7 379.5

South Euclid-
43 14.7 253 330 346 100 1468 185 19.6 15 167.0 228.9 259.0 153.5 196.8 225.3
Lyndhurst

Stow-Munroe Falls 29 21.5 395 455 469 69 1649 369 22.1 29 183.6 269.6 327.3 184.3 269.5 330.4

Streetsboro 42 17.1 168 143 155 10 1397 86 20.0 25 177.9 278.8 283.0 169.5 255.5 268.8

Strongsville 24 20.8 448 580 613 228 1647 452 23.5 27 178.3 271.2 325.5 182.0 259.0 314.4

Twinsburg 15 21.4 298 330 328 77 1500 198 22.0 29 184.3 284.7 341.3 187.0 277.5 333.6

Warrensville
55 17.2 153 295 207 22 1560 61 19.0 4 121.6 191.6 151.2 113.0 139.9 134.3
Heights

West Geauga 18 19.4 137 207 217 132 1573 177 22.4 29 185.9 288.4 360.3 183.7 276.2 334.8

Westlake 10 19.4 269 316 324 188 1618 239 23.7 30 185.7 281.0 348.8 178.7 284.1 340.5

Wickliffe 40 16.5 103 109 108 24 1508 64 21.6 25 175.5 270.1 245.3 168.0 265.0 324.5

Willoughby-Eastlake 34 19.6 593 617 853 84 1542 246 20.9 29 176.0 270.8 317.2 175.1 257.3 327.7

152 C L E V E L A N D / June 2010

 Rating the Suburbs

Final2007-08
rate

Comm
# of A offer

Natio ists (F)

extra
Class

Admienditure
takin
Perfdoex Score9

2009 AYP**

exp

expe
Final d (C)*
Value ion**

Instrnditures*
Studemputer*

expe er pupil*
2008
11th- ciency
Gradtus score

Nona lars
profits score

Atten-09 (%)

% of s est*
In 008-0
gradu (%)
Tes of 500)

tes of 500)
(out

(out

Pay t
prervoegrams
Lang

curric
P cou ed

nal M /
ificat

co
ende

nistra s*
g AP t

p
2

p
rman

Dronption

uctio

nditu
grade

Overa

-Adde

nts p

thlet
danc
Ohion

enior
atio

Sport
ation

op
uage

Totals
rses

u
erit

tive
out
ce

nal

re
lay
er

ic
e

ll

s
s

s
F|C
464.7 480.2 95.1 94.2 100.5 yes ● 4 17 28 4|6 5 2 28 15 no 10.1% 54.2% $13,425

464.3 486.3 95.6 97.0 102.3 yes ● 5 14 33 1|4 3 4 29 14 yes 10.0% 58.9% $10,428

461.9 472.9 95.7 97.4 101.9 yes ● 4 16 15 1|4 4 3.5 33 15 yes 10.7% 56.0% $11,731

455.7 480.7 95.8 96.5 99.8 yes ● 3 8 35 0|2 4 3 26 15 yes 9.9% 55.6% $10,201

458.5 484.1 95.7 92.6 100.4 yes ● 4 11 20 4|1 5 4 33 14 some 10.2% 59.9% $12,226

441.3 460.1 95.8 99.5 95.1 no ● 2 2 n/a 1|0 3 3.9 13 12 no 9.2% 56.5% $8,954

483.9 490.9 95.8 98.1 105.6 yes ● 3 6 30 1|4 4 3 28 13 yes 11.0% 58.8% $9,137

464.7 482.6 96.2 98.9 104.8 yes ● 3 8 23 1|6 5 5 20 14 no 11.2% 58.4% $10,281

485.9 492.5 96.0 100.0 106.3 yes ● 4 14 40 6|6 5 2 36 16 no 10.4% 51.4% $19,917

343.7 424.1 96.0 74.7 82.2 no ● 2 7 10 0|0 5 3 18 12 no 14.1% 54.6% $12,461

438.3 467.1 94.7 88.5 95.5 no ● 2 7 12 1|0 3 4 21 13 yes 14.7% 55.5% $11,851

482.6 491.9 96.1 99.1 105.2 yes ● 6 16 31 8|5 5 3 28 13 no 12.2% 54.1% $11,135

390.6 439.3 95.4 88.5 86.3 no ● 1 2 0 0|0 1 5 6 6 yes 14.8% 51.3% $11,658

455.6 481.3 95.2 93.0 99.0 no ● 3 8 21 1|0 4 3 20 13 yes 12.6% 49.6% $9,419

488.8 495.5 96.6 97.7 106.1 yes ● 5 11 30 5|9 4 3.7 38 15 no 12.3% 56.6% $11,928

440.7 462.7 95.5 94.2 97.3 no ● 6 23 33 17 | 15 3 5 27 15 no 11.6% 48.5% $16,194

425.9 471.6 94.7 98.8 94.4 no ● 2 0 0 0|1 1 4 9 10 yes 12.9% 53.3% $9,536

492.3 490.9 96.8 97.9 109.5 yes ● 5 19 59 14 | 16 5 2.8 35 16 some 10.2% 59.6% $12,647

416.3 456.0 94.8 96.2 91.4 no ● 4 16 44 2|0 5 2 30 14 yes 11.1% 55.5% $12,421

459.7 483.7 95.4 97.3 102.8 yes ● 5 13 23 2|5 2 2 24 16 yes 10.5% 57.9% $9,205

436.8 465.2 94.8 99.2 97.5 no ● 2 2 9 0|0 2 2 21 10 yes 11.8% 55.2% $10,027

469.9 480.8 96.2 96.5 102.0 yes ● 5 10 25 7 | 10 2 3.5 27 14 yes 12.1% 57.6% $12,350

456.9 475.2 96.4 99.4 104.2 yes ● 4 13 28 0|3 4 6 27 15 some 12.6% 55.9% $9,703

317.2 379.8 93.7 97.4 76.5 no ● 2 0 0 0|0 5 4 9 9 no 17.4% 53.7% $14,411

470.9 488.1 95.5 98.6 105.1 yes ● 4 10 15 2|4 4 4 25 15 yes 10.9% 54.5% $11,164

480.0 491.5 95.8 98.2 106.3 yes ● 4 17 31 1|4 5 3.5 33 14 no 9.5% 53.8% $12,538

447.0 475.8 95.3 92.6 98.1 no ● 2 5 19 0|0 4 5 12 12 yes 14.9% 53.4% $12,095

451.3 469.4 95.1 98.0 101.1 no ● 4 10 25 1|0 5 7 26 12 yes 9.5% 57.4% $10,019

*These categories were not used to calculate ratings. **See pg. 148 for explanation of overall AYP and value-added classification. clevelandmagazine.com / C L E V E L A N D 153
 Safety stats 2010

Larce

Viole

Non- 1,000
Vehic
Agg.

Popu

Partfi- cers*

Full-t rs*

Auxil rs*
Burgl

nt/1,0

viole

office
office
of
ny/th
robbe

le the
Assau
RA N K

Murd

la
Arson
Rape

time

iary
tion

ime
nt/
a ry

eft

0
er

ry

ft
lt

0
Amherst 47 0 3 4 76 16 90 0 0 11,724 7.08 9.04 8 21 3
Co m m u ni ty

Aurora 28 0 0 1 82 20 179 12 0 14,548 5.71 14.50 5 27 0

Avon 31 0 0 4 62 33 246 4 2 17,086 3.86 16.68 0 34 0
Avon Lake 22 0 1 0 80 50 215 5 2 23,996 3.38 11.34 4 29 0
Bainbridge Twp. 42 1 0 0 74 23 210 2 1 11,150 6.73 21.17 1 19 0
Bath 40 0 1 2 37 37 159 2 0 10,188 3.93 19.43 5 20 0
Bay Village 3 0 0 0 12 27 50 2 4 14,606 0.82 5.68 4 24 23
Beachwood 48 0 2 2 17 24 584 7 1 11,108 1.89 55.46 0 45 0
Bedford 65 0 0 13 76 56 451 71 0 12,965 6.86 44.58 0 31 24
Bedford Heights 63 1 1 12 44 32 127 37 0 10,485 5.53 18.69 0 33 14
Berea 39 0 1 4 98 44 309 7 2 17,987 5.73 20.13 0 32 9
Brecksville 33 1 2 2 20 20 53 1 0 12,851 1.95 5.76 7 29 0
Broadview Heights 11 1 0 0 50 22 58 3 0 17,274 2.95 4.80 0 30 6
Brook Park 62 0 3 8 190 73 341 69 1 19,194 10.47 25.22 0 44 12
Brooklyn 71 1 1 17 58 60 387 45 3 10,410 7.40 47.55 0 33 0
Brunswick 23 0 3 1 132 46 437 18 0 34,711 3.92 14.43 3 40 0
Chagrin Falls 16 0 0 0 15 4 45 2 0 3,777 3.97 13.50 9 11 0
Chardon 60 0 3 0 23 7 110 4 0 5,210 4.99 23.22 5 11 0
Chester Twp. 9 0 0 0 28 14 90 2 0 10,907 2.57 9.72 2 13 4
Cleveland Heights 56 3 2 70 52 116 408 107 0 45,827 2.77 13.77 0 101 0
Concord Twp. 20 0 1 2 62 22 75 3 2 16,405 3.96 6.22 0 37 0
Cuyahoga Falls 64 0 17 20 462 163 1,149 52 5 51,090 9.77 26.80 0 83 0
East Cleveland 77 6 26 201 386 188 403 238 12 24,507 25.26 34.32 3 51 21
Eastlake 34 1 0 0 107 23 375 15 0 19,520 5.53 21.16 25 33 15
Elyria 73 2 27 17 942 470 1,629 85 5 54,979 17.97 39.82 0 83 0
Euclid 74 0 31 91 376 346 699 151 10 47,415 10.50 25.43 0 97 32
Fairview Park 18 0 0 2 32 18 213 10 0 15,762 2.16 15.29 0 27 22
Garfield Heights 69 0 11 28 206 179 686 36 6 27,734 8.83 32.70 0 60 26
Highland Heights 5 0 0 0 6 5 70 4 0 8,533 0.70 9.26 2 22 9
Hinckley Twp. 8 0 0 0 21 14 31 0 0 7,921 2.65 5.68 2 10 0
Hudson 32 1 3 0 57 55 229 7 1 23,037 2.65 12.68 0 29 4
Independence 38 1 0 0 27 5 144 8 1 6,770 4.14 23.34 3 33 0
Kirtland 7 0 0 0 9 10 41 3 0 7,362 1.22 7.33 9 9 0
Lakewood 53 0 8 25 225 150 852 116 6 50,704 5.09 22.17 5 94 19
Lorain 76 7 69 165 893 713 1,532 169 35 70,239 16.14 34.87 0 93 65
Lyndhurst 14 0 0 2 36 14 128 6 0 13,848 2.74 10.69 6 26 10
Macedonia 37 0 1 3 26 8 212 6 0 10,435 2.87 21.66 0 23 0
Maple Heights 75 1 7 66 359 250 212 96 5 23,667 18.30 23.79 0 43 23
Mayfield Heights 51 1 1 10 100 50 246 25 2 17,737 6.31 18.21 4 37 27

154 C L E V E L A N D / June 2010

 Suburbs

Safety stats
Rating the

2010

Larce

Viole

Non- 1,000
Vehic
Agg.

Popu

Partfi- cers*

Full-t rs*

Auxil rs*
Burgl

office
office
of
nt/1,0

viole
ny/th
robbe

le the
Assau
RA N K

Murd

la
Arson
Rape

time

iary
ime
tion

nt/
a ry

eft

0
er

ry

ft
lt

0
Mayfield Village 6 0 0 0 10 1 10 2 0 3,121 3.20 4.17 9 16 8
Co m m u ni ty

Medina 17 1 1 3 108 6 27 1 1 25,824 4.38 1.36 0 37 0

Mentor 49 0 10 19 143 117 1,032 49 16 51,825 3.32 23.42 1 82 0
Mentor-on-the-Lake 43 0 2 2 32 18 63 1 0 8,288 4.34 9.89 12 10 0
Middleburg Heights 26 0 0 2 55 12 284 22 0 14,928 3.82 21.30 0 31 5
Moreland Hills 1 0 0 0 1 0 8 0 0 3,064 0.33 2.61 4 14 0
North Olmsted 36 0 4 3 89 46 638 29 6 31,319 3.07 22.96 0 49 20
North Ridgeville 24 0 3 4 48 75 223 4 1 28,153 1.95 10.76 0 38 17
North Royalton 41 0 7 1 90 46 419 11 1 29,331 3.34 16.26 0 39 11
Oakwood 29 0 0 0 19 6 53 7 0 3,719 5.11 17.75 8 11 5
Olmsted Falls 46 0 3 1 35 20 50 0 1 8,168 4.77 8.69 12 10 10
Olmsted Twp. 55 0 3 1 127 20 15 0 0 10,083 12.99 3.47 4 15 0
Orange Village 21 0 0 0 11 4 39 5 0 3,258 3.38 14.73 0 14 0
Painesville 35 0 2 3 132 31 92 0 1 18,474 7.42 6.71 0 40 0
Painesville Twp. 57 1 7 3 125 48 269 14 3 19,101 7.12 17.49 0 37 0
Parma 67 0 37 48 385 461 1,044 74 16 77,947 6.03 20.46 0 90 41
Parma Heights 54 0 3 4 206 81 195 27 0 19,757 10.78 15.34 0 32 11
Pepper Pike 12 0 0 1 14 6 25 1 0 5,715 2.62 5.60 0 20 0
Richfield village 15 0 0 1 24 15 81 3 0 3,576 2.56 10.12 5 17 0
Richmond Heights 59 0 0 16 35 33 254 21 1 10,174 5.01 30.37 1 17 13
Rocky River 27 0 2 2 53 14 253 8 0 18,900 3.02 14.55 0 33 15
Sagamore Hills Twp. 2 0 0 0 8 4 73 2 1 9,510 0.84 8.41 7 10 0
Seven Hills 10 0 0 1 31 19 13 3 1 11,616 2.75 3.01 6 18 0
Shaker Heights 61 0 9 26 95 91 239 29 5 26,460 4.91 13.76 0 66 0
Sheffield Lake 70 0 7 2 72 45 174 5 2 8,905 9.01 25.38 7 11 0
Solon 25 0 2 4 46 28 185 1 2 21,866 2.38 9.88 0 46 19
South Euclid 68 0 8 32 80 118 358 48 4 21,209 5.66 24.90 2 41 4
Stow 52 0 9 11 56 138 674 14 5 33,899 2.24 24.51 0 40 26
Streetsboro 50 0 1 7 85 20 372 26 1 14,488 6.42 28.92 0 26 0
Strongsville 13 0 1 2 84 24 480 27 1 42,617 2.04 12.48 0 76 0
Twinsburg 19 1 0 1 52 9 109 9 5 17,394 3.10 7.59 1 33 0
University Heights 66 0 4 12 104 46 196 6 1 12,519 9.59 19.89 0 30 0
Warrensville Heights 72 0 5 27 78 124 101 66 0 13,618 8.08 21.37 0 34 0
Westlake 30 0 2 7 125 22 378 14 2 30,546 4.39 13.62 4 54 25
Wickliffe 45 0 1 9 69 17 201 13 0 12,983 6.08 17.79 4 31 8
Willoughby 4 0 0 1 46 13 63 3 1 22,561 2.08 3.55 0 44 0
Willoughby Hills 58 0 3 3 61 26 92 11 2 8,540 7.85 15.34 1 18 0
Willowick 44 0 3 4 67 26 104 11 0 13,727 5.39 10.27 1 25 0

*These categories were not used to calculate ratings. clevelandmagazine.com / C L E V E L A N D 155

 Top 15s 2010

sale p
Highest Median Most
RA N K

RA N K

RA N K
Mediice (2009
Prop$e100,000)
(per valuation
Property Home Sale Home

r
an ho )

Numables
rty Ta

of s
Taxes Price Sales

me

er
x
1 Shaker Heights $3,300 1 Pepper Pike $383,000 1 Lorain 809
Co m m u ni ty

Co m m u ni ty

Co m m u ni ty
2 University Heights $3,090 2 Moreland Hills $350,500 2 Elyria 669
3 Cleveland Heights $3,080 3 Aurora $294,000 3 North Ridgeville 620
4 Garfield Heights $2,900 4 Hudson $285,000 4 Parma 604
5 Fairview Park $2,770 5 Bath $284,450 5 Brunswick 414
6 South Euclid $2,720 6 Orange Village $280,000 6 Lakewood 407
7 Lyndhurst $2,660 7 Concord Twp. $277,500 7 Cuyahoga Falls 377
8 Lakewood $2,640 8 Bainbridge Twp. $276,950 8 Strongsville 360
9 Maple Heights $2,540 9 Kirtland $270,800 9 Medina 339
10 Euclid $2,530 10 Chagrin Falls $265,000 10 Cleveland Heights 315
11 Bay Village $2,510 11 Beachwood $255,000 11 Westlake 314
12 Bedford $2,470 12 Solon $252,000 12 Mentor 307
13 North Olmsted $2,460 13 Willoughby Hills $251,300 13 Avon 275
14 Chagrin Falls $2,450 14 Avon $245,000 14 Euclid 264
15 Olmsted Twp. $2,440 15 Sagamore Hills Twp. $240,000 15 Rocky River 253

lowest 10-Year Median Highest % of

RA N K

RA N K

RA N K
Prop$e100,000)
(per valuation

sidew
(1999

Roadalks (%)
Property Home Sale Roads with
% ch2a009)
rty ta

Taxes Price Increase sidewalks

s wit
-
nge
x

h
1 Streetsboro $1,440 1 Aurora 68.48% 1t Bay village 100.0%
Community

Commun ity

Commun ity

2 Hinckley Twp. $1,460 2 Kirtland 55.19% 1t Cleveland Heights 100.0%

3 Lorain $1,560 3 Concord Twp. 44.95% 1t Euclid 100.0%
4 Brunswick $1,570 4 Avon 43.07% 1t University Heights 100.0%
5 Chardon $1,590 5 Orange Village 43.04% 1t Westlake 100.0%
6t Mentor $1,600 6 Willoughby Hills 37.70% 1t Willowick 100.0%
6t Twinsburg $1,600 7 Bath 35.45% 7 Brooklyn 99.4%
8 Amherst $1,610 8 East Cleveland 33.90% 8 Lakewood 99.0%
9 Macedonia $1,620 9 Stow 32.43% 9 Parma 98.8%
10t Elyria $1,650 10 Sagamore Hills Twp. 31.15% 10 Bedford 98.0%
10t North Ridgeville $1,650 11 Cleveland Heights 26.56% 11 Medina 96.8%
12 Concord Twp. $1,670 12 Oakwood 26.49% 12 Wickliffe 95.6%
13t Independence $1,680 13 Twinsburg 26.20% 13 Garfield Heights 95.5%
13t Richfield Village $1,680 14 Richfield Village 24.44% 14t Rocky River 94.7%
15 Painesville Twp. $1,690 15 North Ridgeville 23.69% 14t Berea 94.7%

clevelandmagazine.com / C L E V E L A N D 147