misu

I use Manhattan Ave as a way to drive from the west side of manhattan to the east side. Manhattan Ave has Morningside curve into it near 110th street. At this point, you can follow 110th down to 96th street and then since Manhattan Ave ends at 96th, make a left and then cut through the park to get to the east side. The brownstones on Manhattan Ave are in great shape & makes you feel like you are in a great neighborhood. However, that's not the case. I wish it were different. But overall, the street is pretty and a nice quiet place to drive through & avoid traffic.

Morningside Ave is also known as Convent Avenue. It is referred to as Morningside after 128th street. Morningside just north of 125th Street is a two lane, narrow avenue. South of 125th Street, Morningside widens out and is easy to drive down. Not many people walk down it and on the west side of the street is a park - which also not many people frequent. As you drive down Morningside, it eventually ends by curving into Manhattan Ave, near 110th street. So, I usually use Morningside as a short cut from the northern part of the city to get me to 96th Street. As you drive down Morningside between 125th & where it ends on Manhattan aAve- there are no businesses or shops. There are some cute apartments though.

St. Nicholas Terrace is up on the hill and is just behind City College. It is where everyone parks who goes to school there or lives in the surrounding area. It is right up against the park and during the day, it is quite safe to walk down it. It is also nice to walk down a street in NYC where it is COMPLETELY tree-lined. But, at night, the park is totally unsafe. The school often posts warnings to students to not walk through the park from St. Nicholas Terrace to the subway at 135th Street. The street is a little better since City College put in a dormitory, there are security guards that patrol the street, but overall it's not safe.

From Riverside park to Broadway, there's not much there other than apartments. From Broadway to Amsterdam, there are quite a few shops and surprisingly a liquor store that stocks decent wines (this is on the south side of 145th). From Amsterdam to St. Nicholas, there is a raw food restaurant, which is quite good, if you like raw food. There is also a new Starbucks, and a Pathmark which has parking around the corner - if you show your receipt from the store, the charge to park in the parking lot is $1. The parking for Pathmark is very nice. It has a direct, inside access to the store and is within a building, with good parking attendants. Also in the same area, there are two new banks and an apartment building that has been renovated. If you go to City College you should know that City College also has a shuttle bus that picks you up from the 145th street subway on the southwest corner of 145th & St. Nicholas & drops you off at the center of campus at 138th street and Convent. Past St. Nicholas on 145th street, the neighborhood changes and I wouldn't walk there unless you have reason to be there (like you live there.) 145th street widens as it gets closer to the 145th street bridge to the Bronx and there are two gas stations very close to the bridge on 145th. The Bx19 runs on 145th street and surprisingly runs on time.

West of Richmond Road, Wilson Mills is known as Monticello. At the intersection of Richmond Road, there is a great deal of shopping with Richmond Mall and two strip malls on either side. As you travel down Wilson Mills going east, it becomes a mixture of residential and businesses. As you cross S.O.M (Route 91) Wilson Mills becomes residential - but this part of the road is still partially closed for construction. But this ends at Chagrin River Road (174). However, Wilson Mills does a jog at this point. At the intersection of Chagrin River Road, turn right, go over the bridge and at the next intersection turn left. This left turn will put you back onto the extension of Wilson Mills Road.

To get to princeton, travel north on Belvoir and then just past Monticello, turn right. Flanking Princeton at this point are two lovely, tudor style houses, which look like they could be in architectural digest. The road curves and crosses S. Green. If you follow it past S. Green, it passes a sorry looking Strip Mall and a concrete factory - but then it winds slowly along the upper path of the Euclid Creek Reservation Metropark and there are lovely houses on the other side. If you follow this to the end, you will be directed to curve to the left and this will eventually put you on Euclid Ave going east, just before Highland. I use this to avoid the Metropark with its speed trap.

It is primarily residential, with some smaller business sections at major intersections (Noble and Green Roads) Up until the western side of Richmond, it is referred to as Monticello and to the east of Richmond Road it is called Wilson Mills. It is two lanes in either direction with a green median. There is hardly any commerical traffic on it and it is a very pleasant drive - use this to avoid Mayfield. The houses on this street are quite charming - but one does have to pay attention to the smaller neighborhoods - they change in character quite quickly and without warning.

This road is about the same width as Monticello/Wilson Mills - but mostly residential and with even less traffic. I highly suggest driving down this road whenever possible. There are two ways to get to it, one is through the Euclid Creek Reservation Metropark (from S. Green Road) which is a pretty path -but watch your speed - it is a speed trap. It is also possible to access it without much hassle if one takes Anderson (from either S. Green or Richmond) and turns north on Trebisky. Trebisky is only residential and there are no speed traps here.

Belvoir has three main socio-economic regions. From Euclid Ave to Monticello it is primarily a low-income area - but relatively maintained houses. From Monticello to Cedar, it is mostly middle class and following this area from Cedar to Shaker Blvd it is upper-middle. Overall it is pleasant to drive through - the Euclid to Monticello area borders the Euclid Creek Metropark, and there are many trees. It is only residential. However, near Fairmont (which is in the upper-middle region) John Carroll University is located and when students are walking to classes, there is a great deal of foot traffic at that point.

avoid, avoid, avoid. At Brainard, Cedar is congested with I-271, and immediately following this to the west is Montefiore/Menorah Park Old age homes right next to Beachwood Place Mall & diagonally from the mall, yet another mall. From this point, there is a mixture of residential and more shopping all along Cedar until you get to Cedar Hill which will bring you towards downtown Cleveland and consequently even more traffic during working hours. East of Brainard should also be avoided on Cedar - at this point it is 100% residential, but it has jogs in the road and a traffic circle and it is easy to find yourself no longer on Cedar!!

Near Chagrin Blvd, it is ok to drive - but watch as you drive just north of Cedar (just past Beachwood Place) There used to be an old farm house on the right (just past the Condos which are on the east side of the street) on a hill. The old farmhouse's driveway still exists and that is where Lyndhurst police wait for people to speed. It's brutal! Past this point, it is mostly residential - punctuated with businesses at Mayfield, Wilson Mills/Monticello and again near Euclid Ave. The houses are well maintained but the neighborhood changes once you get to Euclid Ave.

It is a residential street that everyone who lived nearby used to avoid Mayfield. However with construction now, it is a mess. You should avoid driving down it. It's almost better to drive down Mayfield! Or try Wilson Mills. The traffic is worse near the end by S.O.M. Center just by the I-271 overpass – the reason why is because there is a shortcut from Mayfield behind all the strip malls. Because of this, if you want to take it to bypass Mayfield, drive from Richmond (where it begins) to Lander and then make a left turn on Lander (going south) to go to Mayfield or turn right (going north) to get to Wilson Mills.

From just east of downtown Cleveland to somewhere in PA (near State College PA) - this road seems to be chock full of mostly shopping. During the day avoid it - especially when school is being let out for the day. After 7pm, it is pretty OK to drive down - the lights are timed so that one can get quite a few of them. However, watch your speed in Chesterland Township - just west of Route 306 near the McDonalds - the police wait there and here the speed drops immediately from 45 to 25. Also watch your speed at the bottom of the hill at the intersection of 174 (Chagrin River Road) and also in South Euclid near S. Green Road.