5 underrated neighborhoods on Cleveland's east side

Midtown

🤘 Midtown is along Carnegie Avenue from the innerbelt to East 79th Street.

• Skirting the Cleveland Clinic, Midtown has recently embraced its identity as home to the "Health Tech Corridor," a cluster of biomedical and health care startups.

Zoom in: Two of the most popular music venues in the city are here — The Agora and Cleveland Masonic.

• The real treasure of Midtown is Asiatown, with dozens of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Thai dining options.

1 fun thing: Sing your heart out at Galaxy KTV karaoke bar.

Slavic Village

🇵🇱 Slavic Village was an ethnic enclave near Fleet and Broadway avenues known as Little Warsaw, with one of the largest Polish communities in the country during 19th and early 20th century.

• The neighboring Karlin area was home to Cleveland's Czech community.

Dig in: Red Chimney on Fleet is one of the best family diners in town and Philomena is the city's crown jewel vegan bakery.

1 fun thing: Gawk at the personal collection of Darl Schaff at the Darl Center for the Arts.

Kinsman

🌉 The neighborhood is centered along Kinsman Avenue and was originally part of Newburgh Township.

Flashback: Kinsman was home to a large Jewish population in the early 20th century and became a hub for the Black community after the second great migration.

The intrigue: The Opportunity Corridor runs through the northern section of the neighborhood, though the promises of new development and jobs have been slow in materializing.

1 fun thing: Visit the historic Sidaway Bridge, Cleveland's only suspension bridge that was named to the National Register of Historic Places.

Buckeye-Shaker

🚉 Buckeye-Shaker is the area surrounding Buckeye Road and Shaker Boulevard between East 116th and Shaker Heights.

• It was built up around what are now the RTA's Blue and Green lines.

Zoom in: Shaker Square, built in 1929, is one of the oldest planned shopping centers in the country.

• Nonprofit owners have injected new life into the Square, investing $5 million in critical infrastructure and cosmetic upgrades.

Dig in: Buckeye-Shaker includes the Larchmere shopping strip. It's home to Batuqui, one of the most celebrated Brazilian restaurants, and the Academy Tavern, a top Cleveland bar.

1 fun thing: Get lost in the shelves at Loganberry Books.

Glenville

🦸 Glenville was once home to the Glenville Race Track and the childhood home of Jerry Siegel, the co-creator of Superman.

Flashback: The neighborhood's more infamous history includes the Glenville shootout of 1968.

Zoom in: These days, Glenville has a national reputation as a high school football powerhouse.

1 fun thing: Bring your binoculars to the Lakefront Nature Preserve, a treasure trove for local bird watchers.