Safety at Case Western?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Case Western Reserve University
1

DD is leaning heavily towards Case. We visited the campus and Cleveland last fall and were very pleasantly surprised - found both to be much nicer and more interesting that what you read on the web. I’ve lived in large cities and know they can be dangerous but for the most part, as long as people keep their eyes open and don’t do stupid things, they should be okay. I also know that many schools, including ivy leagues, are located in or near bad sections of a city so CWRU isn’t unique in that situation. That said, I was reading about a few pretty bad sounding armed robberies right on or near the CWRU campus recently, which are now scaring me. Is this more of a problem on campus than I thought? One of the appealing things about CWRU is being able to go into the City, or to the neighboring areas of Coventry or Little Italy, and I’d hate to think that not only should my daughter be wary about that, but that she might get held up on campus as well. Or am I blowing this out of proportion?

Can anyone with experience at the school or living in the area provide their input as we make this difficult 4 year decision?

Thanks!

2

Here is a good thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/case-western-reserve-university/1316142-safety-at-cwru.html

Also on campus ride the greenie buses at night…they take you door to door.

3

Thanks @bopper. A few years old but probably not that much has changed. Was just worried about the stories about people being robbed at gunpoint on campus - if that is true that is worrisome.

4

My best friend’s daughter started at CWRU last fall…have not heard a peep from them about safety issues. It is a city, be prudent.

5

Case student here. The worse that had happened this year was a professor getting her purse stolen by some teens as she was walking in the quad. Other than that, it’s been pretty uneventful. It’s a safe place to be as long as you’re within a mile radius of the school.

6

I am a CWRU parent.

Cleveland is a small scale city with neighborhoods. Its not nearly as dangerous as say South Side Chicago, but one must be aware of where to go and where to avoid. Travel between campus and downtown with the Healthline bus or the train to West Side Market, Tower or the airport is all fine, but I would go with a friend on the Healthline / Euclid bus to get used to the feel of it. It goes by Cleveland Clinic and lots of East Cleveland residents use this bus to get to work.

My son is in his 3rd year at CWRU. He lived and one summer with a Case friend in the Coventry neighborhood, and walked back and forth to campus and has had no safety issues for all three years and the one summer. Summer of 2014, some kids, who were armed, got into one of the living areas, (my son was home in Colorado that summer) , but nothing bad happened, police came quickly and all was OK. Summer of 2015, as far as I know, few incidents, as they do lock the dorms. Summer is a little quieter, on campus, so it may be slightly more dangerous and deserted, but my son was fine over the summer, really enjoyed the nicer weather and his on campus research project.

Students get free passes to all public transportation in Cleveland.
The Healthline/ East Cleveland Bus runs up and down Euclid past CWRU and into downtown. I have ridden this bus with my son and its safe. I would say downtown Cleveland and the Lake Erie waterfront is a little deserted in the winter, but remember thats five miles from campus, and not an issue. Little Italy is a pleasant five minute walk , that felt safe to me, from north dorms or south side dorms.

My son has lived in north campus dorms or apartments all three years, a little unusual, as most sophomores live south, which is up a big hill, very nice view of Lake Erie up there, and quieter. South campus in not too far from the Roman Catholic church, which is next to Prestis, all very accessible from South Campus dorms and sororities. There is the “Greenie” bus to get around because Cleveland is windy and cold, and this also can be used to not have to walk at night, until your daughter gets acclimated and comfortable. There are some areas one should not walk, namely into East Cleveland or maybe north, but I myself walked, in February, all over campus in the daytime and at night, before 10 pm, and felt it was fine. It is very cold though! Need a lot of winter gear to not freeze to death on the cold and windy and sleet falling years. This winter was comparatively nice, warm, and even a bit more sunny than the first two winters.

Students get a daily or weekly crime report at any college campus, and Case provides that. So there is a nice awareness of whats up on campus.

7

Thank you for this information! I have a child who will be attending in the fall, and I was wondering about safety on and around campus.

8

@Blueskies4ever I have written about safety some on CC. Basic rundown for Case:

  1. students are safe on campus its about as safe as any urban college campus, I think safer because Cleveland is a SMALL scale city with neighborhoods.
  2. there are places one should not walk into, East Cleveland, but there is also not much there to do, so students not likely to walk there.
  3. public transportation in Cleveland is safe, I took it myself with my son to decide, both the Healthline Buses that go to Cleveland Clinic labs and downtown theatre and Lake Erie area, and the trains to and from the International Airport that have a stop near the freshman dorms are safe.

My son lived last summer in Coventry with another Case student and worked on campus, walked back and forth and that was also safe. Coventry does have a bus, its maybe a mile from campus.

Cities such as Baltimore have more crime because its near Washington DC, see the riots last year, a place like Cleveland has way less activists than say Los Angeles, Boston, New York or other large scale cities.

Cleveland is positively friendly and less homeless population because of the weather, means less crime. (I feel sorry to say that, but I find Denver, for instance has more drugs and crime because of our large homeless population than Cleveland seems to have, its very common to find hyper dermic needles in public parks in Denver ! )

On any college campus across the USA students will get crime reports, Case provides them.

9

My D is in her 4th semester @CWRU. It’s a scary campus, I tell you. In her the 2 yrs at CWRU, there was one incident that still draw emotions when she thinks about it:

Some random person walked up to a student and smacked him in the back of his head and ran off.
Didn’t rob him, nothing, just smacked him on his head and took off.
Emotion: LOLs.
I know it’s not funny if it happens to you but it’s one of those things. Someone else falls down, you laugh, but it’s not funny when you fall.

That’s about as serious as crime activities get on CWRU campus. Oh, also, my D lost her wallet last Fall. Someone found it and turned it in to Lost and Found. Everything was still in her wallet.

10

@Coloradomama just now seeing your post. Thank you for the information; very helpful. I agree, Case is probably as safe, possibly safer, than any urban campus. My son is looking forward to attending.

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@Blueskies4ever We just came back from a visit to Cleveland and my husband and I walked from the Cleveland Clinic area to campus and back each day. (we stayed in a hotel west of campus). We explored the new performing arts center, and really enjoyed walking around University Circle. Case is adding a walking park between the Maltz performing arts center and the main campus, a cooperative project with the Cleveland Museum of Art. Its called the Nord Family Greenway:
http://blog.case.edu/think/2016/05/20/case_western_reserve_university_and_the_cleveland_museum_of_art_announce_innovative_landscape_project_the_nord_family_greenway

Here are sketches of the area. The domed performing arts center is a historic synagogue that was renovated.

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2016/05/cwru_announced_bold_plan_for_a.html

I think this will improve safety and beauty of the campus. It also extends the walking campus towards the new Health Sciences Complex, to be completed in 2018, I think, which is closer to Cleveland Clinic and a little west of the Maltz performing arts building.

When students go downtown, thats a bus ride to the lakefront area, its good to go in groups of two or more, until they learn their way. Case students who work summer jobs downtown commute alone with no problem, according to my son. I never felt unsafe in the restaurant areas downtown either. I think Cleveland is on an upswing for jobs, which really improves everyone’s outlook.

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Thanks, @Coloradomama. The improvements to the campus are very exciting. Great time to be a student at Case!

13

CWRU just had their annual PINO Conference yesterday. If interested, you guys might want to check out the website or next year event.

14

PINO stands for Polymer Initiative Northern Ohio. Akron used to be known as “Rubber City” with Bridgestone Tire and other companies located in the greater Cleveland area. Case Western still has one of the strongest polymer science programs in the nation.

15

Not necessarily. For one, the university is located off of Euclid Avenue which already has a reputation of being in the hood. In 2003, they had a tragic shooting there involving Biswanath Halder who shot up the university out of anger at the university when his project was deleted from the computers. He accused the lab attendant of doing it when in fact, there were signs all over the place telling students not to save anything on them because they were set up to self delete anything that was saved on there. After the shooting, they were supposed to “beef up security”, but then there was a serial rapist that was going around raping faculty, students, and passers by all under the “beefed up security”. He was eventually caught. Then there was more crime that ensued there. You can get hurt anywhere, but it’s a lot worse down there.

16

@DaBum2012 It does sound like Euclid was in pretty bad shape some years ago, like 2003. But I think a lot has changed since then. In 2016, The Euclid and Uptown area is a great example of urban renewal. Restaurants, bowling alleys, nice hotel, etc. And more is on the way, with the huge landscape greenway project coming. When I read old posts about CWRU they often said wonderful school in an ok area; but recent post say a great school in a wonderful area. That has been our impression on recent visits. We feel very safe around CWRU. I am curious if you have been there recently @DaBum2012?

17

2003??? Please do not base your assessment of Case Western’s safety on incidents from 13 years ago! You wouldn’t even recognize the area if you haven’t been back since then. My daughter will be a senior this year and has had three uneventful years. She routinely studies in the library until midnight or later and walks back with a group…she has not felt unsafe. Use reasonable vigilance- as you would on any college campus. There are some seedy areas relatively close by but you just don’t wander off by yourself or go places you don’t need to go. I would not let safety concerns deter anyone from checking out CWRU- it is a wonderful school and a great place to spend four years!

18

Feelings are real. @DaBum2012, not so much. His/her first post. If you are interested in anecdotes, I know of 3 students from our HS attending (one female nursing student, a rising junior). They all love it, and do not feel unsafe. I have visited with my D17, and have no concern, although she is ‘street smart’ coming from an urban area. Again, feelings are real, so I get it. Good luck.