Getting Around Cleveland: Orange barrel season
Commutes, congestion, transit, and parking: what getting around Cleveland really takes.
Heather, Our Local Expert Guiding Your Move
Heather has lived in Ohio for 36 years, minus a brief three-year stint in Kentucky (thanks, parents). Born in Appalachian southeastern Ohio, she later moved to the city and spent years wondering where all the cows went and why everyone was suddenly in such a darn hurry. She's adapted...mostly. That culture shock taught her Ohio doesn't get enough credit for its range of flat farmland, Amish hills, and mini mountains all crammed into one state. When she's not writing copy while binging true crime podcasts, she's hunting down a "bubble" from Jackson County (if you know, you know) or stealing the last slice of pie from her husband at So Pizza in Miamisburg. She's telling you about So Pizza with reluctance, because long lines would ruin everything. At Snappy Scout, Heather writes Ohio guides that don't waste your time and occasionally drops puns that may or may not land. You've been warned.
Read moreWritten with local insight from Snappy Scout relocation experts
How Do You Get Around Cleveland?
Commutes, congestion, transit, and parking: the daily logistics nobody puts on the listing.
The time I spend getting to/from work every day is
Twenty minutes on a good day, 45 minutes when someone's Civic decided to breakdance on Dead Man's Curve, two hours when lake effect snow attacks at 7 a.m. and everyone forgets how to drive
Traffic congestion areas to avoid
Dead Man's Curve on I-90 (nearly 90-degree turn that sees 100,000 vehicles daily and 28 crashes in 48 hours back in January 2025, designed this way in 1959 to leave room for Burke Airport expansion that never happened), I-480 through Valley View where three lanes merge into despair, St. Clair Avenue anywhere (officially one of Cleveland's most dangerous streets but nobody talks about it because Dead Man's Curve has better PR)
Ability to get around without a car
RTA HealthLine runs every 7 to 10 minutes during rush hour along Euclid Avenue connecting downtown to University Circle in 34 minutes (used to be 46 before they fixed it), Red Line gets you from the airport to downtown, but winter bus stops are where you learn the true meaning of suffering, Costco runs require a car unless you want to carry 48 rolls of toilet paper on the bus and become a local legend
Locals dream of driving around in a
Lifted F-150 with aftermarket suspension that laughs at potholes on St. Clair and can plow through unplowed side streets in February like it's being paid to do the city's job
The reality is that most locals drive
2014 Chevy Malibu with salt-crusted rockers, a Check Engine light that's been on since 2019, and a driver's side floor mat that's 40% road salt, the car you bought for $4,000 that's worth $400 but still gets you to work
Quirky local driving habit
Five under the speed limit in flurries (even if it's just three flakes), 15 over when the sun comes out and everyone forgets winter existed, running yellow lights like it's an Olympic sport, the "Cleveland left" where the first car at a green light turns left before oncoming traffic moves
The likelihood of finding parking
Downtown garage parking exists but costs $200 monthly, Ohio City and Tremont street parking is a blood sport on Friday and Saturday nights (everyone circles the same four blocks for 20 minutes), suburbs have parking lots bigger than most European countries and you'll never walk more than 50 feet, West Side Market parking is free for 60 minutes then $1.50/hour which means you're doing speed runs through the produce section
#1 driving tip
Dead Man's Curve speed signs say 35 mph and they mean it (the curve opened in 1959 at 50 mph with no banking or warning signs, which explains a lot), potholes appear overnight and swallow entire wheels on streets the city claims they "just fixed," winter tires aren't optional they're survival equipment, assume every other driver forgot how to merge
Where I Go for a Quiet Escape
The Willow at Edgewater Park. It's this massive weeping willow tree right by the lake, and the locals like to keep it a bit of a secret. You can go sit under it when you need to think or just stop existing for 20 minutes. The branches hang down like a room, lake's right there, and you can pretend the rest of Cleveland doesn't exist for a bit.
— Heather Taylor
Ohio Local Expert
Ready to See If Cleveland Fits You?
Compare neighborhoods, check the routes, or head back to the full Cleveland guide for the bigger picture.