About Us

In 1976 a group of concerned residents around Shaker Square formed Friends of Shaker Square (FOSS) to promote and support Shaker Square and its merchant tenants. It produced large-scale promotions such as its annual Very Square Affair, Antique Car Show, and Holiday Lighting Ceremonies. In 1980 Shaker Square was designated a Historic District by the City of Cleveland. It is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing it as a National Landmark. As it grew in membership, and its role expanded to that of a Community Development Corporation, FOSS became Shaker Square Area Development Corporation in 2000. Its new role encompassed property development such as Livingston Park Apartments, code enforcement, home improvement assistance to residents, and other programs.

Today, SHAD’s focus is on advocacy of Shaker Square and its adjacent neighborhoods, and communication. Our quarterly award-winning newspaper, SHAD Connection, features news about Shaker Square and its communities and produces an annual Apartment Hunters Guide. SHAD also uses social media to reach out to members and stakeholders. The SHAD service area is comparable in design to a number of communities that have been established during the past 20 years using an urban design planning concept called New Urbanism or transit-oriented development. Like these New Urbanism communities, the neighborhoods of Shaker Square can be defined by several elements:

• Diverse in use and population
• Designed for pedestrians and transit as well as cars
• Walkable
• Built around a recognized center
• Elementary schools within close proximity to housing so that most children can walk to school
• Transit stop located at the center of the neighborhood
• Various types of housing to meet the needs of young professionals to empty-nesters
• Most housing within a 10-15 minute walk of the center of the neighborhood
• Unique retail shopping districts (Larchmere Boulevard and Shaker Square)