@Mickey2Dad No one has to drive through East Cleveland to get from the airport to Case Western, because East Cleveland is east of University Circle, and the airport is west.
Case is located at 110th street to 115th Street. East Cleveland is 125th Street and higher. The dangerous area is 55th street, but you can drive through it. I did that. No problem at all. I would not walk 55th at night
but its way too far to get there on foot from Case Western. The airport is 15 miles to the west of 55th street.
My assessment is East Cleveland TODAY is not even close to what the U of Chicago surrounding was like in the 1980s. My sister U of C class of 1985, so I visited
U of Chicago in 1982, 83, and now many times years as my sister is still there. Hyde Park is now
a posh neighborhood, but still has some surrounding areas that are not so safe. Cleveland is better than the area surrounding Hyde Park and there is really no chance of wandering into East Cleveland at all from University Circle.
Students can go to a fast food restaurant or Walmarts in East Cleveland and its OK. Its not as racially tense
as I see parts of Chicago are today, Atlanta near GaTech either. I just visited GaTech two months ago.
Its a matter of knowing where to go. Atlanta just northwest of GaTech is a little worse than the area
around Case Western. So GaTech students are pretty regularly mugged in that area, even with a lot
of police at GaTech.
Cleveland is way smaller than Atlanta and feels less racially charged up to me. I have visited both
this year, and have visited Case Western seven times, always took the trains and only rented a car
once of those seven times. I also do not rent a car in Atlanta, and walk too, its a bit more dangerous though
in parts.
The Cleveland community is more integrated, and less racial tension than either Atlanta or Chicago.
I am not familiar with Baltimore, but I only know what I see on the news–riots and fires lit near JHU
a few years back.