Turkey
We picked
Shaker Heights…
because Shaker
has the nicest
neighborhoods,
houses, diversity,
and the best public
schools – schools that
agree with our values. Spain
WWW.SHAKER.LIFE | SPRING 2020 41
Umut Gurkan
Moved to Shaker
2017
Ignacio Fernandez Mata
Moved to Shaker
2018
I came to the Cleveland area when I got a job
doing research at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
When we were choosing where to live, Shaker was love
at first sight. During my interview process my wife and I
came to visit neighborhoods, and we loved the houses, the
streets, and the closeness to work. Also, we love to walk, and it’s
nice being able to walk to the library, to Van Aken, etc.
The people here seemed very nice, too. We have two young
kids, and when we visited Mercer, we also loved the school. We were
here one or two days after the school year was over but the school
administrators, including the principal who gave us a personal tour of
the school, couldn’t have been nicer to us. We also liked how diverse
Shaker is.
We love it here. We have gotten to know many great people, a lot
of them also “imports” from other places in the U.S. or other countries,
including fellow Spaniards. We are extremely happy with the school as
well. There is a vibrant community here, including great neighbors who
care for each other, lots of activities, great parks, and more. It really is a
great place to raise a family. SL
There is a vibrant
community here,
including great
neighbors who care
for each other.
My wife Burcu and I moved from Boston to the
Cleveland area in 2013 for our jobs. We both now work
at CWRU as faculty in the school of engineering. My
research is on affordable medical diagnostic technologies
for low- and middle-income countries, such as in Africa and
India. My wife is developing technology for cabin air quality in long
space travels.
We picked Shaker Heights for our home because Shaker has the
nicest neighborhoods, houses, diversity, and the best public schools –
schools that agree with our values.
My experience has been amazing! We love our Mercer
neighborhood, our street (Byron Road), and our neighbors. We were
pleasantly surprised by how friendly our neighbors are.
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