Fairfax
Fairfax puts Cleveland history onto the national stage, and its community’s cultural pride is well-deserved. The beloved institutions here have connected neighbors for decades, and a fresh wave of energy is adding new foods and faces. Take a hop-skip-and-jump from Downtown and University Circle to come see what you’ve been missing here!
Karamu House
As the oldest producing African-American theater in the nation, Karamu House is Fairfax’s artistic heartbeat. For more than a century, it has nurtured groundbreaking artists, celebrated Black stories, and anchored the neighborhood with world-class performances and real culture.
Where to Eat in Fairfax
Start a Food Adventure at Fairfax Market
The new Fairfax Market on E 105th is already a neighborhood gathering place — a modern grocery and hub created for residents to eat fresh and local. It’s a symbol of investment and connection for the neighborhood.
A Neighborhood Rooted in Connection
The strength of the Fairfax neighborhood lives in its people and historic institutions like Antioch Baptist Church and Olivet Institutional Baptist Church. Both are longstanding strongholds of civil rights that have hosted global changemakers such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and they continue to serve as community anchors.
Get Outside in Fairfax
Icons of the Fairfax Neighborhood
Langston Hughes
This renowned poet spent his teenage years in Fairfax, where the neighborhood’s rhythm and resilience shaped his early poetry that later defined the Harlem Renaissance.
Dorothy Dandridge
The talented performer has family roots in Fairfax, where the neighborhood’s thriving Black arts scene helped inspire her path to becoming a Hollywood legend.
Jesse Owens
The gold medalist who trained in Cleveland during his youth is celebrated here as an early icon of the excellence and determination that Fairfax holds today.
Home to World-Renowned Healthcare
The Fairfax neighborhood is home to the Cleveland Clinic’s Langston Hughes Health & Education Center, connecting world-class healthcare with community-based wellness programming. It’s one of the ways the neighborhood blends innovation with care for generations of residents.
Caution: Watch for Robots and Monster Trucks
And now for something completely different… Tim Willis is an engineer in Fairfax who designs and builds these towering mecha on East 83rd Street. A roadside attraction in the city, his androids, dragons, and monster trucks are metal marvels in motion. Tim partners with local schools to support students interested in STEM, too.
DISCOVER FAIRFAX EVENTS
Get in touch with THE CDC
For more than 30 years, the Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation has led efforts to strengthen housing, support local businesses, and honor the neighborhood’s cultural history. FRDC partners directly with residents to ensure Fairfax’s growth is inclusive, sustainable, and rooted in the community’s vision for the future. Today, they’re driving major revitalization projects, from new homes to commercial development along E 105th Street, helping create a neighborhood where legacy residents and new neighbors can thrive together.
