Cleveland: University Circle is BOOMING!!! (East Cleveland: house, neighborhoods, construction)

[CLEJoe]

That's what I thought... But a lot of misinformation out here, unfortunately :/.

I can't wait until MidTown builds up and Euclid Ave. returns to its former glory!

[RioDominicana]

Originally Posted by CLEJoe

That's what I thought... But a lot of misinformation out here, unfortunately :/.

I can't wait until MidTown builds up and Euclid Ave. returns to its former glory!

Yeah, I've heard some of those Case student horror stories too. However from my personal experience I notice the people who tend to perpetuate that stereotype about University Circle (and Cleveland in general) are the west side suburbanites. The east siders seem to have more of an affinity for the area. Where I live it's not uncommon for kids from the high school to go downtown or to University Circle on the weekends instead of the mall. Some even take the rapid.

[Larry Siegel]

University Circle is indeed booming, and so are Little Italy, the Clinic area, and to some extent Coventry. (And the Barking Spider is just as wonderful as it was the day I first walked in, more than 40 years ago, when it was called the Olive Tree.) I recently visited this area, where I grew up.

It's sad to see, however, that most of the surrounding areas, including East Cleveland, central Cleveland Heights, and much of Fairfax, Hough, and Glenville, are not booming. I live in Chicago now, and the rejuvenation of the old central-city neighborhoods has been spectacular. I hoped to see something similar in Cleveland but I couldn't find it.

[RioDominicana]

Originally Posted by Larry Siegel

University Circle is indeed booming, and so are Little Italy, the Clinic area, and to some extent Coventry. (And the Barking Spider is just as wonderful as it was the day I first walked in, more than 40 years ago, when it was called the Olive Tree.) I recently visited this area, where I grew up.

It's sad to see, however, that most of the surrounding areas, including East Cleveland, central Cleveland Heights, and much of Fairfax, Hough, and Glenville, are not booming. I live in Chicago now, and the rejuvenation of the old central-city neighborhoods has been spectacular. I hoped to see something similar in Cleveland but I couldn't find it.

Actually, though I wouldn't call Hough booming either, there's been some pretty significant gentrification with newer homes in some parts and there actually has been a noticeable black middle class presence moving back into the neighborhood. I'd say on a whole it's been trending upward since the riots.

[motorman]

Although the pictures posted by costello_muscician (#11 post) from an earlier 11/28/10 UrbanOhio thread offered splendid evidence of this construction-boom, I'm hoping Cleveland photographers will continue to update the progress being made throughout the city. Like myself, many Ohioans, are probably unable to make frequent visits to Cleveland, and thus vicariously relish such photo shoots. Bring 'em on!

[CLEJoe]

Originally Posted by Larry Siegel

University Circle is indeed booming, and so are Little Italy, the Clinic area, and to some extent Coventry. (And the Barking Spider is just as wonderful as it was the day I first walked in, more than 40 years ago, when it was called the Olive Tree.) I recently visited this area, where I grew up.

It's sad to see, however, that most of the surrounding areas, including East Cleveland, central Cleveland Heights, and much of Fairfax, Hough, and Glenville, are not booming. I live in Chicago now, and the rejuvenation of the old central-city neighborhoods has been spectacular. I hoped to see something similar in Cleveland but I couldn't find it.

Our East Side is comparable to Chicago's South Side. After living there for 2 years, it seemed like everyone tried to pretend the South Side didn't exist, except for the occasional joke. So instead of comparing Chicago's central-city neighborhoods to Cleveland's East Side, you should compare the South Side to CLE's east. I never heard of anything positive coming out of the South Side while I was living there. No development - nothing. Although we need a lot more, at least SOMETHING is going on in the East Side here in Cleveland.

[NomadicStripper]

Originally Posted by RioDominicana

University Circle/Little Italy is arguably (against maybe West Park) the safest neighborhood in Cleveland. I hardly hear of any crime at all that goes there. The only memorable crime I recall hearing about was a rape that occurred near the art museum and that was in 2009.

I remember the rape you were talking about. However, if I remember correctly, 09 was the year when i received a lot of campus security updates about muggings. it was several in a row... and some of them were a bit violent (i remember one classmate was punched in the face after relinquishing their wallet). As far as crime goes though, mugging is not bad. and considering UC borders east cleveland and houses a lot of privileged young (and often wimpy) students, its not surprising that muggings occur.

Little italy is safe if you are white. However, that neighborhood is quite dangerous for African Americans. I had a roommate from east cleveland who would not venture from there, and i have another roommate who was jumped twice in Little Italy. And the cleveland police will not touch the area...

but compared to the rest of cleveland, UC is definitely safe.

[costello_musicman]

^University Circle is safe. I walk it everyday and have lived there for over 5 years. I've never had even a small problem.

For the 40,000 people who work there daily, over 10,000 students during the school year, and over 2000 in the population of Little Italy ...these are best described as more isolated incidents. The percentage of crime per population is extremely low.

[costello_musicman]

BTW....I took this picture today

Uptown retail/apartments and the new MOCA in the foreground:

[RioDominicana]

Originally Posted by NomadicStripper

I remember the rape you were talking about. However, if I remember correctly, 09 was the year when i received a lot of campus security updates about muggings. it was several in a row... and some of them were a bit violent (i remember one classmate was punched in the face after relinquishing their wallet). As far as crime goes though, mugging is not bad. and considering UC borders east cleveland and houses a lot of privileged young (and often wimpy) students, its not surprising that muggings occur.

Little italy is safe if you are white. However, that neighborhood is quite dangerous for African Americans. I had a roommate from east cleveland who would not venture from there, and i have another roommate who was jumped twice in Little Italy. And the cleveland police will not touch the area...

but compared to the rest of cleveland, UC is definitely safe.

I agree, the occasional muggings here and there do occur, I was saying it isn't nearly as bad of a war zone as some suburbanites like to paint it out to be. I'd give a lot of the safety credit also to the UC Police force, they can really blanket the area at times.

I also agree about Little Italy. As a minority myself I haven't experienced trouble the times I have been there but as much as people still don't like to realize it, it can still be a very uncomfortable and unwelcoming place for minorities. I remember reading about a whole series of racially-motivated incidents in the summer of '09 in the Plain Dealer.