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Location: Cleveland, OH USA / formerly Chicago for 20 years
4,069 posts, read 7,312,310 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TBideon
Outside of family and a few friends still there, I miss:
North Coast Nostalgia Borders at La Palace
Record Town and Camelot at Beachwood Place
Richmond Mall video arcade
Dollar Theater in Willoughbi Hills
MicroCenter, CompuServe, and Comp USA
Christmas and New Years time at Tower City when it was nice
The Coz
Shaker Country Club
Cleveland Art Museum
Blind Pig
Chagrin Falls
Tommy's
Being called the comeback city in the 90s. Everyone loved Cleveland those days.
The Indians from 94-01
Phoenix Coffee on Lee
South Euclid Library
Hooters in the Flats
Lakewood Park
Coventry Arts Fair
Shaker Fireworks
Geauga Lake - god almighty do I miss Geauga Lake
University School vs Shaker hockey games
Watching the WWF, Lumberjacks and Crunch at the Richfield Coliseum (never cared about the Cavs until they moved to Gund)
Loganberry
I think you'd still miss Borders even if you moved back.
Arguably inaccurate, even though Prof arguably was overstating the case that no city in the U.S. or perhaps the world has so many cultural institutions so close together. And you largely just listed largely the memorials/monuments located on the Mall. The close gathering of great memorials such as the Vietnam War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, Roosevelt Memorial and the Korean War Memorial (which, along with the Lincoln Memorial, is especially memorable at night) is special, but they also are a different class of attractions from great museums, and certainly not just a few blocks from the Smithsonian museums.
Have you ever walked from the Metro to the Lincoln Memorial (the nearest station is almost a mile away)? Or used public transportation to get from the Mall to the National Cathedral (easily accessible? and certainly NOT by the Metro and allow at least 45 minutes)? I've done both, and a "few blocks" demonstrates to me laughable (I was chuckling as I read your comment) exaggeration on your part.
Have you walked from the Lincoln Memorial to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum??? A few blocks? Google says this is 2 miles and an 8-minute DRIVE. The Holocaust Museum is over a mile from the Lincoln Memorial (a little further than from the Terminal Tower to the Rock Hall).
The Prof wasn't arguing against the reality that cities like Washington and New York City have a great multitude of cultural attractions that few cities (including Cleveland) in the world can remotely match, all of them can be reached without a car, but often with some effort. And certainly in each city a couple or more great cultural institutions (such as the Smithsonian museums) often are within a few blocks of each other, and overall both cities have good mass transit and are relatively walkable. And I love exploring both NYC and Washington and have done so using just mass transportation many times. Smart visitors to both cities carefully plan their itineraries in both cities and try to visit nearby attractions rather than flitter back and forth across the vast cities.
What Prof was saying is that University Circle has a handful of superb cultural institutions literally within 5-minute walks of each other, especially those located on Wade Oval, and that is relatively unique in the U.S. E.g., Severance Hall, the Cleveland Botanical Garden, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and the Cleveland History Center. There is a great difference between the proximity of institutions in University Circle and attractions separated by 1 to 2 miles.
BTW, only 11 Smithsonian museums are located on the Mall.
I respectfully disagree. Yes, if you include the Lincoln Memorial, it's a longer distance (although 2.5 miles is not a terribly long walk for a healthy person, and the Mall is a beautiful park to walk through).
There is still a ton of stuff to do all within a few blocks of each other, including the Smithsonian Museums (only 11!), which include the Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Center, the National Gallery of Art, the Native American Museum, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Castle, Hirshorn Museum, and (most recently), the African American Museum.
Besides the 11 Smithsonian Museums, there is also the International Spy Museum, Holocaust Museum, Shakespeare Theater, Ford Theater, National Theater, Newseum, National Archives, E Street Cinema (for art films), Washington Monument, and probably some other things I've forgotten about.
I personally have walked between these things many times--they are all very close.
If the Mall is 2.5 miles long, it's because you can only put so many things in such a small amount of space (only 11 Smithsonian museums!). But the things I've listed above are all a short walk from each other and do not span 2.5 miles. Yes, if you added the monuments, it would span the full distance. The beauty of the Mall is that you can walk up and down the entire length of it and never run out of something to see or do. Plus, it's just a really, really nice park.
Besides the museums and monuments, there is frequently something interesting going on at the Mall. I still remember the time I went to the National Book Fair the same day as an anti-war protest. When I got off at the Metro stop, there were signs that literally said "Book Fair to the left, War Protesters to the right". It was all very well organized.
Don't get me wrong--I'm a huge Cleveland fan. My husband and I visit the city every year, and we plan to retire there.
But for accessibility and having multiple cultural things close together, D.C. is pretty tough to beat.
P.S. Sometimes a photo is worth a thousand words. You will notice in the photo that most of the museums, capital building, and Washington Monument are concentrated at one end of the Mall. The other half of the Mall (which includes the Lincoln Memorial) is mostly just a large park: https://www.tripsavvy.com/pics-of-th...l-mall-1040407
I respectfully disagree. Yes, if you include the Lincoln Memorial, it's a longer distance (although 2.5 miles is not a terribly long walk for a healthy person, and the Mall is a beautiful park to walk through).
There is still a ton of stuff to do all within a few blocks of each other, including the Smithsonian Museums (only 11!), which include the Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Center, the National Gallery of Art, the Native American Museum, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Castle, Hirshorn Museum, and (most recently), the African American Museum.
Besides the 11 Smithsonian Museums, there is also the International Spy Museum, Holocaust Museum, Shakespeare Theater, Ford Theater, National Theater, Newseum, National Archives, E Street Cinema (for art films), Washington Monument, and probably some other things I've forgotten about.
I personally have walked between these things many times--they are all very close.
If the Mall is 2.5 miles long, it's because you can only put so many things in such a small amount of space (only 11 Smithsonian museums!). But the things I've listed above are all a short walk from each other and do not span 2.5 miles. Yes, if you added the monuments, it would span the full distance. The beauty of the Mall is that you can walk up and down the entire length of it and never run out of something to see or do. Plus, it's just a really, really nice park.
Besides the museums and monuments, there is frequently something interesting going on at the Mall. I still remember the time I went to the National Book Fair the same day as an anti-war protest. When I got off at the Metro stop, there were signs that literally said "Book Fair to the left, War Protesters to the right". It was all very well organized.
Don't get me wrong--I'm a huge Cleveland fan. My husband and I visit the city every year, and we plan to retire there.
But for accessibility and having multiple cultural things close together, D.C. is pretty tough to beat.
I would agree that Washington, DC, is jam packed with attractions, often relatively close together. I personally know of no other comparable concentration among the many cities in the world that I've visited.
When you dismissed the concentration of cultural attractions in University Circle as not being unique, my point was that the University Circle institutions are much closer together than those D.C. institutions mentioned in your original post, which DID include the Lincoln Memorial.
My response was motivated, as I noted in the post, by your inaccurate claim that the Lincoln Memorial is within a few blocks of the Smithsonian museums. There was nothing inaccurate to my knowledge in my post, so I don't know what you're disagreeing with as you were not explicit.
My mention of 11 Smithsonian museums in D.C. was in response to your guess that were at least 20. I never dismissed the grandeur and excellence of those 11 museums, just was correcting your exaggerated guess.
I would agree that Washington, DC, is jam packed with attractions, often relatively close together. I personally know of no other comparable concentration among the many cities in the world that I've visited.
When you dismissed the concentration of cultural attractions in University Circle as not being unique, my point was that the University Circle institutions are much closer together than those D.C. institutions mentioned in your original post, which DID include the Lincoln Memorial.
My response was motivated, as I noted in the post, by your inaccurate claim that the Lincoln Memorial is within a few blocks of the Smithsonian museums. There was nothing inaccurate to my knowledge in my post, so I don't know what you're disagreeing with as you were not explicit.
My mention of 11 Smithsonian museums in D.C. was in response to your guess that were at least 20. I never dismissed the grandeur and excellence of those 11 museums, just was correcting your exaggerated guess.
I probably shouldn't have mentioned the Lincoln Memorial. The reason I did is that it IS part of the same park system, and it IS walkable (although admittedly more like a lite hike). I just think of everything in and around the Mall as going together, but, yes, it is a much bigger area overall.
Regarding the number of Smithsonian museums, I did say "guess" in my original post. I wasn't trying to mislead anyone. I never bothered counting them, and it can get confusing because there are also some museums that aren't part of the Smithsonian (e.g., Spy Museum, Holocaust Museum).
The bottom line is that both cities have their pros and cons and things that make them unique. For what it's worth, I plan to retire in Cleveland (but maybe I said that before?).
One thing that D.C. does NOT have is anything equivalent to Severance Hall or the Cleveland Symphony. The Kennedy Center is beautiful in its own way (among other things, it has this beautiful outdoor terrace that overlooks the D.C. skyline), but the National Symphony, while good, isn't in the same league as Cleveland. My husband is a classical music aficionado, so he pays attention to these things.
It also doesn't have much of an East European flavor, although Baltimore is packed with Russians (I'm Russian descent myself, so I pay attention to these things).
I also like the restaurants a lot better in Cleveland, but maybe I'm just getting tired of D.C.
I probably shouldn't have mentioned the Lincoln Memorial. The reason I did is that it IS part of the same park system, and it IS walkable (although admittedly more like a lite hike). I just think of everything in and around the Mall as going together, but, yes, it is a much bigger area overall.
Regarding the number of Smithsonian museums, I did say "guess" in my original post. I wasn't trying to mislead anyone. I never bothered counting them, and it can get confusing because there are also some museums that aren't part of the Smithsonian (e.g., Spy Museum, Holocaust Museum).
The bottom line is that both cities have their pros and cons and things that make them unique. For what it's worth, I plan to retire in Cleveland (but maybe I said that before?).
One thing that D.C. does NOT have is anything equivalent to Severance Hall or the Cleveland Symphony. The Kennedy Center is beautiful in its own way (among other things, it has this beautiful outdoor terrace that overlooks the D.C. skyline), but the National Symphony, while good, isn't in the same league as Cleveland. My husband is a classical music aficionado, so he pays attention to these things.
It also doesn't have much of an East European flavor, although Baltimore is packed with Russians (I'm Russian descent myself, so I pay attention to these things).
I also like the restaurants a lot better in Cleveland, but maybe I'm just getting tired of D.C.
Cleveland restaurants are really good on average. I think much better than Boston too. Even if you leave aside how much cheaper it is. The quality is just better across the board.
Cleveland restaurants are really good on average. I think much better than Boston too. Even if you leave aside how much cheaper it is. The quality is just better across the board.
What are Boston restaurants like, what's wrong with them and what they don't have that Cleveland restaurants do have?
One thing that D.C. does NOT have is anything equivalent to Severance Hall or the Cleveland Symphony. The Kennedy Center is beautiful in its own way (among other things, it has this beautiful outdoor terrace that overlooks the D.C. skyline), but the National Symphony, while good, isn't in the same league as Cleveland. My husband is a classical music aficionado, so he pays attention to these things.
I was thrilled when I first stepped into Severance Hall and heard the Cleveland Orchestra perform. It took me back many year to Orchestra Hall in Chicago and the great Chicago Symphony. One more huge plus for me for the city of Cleveland.
Just curious, what 3 things you miss about Cleveland? What are the pros and cons of living in Cleveland and Atlanta?
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