East suburbs of Cleveland becoming ghetto (Lakewood, East Cleveland: theater, taxes, place to live)

[ThatGuyFromOC]

Lol I didn't even mention Beachwood and never said Rocky River was hood or ghetto. This all leads back to your apparent illiteracy.

You act as if I glorify/condone crime and the "ghetto", I don't at all. But I have seen it throughout my life. I would be offended about your constant insinuations of me being a criminal if I wasnt already aware of your low intelligence. I don't post here to attain some virtual street cred, I post here to inform people about what's happening and the areas I know. You must come here to make sales..

And yes I am very much from the West side. Mostly because my parents were smart enough to realize that Hough isn't the place to raise children. A smart decision. And implying the West Side doesn't have "hood" spots shows you don't know much about the west side. I admit its not as bad as most the east side but its definitely not all sunshine and daisies either.

Don't be mad at me because I acknowledge problems within my city instead of glazing over them like most of you. According to you and many other CD posters Cleveland has never had any problems and never will. All sugarcoat, no substance.


You seem to spend more time trying to debate truth, than posting anything of real use.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by mbowes80

Personally, I'm grateful for bjimmy.... I've been going to a gym in Rocky River for months without even packing heat. I must've just gotten lucky...

Oh duuuude.... You've been going to the gym in the Double R???? Alone??? Dude you are lucky. Really gone down hill. I heard parts of Rocky River are gettin up to 9 % black. Demographic shifts, man. It's scary. Stay safe. Definitely buy a gun too.

[TBideon]

I say those numbers on Orange are utter bull. I've gone to plenty of school plays and musical performances for my three nieces and nephews, not to mention my own experiences with the school growing up, and it is absolutely transitioning away from a predominantly wealthy, Jewish-majority school to a more diverse, less prestigious one. It's not as polarized as Shaker and not declining as rapidly as Brush, but the school is changing and the climate and test scores are starting to reflect that.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by ThatGuyFromOC

Lol I didn't even mention Beachwood and never said Rocky River was hood or ghetto. This all leads back to your apparent illiteracy.

You act as if I glorify/condone crime and the "ghetto", I don't at all. But I have seen it throughout my life. I would be offended about your constant insinuations of me being a criminal if I wasnt already aware of your low intelligence. I don't post here to attain some virtual street cred, I post here to inform people about what's happening and the areas I know. You must come here to make sales..

And yes I am very much from the West side. Mostly because my parents were smart enough to realize that Hough isn't the place to raise children. A smart decision. And implying the West Side doesn't have "hood" spots shows you don't know much about the west side. I admit its not as bad as most the east side but its definitely not all sunshine and daisies either.

Don't be mad at me because I acknowledge problems within my city instead of glazing over them like most of you. According to you and many other CD posters Cleveland has never had any problems and never will. All sugarcoat, no substance.


You seem to spend more time trying to debate truth, than posting anything of real use.

If you bothered to read any of these other threads with more useful information than talking about whatever nonsense it is you talk about, you would see a lot of examples of me being critical. I routinely question the issues of gentrification in Ohio City, Tremont, etc. I criticize public transit. I criticize native's attitudes. But I guess it's easier to just make things up about me instead of reading. God forbid you read! You'd lose all your street cred. I am not always too popular on here with some of the things I say and have gotten in some arguments. Difference is, I at least respect most of the other posters I've argued with. No, I just don't stand for BS that you spew. No it's not truth. You're not "fighting the good fight," you're not somehow standing up to authority or anything even .25% as romantic as any of those notions. You spew BS. That simple.

Have you read all 1,036 of my posts?

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by ThatGuyFromOC

What magical property does Rocky River have that stops it from ever becoming run down and or dangerous in the future? It doesn't have one because there isn't one. It can happen anywhere.

Although it certainly "can" happen anywhere, it is currently not happening in Rocky River. And the only "evidence" to the contrary that has been offered in this thread are the CMHA projects in Riverside Park, which is miles away from the Rocky River border.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

ohhhhhhhhh damn dude Beachwood! You know, they're startin to call it the 'Wood now.

No, that's Lakewood.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by ThatGuyFromOC

My AMP leader told me the nickname "The Rock" stemmed from its location on Rocky River Drive, it's proximity to the city of Rocky River (less than 10 minutes) and a gang that formed there that was calling themselves The Rock Boys at the time.

Proximity to the city of Rocky River? Rocky River is miles away from there. To get to Rocky River from there you have to travel several miles north along Rocky River Drive which later changes its name to Riverside Drive (in Lakewood), then turn west at some point and cross a bridge.

If you want to talk "proximity", the Riverside Park projects are much closer to Fairview Park and Lakewood than they are to Rocky River.

Originally Posted by ThatGuyFromOC

I'm assuming the MAJORITY of users on here have never even been inside public housing much less lived in them so you really don't what the term "ghetto" is. It's not a place or people, its a state of mind. If you took the residents from say, Outhwaite and switched them with the people of Pepper Pike. Pepper Pikes gonna become the hellhole and Outhwaite would basically turn into its own suburb.

I actually lived in Cleveland public housing for periods of time as a child. From 1961 to 1965 I lived in Lakeview Terrace, then from 1969 to 1971 I lived in Riverside Park. Neither of these projects was anything close to "ghetto" back in those days; they were pretty decent places to live, in fact. I actually liked living in Riverside Park quite a bit back then (I was 8 to 10 years old at the time). I made lots of friends there who were my age and we played in those big grassy areas behind the townhouses. Back in the day it wasn't a bad place at all for a kid to grow up, and I was sorry to leave there when we moved.

[ThatGuyFromOC]

Your from Lakeview too andrew61? Did you stay in the high rise or the apartments? Things must've been great in the 60s because it's bad down there now like gunshots every other night bad, but that's how I've always known it to be. Even tho they renovated the apartments down the hill the area is still getting worse.

[Clevelander17]

Euclid, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights, and parts of the Bedfords have seen significantflight in recent years. It's yet to be seen if that will make its way further east, but there's no denying that trickles have begun in areas such as Beachwood, Orange, and Solon.

Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights are interesting case studies. While both have deteriorated slowly but steadily in recent years, both also have large patches of concentrated wealth and upscale housing stock that will likely last for some time, particularly because of both cities' proximity to University Circle and ease of access to downtown. The inherent advantages that CH and SH have simply do not exist in Euclid, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights, or the Bedford area.

[Cleverfield]

Originally Posted by Clevelander17

Euclid, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights, and parts of the Bedfords have seen significantflight in recent years. It's yet to be seen if that will make its way further east, but there's no denying that trickles have begun in areas such as Beachwood, Orange, and Solon.

Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights are interesting case studies. While both have deteriorated slowly but steadily in recent years, both also have large patches of concentrated wealth and upscale housing stock that will likely last for some time, particularly because of both cities' proximity to University Circle and ease of access to downtown. The inherent advantages that CH and SH have simply do not exist in Euclid, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights, or the Bedford area.

Really? All those cities have much better freeway access than the CH, SH areas, making it much easier to get downtown, or other places in the region for that matter, from those places. Geography has little to do with it, nor does housing stock; East Cleveland has great geography, and once had great housing stock. What has to do with it, is a concerted proactive effort by those city governments and citizens to prevent their cities from decaying. Both cities branded themselves as havens for tolerance, and attracted educated people seeking a multi-cultural experience. These types of people tend to be more willing to raise taxes on themselves to support the public good, and this is exactly what they did. Both cities support outstanding assets, including ice skating rinks, recreation centers, schools (yes, even CH has excellent Honors and AP programs), libraries, theaters, and public services (fire, police, ems). These assets continue to attract educated people who want an active, engaging, multi-cultural experience. In the Cleveland area they are two of only maybe 3 suburbs that offer something like that. Other communities would do well to follow their example. East Cleveland and the CH-SH area can be seen as case studies in the two directions an aging city can go, depending on how engaged and competent the city government and citizens are in preserving their communities.