Enough with the Cleveland bashing! (Euclid, Strongsville: low income, real estate, condo)

[LancasterNative]

Hi HTCH, and welcome home!

In a funny twist of irony, my saga is similar to yours except that in my case, Cleveland actually played the role of DC in your story!! (big, hectic, unfriendly, etc). I guess it could be expressed in an equation like...

Cleveland : Lancaster :: Washington DC : Cleveland

It all depends on one's perspective. It's interesting to hear you talk about traits like the friendliness & caring attitudes of Clevelanders (which even I'll admit is true, compared to the East Coast!) If you really enjoy ease of living, friendliness, and familiarity w/people you interact with, you'd probably love Southern Ohio! But then again...those world-class medical facilities, top-rated universities and world-renowned orchestra aren't to be found just anywhere (certainly not in towns of ≤40,000) so ultimately, it sounds like Cleveland truly "fits the bill" for you, and that's great!

The way you described DC isn't surprising. I've been there several times. Great place to visit, but living there would absolutely suck!!! Same goes for all the East Coast cities I've spent time in. What a total nightmare...

Anyway, glad you made it back and are happy on the North Coast!

Lanc

[Zooropa]

Originally Posted by LancasterNative

Hi HTCH, and welcome home!

In a funny twist of irony, my saga is similar to yours except that in my case, Cleveland actually played the role of DC in your story!! (big, hectic, unfriendly, etc). I guess it could be expressed in an equation like...

Cleveland : Lancaster :: Washington DC : Cleveland

It all depends on one's perspective. It's interesting to hear you talk about traits like the friendliness & caring attitudes of Clevelanders (which even I'll admit is true, compared to the East Coast!) If you really enjoy ease of living, friendliness, and familiarity w/people you interact with, you'd probably love Southern Ohio! But then again...those world-class medical facilities, top-rated universities and world-renowned orchestra aren't to be found just anywhere (certainly not in towns of ≤40,000) so ultimately, it sounds like Cleveland truly "fits the bill" for you, and that's great!

The way you described DC isn't surprising. I've been there several times. Great place to visit, but living there would absolutely suck!!! Same goes for all the East Coast cities I've spent time in. What a total nightmare...

Anyway, glad you made it back and are happy on the North Coast!

Lanc

Glad to see someone is happy to be there. I grew up in Cleveland and while I have no immediate plans to move back there from NC (i despise the lack of sunshine in Cleveland winters) it's not a bad place. GO BROWNS!!

[Gypsii]

I used to live in Cleveland and also really liked it. One of the things that I noticed though is that the adults there seem to have a general negative attitude towards teenagers, etc... It's as if most of the Cleveland adults were never kids themselves. The adults tend to look surly and bothered by any group of 2 or more teens and even seem to have a phobia of them. Odd.

On another note, the city has great potential. Although there are a lot of very poor ethnic communities, the city still has that family feel to it. For someone with a bit of industry and agency, there's a lot to do (i.e. free events at colleges and universities, zoo, Playhouse Square, symphony, movies, metro parks, pro sports, nice gyms and community fitness centers, pretty cool people if you live in the right community, etc...).

Like any city, it's all in what you make it. If you can handle the snow, then it's really cool.

Good luck!

[likqid]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU , AND THANK YOU! I my self was born and raised in Cleveland and after joining that military I came back home and met my wife which is from Canada. We talk all the time about how different it is here. We just left Toronto for the holiday week-end and it is a big city with lots of people every where even thou its not as cold as DC (I've felt your pain there to) its still not Cleveland. We may have our problems just like every where else, which I don't see them being big issues. I Love Cleveland and I wish my wife did too. So, thank you for the positive out look on our city and maybe we will have that Cleveland converstation in line at the Gaint Eagle some day.

Regards,
likqid

[tscrilla]

Originally Posted by HopeToComeHome

I am writing as someone who grew up in Cleveland, moved away for 11 years to live in DC and went out of my way to move back. Granted my situation changed from single girl to wife and mother of 3 during that time, but I feel I need to write to announce that Cleveland is a fabulous city.

It has some of the best medical facilities in the WORLD. It has top-rated schools and universities. It has a world renowned orchestra and unbelieveable cultural and art museums.

Surely there is Cleveland pride outside the dawg pound, right?

Living in DC made me ache for the friendly faces here. On the East Coast, you can stand in line at the grocery store for 35 minutes and no one strikes up a conversation. No one says hello unless they know you.

In DC, traffic blows. I lived 13 miles from home to work and it took me an hour each way.

It does not snow like it does in Cleveland, but if it MIGHT snow, they close the schools...just in case. If it actually DOES snow, you are trapped in your $500,000 800 sq ft house for 3 days because they don't know how to plow.

In Cleveland, people care about you, not your job, not your handbag, not the car you drive or the amount of money in your paycheck.

Here, I order a sandwich at a deli and end up learning of a mutual friend between me and the sandwich guy. That would NEVER happen in DC.

I worked 2 blocks from the White House and we needed to have security drills in case our building was hit in an attack. We needed to submit in-case-of-a-terrorist-attack forms to HR with next of kin information. It was necessary to have all that, of course, but it was all consuming. And depressing.

So how about we start cheering the praises of Cleveland? This is a GREAT city with GREAT people. Enough with the bashing already!!

Okay, I have put my pom pons down now.

Signed,
So happy to be back!

P.S. If you reply that Cleveland has snobs, too, my answer is NO KIDDING. I don't mean to generalize in either direction. I am simply stating my observations. So please don't ignore my point!

I feel like I want to drive up to Cleveland right now to take a tour around. I love older cities with character. Sounds like Cleveland is the place for me. I moved from Phoenix AZ 18 months ago to Columbus Ohio and love it. While I really like living in the suburbs of Columbus, I think Cleveland might have more of what I am looking for.

Thanks for the post and the positive notes about your city. I will come up and visit, after all it's only 100 miles from here. I've even driven past it twice since I've moved here but never stopped.

[CrissCT]

We lived in the Cleveland area for 3 years (left 2 years ago) and I would move back in a hearbeat if we could. We currently live in what most people consider a dream location on the West Coast but I miss having actual weather. We live in a planned community and I always say they are trying to artificially create what we had naturally in Cleveland. I miss the great restaurants that aren't national chains and the accessibility of downtown and like the original poster I miss meeting someone new and finding out they know someone you know.. that did happen all the time in Cleveland!

And to tscrilla we lived in Columbus for over 10 years before we moved to Cleveland and were surprised to find we loved Cleveland so much more.

[chartbury]

I totally agree with the original poster. We just left Cleveland after twelve years there and I can't believe how much I miss the down-to-earth feel of the place, easy commutes, beautiful scenery (Shaker Heights, the metroparks, University Circle, Lake Erie). Cleveland has world-class facilities: the Clinic, Case university, Orchestra, art museum, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, Holden Arboretum, even Cleveland Hopkins International airport is a major airline hub! My family currently has relocator remorse -- we want to come home!

[xwideopenskyx]

CrissCT and chartbury

Just curious, if Cleveland is so great than why did you leave in the first place?

[CrissCT]

Husband's job was with a start up company that didn't make it. That's the only reason we left.

[tjohio]

How about this. Cleveland will be one of the TOP 5 Hottest markets in the united states in the next 5 years!. I am the only one saying it and I want the credit for it!
With over 6 BILIION dollers being committed to downtown Cleveland projects through 2012. With fresh water,grossly underpriced urban living, growing new businesses that do not rely on Moving industries. Medical base. No e quakes, terrorist,floods, WATCH OUT!