A post from someone who left Cleveland for the Southwest a year ago

[Cleveland_Collector]

People don't generally realize that the each of the four seasons and the weather that comes with them are 'good' for different reasons. Also, cloudless skies in perpetuity means that you're a hair away from living in the desert (if you aren't already) or, at best, experiencing a catastrophic drought. The problem is, without rain or snow, you simply have no ability to guarantee a water supply -- something those in the south and west are becoming all too familiar with. My bet is that the majority of Texans, Californians and others in between often long to have rainy weather the same as some in other areas misguidedly wish that they had 300+ days of full sun. The last time I was in Texas (early summer), my colleague asked me how much rain we were getting. When I mentioned that it was so steady and well spaced that my plants were thriving and I hadn't even needed to water my garden yet, he actually said, "You have no idea how lucky you are to have steady rain like that." The bottom line is that water is vital and mother nature's clouds are one hell of a delivery system. They're a gift; enjoy them.

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

#3: how is it different there?

???

[teacherdad]

It's going to be 95 in two days here and I am 3 miles from the beach! NO rain. Wind coming. Fire stating the next 5 days are going to be very nerve racking. All life needs water- no wonder Cleveland is thriving.

[Tarheel8406]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

#3: how is it different there?

I don't know what it's like in Phoenix, but in other parts of the country, school systems are coterminous with the county (ie: there would be a Lake County School District instead of the Perry Local School District, Riverside Local School District, etc). I've noticed this seems to be the case in the South and parts of the East, while the Midwest and the West seem to have school districts that are not based on county boundaries. There are pros and cons to each system, but there's probably lower administrative costs with county-based systems because there's just one school system vs. multiple ones servicing the same area. There'd also be less infighting between the suburbs and the city (assuming they're in the same county), but this often just translates to increased competition between schools for resources.

[ohioaninsc]

Originally Posted by hybridtheory45

Having just moved to Cleveland from San Diego, I have to emphatically agree with you about the sunny, cloudless skies getting old. No one really understands it unless they've experienced it. I was born and raised in San Diego, and have never lived anywhere else until this summer, and 30 years of cloudless skies and no rain gets really old! Whenever I tell that to people here, they think I've gone mad, but I absolutely love the variety of weather I have experienced since being here. Its absolutely fantastic!

Tell us what you think after not seeing the sun for 3 months in winter time

[kpl1228]

Originally Posted by Tarheel8406

I don't know what it's like in Phoenix, but in other parts of the country, school systems are coterminous with the county (ie: there would be a Lake County School District instead of the Perry Local School District, Riverside Local School District, etc). I've noticed this seems to be the case in the South and parts of the East, while the Midwest and the West seem to have school districts that are not based on county boundaries. There are pros and cons to each system, but there's probably lower administrative costs with county-based systems because there's just one school system vs. multiple ones servicing the same area. There'd also be less infighting between the suburbs and the city (assuming they're in the same county), but this often just translates to increased competition between schools for resources.

It is like this in many places.
One big plus about it is that the schools in the city proper in other places (Arkansas, New Mexico, etc) are often seen as the good "award-winning" schools, when compared to suburban districts. Part of it just has to do with access to federal and state funding for city schools. SO different from in Ohio. The city vs. suburb thing is so prevalent in Cleveland. If you live at 118th and Lake, instead of 116th and Lake, your house will be more expensive in Lakewood for essentially the same house. Much of the reason for that is perceived bad city schools driving down real estate values.
It's all complex I know, but there is not the huge disparity in city vs. suburb caused by schools in other cities. Some cities have the same issue with the schools affecting real estate (Chicago comes to mind) but others its more metropolitan, more regional. So the same award winning downtown city high school in 1914 is the same award winning school 100 years later, and is seen as something to aspire to instead of something to avoid. And another thing, they're certainly not black "bad" schools and white "good" schools.

[ohioaninsc]

I would think county schools though may not take all the local needs/wants of each individual city. An example of this is in Charleston County, SC...the county board of education controls all the schools...to be seen as being equitable to the poorer mostly black city of North Charleston, they've built or are building 2 new high schools in the city that may each have less than 800 students...meanwhile, across the harbor in Mt Pleasant, one of the fastest growing towns in the country, they still only have 1 high school, burgeoning at the seems...they have several modular trailers on site now and have over 5000 kids in it...now the school is still very good but Mt Pleasant is an upscale suburb where home prices avg min of about $400K...but if they build a new school there, it looks like they are giving the rich suburb the advantage of the poor area.
Mt Pleasant if they were allowed to do their own thing w/ the schools would most likely have 3 or 4 high schools as it's a similar to Dublin near Columbus in terms of size.

[kpl1228]

I'd also put my kid in certain City of Cleveland elementary schools than certain wealthy suburban ones. Alcott Elementary near West Boulevard for example.....outstanding.

[Clevelander17]

While I don't think that all of Cuyahoga County would ever work as one school system, I do think that we have too many individual school districts (31) in Northeast Ohio. If we could get that down to about a third that number, I think we'd see a lot more efficiencies and equity. Here are some examples of districts that could probably merge without pissing off too many people:

-Cleveland Heights-University Heights with South Euclid-Lyndhurst and part of Richmond Heights
-Brecksville-Broadview Heights with North Royalton
-Beachwood with Orange
-Olmsted Falls with North Olmsted
-Rocky River with Bay Village and Westlake

In Lake County:
-Wickliffe with Willoughby-Eastlake

In Geauga County:
-Chagrin Falls with Kenston

In Summit County:
-Nordonia with Twinsburg

In Lorain County:
-Avon Lake with Avon