Similarities between Cleveland and Boston (state, rates, compare, America) - City vs. City - City-Data Forum

usernameunavailable · 02-05-2016, 11:30 AM

I live in CLE and have been to Boston many times. I have always thought these cities are extremely similar. Specifically the eastern half of the Cleveland metro area

Shaker Heights/Cleveland Heights= Brookline/Newton

Mentor= Peabody

Independence/Brecksville= Framingham

90/2 (Cleveland)= 95/128 (Boston) 271 could also qualify here for Cleveland, since it is Cleveland's office park/tech park corridor

Akron/Canton/Youngstown= Providence, Worcester, Manchester

Mass Pike= I-77

I-93= I-71

480/271 (Cleveland)= 495 (Boston)

I-80/Ohio Turnpike= I-95 (Boston)

Do people who are familiar with both see these as accurate?

L2DB · 02-05-2016, 11:58 AM

I think that similarities can be found for any two major US cities. I also think that discussing them is mostly pointless.

JR_C · 02-05-2016, 01:07 PM

At least in Ohio, we spell Wooster right.

averysgore · 02-05-2016, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by usernameunavailable

Shaker Heights/Cleveland Heights= Brookline/Newton

This is the big one. Coolidge Corner / Shaker Square look just like each other.

Quote:

Originally Posted by usernameunavailable

90/2 (Cleveland) = 95/128 (Boston)

I'd say it's more like Storrow, since it's near the water, and in fact it separates the city neighborhoods from the water.

bjimmy24 · 02-05-2016, 07:02 PM

I've talked about similarities in other threads before public square-cooley, shaker square-coolidge corner, little Italynorth end, university circle-avenue of the arts, shaker heights-newton, lakewood-somerville, etc.

Some less obvious things come to mind though. Dorchester is probably the most Clevelandy feeling neighborhood of Boston, not in terms of architecture really, but it's kinda gritty, has some pretty bad areas and some refreshingly cool/unpretentious regular folks.

The flats and the seaport are both formerly industrial/shipping centers that are now getting tons of stuff all the time (I prefer the flats though, seaport is kinda weird).

Boston college and John Carroll are both Jesuit colleges with similar campus feel. MIT and case are along the same lines as each other, though obviously MIT is more prestigious.

Both have Chinatown (asiatown in Cleveland). I know Cleveland's isn't nearly as cohesive or expensive but I also prefer it to Boston's. I've seen too many mice running around Chinatown restaurants here, but have had amazing meals in Cleveland.

Brighton center has always struck me as what Slavic village would be like of it were nicely repopulated. Housing stock seems similar, decently middle class, features a really old church. Of course histories are very different, but still. Some similar architecture is you compare Washington street to Broadway.

Fenway park and league park have similarities as well. Both in non downtown areas. Both have massive outfield wall. Same general era. Though obviously fenway is still used by mlb. Something to be said for being both charter cities for the American league. And sharing cy young and an owner in those early years.

Both are pretty solidly Catholic.

The polish corner in southie/dorchester make me feel at home too!

There are many ways in which these two are quite dissimilar, especially when you consider the overall histories, colonial architecture, density, etc but there really is more than meets the eye that I think might be hard for people who haven't spent a lot of time in both cities to realize.

U146 · 02-08-2016, 11:29 AM

I've never understood why people think Cleveland is similar to the East Coast cities. It has a lot more in common with Detroit and Chicago before New York and Boston culturally, linguistically, historically, and with the exception of Italians demographically. Cleveland is not a Bos-Wash corridor city. Heck, even Buffalo and Pittsburgh, conventionally Northeastern cities, share more in common with the Midwest than the East Coast cities.

bjimmy24 · 02-08-2016, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by U146

I've never understood why people think Cleveland is similar to the East Coast cities. It has a lot more in common with Detroit and Chicago before New York and Boston culturally, linguistically, historically, and with the exception of Italians demographically. Cleveland is not a Bos-Wash corridor city. Heck, even Buffalo and Pittsburgh, conventionally Northeastern cities, share more in common with the Midwest than the East Coast cities.

Who said that wasn't the case?

TheProf · 02-09-2016, 02:15 PM

andrew61 · 02-09-2016, 02:20 PM

Hmmm... Interesting how Somerville paints their street names right in the middle of the roadway. I don't think I recall seeing that done anywhere else.

andrew61 · 02-09-2016, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrew61

Hmmm... Interesting how Somerville paints their street names right in the middle of the roadway. I don't think I recall seeing that done anywhere else.

Oh, never mind... Looking at the Lakewood photos, I just realized that's Google Maps doing that.