Where Do You Think Outsiders Get Their Perception of Cleveland From? (Congress: closing, cities)

[Marie Joseph]

Originally Posted by QCongress83216

I agree with most of the things you said except for the politicians because Ohio has also went for Reagan, George W. 2x, Kasich and Trump. And, I hate that a certain group of people throw out those Midwestern stereotypes out when it comes to Cleveland.

Most of the people who are stereotyping Cleveland have never been in the city IMO and in my experience.

I grew up in Upstate NY and really never heard anything one way or another about Cleveland except for that one time the river caught on fire because of pollution. To be fair, I think that everyone heard about that story though. Onondaga Lake in Upstate NY was so polluted in prior years (while I was growing up) that it was unsafe to swim in and gave off a chemical smell. It has since been cleaned up but took 35+ years to do it so Cleveland isn't the only place that had an issue w/ pollution...

People associate Cleveland with the Rust Belt and assume that it is a crumbling city. I don't know if it is because it is in the area typically associated with the Rust Belt but they also tend to think that it's a city that has nothing but a bunch of factories in it. Of course that isn't the truth and I'll tell people about some of the attractions and they look absolutely stunned, lol.

Unfortunately a lot of cities have a bad reputation that don't really deserve it.

I would say it's mostly hearsay that causes the stereotypes associated with Cleveland.

I know it's in Ohio but I don't really get a Midwestern feel from Cleveland. It's hard to explain but it feels more like the Great Lakes states (MI/WI) than it does Ohio.

People who bash it don't know what they are missing.

[Tarblooder14]

The National Media keeps listing Cleveland as one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. Outsiders here this and think it's the entire Cleveland/Metro area. Most people think that all 2.5 million inhabitants of the Metro area are poor and destitute. I have remind people that the whole area is not run down and dangerous.

[teacherdad]

My friend here will send any news about a shooting. I can't even reply anymore and it bugs me. I have been all over downtown, westside, east side, and only take the rail and walk. Never an issue.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by teacherdad

My friend here will send any news about a shooting. I can't even reply anymore and it bugs me. I have been all over downtown, westside, east side, and only take the rail and walk. Never an issue.

Yep for all the bad press and true instances of violent crime, I have never encountered anything of the sort anywhere in Cleveland. I guess not being in a gang does wonders for your personal safety.

[Kamms]

Well here's some good Cleveland perception:

https://articles.cleveland.com/trave...ational_ge.amp

Plus I read a nice article this past weekend on Amtrak; Amtrak's magazine has an article on Cleveland's foodie scene.

So, the perception is changing but the reality of stagnant to decline economics and violent crime needs to change.

[Kamms]

Originally Posted by QCongress83216

Most people outside of Cleveland aren't gonna focus on a story like that.

Focus? Who stated ''focus''. The story is out there. Many local people outside the city do not like CLE or its antics. A city with 386,000 people in a region of up to 3.5 million needs perception revamping. Cleveland needs to address its perception image on a local level as well as nationally and internationally.

[Kamms]

Originally Posted by Natural510

Northeast Ohio is more liberal and Southwest Ohio is more conservative but, in general Ohio voters tend to favor populists and charismatic politicians, and are skeptical of establishment types. Populist Democrats like Obama, Brown, Stickland, Metzenbaum etc have traditionally well. Establishment types like Hillary Clinton, not so much. \

Cleveland's politics are not big in the national consciousness, although the city has sprung some great leaders (and some terrible ones as well, like George Forbes). The perception is mainly former manufacturing hub, population loss, losing/heartbreaking sports teams, plus the usual Midwestern stereotypes.

Metzenbaum, the notorious Cleveland race block-buster, is a populist?

Obama not a populist-product of the slick Chicago Democrat machine.

Hillary won the 2008 Ohio primary; stopped Obama's ''juggernaut'' that primary season but by 2016 she literally owned the DNC and Ohio went for the populist Trump, as we all know.

[Kamms]

Although the weekend shooting of 6 kids, including one dead, did make national news...perception hit, again.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by Kamms

Although the weekend shooting of 6 kids, including one dead, did make national news...perception hit, again.

Man. 7:30 pm. Block from the hospital and rapid station. That kind of thing shouldn't happen anywhere.

[QCongress83216]

Originally Posted by Kamms

Focus? Who stated ''focus''. The story is out there. Many local people outside the city do not like CLE or its antics. A city with 386,000 people in a region of up to 3.5 million needs perception revamping. Cleveland needs to address its perception image on a local level as well as nationally and internationally.

Who's the "many people" that you're referring to? I was using focus as a figure of speech saying that most people don't focus their attention on politics in Cleveland just like most people don't focus their attention another city's politics.