How Do Clevelanders With An Inferiority Complex to Get Over It? (Minerva: pros and cons, salaries)

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by october2007

Yes true to all that you say although I don't know what DINK route is! Things are very out of reach in many areas these days. My niece lived in lousy area of Brookline recently and paid 900/mo for a Room in apt with 3 others and she has a pretty good job at a hospital. It was hard when I lived there too which is partly why I left.

Dual Income, No Kids.

[october2007]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

Dual Income, No Kids.

Ah...thanks.

[Minervah]

As mentioned, everything is relative and circumstances change. As one who has never owned a car much less driven one I can make a couple of comparisons to a couple of other cities in which I have lived.

Forty years ago bus transportation in Portland, OR from where I recently moved was way better. One didn’t have to play the switchback game going from their neighborhood to downtown and out again to get to another neighborhood. Schedules ran more frequently.

Prior to living in Portland I lived in Chicago. I have been told that today public transportation there ain’t what it used to be either. The choices I used to have of subways and ELs going north and south are much more limited. Neighborhood service has been cut back somewhat.

Public transportation these days in many places seem to be more geared towards the commuter traveling to downtown during rush hours rather than those of us who have need for it ‘round the clock to get to anywhere. Don’t blame Cleveland for that. Few cities these days I suspect still accommodate those needing to go everywhere by public transportation as was once possible. Blame what Society has become; totally enamored, dependent and slave to the almighty automobile.

In time Cleveland’s blighted areas will hopefully be fixed. But also hopefully not at the expense of those who live there because they have no where else to go. There are no easy answers when it comes to improving a city.

I knew when I was forced out of Portland by economics, that any city I chose to relocate to would have to be a city I could afford. That meant it was probably not going to look as shiny and new which for the most part Cleveland still is not. But that’s okay because I find Cleveland is still a work in progress.

[gouldnm]

Originally Posted by WRnative

<<Since the Metro's inception, the federal government has provided grants for 65% of the system's capital costs.>>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washin...nsit_Authority

Makes sense. I was just stating a fact (without getting into the reason).


That being said, I think the federal govt. should be spending a lot more on infrastructure throughout the rest of the country.


In addition to local transit systems, I'd love to see more high speed trains connecting different Metro areas. Didn't someone recently post about a possible high speed train between Cleveland and Chicago?


There are some high speed trains on the East Coast. My husband used to work in Philadelphia, and every now and then he'd take the high speed train to D.C. for meetings. To drive would have been four hours, but with the train it was only two. Sometimes he'd run into Joe Biden on his way to D.C. from Delaware. This was before Biden became V.P.

[gouldnm]

Originally Posted by WRnative

So, for the benefit of honest discussion, those in this thread referring to blighted areas, please describe in detail where they encounter them and why they are encountering them.

The majority of riders on the Cleveland Healthline are African Americans, and I fear some persons equate that with blighted areas. Just being honest.

I honestly can't remember exactly where I saw the blighted areas since I haven't been to Cleveland since last October. We usually stay on the East Side and drive from there into the city, so perhaps that's where I saw them.


All big cities have bad neighborhoods, they just seem to be more visible in Cleveland.


As for associating African Americans with blighted areas, that wouldn't be me. D.C. area has HUGE middle class African American population--even an affluent African American population. As I stated earlier (I believe on this very thread), a lot of my stereotypes of African Americans were blown out of the water after I moved here.

[october2007]

Originally Posted by gouldnm

I honestly can't remember exactly where I saw the blighted areas since I haven't been to Cleveland since last October. We usually stay on the East Side and drive from there into the city, so perhaps that's where I saw them.


All big cities have bad neighborhoods, they just seem to be more visible in Cleveland.


As for associating African Americans with blighted areas, that wouldn't be me. D.C. area has HUGE middle class African American population--even an affluent African American population. As I stated earlier (I believe on this very thread), a lot of my stereotypes of African Americans were blown out of the water after I moved here.

Maybe you wouldn't associate blight with African American population but it's pretty clear that the areas that are blighted here are predominantly black. It's unfortunate but that's the way it seems to be. There are also areas that are predominantly black but are in fine condition. But I haven't seen any other ghetto type areas that have a different population but maybe I'm wrong.

[QCongress83216]

Originally Posted by october2007

Maybe you wouldn't associate blight with African American population but it's pretty clear that the areas that are blighted here are predominantly black. It's unfortunate but that's the way it seems to be. There are also areas that are predominantly black but are in fine condition. But I haven't seen any other ghetto type areas that have a different population but maybe I'm wrong.

You haven't been to the West Side of Cleveland. There are some blighted white neighborhoods too. IMO, you have culture shock because you didn't see that in Seattle or Boston those areas were far away.

[october2007]

Originally Posted by QCongress83216

You haven't been to the West Side of Cleveland. There are some blighted white neighborhoods too. IMO, you have culture shock because you didn't see that in Seattle or Boston those areas were far away.

Well, I have been to the West Side quite a bit but not sure which areas you mean. I haven't seen anything that compares to what I see on the east side but I will defer to your more extensive experience. And yes, I do have culture shock (still). I was used to being able to easily avoid "bad" areas in Seattle but here they pop up unexpectedly and are more severely blighted. I wonder if people that have lived here for a long time don't really notice them anymore.

[QCongress83216]

Originally Posted by october2007

Well, I have been to the West Side quite a bit but not sure which areas you mean. I haven't seen anything that compares to what I see on the east side but I will defer to your more extensive experience. And yes, I do have culture shock (still). I was used to being able to easily avoid "bad" areas in Seattle but here they pop up unexpectedly and are more severely blighted. I wonder if people that have lived here for a long time don't really notice them anymore.

Some notice, some don't. As Minervah pointed out, when you moved out of Seattle for economic reasons for somewhere more affordable it wasn't gonna be a city with the glitz and glamour of Seattle or Boston. So, Cleveland isn't an already established city like Boston or Seattle or one of the boom towns. Sorry for Cleveland for not being Seattle I guess.

[october2007]

Originally Posted by QCongress83216

Some notice, some don't. As Minervah pointed out, when you moved out of Seattle for economic reasons for somewhere more affordable it wasn't gonna be a city with the glitz and glamour of Seattle or Boston. So, Cleveland isn't an already established city like Boston or Seattle or one of the boom towns. Sorry for Cleveland for not being Seattle I guess.

True....and maybe Clevelanders are better off in a non-boomtown. But I do miss certain things. But the museums and libraries are much better here than in Seattle. There aren't homeless people camped out everywhere, don't see discarded needles in parks...