What Are the Things That Clevelanders Take for Granted? (Akron: apartments, big house)

[QCongress83216]

I have read on CLE forums here on CD from Cleveland residents and out-of-towners that Clevelanders take certain things for granted such as certain amenities. In your opinion, what are the things that Clevelanders take for granted that we should embrace more? In fact, what should be highlighted more in the Positively Cleveland videos?

[adam36]

Four season weather. Very light traffic. Extremely low cost of living (at least as reflected in housing prices). Great cultural amenities (especially for a city of CLE's size).

[TheProf]

*Edgewater Park and the Edgewater neighborhood, the latter being one of the cool,diverse and interesting old urbanized neighborhoods in the Midwest. Surprisingly Positively Cleveland totally ignores Edgewater in their promotional booklet and on their city kiosk/maps around downtown. This puzzling while, justifiably such as Ohio City, University Circle and Detroit-Shoreway are Cleveland has to offer.

*Rail Rapid Transit (as opposed to the Health Line BRT, which some feel is RTA's best). For some stupid reason some local officials, promoters and businesses think it's cool to act as if the Rapid is no big deal, almost to the point they act as though it doesn't exist. Even in places that are obvious TOD, like the new Centric apartments about to come on Line, the Van Aken apts and the La Colina apts which is being build a few blocks from Centric, their promotional websites barely mention rail transit as an amenity ... if at all. Unfortunately I think some people have bought into the idea that RTA is for the poor and Blacks and that, for these reasons, it is dangerous. And greater Cleveland continues to sprawl as leaders promote development at the fringes of our mass transit network ... and in some cases, like the new Tri-C Westlake location, not served by mass transit at all; not even buses. How foolish is it to locate a community college away from any mass transit when a great many of their students don't own cars!? ... or can't really afford them at the time. I don't get it when many large to medium sized American city would love to have what Cleveland already has, in terms of rail.

[teacherdad]

I love the rail in CLE and boast about it out here. I have taken every line. Never an issue. Agree! There should be a WAY more mentions of this with these new developments going at Van Aken and such.

You literally could live in many places in and around CLE and never need a car.

[bjimmy24]

It's actually kinda enraging how people in Cleveland don't use public transit. It's so much more comfortable than almost anywhere else (the Rapid, less so the bus). Having grown up in the Heights, I am very sad to say that my friends do not ever use the rapid to go downtown, instead driving and paying for parking. Makes no sense to me.

You guys also don't appreciate the high culture. At all. Low cost of living too. Or really the culture in general. You don't always feel comfortable saying hi to people in other parts of the country.

Just understand that you have something nice. It's a blessing that other people don't recognize it, in many ways.

[TheProf]

Originally Posted by adam36

Four season weather. Very light traffic.

It depends when and where you're going. Rush hour in downtown, in University Circle and along several freeways (I-271, 480 and I-77). It's popular to say Cleveland traffic is light, but that isn't always the case.

Originally Posted by adam36

Extremely low cost of living (at least as reflected in housing prices). Great cultural amenities (especially for a city of CLE's size).

Remember, when a lot of Cleveland's cultural amenities were established, the city was 3 times it's current size with nearly 1 million people inside its 76-sq mile borders.

[usaf_1832]

Hamilton actor would say Heinen's downtown

https://twitter.com/NikkyWalks/statu...39808860868610

[WRnative]

Just throwing a few exceptional attractions out there that many Clevelanders never visit:

1) The Steamship Mather and the U.S.S. Cod, arguably the best Great Lakes freighter museum (the Mather is an ASME mechanical engineering landmark) and the Cod, frozen in mid-century form with working engines, is often acclaimed as the best WWII U.S. fleet submarine museum, especially given access using the original hatches and ladders.

2) Holden Arboretum and the Lake County Metroparks Farmpark, both in Kirtland.

3) The James A. Garfield National Historic Park in Mentor.

4) Shaker Square restaurants such as the Balaton, EDWINS, and Fire. It's a great trip to Shaker Square from Tower City on the Blue or Green rail rapid lines.

While regional attractions such as Cedar Point, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the Lake Erie islands are well known, even though few Clevelanders ever visit Kelleys Island with its glacial grooves, here are some other excellent regional attractions many Clevelanders never visit.

1) Ohio Amish Country.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...h.Country.html

2) Malabar Farm State Park, with its Big House, a Hollywood escape, frozen in its mid-20th century glory. See Mohican Region here:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...Day.Trips.html

3) Few Clevelanders visit Stan Hywet Hall in Akron or the Grand River wineries (see discussions in the above travel article).

4) Presque Isle and Waldameer Park are great day trips and even better for a weekend (also discussed in the travel article linked in 3).

5) Attend an event at the Blossom Music Festival at the superb Blossom Music Center.

[bjimmy24]

^ Yep. And a lot of Cleveland natives complain there's "nothing to do" in Cleveland or Ohio at large. It's laughable.

[TheProf]

Originally Posted by usaf_1832

Hamilton actor would say Heinen's downtown

https://twitter.com/NikkyWalks/statu...39808860868610

Very nice. Heinen's downtown is a gem on so many levels. Just having a supermarket of that caliber and the E. 9th/Euclid location are great in themselves... but that Cleveland Trust atrium just blows everyone away, the food court, the 2nd level wine bar, etc -- there's simply few, if any, supermarkets like this in America. Glad 'Aaron Burr' loved it so much, which is awesome publicity from one of the stars of America's top play... I'm definitely sharing this with my Philadelphia (and elsewhere) friends who simply think me, alone, is a homer/promoter. Always nice to have outsiders cosign what so many of us here already know and appreciate about the City.