Do you mind if I ask what suburb you live in? I'm guessing you live in the suburbs and work in the suburbs and only come downtown for a concert or a Tribe game. I'm guessing you've never experienced the Westside market. It just seems to me that the people who bash Cleveland the hardest are the ones who watch to much news and rarely, if ever, come out to truly see their hometown.
As someone that has grown up here I don't fit the criteria of what you are looking for in a reply.
But please allow me.
I just don't understand how someone who has lived here as long as you can say that Cleveland hasn't changed in 20 years...
Did you see "Tower City" in 1985? Compare that to today. It may not be a palace but it is immeasurably better then it was just 20 years ago. It was a cavern of concrete and steel 20 years ago and no one ever saw it unless they took the rapid downtown. And it was not a safe place to be after 6PM.
People say downtown is dead now, did you see it 20 years ago when NO ONE lived downtown? You could be on Public Square at 10PM on a Friday and feel like the last person on Earth after the nuclear holocaust. Hopefully you aren't that suburbanite that only goes downtown a few times a year and you have seen the sweeping changes that have taken place all over downtown. I can't wait to check out our new aqaurium next year!
I was downtown this past Saturday. Took a friend to see some sights. We went to the Westside market. There was a band playng in that cute little park across the street. He was blown away by the market. "This is nicer then one I went to in NYC!". We took the tour of the USS Cod. It was packed. We saw a good crowd at the Mather. The Science Center was packed. The Rockhall was packed. There was a sailboat regatta going on on the lake. Public Square was jammed. Yep... this town's dead alright...
Now let's talk about just the Westside neighborhoods:
Slavic Vilage: Yes it has gone downhill in some respects but there are still some very promising things going on there making parts of it nicer then it has ever been. There is a 9 hole golf course that wasn't there 20 years ago that was recently named one of the best in the country. The area around the Mill Creek development looks like something right out of the suburbs and includes a 30+ mile park and a nice long (safe) trail through it. Not to mention the very trendy row homes completed recently that people are moving into.
Edgewater: Always has been a cool little trendy neighborhood that has only gotten better in recent years. You can't find homes like this in a housing development in Strongsville. The new tunnel to Edgewater Park? Brilliant!
Detroit Shoreway: Don't even get me started on how this neighborhood has transformed in just the last 8 or 9 years. It's yuppie central now! Awesome new homes with really unique designs, and some amazing restaraunts and bars. I wouldn't go near this neighborhood 20 years ago... I have no fear walking the streets over there at night now. Battery Park is just gorgeous and competes well with any area in any city.
Tremont: Also one of the trendiest neighborhoods. Yea, it still has a way to go but there are WORLD CLASS restaraunts down there (Farhenheit being my favorite) and some of the best cool little bars in town. Stoli Doli's at the Treehouse cannot be missed. Not to mention hundreds of new or rebuilt homes and a very strong community of dedicated citizens.
And Westpark? My neighborhood? When the Kamms Corner redevelopment is done it will look prettier (by far) then Rockside Road in Independence. We have bars here now that draw people from all over the Western suburbs. Unheard of 20 years ago when it was just tiny little bars that only the locals hung out at and just one decent restaraunt (and a strip club). My friends come to my house from Olmsted Falls, Berea, North Olmsted and Westlake to walk up to Westpark Station, the Public House, or PJ Mcintyre's. We have live music in several diferrent flavors from traditional irish music, to acoustic bands (at the new intimate and trendy Backstage Bar), to rock and roll to... well whoever is playing at The Station this week or at the biker bar across the street.
Now I am NO expert on the eastside at all. Typical westsider here. I only go to Coventry or Little Italy. Both of them are beautifull and safe neighborhoods that have undergone a lot of good changes in the last few years. I will let (hopefully) an Eastsider who is as passionate about his side of town, as I am about mine, go into more detail. It's not that I hate the eastside, it's just that there is so much stuff on JUST the westside and downtown to keep me busy!! Boring? Please....
As for Cleveland ranking last this or 10th that.... I put very little faith in any kinds of "studies". Did you know the University of Miami did a study recently that time actually does seem to move quicker the older we get? Yep, it's a fact, not a myth. Seriously? Someone got paid to do that study?
You want some good rankings for Cleveland? How about #1 in "Commute time"? The average Clevelander spends less then 10 hours a year in congested traffic compared to the average Los Angelesean that spends more then 44! Less then an hour a month for us... more then 4 a month for them.
Best cities to commute in: Cleveland #20.
Local food and agriculture: #2.
Water supply: #1 (to easy there with Lake Erie, I know).
Least natural disaster risk: #3.
Green economy: in the top 10 nationwide.
In 2005 Cleveland was named the #1 most livable 'big' city in America and #26
IN THE WORLD (out of 127).
(Of course we were tied with Pittsburgh so take that, and ANY study, with a grain of salt).
Ok, I DO NOT wear rosy glasses. I know not everything is wonderfull in this town. Our politicans are corrupt, but IMO at least 50% of all politicans are corrupt. Most just haven't been caught yet.
Our lakefront is a joke compared to... just about every coastal city. Hell, Buffalo has a nicer waterfront then we do. Although Detroit doesn't.
Yes we are bleeding population..... to LORAIN COUNTY (one of the fastest growing areas in the country). You think people from other states are moving to Lorain? I'd say at least 3% of Cleveland's loss has been Lorain County's gain. Have you seen all the work that has been done in Avon lately? Talk about huge change in 20 years!!
Anti-regionilism? Agree and it sucks. But how many areas have succesfully regionalized lately? 5? 6? At best?
And yea... winters can be brutal....
Lastly... the school system. Is anyone here REALLY familiar with the school system? Do you really think Cleveland is failing its children? I do not. I know plenty of excellent schools in Cleveland proper. Our schools are safe. The system hasn't failed Cleveland children. Their parents have. Kids are failing the achievement tests because far to many parents take little to no interest in their education.
Of course there are bad teachers, but they are not the majority. And if you raise good kids they can get a qaulity education in Cleveland. I am actually glad we are losing population. Maybe by the time my kid is ready for school there won't be a waiting list anymore to get into the very good Riverside Elementary here in Westpark.
I actually heard a Cleveland resident say it is the teachers fault that the drop out rate is so high in Cleveland. Seriously? I wanted to smack her. Let me ask those of you that had strong parents and graduated high school: What would your mother have said or done to you if you came home one day and told her you were dropping out?
Exactly!
Sorry for the long post. I guess I've just had it with all the negativity in this forum and took it out here. Will Cleveland recover? Compared to 20 years ago it ALREADY has. This is nirvana compared to then. And I firmly believe it will continue.
Someone please tell me why Clevelanders have an inferiority complex?!? It really is true, isn't it?? Well.... not this Clevelander.
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Is Cleveland bad or is it just perception?
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