The Many faces of Cleveland (Lakewood, Newark: houses, neighborhoods, university)

[TheProf]

Perhaps, the main thing I love about my hometown is how diverse it is. There are many different urban sides to this town. Perhaps it's because of its location, right at the eastern edge of the Midwest. I see a number of other bigger, often more famous cities and regions of the country in and around Greater Cleveland. A little Chicago here (a place oft associated with Cleveland), a little New England there, and even pockets of New York City. Not all, however, are positive, in my mind at least.. Anyway, here are some of my Cleveland faces; by all means, add yours:

Edgewater (Cleveland) + Lakewood Gold = Chicago Gold Coast
Ohio City (esp Market Square area ) = Brooklyn
Coventry = cross btwn Greenwich Village and NYC's upper West Side
East Cleveland = NE Detroit
East Cleveland = Bushwick, Brownsville (sorry, gentrifying Bed-Stuy has graduated)
Clark/Fleet = Tobacco Road (shack –like homes (including a bunch of shotgun houses) + picket fences
Shaker Square = NYC’s Forest Hills (although the Moreland Courts corridor = Upper East Side)
Shaker Square = Boston’s Coolidge Corner
Rockefeller Park = Central Park (just elongated)
Chagrin Valley (esp Gates Mills, Chagrin Falls, Burton and farther SE, Hudson = New England
Warehouse District = Soho
Monticello (up the Forest Hills), LA
The Heights area = Philly Main Line and Westchester County
University Circle = (Chicago’s Hyde Park) – although I like U. Circle, better.
The Rapid: Blue/Green lines = Boston’s Green Line; Red Line = at times, Chicago’s El, at times, NYC subway
Tremont’s Literary Bluff = San Fran

… and so on. Agree? Disagree? (and why)… Got others?

[5Lakes]

I'm all about giving C-Town its props, but many of your comparisons are a bit of a stretch.

Here is my take:

Edgewater (Cleveland) + All of Lakewood = Milwaukee's north side neighborhoods (from just north of downtown to Shorewood)
Ohio City = Allentown neighborhood in Buffalo
Coventry = A mini Haight/Ashbury, kind of.
East Cleveland = Northern sections of Newark, NJ
Clark/Fleet = Typical depressed Rust Belt neighborhood
Shaker Square = a smaller version of Forest Hills (Queens)
Rockefeller Park = Not sure. Reminds me of a lot of Parks found in large cities of the Northeast.
Chagrin Valley (esp Gates Mills, Chagrin Falls, Burton and farther SE), Hudson = I agree with New England suburbs
Warehouse District = LoDo in Denver.
Monticello = Northern sections of Newark, NJ
The Heights area = I agree with Philly Main Line and Westchester County.
University Circle = Like Chicago’s Hyde Park, but with a smaller residential component.
The Rapid: Blue/Green lines = Most like Boston's trains
Tremont’s Literary Bluff = Pittsburgh's South Side Slopes.

[TheProf]

Good ones, 5Lakes, and good points... let me clarify. I don't mean to say these Cleveland neighborhoods and aspects are exactly the same as those more famous ones. I'll take the blame for the confusion; I shouldn't have used "=" signs as shorthand... I'd have to have my head examined if I postulated that, for example, Edgewater/Lakewood's Gold Coast is the same as an awesome, gorgeous, always-hopping neighborood like Chicago's Gold Coast. No way. My point for the thread is more that you find a little piece or aspect of these famous areas in Cleveland.

btw, I'm with you on Hyde Park -- the residential (and probably retail) aspect of Hyde Park is stronger than U. Circle. However, I think the diversity, density and overall institutional power of U.Circle, coupled with its sheer beauty, puts it a step ahead of Hyde Park, at least in my mind (but reasonable people can disagree)... I also find some aspects of Pittsburgh's Oakland, too, although Oakland is MUCH stronger, retail/restaurant-wise than U. Circle (unless you add in the 'nearbys' like Li'l Italy, Coventry and Cedar Fairmount, the latter 2 probably not being fair as linking them directly to the Circle.

[costello_musicman]

I also enjoy Cleveland's extreme diversity when it comes to different areas; however, I feel that some areas are PURE Cleveland.

Specifically:

Rockefeller Park and Cultural Gardens
Houses on Fairmount Blvd
Industrial Valley
Tremont
Houses in Wade Park/Glenville

[TheProf]

No question, Costello... I'll throw in:

the Arcade
Little Italy
The Flats (I'm waiting for the rebirth of the East Bank)
Shaker Lakes Park

I mentioned the Shaker Square "area" as similar to Forest Hills (Queens) and Boston's Coolidge Corner. But as for the Square, itself, there's really nothing quite like it in this country.

Coventry, despite the hippie/Greenwich Village appellations spiritually, physically, is unique

[andrew61]

I would also classify the West Side Market as "pure" Cleveland. I have yet to run across anything quite like it anywhere else I've been.

[costello_musicman]

^^I agree with both posts above, especially the Westside Market and Arcade.

Even Lakeview Cemetry is extremely unique, and tough to compare to other places.

[JR_C]

IMO, the Westside Market is very European. In college, I had to take a class that prepared us for our semester in Florence, Italy.(with an architectural/urban design twist) One of our field trips involved going to the Westside Market. Then, after arriving in Florence the following semester, our language teachers took us on a field trip to the Central Market. (Mercato Centrale) It was very similar to the WSM, just more disgusting. (butchers smoking while working, stray dogs running around, etc.)