What Stereotypes Do You Hear About Cleveland? (houses, theatres)
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Having lived in five different cities outside of Ohio in the last decade, this is a collection of some of the more amusing or common quotes I hear when I tell them I'm a native Clevelander:
Paraphrased and actual quotes:
* "Oh, sorry about that. Ha- just kidding bro (sort of)." <---- Variations of this more times than I can count
* "I heard Columbus is really booming."
* "I did some recruiting there. Cleveland had REAL women. A gal that will sit down next to you and eat some fried chicken wings and drink you under the table."
* "Oh man, had some wild nights there in the flats. You been there lately? How are they doing?"
* "Isn't there some sort of huge amusement park with huge roller coasters around there?"
* "I've been to _______ (insert Milwaukee/Detroit/Buffalo/Pittsburgh) before, pretty much the same thing I'd imagine."
* "I drove thru Ohio once, I expected to see nothing but factories, but all I remember seeing was corn."
* "Don't you guys have, like, the rock museum or rock hall or something?"
* "I'm always amazed at how you guys stay so faithful to those Brownies."
* "Don't worry, things will rebound. It can only get better from here, right?"
* "Did you family work for a car company?"
While I agree that my home metro area is on the rebound, to be quite frank, a lot of the things people are propping up here aren't even close to being on most people's radar outside of Ohio. Cleveland has got a lot of marketing to do to update its image.
I can tell you that very few people outside of Cleveland metro know or care about an orchestra or a bunch of hospitals or some park. The novelty of a couple of streets full of bars and restaurants might be a big deal to Clevelanders, but have been available in most mid to large cities in the US forever, and in much greater quantities. Most people have not heard of Case Western, let alone University Square.
I think the largest untapped resource that Cleveland has is that river front, extending out into the lake. If it were properly developed, just think of the possibilities. I'm not even positive what is there right now? Some half abandoned airport and several parking lots?
Having lived in five different cities outside of Ohio in the last decade, this is a collection of some of the more amusing or common quotes I hear when I tell them I'm a native Clevelander:
Paraphrased and actual quotes:
* "Oh, sorry about that. Ha- just kidding bro (sort of)." <---- Variations of this more times than I can count
* "I heard Columbus is really booming."
* "I did some recruiting there. Cleveland had REAL women. A gal that will sit down next to you and eat some fried chicken wings and drink you under the table."
* "Oh man, had some wild nights there in the flats. You been there lately? How are they doing?"
* "Isn't there some sort of huge amusement park with huge roller coasters around there?"
* "I've been to _______ (insert Milwaukee/Detroit/Buffalo/Pittsburgh) before, pretty much the same thing I'd imagine."
* "I drove thru Ohio once, I expected to see nothing but factories, but all I remember seeing was corn."
* "Don't you guys have, like, the rock museum or rock hall or something?"
* "I'm always amazed at how you guys stay so faithful to those Brownies."
* "Don't worry, things will rebound. It can only get better from here, right?"
* "Did you family work for a car company?"
While I agree that my home metro area is on the rebound, to be quite frank, a lot of the things people are propping up here aren't even close to being on most people's radar outside of Ohio. Cleveland has got a lot of marketing to do to update its image.
I can tell you that very few people outside of Cleveland metro know or care about an orchestra or a bunch of hospitals or some park. The novelty of a couple of streets full of bars and restaurants might be a big deal to Clevelanders, but have been available in most mid to large cities in the US forever, and in much greater quantities. Most people have not heard of Case Western, let alone University Square.
I think the largest untapped resource that Cleveland has is that river front, extending out into the lake. If it were properly developed, just think of the possibilities. I'm not even positive what is there right now? Some half abandoned airport and several parking lots?
A lot of what you said is just not true- people in other parts of the country DO care about the cultural aspects of Cleveland, it's just a certain crowd. The good culture, hospitals could do wonders for marketing the region to the right people, i.e. those with a high level of education, skills, and money. We have enough poor and middle class people here, we don't need to market ourselves as a good place to be broke. Completely, 100% disagree that it's irrelevant. If people don't care about work, culture, or entertainment, what do people care about? They do care about streets with bars, as you put it. That's kind of a big thing- people like fun! There are many famous entertainment districts in this country and the Flats were one of them! Why do you think people go to Vegas, New Orleans, New York, LA? Because they are looking for entertainment! Also, people have definitely heard of Case. If you're a healthcare professional, engineer, scientist, etc. you definitely know Case, Cleveland Clinic, etc. It's University Circle, not Square. University Square is an actual place, but it's a shopping area in University Heights.
It's really too bad that native Clevelanders have such little appreciation for their home city and know so little about it.
A lot of what you said is just not true- people in other parts of the country DO care about the cultural aspects of Cleveland, it's just a certain crowd. The good culture, hospitals could do wonders for marketing the region to the right people, i.e. those with a high level of education, skills, and money. We have enough poor and middle class people here, we don't need to market ourselves as a good place to be broke. Completely, 100% disagree that it's irrelevant. If people don't care about work, culture, or entertainment, what do people care about? They do care about streets with bars, as you put it. That's kind of a big thing- people like fun! There are many famous entertainment districts in this country and the Flats were one of them! Why do you think people go to Vegas, New Orleans, New York, LA? Because they are looking for entertainment! Also, people have definitely heard of Case. If you're a healthcare professional, engineer, scientist, etc. you definitely know Case, Cleveland Clinic, etc. It's University Circle, not Square. University Square is an actual place, but it's a shopping area in University Heights.
It's really too bad that native Clevelanders have such little appreciation for their home city and know so little about it.
All good points and I agree that all of the above DO bring a great deal to the area. However, I still stand by my point that everything mentioned is not on the radar when people outside of Ohio think about Cleveland. Like I said, Cleveland has a long way to go in marketing its image. Even if these things were on the radar, there are still dozens of cities in the US and Canada people would think of as a destination ahead of Cleveland.
And I never said the new entertainment options in Cleveland were a bad thing, but again, they are pissant when compared to the districts or venues of many other cities.
I believe that one of the reasons Clevelanders get so down on their city is because they confuse scope and scale. Cleveland needs to look towards mid-sized metros (Milwaukee, Austin, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Portland, Columbus, Raleigh, Indianapolis) as its competition. Metros such as NY, Toronto, Chicago, DC, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle, San Fran, etc., will attract the "right people" that you are referring to 100x more often than Cleveland ever will.
The marketing of the city begins with those who live here, know the place well, and enjoy it. This is actually the most important thing in my opinion. CLE pride and awareness has been on the upswing, but I definitely agree that it's not where it should be. However, I think things are getting better in general. I wouldn't really describe Cleveland entertainment as "pissant." It's less lavish and opulent, but still pretty good, in my opinion. "Underrated" would be my adjective of choice.
Location: Cleveland, OH USA / formerly Chicago for 20 years
4,069 posts, read 7,317,864 times
Reputation: 3062
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumble
While I agree that my home metro area is on the rebound, to be quite frank, a lot of the things people are propping up here aren't even close to being on most people's radar outside of Ohio. Cleveland has got a lot of marketing to do to update its image.
I can tell you that very few people outside of Cleveland metro know or care about an orchestra or a bunch of hospitals or some park. The novelty of a couple of streets full of bars and restaurants might be a big deal to Clevelanders, but have been available in most mid to large cities in the US forever, and in much greater quantities.
Bingo!
Something I heard from someone recently: "The only really unique points of interest in NE Ohio are the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Anything else the area has is duplicated in many other cities."
Something I heard from someone recently: "The only really unique points of interest in NE Ohio are the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Anything else the area has is duplicated in many other cities."
You're right- close all entertainment districts. So boring, so unoriginal. What exactly makes a city in unique in your opinion? Give me any example, and I will show you other places where the same thing exists. Hall of fame? Lame- other cities have hall of fames. Waste of time.
Something I heard from someone recently: "The only really unique points of interest in NE Ohio are the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Anything else the area has is duplicated in many other cities."
And what are the awesome points of interest in Chicago? Willis Tower and Navy Pier.
Location: Cleveland, OH USA / formerly Chicago for 20 years
4,069 posts, read 7,317,864 times
Reputation: 3062
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamms
And what are the awesome points of interest in Chicago? Willis Tower and Navy Pier.
How about awesome shopping, awesome dining, the best theater scene in the US outside NYC (Steppenwolf, etc.)... the largest gay nightlife district in the Midwest (and the first in the US to be "officially" recognized by the city)... Little India... Koreatown... the only five-star Thai restaurant in the entire US... the world's best lakefront park system... one of the world's top three skylines... the only big city in the US that has a beach right next to its downtown area... oh, and Wrigley Field, one of only two historic neighborhood ballparks left in the nation... the list goes on and on...
Prior to living in Chicago the impression I had was lots of Italians, especially with the mafia reputation the city has/had. After living there a bit, I noticed that among other things, the landscape is pancake flat and I didn't run into many Italians. Certainly not at the level of the east coast or even Cleveland. The Little Italy in Chicago sucks; just a surprise that's all. Also, the few Italians I did encounter try to have a Jersey/New York thing going on and, sorry, it just didn't work in Chicago. A few Jews I dealt tried to work in a New York accent on occasion as well (saying ''tawk'' and ''cawl'' instead of ''talk'' and ''call")-I asked one ''are you from Brooklyn?" "No, Buffalo Grove; why?" Turns out the mafia is in Chicago City Hall and the Illinois State Government and they are not Italians.
How do you know the differences between the accents what did you just look it up on the internet a second ago..
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