Cleveland is the most depressing/boring place on earth(MOVER BEWARE) (Columbus: home, job market)

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by ZnGuy

You are 100% correct. We've lived it. We moved to an area that has a huge transient population which was a major attraction to us. My wife made the anology that it's like college where everyone has same agenda to meet people, make friends, lots of parties, etc. I can tell you that our social calendar has been on steroids the last 8 years since we moved to Charlotte.

I suspect that's not really the city but you. Attitude plays a HUGE role in social interaction. When people move to a new city, it's often viewed as a new, fresh start. It's exciting, the possibilities seem infinitely more numerous. Reality says they're probably not anymore numerous than they were in the previous city, but you failed to take advantage of them before because you either didn't think they existed or just believed the grass was greener elsewhere so didn't bother trying as hard.

Speaking personally, there was a time in my life where I had very few friends in Columbus and a time when I had fantastic friends in great quantity. The city didn't change, I did.

[BayArea32]

Originally Posted by Cleveland_Collector

Yeah, pretty much none of that is true.



Maybe in the 70 and over crowd.



You mean those Eastern European remnants like the Irish, Italians, Germans, Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Lebanese, etc., etc., etc.?

Also, the actual Eastern European population is far from just being "remnant groups."



Way to just completely bury your previous statement.



Ummm, really? Granted, medical is huge here, but so are a host of other industries. The GCMA has 12 fortune 500 headquarters and an additional 14 more fortune 1000 headquarters. It also has an international presence of more than 150 different firms. There are also about 25 different colleges and universities. So, if you can't find an opportunity here, the likelihood of you finding one in many other places is probably pretty slim.



The airport has actually expanded in the last 20 years and is still a hub for United/Continental. It's also the busiest airport in Ohio and the second busiest by far between NYC and Chicago.

....aaaand here's an individual who has not lived outside of Cleveland

[Natural510]

Originally Posted by BayArea32

....aaaand here's an individual who has not lived outside of Cleveland

I think your criticisms are fair, though I do think it's a bit more ethnically diverse than you state (the white ethnics go beyond Eastern Euro, and there is a sizeable Puerto Rican community). It is indeed a culture shock going from a sunny climate to the dead of winter in Ohio (I did it myself), but only a fool wouldn't have prepared themselves mentally for it ahead of time. What rankled most people here wasn't the criticisms by the OP as much as the tone...if he had come here asking for suggestions on how to improve his transition, things would've gone much different.

[ZnGuy]

Originally Posted by jbcmh81

I suspect that's not really the city but you. Attitude plays a HUGE role in social interaction. When people move to a new city, it's often viewed as a new, fresh start. It's exciting, the possibilities seem infinitely more numerous. Reality says they're probably not anymore numerous than they were in the previous city, but you failed to take advantage of them before because you either didn't think they existed or just believed the grass was greener elsewhere so didn't bother trying as hard.

Speaking personally, there was a time in my life where I had very few friends in Columbus and a time when I had fantastic friends in great quantity. The city didn't change, I did.

sorry but I have to disagree with you, actually my (our) social life has always been pretty dang good where ever we have lived (Philly, Columbus, CLE, CLT) it just so happens there is definately a different situation when you move to a transient high growth area. Many of the the transients (mainly northerners) have chosen to move to the area for the fabulous weather, clean modern city, lower cost of living compared to some major cities. Most people are just have so much pride about living here and come with similar agenda of wanting to meet new friends. Sure attitude plays a big part but I have to admit that most are geeked about the weather and glad they escaped the subpar weather of their former city. Due to fact my wife and I are career sales executives, by nature we are outgoing positive people. It also helps that my wife moved 15+ times (Army brat) we bring this attitude in all the places we have made our home.

[TheMahValley]

Originally Posted by ZnGuy

sorry but I have to disagree with you, actually my (our) social life has always been pretty dang good where ever we have lived (Philly, Columbus, CLE, CLT) it just so happens there is definately a different situation when you move to a transient high growth area. Many of the the transients (mainly northerners) have chosen to move to the area for the fabulous weather, clean modern city, lower cost of living compared to some major cities. Most people are just have so much pride about living here and come with similar agenda of wanting to meet new friends. Sure attitude plays a big part but I have to admit that most are geeked about the weather and glad they escaped the subpar weather of their former city. Due to fact my wife and I are career sales executives, by nature we are outgoing positive people. It also helps that my wife moved 15+ times (Army brat) we bring this attitude in all the places we have made our home.

See, my time I spent in Charlotte I got the complete opposite attitude. I found many people to be insular and fit in with their own groups and agendas. It was a transient place, but it certainly had its own cliques and agendas. Charlotte is far from some epitome of progressive diversity and social qualities. The only cities I found in the South that could somewhat compete with the North was Atlanta and Miami, more emphasis on the latter.

[Peregrine]

Clevelanders not friendly? Insular? Don't like transplants?
Ridiculous.

I also agree that I think it says more about the OP then it does of CLE.

And I totally disagree with your comment that "Yes, bars are the place to make friends."
No. They really aren't. Unless you go to that corner bar that is full of old retired dudes that spend every lunch hour there. Certainly make friends there.
But Bier Market? The Tree House? West Park Station? Aces?
Yea, no one is going there to make friends. They are going to hang out with friends and meet girls/boys.

[Cleveland_Collector]

Originally Posted by BayArea32

....aaaand here's an individual who has not lived outside of Cleveland

Does Buffalo, NYC, Chicago, SE Asia, and W. Europe count?

From how way off base your comments are, it's quite clear that you have never even been here let alone actually lived here.

[averysgore]

Originally Posted by Cleveland_Collector

You mean those Eastern European remnants like the Irish, Italians, Germans, Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Lebanese, etc., etc., etc.?

Also, the actual Eastern European population is far from just being "remnant groups."

The first 3 of these are pretty much all 3rd or 4th generation, and most of them identify as "white" now. The rest of these have a low presence compared to most metro areas (though possibly not Florida).

Originally Posted by Cleveland_Collector

Ummm, really? Granted, medical is huge here, but so are a host of other industries. The GCMA has 12 fortune 500 headquarters and an additional 14 more fortune 1000 headquarters. It also has an international presence of more than 150 different firms. There are also about 25 different colleges and universities. So, if you can't find an opportunity here, the likelihood of you finding one in many other places is probably pretty slim.

Uh... Case, Cleveland State, John Carroll, Baldwin Wallace makes 4. Then there's the smaller Ursuline, Notre Dame, Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland Institute of Art. 8. If there are any I'm forgetting, they must be really tiny, and can't possibly add up to 25. Some of which only have undergrad degrees anyway, and wouldn't be places for transplants in their 20's and 30's to hang out.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by averysgore

The first 3 of these are pretty much all 3rd or 4th generation, and most of them identify as "white" now. The rest of these have a low presence compared to most metro areas (though possibly not Florida).



Uh... Case, Cleveland State, John Carroll, Baldwin Wallace makes 4. Then there's the smaller Ursuline, Notre Dame, Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland Institute of Art. 8. If there are any I'm forgetting, they must be really tiny, and can't possibly add up to 25. Some of which only have undergrad degrees anyway, and wouldn't be places for transplants in their 20's and 30's to hang out.

Oberlin, Hiram... then you start getting into obscure for-profit schools, niche medical schools, community colleges, DeVry, etc... and according to Wikipedia... Akron, Kent and even Youngstown State are "Cleveland schools".

[averysgore]

Most people haven't brought up the fact that the OP is of mixed race. I'm curious how many of you who think Cleveland is as friendly as anywhere are non-white. I always got the impression that Cleveland was less friendly to people of color, but given that most of my good friends there were white or Asian (and that this was 8+ years ago), I should stop talking myself and hear your stories.

I will say that while Boston has far more transplants than Cleveland, it's been a difficult city to make friends too. And it's not just me saying that - there are long-running threads on the Boston forum about this very issue.