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So as you guys probably have ascertained, I'm a native and proud Clevelander, but have been living "abroad" for the last three years. In a little more than a year, I'll have a pretty decent opportunity to relocate out of New England, should I want to. I'd be moving with my girlfriend more than likely, and she will be coming to Cleveland with me August 27-30. My goal is to try to at least show that it would be a fun and cool (and cheap) place to live, should a move become reality. She hasn't outright said it, but I know she's very skeptical.
I've only been to town about 5 times in the last few years, and mostly in winter with family for the holidays, so I was hoping you guys could help me out in terms of suggesting any new things that have blossomed in the 216 recently. We're definitely gonna do W. 25 bars, Tremont stroll, and see some sights downtown on one day and some other obvious things maybe in University Circle/Little Italy/Coventry on another day, but is there anything else that might have been flying under my radar in maybe less obvious places? Or any new hidden gems from the last couple years? Is the Flats worth going to yet? Is Public Square all torn up? Anything that would be kinda summery and fun would be great. Festivals happening that weekend? We are mid to late 20s, both big bar-goers, she's an amazing musician covering all genres (that's what she does professionally), but not really into sports so much, she's also really into outdoors kind of things- any suggestions based on those vague criteria? I'm looking to fill just about another day on this trip.
- Rent jet ski's or paddle boats at the RRHOF
- Mitchell's Ice Cream on W.25th (and you see them make it too)
- Coquette Patisserie... New awesome French bakery in Uptown (spot will show off all of Uptown)
- Rooftop Bar Azure (feels like NYC)
- Basement bar Vault (feels like NYC)
- Hofbräuhaus Cleveland
- Cleveland Museum of Art with new Atrium and Gallery One
- Hingetown and the new Transformer Station
Oldie but goodie:
- Cleveland Critical Mass bike ride on Friday night!!! MUST!
- West Side Market on Saturday of course
- Horseshoe Casino
- " A Christmas Story" House
- Great Lakes Brewery tour (sign up early and snag tickets)
- Pier W for dinner... With view of skyline
- Playhouse Square show (completely revamped theater district... With huge new outdoor
chandelier )
- Hilarities comedy show at Pickwick and Frolic
- lolly the trolly (great city bus tour with enthusiastic tour guides)
- Downtown Cleveland Bike Tour http://www.clevelandbiketours.com/clevelandbiketour
- barking spider in university circle for live (often acoustic) music
Last edited by costello_musicman; 07-11-2015 at 07:15 PM..
What are your girl friend's interests? What are her favorite cuisines? What types of music does she like? Does she like sports, beer, or boats?
Does your girlfriend have an iPad or Android tablet? If she likes art, have her download the Cleveland Museum of Art's ArtLens app and begin planning your visit. Check the CMA's calendar and exhibit schedule. I think the only Iranian royal tent in the U.S. will be on display at the time of your visit.
If she likes jazz, there will be an extraordinary event at Blossom Music Center on Aug. 29 -- both the Cleveland Orchestra and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Buy tickets ASAP for the pavilion if it's not already sold out.
Check out the PlayhouseSquare schedule. Book of Mormon is at the State Theatre that weekend.
Check out the event calendar at thisiscleveland.com.
I see the Burning River Festival is at Whiskey Island that weekend. That might be a little risky as it's downwind of the Westerly Wastewater Treatment Plant. :-)
Would she enjoy Cedar Point and/or Put-in-Bay? How about a romantic escape to Ohio Amish Country?
What kind of neighborhood would she enjoy living in? Lakewood, Crocker Park, Uptown, downtown, Ohio City, Tremont, etc.? Perhaps check out some of the Lakewood condos with city views, perhaps at Winton Place, if you want to show her how inexpensive it might be to live in Cleveland. Where would you work in Cleveland?
Perhaps post your question at tripadvisor.com. Read through the Cleveland forum and certainly the top questions in the right margin.
A move from Boston to Cleveland? That's a tough one. Might need to pull some tricks out of the hat.
Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance Hall, West Side Market, Walks though metroparks, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Playhouse Square, Lake View Cemetery, USS Cod Submarine Memorial, Heinen's Downtown, Metroparks Zoo, Botanical Garden, Cleveland Play House, Casino, University Circle, Museum of Natural History, Great Lakes Brewing Company, Little Italy,Great Lakes Science Center, House of Blues Cleveland, Terminal Tower, Edgewater Park, Aquarium, Allen Theatre, Old Arcade, Warehouse District, Lakefront Nature Preserve, Sports games, 4th street....all of these places have changed in some way. I could go on.... seen it all, done it all many times over, but there are some trump cards here.
From an unbiased viewpoint, I think your biggest challenge bjimmy is the fact Boston culture and the people there are used to feeling like WINNERS. Very successful sports town, winning positive upbeat attitude, and everyone being in such a good mood all the time spreads like wildfire. This can be a complete 180 from attitude that she may encounter on a cold, cloudy Cleveland day where everyone's mood is in the ****ter due to a 3-11 Browns record or whatever Cleveland issue is going on at the moment.
The one thing that you have working for you is that she is already used to how things are in the winter, so you might be able to play up the fact that the winters in Cleveland are just a tad more favorable than the ones in Boston.
The meal ticked is the cheap cost of living card. Show her a breakdown of the finances in Cleveland and how much more saving (or spending) can be had in Cleveland as opposed to Boston. That should turn that frown upside down faster than a kid in the 80's walking into Lionel Kiddie City toy store.
A move from Boston to Cleveland? That's a tough one. Might need to pull some tricks out of the hat.
From an unbiased viewpoint, I think your biggest challenge bjimmy is the fact Boston culture and the people there are used to feeling like WINNERS. Very successful sports town, winning positive upbeat attitude, and everyone being in such a good mood all the time spreads like wildfire. This can be a complete 180 from attitude that she may encounter on a cold, cloudy Cleveland day where everyone's mood is in the ****ter due to a 3-11 Browns record or whatever Cleveland issue is going on at the moment.
The one thing that you have working for you is that she is already used to how things are in the winter, so you might be able to play up the fact that the winters in Cleveland are just a tad more favorable than the ones in Boston.
The meal ticked is the cheap cost of living card. Show her a breakdown of the finances in Cleveland and how much more saving (or spending) can be had in Cleveland as opposed to Boston. That should turn that frown upside down faster than a kid in the 80's walking into Lionel Kiddie City toy store.
Dude, Bjimmy is a native Clevelander who just happens to be living in Boston the last few years. He was one of the ones on this forum who helped guide me to places to see for my visit to Cleveland 2 years ago. I'm sure he knows that Cleveland's cost of living is much lower than Boston's . You don't need to remind him of that.
Speaking of which, have you ever been to Boston before? How do you know that we feel like "winners" over here. I don't get your point. Cost of living is sky high, traffic is a nightmare, a whole lot of long time Bostonians are forced to move further out in the metro and thus diminishing the ethnic, cultural, and economic character of some old neighborhoods. I don't see how this is considered winning. As for weather, do you realize that we also get plenty of cold cloudy days where everyone's mood is in the gutter and that our roads can be pockmarked with potzillas in the winter too?
If you simply mean in terms of sports, well just read my second to last post in the "Cleveland is Becoming another Chicago" thread. Bad sports teams do not translate into bad cities I said. For most, it's just a moment of displeasure and then it dissipates and life returns to normal.
So as you guys probably have ascertained, I'm a native and proud Clevelander, but have been living "abroad" for the last three years. In a little more than a year, I'll have a pretty decent opportunity to relocate out of New England, should I want to. I'd be moving with my girlfriend more than likely, and she will be coming to Cleveland with me August 27-30. My goal is to try to at least show that it would be a fun and cool (and cheap) place to live, should a move become reality. She hasn't outright said it, but I know she's very skeptical.
I've only been to town about 5 times in the last few years, and mostly in winter with family for the holidays, so I was hoping you guys could help me out in terms of suggesting any new things that have blossomed in the 216 recently. We're definitely gonna do W. 25 bars, Tremont stroll, and see some sights downtown on one day and some other obvious things maybe in University Circle/Little Italy/Coventry on another day, but is there anything else that might have been flying under my radar in maybe less obvious places? Or any new hidden gems from the last couple years? Is the Flats worth going to yet? Is Public Square all torn up? Anything that would be kinda summery and fun would be great. Festivals happening that weekend? We are mid to late 20s, both big bar-goers, she's an amazing musician covering all genres (that's what she does professionally), but not really into sports so much, she's also really into outdoors kind of things- any suggestions based on those vague criteria? I'm looking to fill just about another day on this trip.
Thanks guys!
I'd run through all of the positive things from my trip recap in this forum posted two years ago and share it with our girlfriend. For sure, the Cleveland Art Museum's new wing is totally finished by now and Case has a new student center that was just going up when I was there I think. Definitely hit up Rockefeller Park, the greenhouse, the Cultural Gardens, Wade Park, and Shaker Square. After 3 years, these places have got to feel new again. Heck, rent a car and drive all around Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, and University Heights if you can. These handsome old streetcar suburbs so resemble parts of Greater Boston that I'm sure your girlfriend will feel at home there. Or just hop on a bus or the Rapid and walk around. The Warrensville/Van Aken/Chagrin intersection at the end of the Blue Line is not done yet but if you pop down there, you can probably see a work in progress in trying to create a "downtown" for Shaker Heights for better or worse.
Dude, Bjimmy is a native Clevelander who just happens to be living in Boston the last few years. He was one of the ones on this forum who helped guide me to places to see for my visit to Cleveland 2 years ago. I'm sure he knows that Cleveland's cost of living is much lower than Boston's . You don't need to remind him of that.
I'm telling him that of all the things to promote, I recommend that cost of living has higher focus. Me and Bjimmy both being native Clevelanders are cut from the same cloth, yet here you are telling one former Clevelander what they should and shouldn't be advising to another former Clevelander? Come again?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Urban Peasant
Speaking of which, have you ever been to Boston before? How do you know that we feel like "winners" over here. I don't get your point. Cost of living is sky high, traffic is a nightmare, a whole lot of long time Bostonians are forced to move further out in the metro and thus diminishing the ethnic, cultural, and economic character of some old neighborhoods. I don't see how this is considered winning. As for weather, do you realize that we also get plenty of cold cloudy days where everyone's mood is in the gutter and that our roads can be pockmarked with potzillas in the winter too?
Yes, I have a good friend who is a native Clevelander that moved to Boston and have visited him many times. Each time my interactions with the natives there has been very pleasant, and everyone is in an upbeat mood. The atmosphere at the sporting venues is always high spirited. One word. WINNING
Also Clevelanders don't need a lesson from Bostonians on bad sports teams and dissipation of displeasure. The displeasure of not winning a national title hasn't dissipated since 1964....and a life long Bostonian (not saying you are this, just saying in general) has no concept of what this actually is comprised of or the effect it has on Cleveland sports fans. They are on the complete other side of the spectrum in terms of national success in sports. That being said, let's not derail this thread.
Last edited by maxmodder; 07-12-2015 at 10:34 AM..
My girlfriend has accompanied me to Fenway Park before, but really doesn't care about sports, just the beer that comes with it. I'm pretty sure the only NFL players she knows are Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Unfortunately for us Bostonians, 99% of our lives are lived away from sports games, so even the most die hard fan still has to deal with reality. Oh and besides, this last Boston winter was BY FAR the worst I've ever seen, and I've lived in Cleveland and Russia for god's sake!
I do love Boston, but seeing as neither of us have family here (she's from Minnesota)and considering we both know how much cheaper the midwest is, we're just looking into trying to do what makes the most sense for the future (whatever that may end up being). I'm just trying to show her that Cleveland is cheap, which she already knows, but also cool and different from other places. We already went to Minneapolis-St. Paul together last month, which was lovely and I definitely wouldn't mind moving there, but I'm just trying to prove Cleveland is even better.
Urban Peasant, Shaker Square is a good call- it certainly is reminiscent of Boston! Is Deweys Coffee and the Balaton still open? I meant to go to Feliz on larchmere last time I was back, but failed to do so, so I will have to try again. Is there a particular part of the metroparks that would be especially appealing? She loves piano bars and karaoke and stuff, but I was never really into that before when I lived in Cleveland, does anyone know a good place? Lolly is a great idea, and so is Pier W! Thanks guys for all the ideas so far, I feel like even I could use a little more Cleveland experience now.
Oh and a couple more things... can someone update me on Waterloo? Are those places open, or what's going on over there? That's a neighborhood I think both of us would probably like, but I'm not sure I wanna visit if everything is still under construction or closed.
And on a slightly more serious note, does anyone know how the classical music scene in Cleveland is, outside of Severance Hall? My girlfriend is a classically trained violinist and vocalist and is really a superior talent, is there any hope of any employment of some kind in Cleveland, whether it's performing or teaching?
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. You don't need to remind him of that.
