How can Cleveland become an 'It city' like Nashville and Austin? (Sandusky: tech jobs, neighborhood)

[Urban Peasant]

Cleveland definitely has the offerings to make it an "it" city but I said it once and will say it again, not a lot of people know enough about Cleveland. The RNC helped a little but you need long term sustainable investment to get businesses to want to relocate there and then the people will follow. BTW Cleveland is not that easy to get to. There are flights to and from the coastal cities in the US and a whole bunch of discount carriers flying Cleveland to the Tropics but fewer selection of major air carriers, not enough international flights, and very scant Amtrak service that dumps you out in the middle of the night. Neither Amtrak nor the Great Lakes Cruises have any NE Ohio promotions either but I guess it's a catch-22, not enough people interested equals not enough demand for promotions which results in not enough people interested. The only other way is to get businesses to invest and possibly relocate their operations to NE Ohio.

[Buckeye614]

I don't think Cleveland needs to emulate Austin which is perhaps the most overrated city in America.

Marketing
Reduction in crime
Investment in underprivileged communities.
Job creation.

[Cleveland_Collector]

Both Austin and Nashville are terribly overrated.

[averysgore]

Originally Posted by TheProf

Michael Symon is an awesome Cleveland ambassador, but unless you are a serious Food Channel foodie or home during the day to watch "The Chew" regularly (Michael really touts Cleveland on the Chew, but it's not like every day), you may not even know who he is

Just yesterday I saw a huge billboard for a new Michael Symon establishment just before the Lincoln Tunnel. This tunnel carries 120,000 people daily from NJ to midtown NYC, so that's a lot of press! Also very good advertising space to afford.

I don't follow "food celebrity culture" and mostly know him from Cleveland discussions, but this is a sign that he's more well known than I thought. (Never been to his place; I remember attempting to get a dinner reservation at Lolita and being months too late).

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by TheProf

Great post! It's so comprehensive it saves me a lot of typing so as not to be repetitive. Suffice it to say, most people have a very short attention span that's gotten even shorter with social media. As Andrew noted earlier, last year was a banner year for positive press in Cleveland -- the Cavs championship, the very successful RNC (from Cleveland's POV; not the screwed up convention itself which, sadly, ultimately delivered You Know Who to the WH) and, then, the tremendous Indians' World Series run in the fall that captured the nation. But unfortunately those are all transitory and easily forgotten in the public mindset -- the visitors who came for these events did leave with a very positive impression and they are spreading positive Cleveland stories by word-of-mouth... Michael Symon is an awesome Cleveland ambassador, but unless you are a serious Food Channel foodie or home during the day to watch "The Chew" regularly (Michael really touts Cleveland on the Chew, but it's not like every day), you may not even know who he is... So today when I mention Cleveland people still tend to default to the same old thing: the Rock Hall. Guess we should be grateful for small things: I'll gladly take the Rock Hall over the negative, stupid Cuyahoga River fire of umpteen decades ago, but still being just known for the Rock Hall is limiting.

Quite obviously, as one who travels, I objectively believe Cleveland's cultural assets: Playhouse Square, the Art Museum and the galaxy of museums surrounding in University Circle -- as well as beautiful Severance Hall and it's No. 1 in the world Cleveland Orchestra -- can stand up to any city's in the country. But for the average shlub, why travel to medium-sized Cleveland out in the boring Midwest (not my words, but just sayin') when they can soak up comparable culture in D.C., NYC, SF, Chicago and the like, and also have the abundance of all the other cool stuff? Entertainment/recreation-wise Cleveland has a lot to do and has advanced considerably over the last decade and is superior to its Midwestern neighbors not named Chicago imho, (Downtown, Ohio City and the new Flats East Bank, alone, -- and, OK, the R&RHOF too -- would be worth the trip to me), but it's awfully hard convincing the larger public of this, especially when the general narrative is that Cleveland is a "Rust Belt" city (the ugliness of that moniker speaks for itself) that is merely another Detroit rather than the attractive (on many fronts) city that we locals tend to see.

Throw in Lake View Cemetery (Garfield Monument, Wade Chapel); Steamship Mather and U.S.S. Cod seasonally; Holden Arboretum now with the Canopy Walk and Emergent Tower; the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Lake Metroparks Farmpark; Kirtland Temple and Garfield National Historic in Kirtland/Mentor; Ohio Amish Country (western Holmes County is superior to the more famed Lancaster County in PA); Stan Hywet Hall (especially for the holidays); and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Consider kayaking on Lake Erie or biking on the Towpath Trail.

Greater Cleveland, not even including Cedar Point and the Lake Erie islands, or the Grand River Valley wine district (think ice wine), offers some excellent opportunities for a value vacation.

For cultural tourists, Blossom Music Center's Blossom Music Festival and the Ohio Light Opera in Wooster are seasonal attractions.

https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/N...ssom-schedule/

http://www.ohiolightopera.org/aboutus.php

Note that the Ohio Light Opera bills itself as the "America's Premier Lyric Theater Festival," and has the chomps to back that up given its diverse repertoire. E.g., it's my go-to place for a Gilbert & Sullivan fix.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Light_Opera

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

We all can cite individuals who came to Cleveland and liked it. But can you seriously think Cleveland can compete with Chicago and new York for tourists?

Cleveland does a big business in sports tourism from the likes of NYC, Chicago and Toronto, because it's much cheaper and offers some interesting attractions.

The World Series was a great example, as Cubs fans happily filled Progressive Field.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by WRnative

Cleveland does a big business in sports tourism from the likes of NYC, Chicago and Toronto, because it's much cheaper and offers some interesting attractions.

The World Series was a great example, as Cubs fans happily filled Progressive Field.

The Indians making the world series has nothing to donwith Cleveland. The cubs not even being in the world series for a century also had quite a bit to do with the swell of visitors. Certainly not a normal situation. You can't bank on the Indians making the world series every year, and now that the cubs drought is over, we have the longest drought. Whoever hosts us in our next world series will get an unusual number of Cleveland visitors. And that will have nothing to do with the city of the other team (only unless it's geographically further away perhaps, I'm sure a reds-tribe series would have way more clevelanders than tribe-diamondbacks.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

The Indians making the world series has nothing to donwith Cleveland. The cubs not even being in the world series for a century also had quite a bit to do with the swell of visitors. Certainly not a normal situation. You can't bank on the Indians making the world series every year, and now that the cubs drought is over, we have the longest drought. Whoever hosts us in our next world series will get an unusual number of Cleveland visitors. And that will have nothing to do with the city of the other team (only unless it's geographically further away perhaps, I'm sure a reds-tribe series would have way more clevelanders than tribe-diamondbacks.

Throngs of regular season visitors from Chicago and especially New York and Toronto are very noticeable at Indians games.

I'm not certain that Cleveland fans will pay up to see the Indians in other cities for a World Series. They certainly didn't do so for the Cubs series, greatly because the cost differential between Chicago and Cleveland, especially for tickets, was so pronounced.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by WRnative

Throngs of regular season visitors from Chicago and especially New York and Toronto are very noticeable at Indians games.

I'm not certain that Cleveland fans will pay up to see the Indians in other cities for a World Series. They certainly didn't do so for the Cubs series, greatly because the cost differential between Chicago and Cleveland, especially for tickets, was so pronounced.

Not sure, I have worked for the Indians as an usher back 6 years ago and I actually was a tour guide at Fenway for 2 years. We had 100k+ tour takers per year, second best was Wrigley and we doubles them up nearly. Maybe Cleveland gets baseball tourism compared to Pittsburgh and regional teams, but overall it's not near the top, probably about average in a good year. This is not hating on my favorite city, but given my experience I don't see it. Including the fact that Indians are near last in attendance most recent years. Still only drawing 15 k so far this year in a world series encore ...

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

Not sure, I have worked for the Indians as an usher back 6 years ago and I actually was a tour guide at Fenway for 2 years. We had 100k+ tour takers per year, second best was Wrigley and we doubles them up nearly. Maybe Cleveland gets baseball tourism compared to Pittsburgh and regional teams, but overall it's not near the top, probably about average in a good year. This is not hating on my favorite city, but given my experience I don't see it. Including the fact that Indians are near last in attendance most recent years. Still only drawing 15 k so far this year in a world series encore ...

Comparing tour numbers of historic Fenway (think "Field of Dreams," if nothing else) with those of Progressive Field proves nothing.

My point, based on comments that I've read on tripadvisor.com, attendance figures, numbers of opposition fans, etc., is that fans of teams in more expensive cities such as NYC, see Cleveland as a cheap alternative. E.g., Yankees fans in western NY certainly can save money by taking in a game in Cleveland as opposed to NYC.

I don't think many Indian fans perceive any financial advantage to see an Indians game in another city than Cleveland.

For Toronto fans, it's a way to combine a cheap vacation, perhaps inclusive of Cedar Point, with a Blue Jays game.