Cleveland's upcoming mayoral race (Lorain, Washington: 2015, crimes, mortgage)

[Clevelander216]

Originally Posted by andrew61

Is there any American city that has managed to "clean up" poverty and crime without gentrifying itself to death and pricing the poor people out? If there is, I can't think of one.

NYC always comes to mind as a city that cleaned up crime relatively quick, but like you said, NY is now over-gentrified and not affordable

edit: maybe pittsburgh??? I'm not sure if they ever had a serious crime problem. the stats here on city-data indicate there has been a moderate drop in crime rate throughout the last couple of years at least.

[reioh]

Originally Posted by Clevelander216

NYC always comes to mind as a city that cleaned up crime relatively quick, but like you said, NY is now over-gentrified and not affordable

edit: maybe pittsburgh??? I'm not sure if they ever had a serious crime problem. the stats here on city-data indicate there has been a moderate drop in crime rate throughout the last couple of years at least.

Rudy Giuliani is available.

[mbowes80]

Originally Posted by Clevelander216

10-15 years should be PLENTY of time to start turning things around, yet it only seems the violence is getting WORSE. Of course I don't have the exact crime/murder statistics, but that is definitely how it seems...

No offense, but I don't trust how it "seems" to you as any indicator of anything. Without actual statistics, your assertion that violence is getting worse is not worth anything. It's also important to take national trends into account ... murder rates have ticked up in cities across the country the last few years, but that can hardly be blamed on the mayor of Cleveland.

[reioh]

Originally Posted by mbowes80

No offense, but I don't trust how it "seems" to you as any indicator of anything. Without actual statistics, your assertion that violence is getting worse is not worth anything. It's also important to take national trends into account ... murder rates have ticked up in cities across the country the last few years, but that can hardly be blamed on the mayor of Cleveland.

Do you think the mayor is doing a good job? If so, why?

[LongTrail23]

When you think of all the macroeconomic headwinds that a dying city like Cleveland has and continues to face, I think it is hard to find a reason that Mayor Frank should be kicked out for either Reed or Johnson. I don't think that anyone can say with a straight face that either of those two would have done better at the helm, as they (rightfully) seem to be hyper-focused on their neighborhoods. That's great for them, but they also seem better in the role of sniping at the Mayor vs leading an entire city/region that has very real existential threats it needs to confront.

We need someone who can help get Cleveland into the conversation like Pittsburgh. Is Jackson that guy? Prob not, but I can say with certainty it isn't Reed or Johnson. Not sure we will have the chance to elect the right man/woman for the job though. The article below on Philly vs Pittsburgh, and the quotes from both mayors, is enlightening...

Is Pittsburgh Going to Eat Philadelphia's Lunch?

I love Cleveland, live in Cleveland, and am a supporter of Cleveland...but we have a long road in front of us.

(There are a lot of "seems" and "feels" and subjectivity in this opinion, so please feel free to eviscerate me with facts.)

[C-rob2727]

Anyone who thinks Cleveland is a dying city is a flipping idiot.

Pittsburgh continues to bleed people and jobs. The truth:

Pittsburgh Region Leads In Job Loss In Latest Economic Reports « CBS Pittsburgh

[LongTrail23]

Thanks C-rob, that was nice.

My point is...if you think we are going turn even more more sharply into the haves and have-nots as technology and automation improve (we will), then Cleveland needs to understand how be a magnet for tech and innovation. It's hard to say we are stacking up when you have the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook, SAP, and other giants investing in office space in the city. Can you IMAGINE the cheerleading going on if we had that?

All of this can be spearheaded and "shepherded" by it's mayor and his/her administration working closely with our business and educational assets. Jackson may not be the right guy, but I have a much harder time seeing Reed and Johnson bringing that kind of leadership to the region.

[mbowes80]

Originally Posted by reioh

Do you think the mayor is doing a good job? If so, why?

I'm far from an expert on the matter, but here are my thoughts from an earlier post...

During his tenure, there has been a great amount of development in Cleveland, and a repopulating of downtown - I don't know to what degree he can take credit for these promising trends or not. Some major projects have also managed to move forward - opportunity corridor, lakefront west project, etc. - things that could've easily gotten mired in inertia. All in all, it seems to me the city is trending favorably, so I will likely vote for Jackson unless another another candidate makes a strong case otherwise. I'm not thrilled by the handouts we keep giving to billionaire team-owners, but I think that's inevitable.

[Clevelander216]

Originally Posted by mbowes80

No offense, but I don't trust how it "seems" to you as any indicator of anything. Without actual statistics, your assertion that violence is getting worse is not worth anything. It's also important to take national trends into account ... murder rates have ticked up in cities across the country the last few years, but that can hardly be blamed on the mayor of Cleveland.

Really??? I mean it's not a secret that Cleveland is continually ranked in the "most dangerous cities" and the murder rate has been skyrocketing these past few years... I'm not sure how you don't know this? I thought it was common knowledge among Clevelanders.... link below for your "proof" I guess. News sources are even predicting we're on pace to break last year's murder rate which was the worst in the last decade

2016 was Cleveland's deadliest year in a decade; violence rocked suburbs too | cleveland.com

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by Clevelander216

Really??? I mean it's not a secret that Cleveland is continually ranked in the "most dangerous cities" and the murder rate has been skyrocketing these past few years... I'm not sure how you don't know this? I thought it was common knowledge among Clevelanders.... link below for your "proof" I guess. News sources are even predicting we're on pace to break last year's murder rate which was the worst in the last decade

2016 was Cleveland's deadliest year in a decade; violence rocked suburbs too | cleveland.com

Cleveland murder rate certainly headed in the wrong direction. But we have people here who think it's cowardly to not raise kids in one of the most dangerous cities in America.

To be fair, the murders are largely taking place in the same usual suspect kind of neighborhoods and if you avoid those areas, you will be fine. But at the same time, these vast ghettos simply do not exist to the same degree in other cities. It's depressing to see. Hopefully this murder spike is going to reverse soon (though almost certainly not this year).