As of the 2000 Census, the city proper had a total population of 478,403, and was the 33rd largest city in the United States, (now estimated as the 43rd largest due to declines in population) and the second largest city in Ohio. The city's population has been shrinking since it peaked at 914,808 in 1950.It is the center of Greater Cleveland, the largest metropolitan area in Ohio. The Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor Metropolitan Statistical Area which in 2000 ranked as the 23rd largest in the United States with 2,250,871 people. Cleveland is also part of the larger Cleveland-Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area, which in 2000 had a population of 2,945,831, and ranked as the country's 14th largest.
Suburbanization changed the city in the late 1960s and 1970s, when financial difficulties and a notorious 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River challenged the city. The city has worked to improve its infrastructure, diversify its economy, and invest in the arts ever since, and now Cleveland is considered an exemplar for public-private partnerships, downtown revitalization, and urban renaissance. In studies conducted by The Economist in 2005 Cleveland was ranked as one of the most livable cities in the United States, and the city was ranked as the best city for business meetings in the continental U.S. The city faces continuing challenges, in particular from concentrated poverty in some neighborhoods and difficulties in the funding and delivery of high-quality public education.
Residents of Cleveland are called Clevelanders. Nicknames for the city include "The Forest City", "Metropolis of the Western Reserve", "Sixth City", and 'The Rock 'n' Roll Capital of the World'. Due to Lake Erie's northern border with the city, the Cleveland area is also referred to by residents and local businesses as "The North Coast".
History of Cleveland
Cleveland obtained its name on July 22, 1796 when surveyors of the Connecticut Land Company laid out Connecticut's Western Reserve into townships and a capital city they named "Cleaveland" after their leader, General Moses Cleaveland. Cleaveland oversaw the plan for the modern downtown area, centered on the Public Square, before returning home, never again to visit Ohio. The first settler in Cleaveland was Lorenzo Carter, who built a cabin on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. The Village of Cleaveland was incorporated on December 23, 1814. In spite of the nearby swampy lowlands and harsh winters, its waterfront location proved to be an advantage. The area began rapid growth after the 1832 completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal. This key link between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes connected the city to the Atlantic Ocean via the Erie Canal and later via the St. Lawrence Seaway; and the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. Growth continued with added railroad links. Cleveland incorporated as a city in 1836.
In 1836, the city, then located only on the eastern banks of the Cuyahoga River, nearly erupted into open warfare with neighboring Ohio City over a bridge connecting the two. Ohio City remained an independent municipality until it was annexed by
Cleveland in 1854.
1870s-1960's: Industrial Prominence
The city's situation on the lakefront helped it flourish as a center for heavy industry. As a halfway point for iron ore from Minnesota being shipped across the Great Lakes, as well as coal and being carried by rail from the south, Cleveland. Standard Oil was founded in Cleveland in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller, although the headquarters moved to New York City in 1885. Cleveland emerged in the early 20th Century as a leading American manufacturing center, home to numerous major steel producers, and automobile manufacturers, including those producing the increasingly popular gasoline-powered cars, such as those made by Peerless, People's, Jordan, and Winton, the first car driven across the U.S. Other auto manufacturers located in Cleveland produced steam-powered cars , which included White and Gaeth, as well as the electric car company Baker. By 1920, the city's economic prosperity had been catalytic in Cleveland's becoming the nation's fifth largest city. The city also served as a center for the national progressive movement, headed locally by populist Mayor Tom L. Johnson. Many prominent Clevelanders from this era are buried in the historic Lake View Cemetery, including with James A. Garfield, the twentieth U.S. President.
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| The Cuyahoga River winds through the Flats in a December 1937 aerial view ofdowntown Cleveland. |
In commemoration of the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a city, the Great Lakes Exposition debuted in June 1936 along the Lake Erie shore north of downtown. Conceived as a way to energize a city hit hard by the Great Depression, it drew 4 million visitors in its first season, and 7 million by the end of its second and final season in September 1937.The exposition was housed on grounds that are now used by the Great Lakes Science Center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Burke Lakefront Airport, among others. Immediately after World War II, the city experienced a brief boom. In sports, the Indians won the 1948 World Series and the Browns dominated professional football in the 1950s. Businesses proclaimed that Cleveland was the "best location in the nation". The city's population reached its peak of 914,808, and in 1949 Cleveland was named an All-America City for the first time. By the 1960s, however, heavy industries began to slump, and residents sought new housing in the suburbs, reflecting the national trends of white flight and suburban sprawl.
1960's-1980's: Social and Economic Decline
Like other major American cities during the era of the Civil Rights Movement, Cleveland witnessed racial unrest, culminating in the Hough Riots from July 18, 1966 – July 23, 1966 and the Glenville Shootout from July 23, 1968 – July 25, 1968. The city's historical low point is widely considered to be its defaulting on federal loans when, under Mayor Dennis Kucinich, on December 15, 1978 Cleveland became the first major American city to enter default since the Great Depression. This, along with the notorious 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River (caused by the ignition of industrial waste on the river's surface), and the city's struggling professional sports teams, drew much negative national press. By the beginning of the 1980s, several factors, including changes in international free trade policies, inflation and the Savings and Loans Crisis contributed to the recession that hit heavy-manufacturing cities like Cleveland particularly hard. While unemployment during the period peaked in 1983, Cleveland's rate of 13.8% was higher than the national average due to the closure of several steel and auto production centers, which included the GM Fisher Body plant in Collinwood, US Steel and Republic Steel. Cleveland emerged from the recession with the dubious distinction of being a prime example of the Rust Belt city.
1990's: The Comeback City
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| Cleveland's current skyline as seen from the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge |
The metropolitan area began recovery thereafter under Mayors George Voinovich and Michael R. White. Redevelopment within the city limits has been strongest in the downtown area near the Gateway complex—consisting of Progressive Field and Quicken Loans Arena, and near North Coast Harbor—including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland Browns Stadium, and the Great Lakes Science Center. Although Cleveland was hailed by the media as the "Comeback City," many of the inner-city residential neighborhoods remain troubled, and the public school system continues to experience serious problems. Economic development, retention of young professionals, and capitalizing upon its waterfront are current municipal priorities. In 1999, Cleveland was identified as an emerging global city.
Geography
Topography
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| Panorama of Public Square in 1912 |
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 82.4 square miles (213.4 km2), of which, 77.6 square miles (201.0 km2) is land and 4.8 square miles (12.4 km2) is water. The total area is 5.87% water. The shore of Lake Erie is 569 feet (173 m) above sea level; however, the city lies on a series of irregular bluffs lying roughly parallel to the lake. In Cleveland these bluffs are cut principally by the Cuyahoga River, Big Creek, and Euclid Creek. The land rises quickly from the lakeshore. Public Square, less than a mile (2 km) inland, sits at an elevation of 650 feet (198 m), and Hopkins Airport, only 5 miles (8 km) inland from the lake, is at an elevation of 791 feet (241 m).
Climate
Cleveland possesses a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa), typical of much of the central United States, with very warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. The Lake Erie shoreline is very close to due east-west from the mouth of the Cuyahoga west to Sandusky, but at the mouth of the Cuyahoga it turns sharply northeast. This feature is the principal contributor to the lake effect snow that is typical in Cleveland (especially on the city's East Side) from mid-November until the surface of Lake Erie freezes, usually in late January or early February. All of these contribute to Cleveland being the second snowiest major city in North America (behind Denver). The lake effect also causes a relative differential in geographical snowfall totals across the city: while Hopkins Airport, on the city's far West Side, has only reached 100 inches (254 cm) of snowfall in a season three times since 1968,seasonal totals approaching or exceeding 100 inches (254 cm) are not uncommon as the city ascends into the Heights on the east, where the region known as the 'Snow Belt' begins. Extending from the city's East Side and its suburbs, the Snow Belt up the Lake Erie shore as far as Buffalo.
The all-time record high in Cleveland of 104 °F (40 °C) was established on June 25, 1988, and the all-time record low of −20 °F (−29 °C) was set on January 19, 1994. On average, July is the warmest month with a mean temperature of 71.9 °F (22.2 °C), and January, with a mean temperature of 25.7 °F (−3.5 °C), is the coldest. Normal yearly precipitation based on the 30-year average from 1971 to 2000 is 38.7 inches (983 mm). The least precipitation occurs on the western side and directly along the lake, and the most occurs in the eastern suburbs. Parts of Geauga County receive over 44 inches of liquid precipitation annually.
Occasionally, Severe Thunderstorms strike Cleveland bringing with them the threat of large Hail, damaging winds and Tornadoes. The threat is greatest during Spring and early summer.
Cityscape
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| Skyline of Cleveland from Lake Erie, with the Key Tower, the BP Building and the Terminal Tower at the center |
Architecture
Tallest buildings in Cleveland and National Register of Historic Places listings in Cleveland, Ohio
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| The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Cleveland's North Coast Harbor. |
Cleveland's downtown architecture is diverse. Many of the city's government and civic buildings, including City Hall, the Cuyahoga County Courthouse, the Cleveland Public Library, and Public Auditorium, are clustered around an open mall and share a common neoclassical architecture. Built in the early 20th century, they are the result of the 1903 Group Plan, and constitute one of the most complete examples of City Beautiful design in the United States. The Terminal Tower, dedicated in 1930, was the tallest building in North America outside New York City until 1967 and the tallest in the city until 1991. It is a prototypical Beaux-Arts skyscraper. The two newer skyscrapers on Public Square, Key Tower (currently the tallest building in Ohio) and the BP Building, combine elements of Art Deco architecture with postmodern designs. Another of Cleveland's architectural treasures is The Arcade (sometimes called the Old Arcade), a five-story arcade built in 1890 and renovated in 2001 as a Hyatt Regency Hotel. Cleveland's landmark ecclesiastical architecture includes the historic Old Stone Church in downtown Cleveland and the onion domed St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Tremont.
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| The Terminal Tower complex, with the Warehouse District, the Cuyahoga River, and Lake Erie in the background |
Running east from Public Square through University Circle is Euclid Avenue, which was known for its prestige and elegance. In the late 1880s, writer Bayard Taylor described it as "the most beautiful street in the world." Known as "Millionaire's Row", Euclid Avenue was world-renowned as the home of such internationally known names as Rockefeller, Hanna, and Hay. Cleveland is home to four parks in the countywide Cleveland Metroparks system, the "Emerald Necklace" of Olmsted-inspired parks that encircles the region. In the Big Creek valley sits the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, which contains one of the largest collection of primates in North America. The other three parks are Brookside Park and parts of the Rocky River and Washington Reservations. Apart from the Metroparks is Cleveland Lakefront State Park, which provides public access to Lake Erie. Among its six parks are Edgewater Park, located between the Shoreway and Lake Erie just west of downtown, and Euclid Beach Park and Gordon Park on the east side. The City of Cleveland's Rockefeller Park, with its many Cultural Gardens honoring the city's ethnic groups, follows Doan Brook across the city's east side.
Neighborhoods
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| St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral. |
Downtown Cleveland is centered around Public Square and includes a wide range of diversified districts. Downtown Cleveland is home to the traditional Financial District and Civic Center, as well as the distinct Theater District, which is home to Playhouse Square Center. Mixed-use neighborhoods such as the Flats and the Warehouse District are occupied by industrial and office buildings as well as restaurants and bars. The number of downtown housing units in the form of condominiums, lofts, and apartments has been on the increase since the year 2000. Recent developments include the revival of the Flats, the Euclid Corridor Project, and the developments along East 4th Street .
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| The west bank of the Flats and theCuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland |
Cleveland residents geographically define themselves in terms of whether they live on the east or west side of the Cuyahoga River. The East Side includes the neighborhoods of Buckeye-Shaker, Central, Collinwood, Corlett, Euclid-Green, Fairfax, Forest Hills, Glenville, Payne/Goodrich-Kirtland Park, Hough, Kinsman, Lee Harvard/Seville-Miles, Mount Pleasant, Nottingham, St. Clair-Superior, Union-Miles Park, University Circle, Little Italy, and Woodland Hills. The West Side includes the neighborhoods of Brooklyn Centre, Clark-Fulton, Detroit-Shoreway, Cudell, Edgewater, Ohio City, Tremont, Old Brooklyn, Stockyards, West Boulevard, and the four neighborhoods colloquially known as West Park: Kamm's Corners, Jefferson, Puritas-Longmead, and Riverside. Three neighborhoods in the Cuyahoga Valley are sometimes referred to as the south side: Industrial Valley/Duck Island, Slavic Village (North and South Broadway), and Tremont.
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| NASA photograph of Cleveland and its surrounding suburbs |
Several inner-city neighborhoods have begun to gentrify in recent years. Areas on both the west side (Ohio City, Tremont, Detroit-Shoreway, and Edgewater) and the east side (Collinwood, Hough, Fairfax, and Little Italy) have been successful in attracting increasing numbers of creative class members, which in turn is spurring new residential development. Furthermore, a live-work zoning overlay for the city's near east side has facilitated the transformation of old industrial buildings into loft spaces for artists.
Suburbs
Greater Cleveland
Cleveland's older inner-ring suburbs include Bedford, Bedford Heights, Brook Park, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, East Cleveland, Euclid, Fairview Park, Garfield Heights, Lakewood, Linndale, Maple Heights, Newburgh Heights, Parma, Parma Heights, Shaker Heights, South Euclid, University Heights, and Warrensville Heights. Many are members of the Northeast Ohio First Suburbs Consortium.
Culture
Fine arts
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| The Cleveland Museum of Art lies at the edge of Wade Lagoon in University Circle. |
Cleveland is home to Playhouse Square Center, the second largest performing arts center in the United States behind New York's Lincoln Center. Playhouse Square includes the State, Palace, Allen, Hanna, and Ohio theaters within what is known as the Theater District of Downtown Cleveland. Playhouse Square's resident performing arts companies include Opera Cleveland and the Great Lakes Theater Festival. The center also hosts various Broadway musicals, special concerts, speaking engagements, and other events throughout the year. One Playhouse Square, now the headquarters for Cleveland's public broadcasters, was originally used as the broadcast studios of WJW Radio, where disc jockey Alan Freed first popularized the term "rock and roll". Located between Playhouse Square and University Circle are the Cleveland Play House and Karamu House, a well-known African American performing and fine arts center, both founded in the 1920s. Cleveland is also home to the Cleveland Orchestra, widely considered one of the finest orchestras in the world, and often referred to as the finest in the United States. It is one of the "Big Five" major orchestras in the United States. The Orchestra plays in Severance Hall during the winter and at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls during the summer. The city is also home to the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. There are two main art museums in Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art is a major American art museum, with a collection that includes more than 40,000 works of art ranging over 6,000 years, from ancient masterpieces to contemporary pieces. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland showcases established and emerging artists, particularly from the Cleveland area, through hosting and producing temporary exhibitions. The Gordon Square Arts District on Detroit Road, in the Near West Side, features a movie theater called the Capitol Theatre and an off-off-Broadway playhouse, the Cleveland Public Theatre.
Film and television
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Cleveland has served as the setting for several major studio and independent films. Players from the Cleveland Indians, winners of the 1948 World Series, appear in The Kid from Cleveland (1949). Cleveland Municipal Stadium features prominently in both that film and The Fortune Cookie (1966), written and directed by Billy Wilder — Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon's first on-screen collaboration. Director Jules Dassin's first American film in nearly twenty years, Up Tight! (1968) is set in Cleveland of April 1968 immediately following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Set in 1930s Cleveland, Sylvester Stallone stars as a warehouse worker who leads the local labor union in F.I.S.T. (1978). Paul Simon chose Cleveland as the setting for his first (and to date, only) venture into filmmaking, One Trick Pony (1980); Simon spent six weeks filming concert scenes in Cleveland's Agora venue. The boxing-match-turned-riot near the start of Raging Bull (1980) takes place at the Cleveland Arena in 1941, and Cleveland of the 1950s was portrayed in the real-life Cleveland of the late 1970s in Those Lips, Those Eyes (1980). Clevelander Jim Jarmusch's critically-acclaimed and independently-produced Stranger Than Paradise (1984) — a deadpan comedy about two New Yorkers who travel to Florida by way of Cleveland — was a favorite of the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Caméra d'Or. The cult-classic mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap (1984) includes a memorable scene where the fictional band gets lost backstage just before performing at a Cleveland rock concert. Howard the Duck (1986), George Lucas' attempt at adapting the Marvel comic of the same name, begins with the title character crashing into Cleveland after drifting in outer space. Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett play the brother/sister leads of a Cleveland rock group in Light of Day (1987); directed by Paul Schrader, much of the film was shot in the city. Both Major League (1989) and its sequel, Major League II (1994), reflected the actual perennial struggles of the Cleveland Indians. Kevin Bacon stars in Telling Lies in America (1997), the semi-autobiographical tale of Clevelander Joe Eszterhas, a former reporter for The Plain Dealer. A group of Cleveland teenagers try to scam their way into a Kiss concert in Detroit Rock City (1999), and several key scenes from director Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous (2000) are set in Cleveland. Antwone Fisher (2002) recounts the real-life story of the Cleveland native. Brother/writer/director pair Joe and Anthony Russo — native Clevelanders and alumni of Case Western Reserve University — filmed their comedy Welcome to Collinwood (2002) entirely on location in the city. American Splendor (2003) — the biopic of Harvey Pekar, author of the autobiographical comic of the same name — was also filmed on location throughout Cleveland, as was The Oh in Ohio (2006). Much of The Rocker (2008) is set in the city, and Cleveland native Nathaniel Ayers' life story is told in The Soloist (2009).
The city of Cleveland has also doubled for several other locations in film. The wedding and reception scenes in The Deer Hunter (1978), while set in the small Pittsburgh suburb of Clairton, were actually shot in the Cleveland neighborhood of Tremont; U.S. Steel also permitted the production to film in one of its Cleveland mills. Francis Ford Coppola produced The Escape Artist (1982), much of which was shot downtown near City Hall and the Cuyahoga County Courthouse, as well as the Flats. A Christmas Story (1983) was set in Indiana, but drew many of its external shots from Cleveland. Double Dragon (1994) filmed in an abandoned warehouse along Cleveland's Lake Erie shoreline, the Flats along the Cuyahoga River and Tower City Center. Much of Happy Gilmore (1996) was also shot in Cleveland, and the opening shots of Air Force One (1997) were filmed in and above Severance Hall. Most recently, a complex chase and battle scene in Spider-Man 3 (2007), though set in New York City, was actually filmed along Cleveland's Euclid Avenue.
Cleveland was the setting for the popular television sitcom The Drew Carey Show which starred Cleveland native Drew Carey. Hot in Cleveland, a new comedy airing on TV Land, premiered on June 16, 2010.
Literature
The American modernist poet Hart Crane was born in nearby Garrettsville, Ohio in 1899. His adolescence was divided between Cleveland and Akron before moving to New York City, finally in 1916. Aside from factory work during the first world war, he served as reporter to the Cleveland Plain Dealer for a short period, before achieving recognition in the Modernist literary scene. A diminutive memorial park is dedicated to Crane along the left bank of the Cuyahoga in Cleveland.
Langston Hughes, preeminent poet of the Harlem Renaissance and child of an itinerant couple, attended high school in Cleveland in the 1910s.
Cleveland was the home of Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, who created the comic book character Superman in 1932. Both attended Glenville High School, and their early collaborations resulted in the creation of "The Man of Steel". D. A. Levy wrote : "Cleveland: The Rectal Eye Visions". Mystery author Richard Montanari's first three novels, Deviant Way, The Violet Hour, and Kiss of Evil are set in Cleveland. Mystery writer, Les Roberts's Milan Jacovich series is also set in Cleveland.
Cuisine
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| The historic West Side Marketis in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood. |
Cleveland's melting pot of immigrant groups and their various culinary traditions have long played an important role in defining the local cuisine. Examples of these can particularly be found in neighborhoods such as Little Italy, Slavic Village, and Tremont.
Local mainstays of Cleveland's cuisine include an abundance of Central and Eastern European contributions, such as kielbasa, stuffed cabbage and pierogies.Cleveland also has plenty of corned beef, with nationally renowned Slyman's, on the near East Side, a perennial winner of various accolades from Esquire Magazine, including the being named the best corned beef sandwich in America in 2008. Other famed sandwiches include the Cleveland original, Polish Boy, a local favorite found at many BBQ and Soul food restaurants.] With its blue-collar roots well intact, and plenty of Lake Erie perch available, the tradition of Friday night fish fries remains alive and thriving in Cleveland, particularly in the church-based settings. The award-winning Great Lakes Brewing Company (located across the street from the historic West Side Market), offers several locally styled beers and ales.
Culinary acclaim
Cleveland has also become increasingly relevant in the world of haute cuisine. Famous local figures include chef Michael Symon and food writer Michael Ruhlman, both of whom achieved local and national attentions for their contributions in the culinary world. On November 11, 2007, Symon helped gained the spotlight when he was named "The Next Iron Chef" on the Food Network. Also In 2007, Ruhlman collaborated with Anthony Bourdain, to do an entire episode of his Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations focusing on Cleveland's restaurant scene.
The national food press — including publications Gourmet, Food & Wine, Esquire and Playboy — has heaped praise on several Cleveland spots for awards including 'best new restaurant', 'best steakhouse', 'best farm-to-table programs' and 'great new neighborhood eateries'. In early 2008, the Chicago Tribune ran a feature article in its 'Travel' section proclaiming Cleveland, America's "hot new dining city".
Tourism
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| The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the shores of Lake Erie |
Five miles (8 km) east of downtown Cleveland is University Circle, a 550-acre (2.2 km2) concentration of cultural, educational, and medical institutions, including the Cleveland Botanical Garden, Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals, Severance Hall, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and the Western Reserve Historical Society. Cleveland is also home to the I. M. Pei-designed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, located on the Lake Erie waterfront at North Coast Harbor downtown. Neighboring attractions include Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Great Lakes Science Center, the Steamship Mather Museum, and the USS Cod, a World War II submarine. Cleveland also has an attraction for visitors and fans of A Christmas Story, A Christmas Story House and Museum to see props, costumes, rooms, photos and everything referenced to a yuletide film classic from the mind of Jean Shepherd. Cleveland is home to many festivals throughout the year. Cultural festivals such as the annual Feast of the Assumption in the Little Italy neighborhood, the Hellenic Heritage Festival at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in the Tremont neighborhood, the Harvest Festival in the Slavic Village neighborhood, and the more recent Cleveland Asian Festival in the Asia Town neighborhood are popular events. Vendors at the West Side Market in Ohio City offer many different ethnic foods for sale. Cleveland hosts an annual parade on Saint Patrick's Day that brings hundreds of thousands to the streets of downtown.
The glass house at the Cleveland Botanical Garden recreates a Costa Rican rain forest.
Fashion Week Cleveland, the city's annual fashion event, is one of the few internationally recognized fashion industry happenings in North America. The show is considered by many to be the best in the Midwest—perhaps second only to New York for fashion weeks in the US. In addition to the cultural festivals, Cleveland hosted the CMJ Rock Hall Music Fest, which featured national and local acts, including both established artists and up-and-coming acts, but the festival was discontinued in 2007 due to financial and manpower costs to the Rock Hall. The annual Ingenuity Fest, Notacon and TEDxCLE conference focus on the combination of art and technology. The Cleveland International Film Festival has been held annually since 1977, and it drew a record 66,476 people in March 2009. Cleveland also hosts an annual holiday display lighting and celebration, dubbed Winterfest, which is held downtown at the city's historic hub, Public Square.
Sports
Read More: Cleveland-browns
Cleveland sports teams
Cleveland Cavaliers pregame festivities at Quicken Loans Arena
Cleveland's professional sports teams include the Cleveland Indians (Major League Baseball), Cleveland Browns (National Football League), Cleveland Cavaliers (National Basketball Association), Lake Erie Monsters (American Hockey League), and the Cleveland Gladiators (Arena Football League). Local sporting facilities include Progressive Field, Cleveland Browns Stadium, Quicken Loans Arena and the Wolstein Center.
The Indians last reached the World Series in 1997, losing to the Florida Marlins, and have not won the series since 1948. Between 1995 and 2001, Progressive Field (then known as Jacobs Field) sold out 455 consecutive games, a Major League Baseball record until it was broken in 2008. The Cavs won the Eastern Conference in 2007, but were defeated in the NBA Finals by the San Antonio Spurs. And although the Browns are historically among the winningest franchises in the NFL, the team hasn't won a championship since 1964.
Cleveland Browns games attract large crowds to Cleveland Browns Stadium.
The city's failure to win a trophy in any major professional sport since 1964 has earned it a reputation of being a cursed sports city, which ESPN validated by proclaiming Cleveland as its "most tortured sports city" in 2004. In addition, changes in the Cleveland sports landscape have led to further heartbreak and resentment among local fans, the most notable instances being Art Modell's relocation of the Browns to Baltimore after the 1995 season (that franchise became the Ravens, with the current Browns team starting play in 1999), and Akron native LeBron James' decision to leave the Cavaliers in 2010 for the Miami Heat.
A notable Cleveland athlete is Jesse Owens, who grew up in the city after moving from Alabama when he was nine. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and as part of the 4 x 100 meter relay team.
Dragon boat racing on the Cuyahoga River
Cleveland facilities have hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game five times, the NBA All-Star Game twice, and the United States Figure Skating Championships four times. The city hosted the Gravity Games, an extreme sports series, from 2002 to 2004, and the Dew Action Sports Tour Right Guard Open in 2007. Cleveland will host the 2014 Gay Games.
Past teams
The city has been home to several additional professional sports franchises, including a women's basketball team and multiple soccer teams. Cleveland has also been home to several ice hockey franchises, beginning in 1937 with the AHL member Cleveland Barons. The original Barons, although having been the most successful team in AHL history at that point, folded in 1973 when Nick Mileti's short-lived WHA franchise, the Cleveland Crusaders began play. The new league created a financial disparity that the Barons could not compete with. Local philanthropist George Gund facilitated the relocation of the NHL's California Golden Seals to Cleveland in 1976 and renamed them the Barons. However, this latest incarnation was short lived, with the team merging with the Minnesota North Stars following the 1977-78 season. In 1992 the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the (also now-defunct) IHL began play, lasting until 2001. Later in 2001, a third incarnation of the Barons was established, this time having returned to the AHL. The Barons moved to Worcester, Massachusetts following the 2006 season.
In 1997 Cleveland was awarded one of the original eight franchises in the WNBA, the Cleveland Rockers. Although the Rockers finished first in the WNBA Eastern Conference on two occasions, they never made an appearance in the WNBA Finals. The team folded in 2003 after the league was unable to find a new owner. Previous owner Gordon Gund had dropped the team from operation, citing financial losses and poor attendance.
From 1978 to 1988, Cleveland was home to the Cleveland Force of the MISL. After the Force folded in 1988 they were replaced by the Cleveland Crunch of the NPSL and MISL, who played from 1989 to 2005. The Crunch won three league championships in the 1990s and adopted the Force name in 2002 before ceasing operations in 2005. The Cleveland City Stars played in the United Soccer Leagues from 2006 to 2009, winning the USL Second Division championship in 2008.
College sports
The headquarters of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) are located in Cleveland. The conference also stages both its men's and women's basketball tournaments at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cleveland State Vikings men's and women's basketball teams play their home games at the Wolstein Center. The university is considering forming a non-scholarship Division I FCS football program.
Media
Media in Cleveland
The city's main printed news source is The Plain Dealer, Cleveland's sole remaining daily newspaper. Previous major newspapers in Cleveland include the afternoon newspaper, the Cleveland Press, which printed its last edition on June 17, 1982, and the Cleveland News, which ceased publication in 1960. Additional newspaper coverage includes the Thursdays-only Sun Herald and Sun Herald-Post, which serve a few neighborhoods on the city's west side. Free newspaper publications include the Cleveland Scene, an alternative weekly paper, which absorbed its competitor, the Cleveland Free Times in 2008. Also, nationally-distributed rock magazine Alternative Press was founded in Cleveland; the publication's headquarters remain based in the city.
Combined with nearby Akron and Canton, Cleveland is ranked for 2009–2010 as the 18th largest television market by Nielsen Media Research. The market is served by 10 stations affiliated with major American networks including: WKYC (channel 3, channel 17 digital NBC), WEWS (channel 5, channel 15 digital ABC), WJW-TV (channel 8 digital Fox), WOIO (channel 19, channel 10 digital CBS), WUAB (channel 43, channel 28 digital MNTV), and WBNX-TV (channel 55, channel 30 digital The CW). Cleveland is also served by WVPX (channel 23 digital ION), Spanish-language channel WQHS-TV (channel 61, channel 34 digital Univision), WDLI-TV (channel 17, channel 49 digital TBN) and WVIZ (channel 25, channel 26 digital) PBS. A national television first was The Morning Exchange on WEWS, which defined the morning show format and served as the inspiration for Good Morning America. Media personalities Tim Conway and Ernie Anderson first established themselves while working together at WKYC and WJW-TV. Anderson, the father of director Paul Thomas Anderson, was both the creator of and actor who portrayed the immensely popular Cleveland horror host character Ghoulardi.
Cleveland is served directly by 29 AM and FM radio stations; numerous other stations are heard from elsewhere in Northeast Ohio. WTAM, a news/talk station, serves as the AM flagship of Cleveland’s 3 major sports teams (the Browns, Cavaliers and Indians), and as such, is frequently among the highest rated stations. Commercial FM music stations consistently round out the rest of Arbitron's top-ten: Rock (WKRK, WMMS, WNCX); Pop/Hip-Hop/R&B (WAKS, WENZ, WZAK); Classic hits (WMJI); Country (WGAR); and Adult contemporary (WDOK, WQAL). WCPN public radio functions as the local NPR affiliate. WKNR covers sports via ESPN Radio, functions as the flagship station for both the Lake Erie Monsters and Cleveland Gladiators, and serves the Cleveland affiliate for the Ohio State Buckeyes; the station's frequency (850 AM) was previously used by WJW-AM — once the home of Alan Freed, the Cleveland disc-jockey, who, along with Cleveland record store owner Leo Mintz, is credited with first using the phrase "Rock 'n' Roll" to describe the music genre.News/talk station WHK (1420 AM) was one of the nation's first 6 broadcast stations; its former sister station, rock station WMMS (originally known as WHK-FM), dominated Cleveland radio in the 1970s and 80s and was at that time one of the highest rated radio stations in the country. In 1972, WMMS Program Director Billy Bass coined the phrase "The Rock 'n' Roll Capital of the World" to describe Cleveland. In 1987, Playboy named WMMS DJ Kid Leo (Lawrence Travagliante) "The Best Disc Jockey in the Country."
Economy of Cleveland,
Downtown Cleveland as viewed from Edgewater State Park
Cleveland's location on the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie has been key to its growth. The Ohio and Erie Canal coupled with rail links helped establish the city as a major American manufacturing center. Steel and many other manufactured goods emerged as its industries.
The city has sought to diversify its economy to expand beyond on its manufacturing sector. Cleveland is the corporate headquarters of many large companies such as Applied Industrial Technologies, Eaton, Forest City Enterprises, Sherwin-Williams Company and KeyCorp. NASA maintains a facility in Cleveland, the Glenn Research Center. Jones Day, one of the largest law firms in the world, traces its origins to Cleveland, and its Cleveland office remains the firm's largest.
In 2005, Duke Realty Corp., one of the area's largest landlords, announced it was selling property in the Cleveland; however, the company continues to maintain a large office building portfolio in the southern suburbs. The commercial real estate market rebounded in 2007 as office properties were purchased at a record pace. and ten percent of the city's homes are now vacant, due in part to the rise in foreclosure filings.
Downtown Cleveland from the Superior Viaduct
With over 37,000 employees, Cleveland's largest non-government employer, the Cleveland Clinic, ranks among America's best hospitals as tabulated by U.S. News & World Report. Cleveland's healthcare industry includes University Hospitals of Cleveland, a noted competitor which ranked twenty-fifth in cancer care,[126] and MetroHealth medical center. Cleveland is an emerging area for biotechnology and fuel cell research, led by Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals of Cleveland. Cleveland is among the top recipients of investment for biotech start-ups and research. Case Western Reserve, the Clinic, and University Hospitals have recently announced plans to build a large biotechnology research center and incubator on the site of the former Mt. Sinai Medical Center, creating a research campus to stimulate biotech startup companies that can be spun off from research conducted in the city.
City leaders stepped up efforts to grow the technology sector in the early 2000s. Former Mayor Jane L. Campbell appointed a "tech czar" whose job is to actively recruit tech companies to the downtown office market, offering connections to the high-speed fiber networks that run underneath downtown streets in several "high-tech offices" focused on the Euclid Avenue area. Cleveland State University hired a Technology Transfer Officer to work full time on cultivating technology transfers from CSU research to marketable ideas and companies in the Cleveland area, and appointed a Vice President for Economic Development to leverage the university's assets in expanding the city's economy. Case Western Reserve University participates in technology initiatives such as the OneCommunity project, a high-speed fiber optic network linking the area's major research centers intended to stimulate growth. OneCommunity's work attracted the attention of Intel and in mid-2005, Cleveland was named an Intel "Worldwide Digital Community" along with Corpus Christi, Texas, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Taipei, Taiwan. This distinction added about $12 million for marketing to expand regional technology partnerships, create a city-wide WiFi network, and develop a tech economy. In addition to this Intel initiative, in January 2006 a New York–based think tank, the Intelligent Community Forum, selected Cleveland as the sole American city among its seven finalists for the "Intelligent Community of the Year" award. The group announced that it nominated the city for its OneCommunity network with potential broadband applications. The OneCommunity Network is collaborating with Cisco Systems to deploy a cutting-edge wireless network that could provide widespread access to the region. Cisco is testing new technologies in wireless "mesh" networking. OneCommunity and Cisco officially launched the first phase in September 2006, blanketing several square miles of University Circle with wireless connectivity.
Government and politics
Cleveland City Hall
Cleveland's position as a center of manufacturing established it as a hotbed of union activity early in its history. This contributed to a political progressivism that has influenced Cleveland politics to the present. While other parts of Ohio, particularly Cincinnati and the southern portion of the state, have historically supported the Republican Party, Cleveland commonly breeds the strongest support in the state for the Democrats; At the local level, elections are nonpartisan. However, Democrats still dominate every level of government. Cleveland is split between two congressional districts. Most of the western part of the city is in the 10th District, represented by Dennis Kucinich. Most of the eastern part of the city, as well as most of downtown, is in the 11th District, represented by Marcia Fudge. Both are Democrats. During the 2004 Presidential election, although George W. Bush carried Ohio by 2.1%, John Kerry carried Cuyahoga County 66.6%-32.9%, his largest margin in any Ohio county. The city of Cleveland supported Kerry over Bush by the even larger margin of 83.3%-15.8%. The city of Cleveland operates on the mayor-council (strong mayor) form of government. The mayor is the chief executive of the city, and the office is held in 2010 by Frank G. Jackson. Previous mayors of Cleveland include progressive Democrat Tom L. Johnson, World War I era War Secretary and founder of Baker Hostetler law firm Newton D. Baker, United States Supreme Court Justice Harold Hitz Burton, Republican Senator George V. Voinovich, two-term Ohio Governor and Senator, current Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio's 10th district, Frank J. Lausche, and Carl B. Stokes, the first African American mayor of a major American city.
Demographics
According to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey estimates, the racial composition of Cleveland was 52.5% African American, 40.4% White (35.5% Non-Hispanic Whites), 0.3% Native American, 1.5% Asian American, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 3.0% of some other race, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic and Latino Americans of any race accounted for 9.0% of its population, with Puerto Ricans being the largest hispanic group.
As of the 2000 Census, there were 478,403 people, 190,638 households, and 111,904 families residing in the city. The population density was 6,166.5 people per square mile (2,380.9/km²). There were 215,856 housing units at an average density of 2,782.4 per square mile (1,074.3/km²). Ethnic groups include Germans (9.2%), Irish (8.2%), Poles (4.8%), Italians (4.6%), and English (2.8%). There are also substantial communities of Slovaks, Hungarians, French, Slovenes, Czechs, Ukrainians, Arabs, Dutch, Scottish, Russian, Scotch Irish, Croats, West Indians, Romanians, Lithuanians, and Greeks. The presence of Hungarians within Cleveland proper was, at one time, so great that the city boasted the highest concentration of Hungarians in the world outside of Budapest. The availability of jobs attracted African Americans from the South. Between 1920 and 1960, the black population of Cleveland increased from 35,000 to 251,000.
Built as the Second Church of Christ, Scientist, this building on Cleveland's East Side now serves a primarily African American congregation.
Out of 190,638 households, 29.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.5% were married couples living together, 24.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.3% were nonfamilies. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.19. The population was spread out with 28.5% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,928, and the median income for a family was $30,286. Males had a median income of $30,610 versus $24,214 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,291. 26.3% of the population and 22.9% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 37.6% of those under the age of 18 and 16.8% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Education
Public schools
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District is the largest K–12 district in the state of Ohio, with 127 schools and an enrollment of 55,567 students during the 2006–2007 academic year. It is the only district in Ohio that is under direct control of the mayor, who appoints a school board.
Private schools
Benedictine High School
Cleveland Central Catholic High School
Eleanor Gerson School
Montessori High School at University Circle
St. Ignatius High School
St. Joseph Academy
Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School
Urban Community School
Saint Martin de Porres
The Bridge Avenue School
Colleges and universities
Adelbert Hall on the campus of Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland is home to a number of colleges and universities. Most prominent among these is Case Western Reserve University, a world-renowned research and teaching institution located in University Circle. A private university with several prominent graduate programs, Case was ranked 38th in the nation in 2007 by U.S. News & World Report. University Circle also contains Cleveland Institute of Art, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Cleveland State University (CSU), based in downtown Cleveland, is the city's public four-year university. In addition to CSU, downtown hosts the metropolitan campus of Cuyahoga Community College, the county's two-year higher education institution, as well as Chancellor University, a private four-year school that focuses on business education. Ohio Technical College is based in Cleveland.
Transportation
The diverse collection of fixed and movable bridges that cross the Cuyahoga River can be seen in the Flats.
Airports
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is the city's major airport and an international airport that serves as one of three main hubs for Continental Airlines. It holds the distinction of having the first airport-to-downtown rapid transit connection in North America, established in 1968. In 1930, the airport was the site of the first airfield lighting system and the first air traffic control tower. Originally known as Cleveland Municipal Airport, it was the first municipally owned airport in the country. Cleveland Hopkins is a significant regional air freight hub hosting FedEx Express, UPS Airlines, United States Postal Service, and major commercial freight carriers. In addition to Hopkins, Cleveland is served by Burke Lakefront Airport, on the north shore of downtown between Lake Erie and the Shoreway. Burke is primarily a commuter and business airport.
Port
1992 aerial view of the Cleveland harbor, with the mouth of the Cuyahoga River in the foreground. View is to the east.
Main article: Port of Cleveland
The Port of Cleveland, located at the Cuyahoga River's mouth, is a major bulk freight terminal on Lake Erie, receiving much of the raw materials used by the region's manufacturing industries.
Railroads
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Cleveland, via the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited routes, which stop at Cleveland Lakefront Station. Cleveland has also been identified as a hub for the proposed Ohio Hub project, which would bring high-speed rail to Ohio. Cleveland hosts several inter-modal freight railroad terminals.
Mass transit
An RTA train arrives at the Shaker Square station
Cleveland has a bus and rail mass transit system operated by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA). The rail portion is officially called the RTA Rapid Transit, but local residents refer to it as The Rapid. It consists of two light rail lines, known as the Green and Blue Lines, and a heavy rail line, the Red Line. In 2008, RTA completed the HealthLine, a bus rapid transit line, for which naming rights were purchased by the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. It runs along Euclid Avenue from downtown through University Circle, ending at the Louis Stokes Station at Windermere in East Cleveland. In 2007, the American Public Transportation Association named Cleveland's mass transit system the best in North America.
Inter-city bus lines
National intercity bus service is provided at a Greyhound station, located just behind the Playhouse Square theater district. Megabus provides service to Cleveland and has a stop outside of Tower City Center in downtown Cleveland. Lakefront Trailways provides regional inter-city bus service to popular destinations from their terminal south of Cleveland in Brook Park. Akron Metro, Brunswick Transit Alternative, Laketran, Lorain County Transit, and Medina County Transit provide connecting bus service to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. Geauga County Transit and Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority (PARTA) also offer connecting bus service in their neighboring areas.
Major highways
Three two-digit Interstate highways serve Cleveland directly. Interstate 71 begins just southwest of downtown and is the major route from downtown Cleveland to the airport. I-71 runs through the southwestern suburbs and eventually connects Cleveland with Columbus and Cincinnati. Interstate 77 begins in downtown Cleveland and runs almost due south through the southern suburbs. I-77 sees the least traffic of the three interstates, although it does connect Cleveland to Akron. Interstate 90 connects the two sides of Cleveland, and is the northern terminus for both I-71 and I-77. Running due east–west through the west side suburbs, I-90 turns northeast at the junction with and I-490, and is known as the Innerbelt through downtown. At the junction with the Shoreway, I-90 makes a 90-degree turn known in the area as Dead Man's Curve, then continues northeast, entering Lake County near the eastern split with Ohio State Route 2. Cleveland is also served by two three-digit interstates, Interstate 480, which enters Cleveland briefly at a few points and Interstate 490, which connects I-77 with the junction of I-90 and I-71 just south of downtown.
Two other limited-access highways serve Cleveland. The Cleveland Memorial Shoreway carries State Route 2 along its length, and at varying points also carries US 6, US 20 and I-90. The Jennings Freeway (State Route 176) connects I-71 just south of I-90 to I-480 near the suburbs of Parma and Brooklyn Heights. A third highway, the Berea Freeway (State Route 237 in part), connects I-71 to the airport, and forms part of the boundary between Cleveland and Brook Park.
Crime
Cleveland Division of Police
Based on the Morgan Quitno Press 2008 national crime rankings, Cleveland ranked as the 7th most dangerous city in the nation among US cities with a population of 100,000 to 500,000 and the 11th most dangerous overall. Violent crime from 2005 to 2006 was mostly unchanged nationwide, but increased more than 10% in Cleveland. The murder rate dropped 30% in Cleveland, but was still far above the national average. Property crime from 2005 to 2006 was virtually unchanged across the country and in Cleveland, with larceny-theft down by 7% but burglaries up almost 14%. In 2009, a Cleveland neighborhood located near the intersection of Cedar Avenue and 55th Street ranked the 21st most dangerous neighborhood in the United States.
History
A study in 1971–72 found that although Cleveland's crime rate was significantly lower than other large urban areas, most Cleveland residents feared crime. In the 1980s, gang activity was on the rise, associated with crack cocaine. A task force was formed and was partially successful at reducing gang activity by a combination of removing gang-related graffiti and educating news sources to not name gangs in news reporting.
Distribution
The distribution of crime in Cleveland is highly heterogeneous. Relatively few crimes take place in downtown Cleveland's business district, but the perception of crime in the downtown has been pointed to by the Greater Cleveland Growth Association as damaging to the city's economy. Neighborhoods of higher socioeconomic status in Cleveland and its suburbs have lower rates of violent crime than areas of lower status, and even controlling for this factor, areas with higher populations of African Americans have higher violent crime rates. A study of the relationship between employment access and crime in Cleveland found a strong inverse relationship, with the highest crime rates in areas of the city that had the lowest access to jobs. Furthermore, this relationship was found to be strongest with respect to economic crimes. A study of public housing in Cleveland found that criminals tend to live in areas of higher affluence and move into areas of lower affluence to commit crimes.
People from Cleveland
International relations
Sister cities
Cleveland has twenty sister cities:
Alexandria (Egypt)
Bahir Dar (Ethiopia)
Bangalore (India)
Braşov (Romania)
Bratislava (Slovakia)
Beit She'an (Israel) Since 1995
Cleveland, England (United Kingdom)
Conakry (Guinea)
Fier (Albania)
Gdańsk (Poland) since 1990
Ibadan (Nigeria)
Klaipėda (Lithuania)
Lima (Peru)
Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Miskolc (Hungary)
Nettuno (Italy)
Rouen (France)
Segundo Montes (El Salvador)
Taipei (Republic of China)
Volgograd (Russia)
Achill Island (Ireland)
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