Cleveland’s Signs of Renewal

Returning to his native Ohio, author Charles Michener marvels at the city’s ability to reinvent itself

  • By Charles Michener
  • Photographs by Greg Ruffing
  • Smithsonian magazine, April 2011, Subscribe
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East 4th Street Cleveland Ohio
"I couldn't resist a call to return" to Cleveland, says Charles Michener. The revitalized East 4th Street is home to high-end bars and restaurants. (Greg Ruffing / Redux)

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On Saturday mornings when I was 11 or 12, my mother would drop me off at the Rapid Transit stop nearest our home in Pepper Pike, an outlying suburb of Cleveland. There, I would board a train for the 30-minute trip to an orthodontist’s office downtown. Despite the prospect of having my braces fiddled with, it was a trip I could hardly wait to take. From my seat on the train, nose pressed to the window, I was spellbound by the city to which I have lately returned.

First came the procession of grand houses that lined the tracks along Shaker Boulevard in Shaker Heights—in the 1950s, one of the most affluent suburbs in America. Set behind giant elms, their picturesque fairy tale facades transported me into my favorite adventure stories—The Boy’s King Arthur, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Hound of the Baskervilles. After the stop at Shaker Square, an elegant Williamsburg-styled shopping center built in the late 1920s, we entered a world of small frame houses with rickety porches and postage-stamp backyards. These belonged to the workers who produced the light bulbs, steel supports, paint and myriad machine parts that had made Cleveland a co­los­s­us of American manufacturing.

The train slowed as it passed the smoke-belching Republic Steel plant. Then we plunged underground and crept to our final destination in Cleveland’s Terminal Tower, which we boasted was “America’s tallest skyscraper outside New York.”

From the orthodontist’s chair high in the tower, I could see the city’s tentacles: spacious avenues of neo-Classical- style government and office buildings; graceful bridges spanning the winding Cuyahoga River, which separated the hilly East Side (where I lived) from the flatter, more blue-collar West Side. Stretching along the northern horizon was Lake Erie—an expanse so big you couldn’t see Canada on the other side.

Once free from the orthodontist’s clutches, the city was mine to explore: the gleaming escalators in the bustling, multifloored department stores; the movie palaces with their tinted posters of Stewart Granger and Ava Gardner; the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument with its bronze tableau of Lincoln and his Civil War generals; the sheet-music department at S.S. Kresge’s where I could hand the latest hits by Patti Page or the Crew-Cuts to the orange-haired lady at the piano and listen to her thump them out. There might be an Indians game to sneak into, or even a matinee performance by the Metropolitan Opera if the company was making its annual weeklong visit to the Public Auditorium.

This was the magical place that Forbes magazine, in one of those “best and worst” lists that clutter the Internet, named last year “the most miserable city in America.” Several statistics seemed to support this damning conclusion. During the 50 years since I left for college back East and a career in New York, Cleveland’s population has declined to something around 430,000—less than half of what it was when, in 1950, it ranked as the seventh-largest city in America. The number of impoverished residents is high; the big downtown department stores are shuttered; many of the old factories are boarded up.

And yet four years ago, I couldn’t resist a call to return. The spark had been an article I wrote about the world-famous Cleveland Orchestra, still flourishing in its opulent home, Severance Hall, where I acquired my love of classical music. Across the street, waterfowl still flocked to the lagoon at the Cleveland Museum of Art, which had begun a $350 million renovation to house its superb holdings of Egyptian mummies, classical sculpture, Asian treasures, Rembrandts and Warhols.

The region’s “Emerald Necklace”—an elaborate network of nature trails—was intact, as was the canopy of magnificent trees that had given Cleveland its Forest City nickname. Despite the lack of a championship in more than 45 years, the football Browns and baseball Indians were still filling handsome new stadiums—as was the local basketball hero LeBron James, who was making the Cleveland Cavaliers an NBA contender.


On Saturday mornings when I was 11 or 12, my mother would drop me off at the Rapid Transit stop nearest our home in Pepper Pike, an outlying suburb of Cleveland. There, I would board a train for the 30-minute trip to an orthodontist’s office downtown. Despite the prospect of having my braces fiddled with, it was a trip I could hardly wait to take. From my seat on the train, nose pressed to the window, I was spellbound by the city to which I have lately returned.

First came the procession of grand houses that lined the tracks along Shaker Boulevard in Shaker Heights—in the 1950s, one of the most affluent suburbs in America. Set behind giant elms, their picturesque fairy tale facades transported me into my favorite adventure stories—The Boy’s King Arthur, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Hound of the Baskervilles. After the stop at Shaker Square, an elegant Williamsburg-styled shopping center built in the late 1920s, we entered a world of small frame houses with rickety porches and postage-stamp backyards. These belonged to the workers who produced the light bulbs, steel supports, paint and myriad machine parts that had made Cleveland a co­los­s­us of American manufacturing.

The train slowed as it passed the smoke-belching Republic Steel plant. Then we plunged underground and crept to our final destination in Cleveland’s Terminal Tower, which we boasted was “America’s tallest skyscraper outside New York.”

From the orthodontist’s chair high in the tower, I could see the city’s tentacles: spacious avenues of neo-Classical- style government and office buildings; graceful bridges spanning the winding Cuyahoga River, which separated the hilly East Side (where I lived) from the flatter, more blue-collar West Side. Stretching along the northern horizon was Lake Erie—an expanse so big you couldn’t see Canada on the other side.

Once free from the orthodontist’s clutches, the city was mine to explore: the gleaming escalators in the bustling, multifloored department stores; the movie palaces with their tinted posters of Stewart Granger and Ava Gardner; the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument with its bronze tableau of Lincoln and his Civil War generals; the sheet-music department at S.S. Kresge’s where I could hand the latest hits by Patti Page or the Crew-Cuts to the orange-haired lady at the piano and listen to her thump them out. There might be an Indians game to sneak into, or even a matinee performance by the Metropolitan Opera if the company was making its annual weeklong visit to the Public Auditorium.

This was the magical place that Forbes magazine, in one of those “best and worst” lists that clutter the Internet, named last year “the most miserable city in America.” Several statistics seemed to support this damning conclusion. During the 50 years since I left for college back East and a career in New York, Cleveland’s population has declined to something around 430,000—less than half of what it was when, in 1950, it ranked as the seventh-largest city in America. The number of impoverished residents is high; the big downtown department stores are shuttered; many of the old factories are boarded up.

And yet four years ago, I couldn’t resist a call to return. The spark had been an article I wrote about the world-famous Cleveland Orchestra, still flourishing in its opulent home, Severance Hall, where I acquired my love of classical music. Across the street, waterfowl still flocked to the lagoon at the Cleveland Museum of Art, which had begun a $350 million renovation to house its superb holdings of Egyptian mummies, classical sculpture, Asian treasures, Rembrandts and Warhols.

The region’s “Emerald Necklace”—an elaborate network of nature trails—was intact, as was the canopy of magnificent trees that had given Cleveland its Forest City nickname. Despite the lack of a championship in more than 45 years, the football Browns and baseball Indians were still filling handsome new stadiums—as was the local basketball hero LeBron James, who was making the Cleveland Cavaliers an NBA contender.

Signs of renewed vitality were everywhere. Downtown warehouses had been turned into lofts and restaurants. Several old movie palaces had been transformed into Playhouse Square, the country’s largest performing arts complex after Lincoln Center. The lakefront boasted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, in a futuristic design by I. M. Pei. The Cleveland Clinic had become a world center of medical innovation and was spawning a growing industry of biotechnology start-ups. How had so depleted a city managed to preserve and enlarge upon so many assets? And could a city that had once been a national leader in industrial patents in the 19th century reinvent itself as an economic powerhouse in the 21st?

“It’s the people,” a woman who had recently arrived in Cleveland said when I asked what she liked most about the place. As with so many transplants to the area, she was here not by choice but by virtue of a spouse’s change of job. They had traded a house in Santa Barbara and year-round sun and warmth for an old estate on the East Side and gray winters and sometimes torrid summers. And yet they didn’t look back. “We’ve been amazed by how welcoming everyone is,” she added. “We’ve never lived in a place where everyone is so involved in its future.”

For me, returning to Cleveland has given new meaning to the idea of com­munity. Clevelanders, as even people in the outer suburbs call themselves, are early risers—I’d never before had to schedule so many breakfast appointments at 7:30 a.m. And they find plenty of time to attend countless meetings about how to reform local government, foster better cooperation among the checkerboard of municipalities or develop a more “sustainable” region. The appetite of Clevelanders for civic engagement was implanted nearly a century ago when city fathers created a couple of models that have been widely imitated elsewhere: the Cleveland Foundation, a community-funded philanthropy, and the City Club of Cleveland, which proclaims itself the oldest, continuous forum of free speech in America.

Clevelanders aren’t exactly Eastern or Midwestern, but an amalgam that combines the skeptical reserve of the former with the open pragmatism of the latter. (My mother would say the Midwest really began on the flat west side of the Cuyahoga.) There is still a strain of class resentment, a legacy of Cleveland’s long history as a factory town. But since my return, I’ve never been embroiled in a strident political discussion or a show of unfriendliness. Clevelanders may not tell you to your face what they think of you, but they’re willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.

If there’s one trait that Clevelanders seem to possess in abundance, it’s the ability to reinvent oneself. I’m thinking of a new friend, Mansfield Frazier, an African-American online columnist and entrepreneur. When we first met for lunch, he blandly told me that he had served five federal prison sentences for making counterfeit credit cards. With that behind him, he’s developing a winery in the Hough neighborhood—the scene of a devastating race riot in 1966. A champion talker, he takes his personal motto from Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.”

Then there’s the bookseller I met one afternoon in a run-down section of the West Side that has recently transformed itself into the hopping Gordon Square Arts District. The shop (which has since closed) had an intriguing name—84 Charing Cross Bookstore. Inside, I discovered a wall of volumes devoted to Cleveland history: books about the Connecticut surveyor Moses Cleaveland who founded the city in 1796; the 19th-century colony of Shakers who imbued the region with its value of industriousness; and “Millionaire’s Row,” a stretch of 40 mansions along Euclid Avenue that once housed some of America’s richest industrialists, including John D. Rockefeller.

As I handed the elderly man behind the counter a credit card, I asked how long he’d had the bookstore. “About 30 years,” he said. Was this line of work always his ambition? “No,” he said. “I used to be in law enforcement.” “How so?” I asked. “I was the city’s chief of police,” he said matter-of-factly.

Unlike the gaudy attractions of New York or Chicago, which advertise themselves at every opportunity, Cleveland’s treasures require a taste for discovery. You might be astonished, as I was one Tuesday evening, to wander into Nighttown, a venerable jazz saloon in Cleveland Heights, and encounter the entire Count Basie Orchestra, blasting away on the bandstand. Or find yourself in Aldo’s, a tiny Italian restaurant in the working-class neighborhood of Brook-lyn. It’s a dead ringer for Rao’s, New York’s most celebrated hole-in-the-wall, only here you don’t have to know someone to get a table, and the homemade lasagna is better.

The nearly three million residents of Greater Cleveland are as diverse as America. They range from Amish farmers who still refuse the corrupting influence of automobiles to newly arrived Asians who view the city’s inexpensive housing stock and biotechnology start-ups as harbingers of a brighter tomorrow. Despite their outward differences, I’m sure that every Clevelander was as outraged as I was by Forbes’ superficial judgment about what it’s like to actually live here. And they rose as one in unforgiving disgust when LeBron James deserted them for Miami last summer.

Cities aren’t statistics—they’re com­plex, human mechanisms of not-so-buried pasts and not-so-certain futures. Returning to Cleveland after so many years away, I feel lucky to be back in the town I can once again call home.

Charles Michener is writing a book about Cleveland entitled The Hidden City.


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Comments (72)

This is a very nice article. I have to say that Cleveland has a really great future. http://www.infoexplainer.com

Posted by lemar on August 20,2012 | 10:42 PM

Dear Mr. Michener,
I so appreciated your article. It was just recently shown to me by a friend going through her older copies of Smithsonian. I enjoyed the way you wove the old Cleveland and the new Cleveland together. It painted a beautiful panoramic view of the cities many great historical qualities, while adding touches of "new", " current" paint, unfolding a vivid picture of what/who Cleveland is today. I am looking forward to the day I will be reading your book! :). Will it be published any time soon? Thank you for such a fine story.
Sincerely,
Marie Netti

Posted by Marie Netti on March 29,2012 | 11:03 PM

I agree with MJ Lipka wholeheartedly. I was so excited when I saw this article in the magazine but that quickly turned to disappointment. Not only was most of the article fluff but it was unfocused fluff. Either take a trip down memory lane or don't.

Michener cited evidence of renewal that was purely his opinion and somewhat racist on top of that. Why start off with how an African American man served 3 prison sentences and not bother to mention how it was he turned his life around if you only mentioned him because of his business? I was willing to overlook that tidbit since reinforcing stereotypes is as American as apple pie but then Michener's implication that Asians come to Cleveland for nanotechnology was really too much. REALLY!? This article was a great big #facepalm.

Posted by Mary on October 13,2011 | 09:46 PM

I can identify with the Cleveland article. I never lived there but made many trips, (work related) in the 60's and 70's. It was the epitemy of a big industrial town. I was a Mfg. Engr. for 43 years during the golden years of manufacturing in this USA. A bygone era I am sad to say.

Hope Cleveland will realize a golden future similar to the past.

Thanks for the article.
Ron Palmer

Posted by Ron Palmer on September 19,2011 | 06:35 PM

Hey! I grew up in Pepper Pike, too! And I used to ride the Rapid each week to see my orthodontist, too!

His name was Dr. Broadbent. I can still (now 61) feel, on leaving his cloistered waiting room, descending into the bowels of the Terminal Tower with a mild tightening ache in my molars, the thrill of newfound freedom to explore a whole city on my own, before heading home, sweatily fingering a dime in my pocket for the call to my mom to meet me at the last Rapid stop at Green Road. That dime was my only connection to home, to Life As I Knew It.

My favorite place downtown was a wonderful cluttered bookstore on East 9th and Prospect (what was the name?), a block from my father's office at the Union Commerce Building.

Thanks for the memories!

Posted by Tim Hughes on August 10,2011 | 08:50 AM

Thank you so much for this positive look at my beloved hometown. And of course, welcome back. I too used to ride the Rapid to the Terminal Tower and attend real doubleheader Indian's games where you could stay for both games on sunny beautiful afternoons. Thank you Smithsonian.

Posted by C. Koehler on July 4,2011 | 01:21 PM

This week I walked by the American Center in Jerusalem, and decided to spend a little time in its reading room. Since I'm going to the U.S. next week and my first stop will be Washington, D.C. I picked up the April 2011 Smithsonian magazine. What a happy surprise to read your glowing comments about Cleveland.
I was born and spent a lifetime in Cleveland until moving to Israel three years ago so that I could live closer to my children who had moved here after college. I loved your remembrances of Cleveland's sights and culture. You are much younger than I, but at the age of 14 I also went downtown for my orthodontist appointments - except that I took the street car from Cleveland Heights. There was no rapid train yet. My orthodontist was in the Republic Building in the Terminal Tower group. We grew up with the Cleveland Indians at League Park and the old Stadium. In high school I ushered at the event of the year in Public Hall every spring, when the Metropolitan Opera came to town. My first summer job was at the first Heinen's store in Cleveland Heights; I rode my bicycle to work. So many wonderful Cleveland experiences.
Cleveland is a wonderful city to raise a family and cherish friendships. Since moving to Israel, I return every year to "catch up" with family and friends. I'm looking forward to visiting in July, and the opportunity to hear the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom and to tour the "new" art museum. Thanks for the memories (with acknowledgement to Cleveland's Bob Hope).

Posted by Edith Paller on June 14,2011 | 02:40 PM

Thank you for publishing a POSITIVE article about Cleveland! I absolutely swelled with pride reading those few pages. This city has its ups and downs like every other...but for some reason, we get bullied the most! Cleveland has so many wonderful attributes and some truly amazing, hardworking people just trying to do the best they can, every day. We are so tired of hearing all of the negativity!

Do we long for the flourishing Cleveland of the early to mid 1900s? Of course! Do we hope, each year, for an outstanding showing from our sports teams? You bet! Do we pray, each March, for a reprieve from the snow and wind? YES!

And while we imagine what these days, this future will be like, we appreciate and take in all that we can of our amazing parks, cultural institutions, family-run shops and restaurants, and of course our fresh markets and farms, wineries, neighborhood parks, beautiful lake scenery, the gorgeous seasonal changes (yes, even those harsh winters CAN be appreciated)...the list could go on!

It is easy to be cynical, to crack a joke about how changed our city is...but it's so much more refreshing to feel optimistic, to see the beauty, and to really truly believe in Cleveland and its people. I take great pride in being a Clevelander and can't imagine living anywhere else and it's obvious that many feel the same way!

Posted by Lisa on May 20,2011 | 06:56 PM

This is an amazing article. The author has done a fabulous job with recognizing and sharing what's really happening here in C-Town. We know what we have, and I constantly defend my great city to not only outsiders (that only go by what they read negatively), but also Clevelanders. We need MORE articles like this... I couldn't believe what I was reading, because I felt every word that was used to describe Cleveland. The sense of community and connectivity is the strongest out of the whole nation. Fortunately, outsiders can see it for themselves, just based on how we support our teams, even when they're not performing to out expectations. Cleveland is a fabulous gem and a well kept secret. It is nice, however, when others recognizes it to...

Posted by McBride on April 29,2011 | 03:25 PM

I am a born and bred east-side Clevelander. We had opportunities to move south to the Carolinas but I always prayed we'd never go. I have 2 brothers in North Carolina but my 3 other brothers and I love the Cleveland area. So many memories: Higbee's, Halle's, Mr. Jing-a-ling, the Rapid Transit rides, Indian games, trips to the Cleveland Zoo, the Art Museum, the Botanical Gardens, Euclid Beach, boating and fishing on Lake Erie, movies downtown (without Mom and Dad!). We still enjoy every Tribe game, the Great Lakes Science Center, the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame, the West Side Market, Tremont, Little Italy, Lakeview Cemetery, the Cleveland Clinic, the Goodtime III...wow, I could go on forever! I love Cleveland.

Posted by Susan Krovontka on April 23,2011 | 12:39 PM

A riveting fluff piece of Mr. Michener's exciting trip down Memory Lane. He does reel off a nice list of Clevelands' finer atrributes (w/ the # of years in existence): Severance Hall (80yrs), Cleveland Museum of Art (98yrs), the Emerald Necklace (91yrs), new stadiums for the Browns (12yrs) and Indians (17yrs), Playhouse Square (90yrs), Rock n Roll HOF (16yrs).

As a contrast, here is what Mr. Michener offers as way of current "renewal" efforts: a bookstore, a venerable jazz saloon (45yrs in business), and an Italian restaurant (23yrs in business).

Seriously? This is the best you could do citing renewal efforts in Cleveland? As a 4th generational Clevelander, I can't wait to read your new book.

Posted by MJ Lipka on April 22,2011 | 08:25 AM

Thank you Charles Michener and Smithsonian magazine! Cleveland is an amazing place, and there is a real feeling of hope and community here. We need more stories like yours.
Take care,
Erin

Posted by Erin on April 21,2011 | 09:41 AM

Thank you Mr. Michener and Smithsonian magazine,thank you for bringing me hometown memories. Now living in Israel, I grew up in University Heights and loved going downtown on Saturdays, pressing my face to the window of the Rapid (remember the Carling brewery at E 93rd and Quincy?) while my father told me stories about Cleveland that only an old timer would know. As was said above, you can move but can never leave, and I'm glad about that. Thanks so much for the memories.

Posted by anne steiner on April 16,2011 | 10:59 AM

Although not born in Cleveland, I grew up on the west side, and cherish many fond memories of Cleveland in the 50's and 60's. I still go back to visit family and lifelong friends who are still there, and it is always a trip "home." Mr. Michener is correct that the people in Cleveland are the best you'll find anywhere. I remember the terrific children's librarian at West Park Library, Miss Anderson, who recommended books, presided over the Summer Reading Club, and held us spellbound at storytime. There were always many things to do in the Cleveland area. Skating rinks, public pools, and parks were within walking distance. Cudell offered art and crafts instruction at minimal cost. Museums and even the old Euclid Beach amusement park were accessible via "the Rapid." And The Press gave out seven PAIRS of tickets to Indians games to each straight-A student each year!

Posted by D Straker on April 14,2011 | 10:23 PM

I have lived in Chicago since 1973. As far as I am concerned, "CLEVELAND IS THE BEST LOCATION IN THE NATION" That was the slogan for the Illuminating Company.

Posted by JAMES SZUDAREK on April 14,2011 | 10:17 PM

I grew up in a southwestern suburb of Cleveland. In my 30's, I moved to San Francisco. After 13 years of spending hours in traffic, neighbors who didn't care to know you, too crowded establishments, and no space, I moved back to Cleveland 5 years ago. I couldn't be happier. I focus on the positive aspects of Cleveland and enjoy viewing it through the eyes of a husband and son, both born in CA. They cannot believe the number of trees and the wide open spaces near a major city. Not to mention, the devotion of the sports fans, home affordability, the lack of traffic, and the number of cultural attractions. We all say winter is a small price to pay for the beautiful change of seasons. I don't mind that Cleveland is the best kept secret! Too many peoople coming here will change it into crowded, dirty, overpriced cities like NYC, LA and SF.

Posted by Denise Ybarra on April 13,2011 | 11:57 AM

What a wonderful era -- when eleven-year-olds could hop on the rapid and go downtown -- with no adults along to spoil the ride.

Go Tribe.

Posted by Robert Sheahen on April 11,2011 | 10:28 PM

I, too, was born and raised in Cleveland. I so loved my childhood, having gone to A.j. Rickoff elementary school with the greatest teachers, then to Alexander Hamilton Jr. High, great teachers, then to John Adams High and Shaker High. All with great teachers through the depression. When the State of Ohio ran out of money, they paid teachers and unemployed people with "relief" money. This was money printed by the State promising to pay in US Dollars in the future.
I took the streetcar to Leauge Park at 66th and Lexington and sitting in the stands which held about 25,00 people. We could call out our favorite players' names and they would respond.
There is so much more. I raised my children in Cleveland, Shaker Heights and Pepper Pike, and they still have lifetime friends from Geater Cleveland. I live in Florida becsuse of the weather but I look forward to my annual visits to Cleveland.

Posted by Leonard Nyman on April 10,2011 | 07:02 PM

Cleveland also has so many new, fine dining options - thanks to Iron Chef Michael Symon's Lola's, etc. and other new chefs and places that were not around when I grew up in the East suburbs. The more you know about greater Cleveland the more you understand that it probably the best kept travel secret in the USA. From world class Cleveland Orchestra to the cool world class Rock Hall to the best corned beef in America (that's right NYC). It really gets boring that all people know to visit in the USA are a few over-rated areas, when a super gem like greater Cleveland remains so under-covered and or miss-represented to what it is today. I'd like to help this author with some really good perspective living now in SF bay area, and why Cle is in fact superior in many ways! --Bud

Posted by Bud Genovese on April 7,2011 | 02:28 AM

I was born and raised in Cleveland - Eastside and Westside (suburb). I retired to Florida 1995 and though I don't miss the cold, damp winters I DO miss the family, friends and former neighbors who remain in Cleveland, I visit often and few years ago I enjoyed touring Ohio City on Lolly the Trolley and strolling the Detroit-Superior Bridge where the "streetcars" used to run.

Posted by M.J. Franczak on April 6,2011 | 08:33 PM

Great article! Although I grew up in the 80's living just on the border of Clevelands west side, I can relate to many of the details you shared. Riding the "rapid" with my father to an Indians game was one of the best experiences for me, and like you and the other clevelanders my nose was up against the window taking in the sites and getting a history lesson from my Dad. Cleveland truly is a great place to live!

Posted by Dan Ballard on April 6,2011 | 03:20 PM

My wife and I had the pleasure of discovering Cleveland's charms thanks to friends who proudly call the city home. We enjoyed so much about the city and look forward to exploring much more on future visits. I have found that cities with cold climates often have the warmest people. Another reason to love Cleveland.

Posted by gary eastham on April 6,2011 | 02:33 PM

We too moved back to Cleveland after 12 years in key west, we are so glad to see such a positive article about a city we so dearly love,great theatre, great jazz, great hospitals and wonderful people. Thanks Charles!!!

Posted by marilyn holderfield heinke on April 4,2011 | 09:51 PM

I am Cleveland born and raised in Slavic Village.
You can move but you can't leave.
When I needed more garden space we moved to a suburb of Cleveland but about 5 min away. My kids grew up in Cleveland as well and when they got old enough they would travel back to Cleveland. Some living back in the City they loved. They take advantage of all the great places to eat downtown and concerts and plays and architecture.
My son moved to DC for his job and sent me this article. No matter what happens to the City it always comes back to be better than it was before. One great thing about Cleveland is that the deer don't eat your vegetable garden. LOL

Posted by Maryanne Schneider on April 4,2011 | 10:40 AM

I was born in Cleveland (1944) and have lived in Detroit since 1970. Both cities have fascinated me and I must this article brought back some fond memories. I would like to emphasizie the beauty of Shaker Heights and their lakes in the park. I was raised in Woodmere Village and attended Orange school district. Now that I am Detroiter I could also say some fond words about this fine city. But I will wait until someone else writes first.

Posted by Ed Mahoney on April 1,2011 | 10:42 PM

Great article.......I also grew up in Shaker and rode the "rapid" downtown. I loved Shaker Square,the Terminal, the department store windows on Euclid as well as the seedy shops on Prospect........Yes it was even seedy in the early 50's............what about, Moondog,Hounddog,and Mad Daddy? and all those Browns and Barons championships? Even the Indians in '48 & '54.....I spent most of my adult life in NYC, and Fla....all job related, in 2001 I came home...Welcome home!

Posted by Dennis Ganim on April 1,2011 | 08:17 AM

Charles Michener is a kindred soul. I too grew up in Cleveland, moved away, and visit often. My pride for my home is evident as I defend it to my neighbors here in Tampa, as is a little guilt for moving away in the first place. Like Michener, moving back is an inviting prospect and possibility. Thank you for a wonderful article on a wonderful city.

Posted by Mark Jacim on March 31,2011 | 05:15 PM

Thanks so much to Smithsonian magazine and Charles Michener for a fantastic article about my hometown, Cleveland. I have visited every continent and lived everywhere from McMurdo Station, Antarctica to Hastings, England to my current residence, Denver, Colorado. I am happy to be moving back home this summer. Cleveland has been and will forever be my heart, my home.

Posted by Susan Brashear on March 31,2011 | 05:02 PM

Yes there are many lovely things about Cleveland. The parks, King's Hill on the east side. We grew up in Wymore and Euclid which over the years became fell in disrepair. I also loved the rapid transit..particularly that you could ride directly to the airport. I ran away once to the Windemere station and jumped on the train heading for the Terminal Tower... a conductor gently corraled me until my folks got there..the Cleveland symphony was a fabulous school trip, the great libraries.. a master story teller and libraian read out loud to hundreds of students...the classics..Quaker meeting for worship, University Circle where my father taught and my first funky studio apartment on 105th and Euclid .. also my first job as a teacher's aide on David W Walker Jr High..( I attended Kirk Junior High School head by Leaping Louie Myers )

great memories..good luck on your book

D

Posted by David Culver on March 30,2011 | 09:33 AM

I grew up on Cleveland's west-side during the same era as Charles Michner describes with such accuracy and love. It was truly a great city to explore as a kid, and when I return each year to visit family, I relive those fond memories and create new ones as I learn more about the city's still-hidden treasures and re-emerging potential. "Best Location in the Nation" was the tag-line of the local utility in its '50s and '60s ads. Minus a little rust-belt corrosion, still true.

Posted by Tom DeChant on March 29,2011 | 02:57 AM

I grew up in the suburb of University Heights, home of John Carroll U. In the late 40's, I was allowed to take the bus downtown with a girl friend to pay .35 to attend Ladies Day at the old Cleveland Stadium and sit in the upper deck behind home plate to cheer the Indians. In the fall, we attended high championship football games in the same stadium.
My husband, who lived in Cleveland near Shaker Square, conmmuted by bus to attended Case Tech.
My first job was with Society for Savings bank on Public Square.
We recently did a tour of the "old" city and discovered that his childhood home was boarded up and the house next door was gone. But we saw so much hope as we drove down Euclid Avenue.
This was a great trip down nostalgia lane for me.

Posted by Mary Ann on March 29,2011 | 11:32 AM

All I can say Charles is thank you and welcome home.

I've lived in Boston, Washington DC, Denver, and Seattle and I always end up coming home. Only people who have never been to Cleveland take shots at the city.

Posted by Seth R Robinson on March 28,2011 | 10:55 PM

I so enjoyed the article. Born and raised west of the Detroit-Superior Bridge from the 60's to the 80's, Cleveland will always be "home" to me. I've lived in Mexico City, Mexico for the past 25 years with my husband and 3 children and for all of us, our yearly journey to Cleveland is a must. We visit my family and friends and always make the time to enjoy the downtwon area and the museums and the restaurants and Lake Erie and Cedar Point and the list goes on and on. I'm glad someone has written a positive article on Cleveland. Looking forward to the book.

Posted by Veda Calabrese Ibarra on March 28,2011 | 05:59 PM

Cleveland: Best place to be in the Summer, worst place to be in the Winter. Thank God for Rays Indoor Mountain Bike Park, our cool little coffee shops, and the Flat Iron Cafe where you can get a Bargeburger and a Dortmunder for a reasonable price...
Watch out tho' We can be a snarkey bunch of SOB's...
Rock on CleOh!

Posted by David on March 28,2011 | 03:19 PM

Wonderful piece. Even as an adult, my rides on the rapid have my face up to the window. At times, I've taken my children on adventures, starting at the first stop on the far east to the last stop at the airport on the far west, giving them a long, colorful collage, with a crooked river in the middle. I feel fortunate to have been born and raised on the West Side in Cleveland proper, and then moved way over to Gates Mills when I was 11, getting a great picture of both sides. It always amazes me how much the river has divided us, even as it's fed us. Cleveland will be restored most beautifully when East meets West in the middle: The outer rings must give to the city, just as the city has created its outer rings.

Posted by Nancy Aikins on March 28,2011 | 11:53 AM

Clevelanders are a special breed. I worked for a California real estate broker in the '70's – '90's who was captured in Korea. He often told us the story of his Colonel, who was from Cleveland, and who he was driving for when the war broke out. Their jeep ended up behind the enemy lines and was surrounded by the invading North Koreans.

Rather than surrender to impossible odds, the Colonel pulled out his .45 sidearm and stood straight up, firing at the NK's until his ammo ran out. The N. Koreans didn't return fire for some reason, and my broker and the Colonel were taken captive and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp.

My broker was clearly impressed with the absolutely fearless action of his officer. Every time he told the story I felt like I was there.

I grew up on the West Side of Cleveland, near Lakewood. It is a wonderful part of the country; you can feel the seasons change within days of the equinox. Winters are tough, but so are Clevelanders. And the summers are luscious, with vacations on Lake Erie and weekends at Cedar Point. There's nothing better than a crisp autumn day in Cleveland, with the maple leaves turning red and gold, and football in the air.

And Cleveland's "Emerald Necklace" ['the Valley' to us] is every bit as wonderful as California's Yosemite valley. The Rocky River was walking distance from my house, and I spent many a day exploring there.

There is nothing more pleasant than sitting on the porch on a Cleveland summer evening, where the twilight lasts until almost 10 pm, and watching the lightning bugs flash their mating signals while listening to the crickets, and the voices of distant neighbors enjoying the warm nights.

When my Callifornia Lotto ticket comes in, I'm moving back for sure.

Posted by Dave Stealey on March 28,2011 | 06:27 AM

We lived in Cleveland for 11 years, and still love that city. There are many, many things to love about it. I consider the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Orchestra in magnificent Severance Hall and the West Side Market to be national treasures.

Posted by Chandy John on March 27,2011 | 03:27 PM

An incidentally telling aside in this story is the fact of his taking the train into the city as a pre-teen and being allowed to wander around and fall in love with the city. Obviously, his parents trusted in his common sense as well as in the overall goodness of their fellow citizens.
I grew up just west of Boston, and as a seven and eight year old, with a friend, was dropped of at the transit station by one of our parents twice a month on Saturdays for a 45 minute ride, with line changes, to the Museum of Science for some sort of science ed activities. The ride in, and traipsing around the cities (Cambridge/Boston) were easily as much fun and education as anything the museum provided.
Paranoia and mistrust is paralysing Parents today, and affecting the future generations adversely.

Posted by dwyprov on March 26,2011 | 11:23 AM

Great article! Cleveland has a great future!

Posted by Cleveland forever! on March 26,2011 | 11:02 AM

It's nice to hear that Cleveland isn't quite a total wreck. But really, are hiking trails and hipster restaurants going to replace the city's vanished industrial base? You can't sustain an economy based on people selling used books to each other.

Posted by Skeptic on March 26,2011 | 10:57 AM

Long live Cleveland. My home town. Great article!

Posted by Michael Mandell on March 26,2011 | 07:19 AM

Thank you, Charles.

You nicely expressed how I feel about living in Cleveland (actually a suburb).

I love to travel but always look forward to returning home. We are a well kept secret!

Posted by Ann at PlumSiena on March 25,2011 | 09:28 PM

Thank you, Charles, for this piece. I am a native West-Side Clevelander who has been living in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the past nine years (originally to stay for one year as part of a student exchange program). Still, I love Cleveland deeply, I am proud of my city, and I dream of one day moving back--and I know I am not the only one out there. It's a city with a very distinct down-to-earth quirkiness that I crave (along with Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold, pierogi, the West Side Market, the Museum of Art, the little shops in Coventry and Tremont, the rapid, and the so many other great things the city has to offer). I wish the very best for Cleveland and hope to become part of all the great innovative projects and movements going on there these days.

Posted by Zachary Paul Romansky on March 25,2011 | 07:56 PM

Great article- there are many treasures hidden in Cleveland, you just have to wander around and look! Looking forward to reading The Hidden City.

Posted by Melanie on March 25,2011 | 04:45 PM

Thanks for writing an article that is based on observation and an actual visit to the city, unlike Fobres and their dated references to a burning river. Forbes needs to get current, actually research when they write, and not judge a city for things that happened 40 plus years ago.

Anyway, your take on Cleveland is accurate and living here is a joy. I have traveled the world, and still have not found a place or people as good as what we have here in Cleveland.

Posted by D Kelly on March 25,2011 | 04:42 PM

Mr. Michener, You are my favorite author. Cleveland is my favorite city. Thank you for such a wonderful mix. D Lo

Posted by Podgal on March 25,2011 | 03:28 PM

Thank you, so much, for this wonderful article.

Posted by Cleveland native on March 25,2011 | 01:54 PM

Lovely article. Thank you for showing the true and wonderful Cleveland. We love it here. V

Posted by Venetia Rahal on March 25,2011 | 12:42 PM

For years I have been commenting on the positive future of Cleveland. In my opinion Cleveland will be THE city in the US. It is a well kept secret and most natives are indeed very pessimistic. I predict that instead of the flight, Cleveland will experience an influx that will become a real challenge. from a new buckeye - 10 years now. ricky haven

Posted by ricky haven on March 25,2011 | 10:46 AM

Good article, but I think you were around an unusual group of clevelanders if they wouldn't engage in strident political discussion or say what they thought to your face. For example, wear a Steelers jersey to a browns game sometime.

Cleveland does have alot going for it, more than you typically see in the national media. Ray's MTB, great restaurants, 3 pro sports franchises (they're "rebuilding," really), the new casino, etc. I think things are coming along for this city and a rebirth in the near future is possible.

Posted by Jeff on March 25,2011 | 08:50 AM

I am also touched by this poignant article! Originally from the DC Metro area, I came to Cleveland for college and have remained here for the past 7 1/2 years. I'll never forget my first impression of Cleveland as a teen seeking a new city to make my own. Whenever I'd ask someone how to get to a class or a dorm, they wouldn't give me directions - they'd walk me there themselves. On days when the dreary weather and slow economy sours our moods, I try to remember those friendly Clevelanders and say an encouraging word to those around me. Being the fighting underdogs is what our city is about! Thanks for bringing that out through your writing.

Posted by Sheila Fell on March 24,2011 | 09:41 PM

How I wish I were in Cleveland!!!

Posted by leslie hoehn on March 24,2011 | 09:22 PM

Please don't tell too many people about our wonderful city. We do not want them moving here and crowding the place up!

Posted by Pete David on March 24,2011 | 08:16 PM

Great article sir. I live in Boston and am a native Clevelander and I miss Cleveland every single day. I moved here for a job several years ago. The city of Cleveland does not get nearly enough credit. Boston is a city with more Irish influence then just about any other, and you cannot find a Reuben that remotely approaches Slymons anywhere. I know Cedar Point is out West of Cleveland, but that place is gem that not a lot of people outside of the Cleveland area know about. The fact that you can walk around the downtown area and actually get to where you are going in a reasonable timeframe is a huge plus. The highway system, while Clevelanders think it is crowded, is a breeze compared to what I deal with. I love going back to Cleveland and just driving around. They are subtle things like this, that really make you miss Cleveland.

Posted by Matt on March 24,2011 | 04:42 PM

Fantastic article Charles!

I believe Cleveland suffers from a false reputation, and in my mind, there is a simple solution - speak the truth of how great Cleveland is. It has everything a big city has, plus endless recreational activities, and it is affordable and accessible. Doesn't get much better than that!

Thanks for speaking the truth and not apologizing!

Posted by Andrew Bennett on March 24,2011 | 03:49 PM

A fantastic read. Thank you so much.

Posted by William Tarter Jr. on March 24,2011 | 03:45 PM

This article is awesome. I have always said that Cleveland has everything that a "popular" city has and more. We just need better self-esteem. This article is definately and esteem builder.

Posted by Gown Chic Proprietor on March 24,2011 | 03:05 PM

What a wonderful article. I'm a job-related transplant, who has now lived here ten years. I'm in constant flux about my new town: wanting to flee the continued decline and despair, and yet rabidly aggressive when someone runs down a place I've come to really appreciate for its history and cultural and natural assets. I so want Cleveland, and the metro area, to find its way back. Other than the long winters, it's really a lovely place to live and yet somehow the people here don't seem to be able to find that new paradigm which will give it rebirth. But I keep hoping they will, and that it will happen before I give up and flee.

Posted by Jerrold on March 24,2011 | 02:41 PM

Excellent article.
What those ridiculous Forbes ranking don’t consider is the surrounding areas that are not within the legal city boundaries. If CLE were to annex Bratenahl, Shaker Heights, Pepper Pike, Orange, Lakewood, etc. the “stats” used in the Forbes rankings would look a lot different.

Posted by Ben on March 24,2011 | 02:38 PM

Charles, this article is fantastic. Thank you for all that you do and all that you are.

Posted by Hannah on March 24,2011 | 02:27 PM

I breathed deeply as i read this article, trying to slow the tears that were welling up in my eyes. I have never read an article that so captured the soul of Cleveland. Charles is from the past, yet has seen the future...possibly a view that few Clevelanders are able to fully appreciate, for we live within the opaque veneer of a city that has experience relentless attacks. Charles prophetic views spoke hope and have energized me again to an original calling. this is not a "mistake on the lake," with a tower that is terminal and a lake that is eerie. This is Cleveland, a Great American City!

Posted by steve witt on March 24,2011 | 01:55 PM

Excellent article. Thank you so much. Cleveland is for sure a mystery for those who do not live here and for those who are too stubborn from decades of conditioning to see the beauty it possesses. But above all, Cleveland's greatest strength is in its people. You will never find a more passionate and kind group of people in any other city.

I look forward to reading your book.

Posted by Gabriel on March 24,2011 | 01:26 PM

Thank you so much! Cleveland is a great town, and national as well as local press needs to recognize that. There is so much more beyond what you saw! Thank you for the great words!

Posted by Sheila Weil on March 24,2011 | 01:17 PM

Dear Mr. Michener: I think I love you. Thank you for reminding me of all the tangible and intangible reasons why I love this city. I'm looking forward to reading your book.

Posted by Sandy Smith on March 24,2011 | 12:12 PM

What a beautiful article about our city. Clevelanders are some of the toughest people in the United States, and the most loyal to their city. I appreciate this article outlining our wonderful home, and hope to see more positive Cleveland press from around the country in the very near future.

Posted by Bryn on March 24,2011 | 11:33 AM

Thank you for such a well-written article reminding us that Cleveland is a growing and changing community with lots of opportunity for those who are willing to get out and fight for their dreams. Northeast Ohio IS a great place to live, but so many of us living here get discouraged by articles published by Forbes and the popular press. Thank you!

Posted by Mandi on March 24,2011 | 10:26 AM

Charles,

Thank you for returning to our city and for writing this beautiful description of the things Clevelanders love about our hometown. Unfortunately we also hear many of our own neighbors complaining or making fun of Cleveland, and it is refreshing for those who are committed to this city's future to have the louder voice for once.

Thank you!

Posted by Katie Herbst on March 24,2011 | 10:21 AM

With so much negative and depressing stuff in the news these days, it's great to see an article about something new and positive! Clevelanders have many good reasons to be proud. We need to showcase more of the wonderful things about our city and stop focusing on it's flaws.

Posted by Mary Provins on March 24,2011 | 10:12 AM

Well said. Thank you for taking as much pride in Cleveland as we do. Looking forward to reading your book!

Posted by Stacie from Cleveland on March 24,2011 | 10:05 AM

Thank you so much for this article. I was born and raised in Cleveland and moved away after college to start a new life in a new city. It was only a matter of time (four years to be exact) until I moved back because I realized that there truly is nowhere else I'd rather be than Cleveland. Great people, great museums, great culture, great food, etc. It's good to be home :)

Posted by Cleve-love on March 24,2011 | 09:58 AM

What an incredibly well-done article! Thank you so much.

Frnakly, I for one, am sick and tired of all the negative press Cleveland gets nationally. What is the problem with Forbes anyway? Are they all from Pittsburgh, Columbus (ohio), or Cincinnati?

Anyway, thank you again for highlighting the many beautiful assets of my hometown. it is such a jewel!

Posted by Forever a Clevelander on March 24,2011 | 07:24 AM

CHARLES,

This is a WONDERFUL take on our beleaguered city. It's probably the only writing tat has given me such a deep sense of actual PRIDE in our dog-eared, tough-as-nails town.

THANK YOU !

Posted by Karen Clark-Keys on March 23,2011 | 07:10 PM




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