Detroit : I Will Stay If… is a whole page of people willing (some upon condition) to keep living in Detroit.
As the Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism videos have inspired a lot of talk about my town, I’ve been thinking a bit about what might make this a “good” or “real” city. What exactly defines a city in “decline”?
One of the first things people cite when they talk about bad parts of Cleveland are… the bad parts of Cleveland. Where people accidentally stumbled into what they think is an unsafe neighborhood and locked their car doors. What city doesn’t have that? Harlem, South Chicago, and South Central L.A. are all rough places but no one questions the worth of their respective metropolitan areas because of them.
Our population is declining, another common gripe. Is it possible we’re just “right-sizing”? If fewer people want to live here, I’m not opposed in principle. As long as the things I do like are still here.
What do I think makes this a “real” city, worth living in? Incredible access to art film, interesting music, fine dining and authentic ethnic food, world-class cultural institutions, greenspace, pleasant upscale bars, grotty bars, winters with a lot of snow and cold, summers with a nice breeze off the Lake (and all the weather in-between), sports teams that can take you on a rollercoaster ride (or Demon Drop), interesting people to enjoy all this with, and parts of the town I don’t know that give me perennial promise of something new to discover.
Others value our sane commute times, theater districts, our sub-rural suburbs with space and good schools, boating, wineries, breweries, and I’m sure countless things I don’t know about.
Would I change some things? Sure — better schools in Cleveland proper, better public transit, more people regularly downtown, and some more civic pride. But not having those things doesn’t for a second make me consider moving.
As long as I can make a livelihood here, I’m a Clevelander. If I have to move for other reasons… I’m a Clevelander. My heart, my family, my fandom, they will always stay.
P.S.
This post brought to you by the Cleveland Cinematheque, the Cleveland Museum of Art Film Program, the Cedar-Lee Theater (and other Cleveland Cinemas locations), the Grog Shop, the Beachland Ballroom, House of Blues, Blossom Music Center, Lola, Lolita, the Greenhouse Tavern, Crop, Luxe, Three Birds, Light Bistro, the Blue Point Grille, Sans Souci, Sarava, Sokolowski’s, the West Side Market, the Lithuanian Community Center, Asian Town, Li Wah, Koko Bakery, Phnom Pehn, Anatolia Cafe, Balaton, Sasa, Momocho, Lopez, (so many other great places), the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Metroparks, Bar Cento, the Olde Angle, Prosperity Social Club, Nighttown, Tina’s, the Happy Dog, the Lincoln Park Pub, the Union House, Lake Effect snow, mother nature, Lake Erie, the Cavs, Indians, Browns, University Circle, Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, Downtown, Tremont, and Ohio City residents, everyone and everywhere else that I don’t know yet.
