Cleveland is a city in the U.S.
state of Ohio and the county seat of
Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is
located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately
60 miles (100 km) west of the Pennsylvania border. It was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga
River, and became a manufacturing center owing to its location at the head of
numerous canals and railroad lines.
With the decline of heavy manufacturing, Cleveland's businesses have diversified into the
service economy, including the financial services, insurance, and healthcare sectors. Cleveland is also
noted for its association with rock music. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is located here.[3]
As of the 2000 Census, the city proper had a total population of 478,403,
making it the 33rd largest city in the nation[4] and the
second largest city in Ohio. It is the center of Greater Cleveland, the largest
metropolitan area in Ohio, which spans several counties and is defined in several
different ways by the Census Bureau. The Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor Metropolitan Statistical Area has 2,250,871 people and is the 23rd largest in the
country, according to the 2000 Census. Cleveland is also part of the larger Cleveland-Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area, which is the 14th
largest in the country with a population of 2,945,831 according to the 2000 Census.[5]
In studies conducted by The Economist in 2005, Cleveland and Pittsburgh were ranked as the most livable cities in
the United States,[6] and the city was ranked as the best
city for business meetings in the continental U.S.[7] 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.[8]
Residents of Cleveland are usually referred to as "Clevelanders".
Nicknames used for the city include "The Forest City", "Metropolis of the
Western Reserve",[9] "The New American City",[10]
"America's North Coast",[11] "Sixth City",[12],"C-Town", [13] and "the Cleve".[14]
History
-
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, centering 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. The spelling of the city's name was later changed to "Cleveland" when, in 1831, an "a" was
dropped so the name could fit a newspaper's masthead.[15]
In spite of the nearby swampy lowlands and harsh winters, its waterfront location proved providential. 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 St. Lawrence
Seaway and the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. Growth continued with added railroad links.[16] Cleveland incorporated as a city in 1836.[15]
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.[17] Ohio City remained an independent municipality until it was
annexed by Cleveland in 1854.[15] The site flourished as a halfway point for iron ore from
Minnesota shipped across the Great Lakes and other raw materials (coal) carried by rail from the south. Cleveland emerged as a major American manufacturing center, home to numerous
major steel producers, as well as a number of carmakers, including steam car builder White and electric car company Baker. By 1920, Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller had made his fortune and Cleveland had become the fifth largest city in the
country.[15] The city was a center for the
national progressive movement, headed locally by Mayor Tom L. Johnson. Many Clevelanders of this era are buried in the historic Lake View Cemetery, along with James A. Garfield, the
twentieth U.S. President.[18]
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.[19] 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.[20]
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".[21] The city's population reached its peak of
914,808, and in 1949 Cleveland was named an All-America City for the first
time.[22] 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 urban sprawl. Like other major American cities, Cleveland also began
witnessing racial unrest, culminating in the Hough Riots from July
18, 1966 – July 23, 1966 and
the Glenville Shootout on July 23, 1968 – July 25, 1968. The city's nadir is often
considered to be its default on its loans on December
15 1978, when under Mayor Dennis Kucinich it became
the first major American city to enter default since the Great Depression.[15] National media began referring to Cleveland as "the mistake on the lake" around this time, in
reference to the city's financial difficulties, a notorious 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga
River (where industrial waste on the river's surface caught on fire), and its struggling professional sports
teams.[23] The city has worked to shed this nickname ever
since, though in recent times the national media have been much kinder to the city, using it as an exemplar for public-private partnerships, downtown revitalization, and urban renaissance.[24]
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
Jacobs 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,"[25] 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.[26]
Geography
Topography
Cleveland is located at 41°28′56″N, 81°40′11″W.1 According to the United States Census Bureau,[1] the city has a total area of 82.4 square miles
(213.5 km²), of which, 77.6 square miles (201.0 km²) is land and
4.8 square miles (12.5 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 five miles (8 km) inland from the lake, is at an elevation of 791 feet (241 m).[27]
Climate
| Monthly normal and record high and low temperatures[28] |
| Mon. |
Avg.
High |
Avg.
Low |
Avg. |
Rec.
High |
Rec.
Low |
|
| Jan |
33 °F |
19 °F |
26 °F |
73 °F |
-20 °F |
| Feb |
36 °F |
21 °F |
29 °F |
74 °F |
-16 °F |
| Mar |
46 °F |
29 °F |
38 °F |
83 °F |
-5 °F |
| Apr |
57 °F |
38 °F |
48 °F |
88 °F |
10 °F |
| May |
69 °F |
48 °F |
59 °F |
92 °F |
25 °F |
| Jun |
77 °F |
58 °F |
68 °F |
104 °F |
31 °F |
| Jul |
81 °F |
62 °F |
72 °F |
103 °F |
41 °F |
| Aug |
79 °F |
61 °F |
70 °F |
102 °F |
38 °F |
| Sep |
72 °F |
54 °F |
63 °F |
101 °F |
32 °F |
| Oct |
61 °F |
44 °F |
52 °F |
90 °F |
19 °F |
| Nov |
49 °F |
35 °F |
42 °F |
82 °F |
3 °F |
| Dec |
37 °F |
25 °F |
31 °F |
77 °F |
-15 °F |
Cleveland possesses a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa), typical of much of the central United States, with hot, 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 east side) weather from mid-November until the surface of Lake Erie freezes, usually in late January or
early February. The lake effect causes snowfall totals to range greatly across the city: while Hopkins Airport has only reached
100 inches (254 cm) of snowfall in a given season
three times since 1968,[29] seasonal totals approaching
or exceeding 100 inches are not uncommon in an area known as the "Snow Belt", extending
from the east side of Cleveland proper through the eastern suburbs and up the Lake Erie shore as far as Buffalo, New York.
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.[28] 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 (930 mm).[30]
Cityscape
Architecture
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.[31] The Terminal Tower, dedicated in
1930, was the tallest building in the United States outside New York City until 1967 and
the tallest in the city until 1991.[32] 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.[33]
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."[34] Known as
"Millionaire's Row", Euclid Avenue was world-renowned as the home of such internationally-known names as Rockefeller, Hanna, and Hay.[35]
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 the largest collection of
primates of any zoo in the United States. 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[36] honoring the city's ethnic groups, follows
Doan Brook across the city's east side.
Neighborhoods
Downtown Cleveland includes mixed-use neighborhoods such as the Flats and the Warehouse District, which are occupied by
industrial and office buildings and also by restaurants and bars. The number of downtown housing units in the form of
condominiums, lofts, and apartments has increased over the past ten years. This trend looks to continue with the recent revival of the
Flats. The apartment and condominium project that was recently completed on the West Bank, Stonebridge Apartments, has been
highly successful. The East Bank has its own redevelopment project underway orchestrated by Scott Wolstein of Developers
Diversified Realty, Inc that looks only to enhance the Flats recent success.
Cleveland residents often define themselves in terms of whether they live on the east side or the west side of the
Cuyahoga River.[37] The east side comprises the following neighborhoods: Buckeye-Shaker
Square, 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 of the city includes the following neighborhoods: Brooklyn Centre, Clark-Fulton,
Detroit-Shoreway, Cudell, Edgewater, Ohio City, 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.
Satellite 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.[38] 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.[39]
Suburbs
-
Cleveland's older inner-ring or "first" suburbs include Bedford, Bedford Heights, Brook Park, Brooklyn, Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, East Cleveland, Euclid, Fairview Park, Garfield Heights, Lakewood, Maple Heights, Parma, Shaker Heights, South Euclid, University Heights, and Warrensville
Heights. All are members of the Northeast Ohio First Suburbs Consortium.[40]
Culture
Entertainment and performing arts
Cleveland is home to Playhouse Square Center, the second largest performing
arts center in the United States behind New York's Lincoln Center.[41] Playhouse Square includes the State,
Palace, Allen, Hanna, and Ohio theaters within what is known as the
Theater District of Downtown Cleveland.[42] Playhouse
Square's resident performing arts companies include the Cleveland Opera, the
Ohio Ballet, and the Great Lakes Theater
Festival.[43] 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".[44] 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.[45]
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.[46] 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 during the summer.[47]
There are two main art museums in Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art is a major American art museum,[48] and its collection is comprised of 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.[49]
Cleveland has served as the filming location for several noteworthy movies, including The Fortune Cookie (1967) with Walter Matthau and
Jack Lemmon, the Academy Award-winning
Deer Hunter (1978), Antwone Fisher
(2002), and the holiday favorite A Christmas Story (1983).[50] Scenes for Spider-Man 3 were
filmed in Cleveland in April 2006.[51] Cleveland is the
lifelong home of cartoonist Harvey Pekar and the setting for most of his autobiographical
comic books. The city was also the setting for the popular sitcom, The Drew Carey
Show which starred Cleveland native Drew Carey.
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".[52]
Cleveland is the home of heavy metal group Mushroomhead, rap group Bone
Thugs-n-Harmony. Eric Carmen and his band, The
Raspberries.[53] R&B singer Gerald Levert also was a lifelong resident of
Cleveland, and it was the hometown of R&B groups the Dazz Band and The Rude Boys, as well as R&B singer Avant. It was also home to
protopunk bands Pere Ubu, Rocket From the Tombs, and Electric Eels.[54]
Tourism
Five miles (8 km) east of downtown Cleveland is University Circle, a
550-acre (220 ha) concentration of cultural, educational, and
medical institutions, including 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.[55]
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 Greek Orthodox Festival in the Tremont neighborhood, and the Harvest Festival in the Slavic Village
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.[56]
Oldenburg and van Bruggen's Free Stamp, located in Willard Park to the east of City
Hall
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.[57] The city recently incorporated an annual art and technology festival, known as Ingenuity, which
features a combination of art and technology in various installations and performances throughout lower Euclid Avenue. The
Cleveland International Film Festival has been held annually since
1977, and its eleven day run drew a record 52,753 people in 2007.[58] Cleveland also hosts an annual holiday display lighting and celebration, dubbed Winterfest, which
is held downtown at the city's historic hub, Public Square.[59]
A large concentration of Poles in the metropolitan Cleveland area resulted in
