What Can Detroit Learn From Cleveland?

[begingri]

The Return of the Comeback City

Darvio E. Morrow, Yahoo! Contributor Network


We've all heard the story. Cleveland, Ohio, like many other Rust Belt cities, has struggled mightily in the aftermath of the demise of heavy manufacturing. For those not paying attention, Cleveland would seem to be a doomed city destined for a continual decline. But this is not the case. Right now, the city of Cleveland is undergoing a dramatic transformation, the likes of which America hasn't seen since the rebirth of New York City in the early 1990s. Currently there is over $6 billion in new developments taking place in the core city, with more on the way. Companies are moving in or moving back to Cleveland. The city's downtown has more residents than any other downtown in Ohio. If you're here or you're paying attention, you know something big is taking place in Cleveland. You can feel it. But for those of you that are not here or have not heard, here is a list of the biggest or most impactful developments and economic happenings taking place in the Comeback City.

Continued at: http://voices.yahoo.com/article/9408...888.html?cat=7

[iheartthed]

Based on this there's not much of anything Detroit could learn from Cleveland. Couldn't you have written essentially the same article about Detroit five years ago?

[401don]

Based on this there's not much of anything Detroit could learn from Cleveland. Couldn't you have written essentially the same article about Detroit five years ago?

I agree. Casinos, Convention Center, medical expansion - sounds like Detroit but with lousy sports teams.

[Bham1982]

Cleveland is barely better off than Detroit, and the long-term trends are mostly negative, so I would say we have nothing to learn from Cleveland.

Downtown Cleveland, in particular, seems to have regressed from 10 years ago. The downtown mall is mostly empty, and the Flats "entertainment district" is mostly abandoned.

There are some good things happening, and Cleveland has better regionalization [[transit and library are both regionalized), but I wouldn't trade places with them.

[Gistok]

One thing we did learn from Cleveland started a long time ago... the restoration of the old abandoned and nearly abandoned theatres into a nice theate district... Cleveland's Playhouse Square was ahead of Detroit... and when Ray Shepherdson was done with his consulting work on the 5 theatres that made up Playhouse Square district [[Palace, Ohio, State, Allen, Hanna), he came to Detroit to help consult for the restoration of our theatres [[still a work in progress)...

[gameguy56]

Cleveland has functioning inner-city neighborhoods [[Tremont/Ohio City) with walkable business districts of a style that doesn't really exist in Detroit.

[ghettopalmetto]

Cleveland is barely better off than Detroit, and the long-term trends are mostly negative, so I would say we have nothing to learn from Cleveland.Downtown Cleveland, in particular, seems to have regressed from 10 years ago. The downtown mall is mostly empty, and the Flats "entertainment district" is mostly abandoned.There are some good things happening, and Cleveland has better regionalization [[transit and library are both regionalized), but I wouldn't trade places with them.

I know it's a pain in the ass to break out the passport and drive 3 hours on a weekend, so allow me to interject.

I'm not sure which "mall" you're talking about--There are two shopping malls in downtown Cleveland. Is this necessarily a bad thing, though? A Mall is a suburban building form. Cleveland needs people walking on the street, not boxed-up indoors. To wit, the popular Warehouse District and E. 4th Street areas.

As far as the Flats are concerned...some of us have moved forward from the 1990s. And by that, I mean a massive mixed-use redevelopment of the Flats including offices, hotels, housing, and retail that is currently under construction.

That aside, Cleveland is far more than stupid-ass malls and the fratboy Flats. You should take a visit sometime. I can recommend some neat places.

Granted, they've recently done some things I find distasteful. But positive things are happening on the North Coast. And you'd be a damned arrogant fool to lock yourself away and think that Detroit couldn't learn anything from Cleveland, or vice-versa.

[JBMcB]

We visited Cleveland for the first time last fall - here's what I saw:

The Good
- Nice museum / entertainment campus on the water downtown
- On the west side, LOADS of very nice, well-kept houses fairly close to downtown, easily within biking distance
- On the east side, some decent, denser housing areas [[scattered amongst some pretty dodgy areas)
- The university/Cleveland clinic area is *really* nice
- There are some fantastic public parks along the waterfront

The Bad
- The nice entertainment district is kinda isolated from the rest of downtown
- The rest of downtown isn't doing that well - better than Detroit but not by much
- I saw a LOT of closed schools on the east side, looks like they are having the same budget woes as Detroit

We were only there for a long weekend to visit friends, but they look like they are in good position for some growth downtown.

[renf]

One other asset of Cleveland is reasonable public transit with good light rail and heavy rail system. Residential neighborhoods and the airport are connected to downtown by effective, efficient and low cost rail transit systme.

[DetBill]

Looking at the title of this thread got my interests going as my partner lives in cleveland and I am there weekly for the past four years. Infact, just got back from four days there this week , wish is not unusual. I know the city , very, very well now. The article talks about cleveland like it is some sort of Manhanttan.. Both of us agree this is pretty well overrated by a mile. Cleveland in the late 1990s was experiencing a wonderful comeback, the downtown area. regentrification in many areas, increased real estate prices and good downtown shopping.. Look forward to 2012 and you see many , many of the problems Detroit faces and actually less expansion than we have. .The one casino being built, which will have no hotel and the medical mart downtown are the big deal there now and that is it . Their downtown is unfortunately struggliing, it has some very nice pockets but they lack traffic especially on the weekends. Detroit is much, much busier, especially with numerous events going on. My partner often comments to me how busy Downtown Detroit is and the amount of traffic we see on weekend evenings [[ I live on the 17th floor- corner facing downtown Detroit). Our skyline I think is nicer,, theirs is attractive with some very nice lighting however. We both share large amounts of street vagrants and bums wanting money. Overall, I think Cleveland is far more cleaner. My partner absolutely loves Belle Isle for its raw beauty and landmarks , as I do, but cant get over the garbage when we go there, its absolutely embarrasing when we go there sometimes , some friends have told me to stay away on Monday due to the garbage dump appearance. They have some wonderful condos downtown, but then again, we have some nice housing also, Im told how our Lafayette Park area is unique compared to what Cleveland has. Our RiverWalk is far nicer than their area, we really have done a lovely job with that in the recent years.
The Ohio City area there is quite nice with their very nice market, however almost all of their produce vendors have produce that is just brought in, their meats/pastry/cheese section is wonderful and great restaurants and some very cool stores however. Eastern Market is really becoming wonderful and whats really cool here is the amount of farmers selling . I just wish it was open like Clevelands is 4 days a week. Our midtown area is becoming quite cool however and rivals anything they have in a comparable area. Our arts area and the DIA and museums are also great,, theirs is very nice also, going under restoration like ours did, I went to their Rembrandt exhibit on Sunday and it was really wonderful. Presently they have the Cleveland Film Festival and its great. saw some wonderful movies also. Their museum/arts entertainement area however is on the east side of their city, about a 10 minute drive east but set in a great area landscape wise with museums, parks, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic and the outstanding Severance Hall [[ a deco auditorium entirely with silver and gold leaf ceilings and walls ) for the Cleveland Symphony. Overall I think they have the edge on that from us but Detroit has nothing to feel bad about . Cleveland also just opened a aquarium in the downtown area which does make me jealous considering what we could have on Belle Isle.
Clevelands RTA transportation system is great, with cool transit stations for land level rail and buses everywhere, You can even take it out to the airport for three bucks, what a deal.
I think Detroit has a far more edgier music scene however and more alternative venues and that is becoming better yearly.
However , I do feel much safer in cleveland in most, but not all, areas than I do here . They have problems also but not as severe.
They also believe in street lighting, unlike our fair town, and the cops are pretty responsive there. They also do not have to deal with the clowns at the city hall level like we do. The reps there seem more interested in helping their city as a whole for everyone and race does not seem to be a huge problem. Their racial makeup in the city proper is about 60 percent black and 40 white and everybody gets some sort of representation. Detroit has some major problems in recognizing that its non black residents need some sort of representation and that the city exists for all equally. I almost feel anymore that as a white Detroiter my input really doesnt count, and I do hate to say that but I have had a place downtown since 1988 and feel pretty confident in my assessment anymore. Our neighborhoods, with the exception of downtown and a select other few for the most part are becoming a crime infested write off, I would say that is true for only about 40 percent of their cities neighborhoods .
Its funny though, when you watch their news at night and talk to their people, they say the same things as many do here in that they want to move out far in the burbs and stay away if possible with the exception of a certain core. Hopefully that will change there.
Both towns are big sports cities but I do feel Detroit does much better in that department. Better teams, better facilities and I like our football and baseball stadiums together, They also do not have hockey which i feel is , well, a big negative.
Real Estate values there dropped again this year, but city wise are still higher than ours. but still a deal , the burbs are comparable.
We could learn some lessons from Cleveland , but then again they could take some hints from us. They are struggling in many ways we are , but I dont think have the severity of problems overall.
I just wish we could get a handle on safety. lighting, and city efficiency. I fear for our neighborhoods and the safety of our citizens. What a terrible lesson to teach our young people. We can surely do better.

[Scottathew]

Be sure to watch the very end....

[masterblaster]

I concur with gameguy56.

Cleveland has some hip, walkable business districts outside of its downtown/University Circle area [[Midtown Detroit equivalent). They include Tremont, Ohio City, Slavic Village, Shaker Square, Little Italy,

Unfortunately, we really don't have that kind of thing in Detroit.

http://cleveland.about.com/od/neighb...akersquare.htm

[G-DDT]

I happened into a poster shop in Rochester, NY. years ago, and struck up a conversation with the girl there. When I found out she was from Cleveland, I said "Ah, another Mid-westerner." In which she asked where I was from. When I said Detroit, her face wrinkled up sour and in a snide tone said "What's in Detroit?" If I had my druthers up then, I would've replied "Non-flammable bodies of water". I guess that's what the French call Esprit d'Escalier [[Spirit of the Staircase).

[chitaku]

I dated a girl in Cleveland for a small time. She showed me a lot of the town and we even kayaked the Cuyahoga River right downtown which was pretty cool. Cleveland infrastructure wise is in way better shape than Detroit with a lot of very nice neighborhoods and walkable districts. I also feel like they didn't have the racial issues that Detroit has. However Detroit is a way more interesting place and I'd pick living there over Cleveland any day.,...... Friendly people though

[Danny]

Cleveland made its Downtown revival in the mid to late 1990s through Dan Gilbert and his Quicken Loans and holding companies. He brought in lots of clients from all over the. When he took over the Cleveland Cavaliers later. Lebron James brought in the economy boost until he defected and went to Miami Heat. Now he's back home and Clevelanders forgive him.

Gilberttown Cleveland is back on the spotlight just as Gilberttown Detroit.

These two cities really have in common.

[TTime]

This is a very good question. Cleveland has been in the "recovery" game for a little while longer and they seem to be slightly more modest. Clevelanders don't seem to pat themselves on the back for small accomplishments the way many Detroiters do. They know that rebuilding has its ups and downs and they also seem to value and care for some of their distinct neighborhoods more so than Detroiters. Cleveland should absolutely be looked to as a realistic model for what Detroit could become.