Rustbelter

I agree with this. I would rather see connectivity of downtown resources/districts than trying to spread it out to the east side. I think it's more beneficial for Cleveland to concentrate it's economic and neighborhood development to downtown at this point. I could see a loop work something like what they have in in Portland or Sacramento very nicely. The redevelopment of east side lakefront would likely be after a revitalized downtown lakefront anyway, as economic pressures would dictate such.

I think that was just the style of the period for upper class homes in the area. I never really thought about it but it's pretty common to see around there. It certainly has nothing to do with lake views, as there are many houses with that feature built away from the lake.

Nice photos! I grew up in Ashtabula County so this is all very familiar territory for me. No, it's all pretty much rural. Calling it exurban is misleading since Cleveland's sprawl has not really encroached on this area. Although parts of Ashtabula County are not exactly what I would call "healthy." This area could benefit by promoting its wine industry and lakefront areas better.

How old is this data? I don't live in Cleveland but visit often and some of this info is not reflective of what I see. Cudell, Broadway, and Collinwood do not appear to be as white as the numbers say. Possibly Detroit-Shoreway as well (not sure of the exact boundaries of that area).

Chicago also has some rather urban suburbs that it was not able to annex - Evanston, Oak Park, Cicero, Berwyn. Then you have Norridge and Harwood Hts., which are bungalow belt type suburbs that are surrounded by the city but remain separate municipalities.

I'm an Ohio native, but lived in San Diego prior to my current city (Chicago). San Diego has a pretty good downtown and I would have no problems living there. I actually did live in SD's Little Italy (not very authentic but a cool section of downtown none the less) briefly when I was out there, but the rest of the time I lived in the Pacific Beach/Crown Point area. I miss the fish tacos!

This is not true. You definitely do not need to know any Spanish to live in San Diego. There is of course a large Mexican population, but unless you live in the hispanic barrio it will not be an issue in day-to-day life. San Diego culture is still very much typical American.

Any chance of this option being done in the future with a light rail rapid train? If so would it be run as extension of one of the Shaker lines or as a separate route? How feasible would it be to run a light rail out to Lorain? Personally I like the idea of using the NS Mainline route since you could have a station serving Edgewater Park and Gordan Square, which is currently not the case.

Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood

Nice to hear about things picking up around there. That area has so much potential. It could be one of the coolest neighborhoods anywhere. I mean how many neighborhoods have a skyline view, an amazing market place, and a transit stop? I would love to see some infill development in the future. I always thought it would be cool to have a building on the NW corning of Lorain & 26th with that section of 26th made into a pedestrian way to compliment Market Ave. Not to mention filling in 25th.

Well I'm not a fan a Phoenix pretty much for the reasons jam40jeff stated. too hot ugly and brown dry no urban or historical character full of old people and materialistic L.A. rejects built for the car, not for the people I don't hate the place or anything, but frankly I think it would be the last major city I would want to live. The only good part about living there I can see is proximity to Arizona's national parks. RockandRoller, it sounds like you want to live somewhere hot and dry with a lot of hippies and don't care much about urban life. I think Tucson or Albuquerque would be good. Maybe they are too small? Or what about San Diego? I used to live there and can tell you that in the summer half of Phoenix vacations there anyway LOL. Oh, and as for Cleveland's density, I would like to see it increase in the future. It's good that it has the bones to do so unlike some other places. Hopefully I will see some urban infill and transit orient development down the road in C-Town.

Yeah, I remember Gil's growing up. I think it closed down in the late 90's. Geneva-on-the-Lake still attracts a good amount of tourists and has actually improved in recent years. No surfers though, but lots of bikers.

The wiki map for Northern Inland shows that Erie is not included and mentions it in the write up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Northern_American_English This is true. Actually it's also true of Ashtabula County, which also seems to speak with more of a general western PA accent. Ashtabula is in the Cleveland media market but also gets Erie TV channels. I grew up in Ashtabula county and remember watching the news from both areas and picking up on the Cleveland accents while thinking nothing of the Erie accents. There must be a bubble in the northern cities vowel shift around this general area. I always wondered how far west it went. Anyone know what kind of accents they have in Dunkirk, NY?

I grew up in Ashtabula County so it's nice to see these photos! That is a cool little area that kind of reminds me of the Flats in the way that it's laid out. The topography at the mouth of the Cuyahoga and Ashtabula rivers is very similar. This is certainly true. When I was growing up in the 80's it was not the case though. There actually used to be a good amount of retail activity in downtown Ashtabula. Then the mall was built, and well you know the story. Of course the horrible economy and lack of civic vision does not help things either. Unfortunately Ashtabula is in pretty bad shape these days. FYI: Some old school residents from Ashtabula actually refer to the downtown area as Uptown. I think this is from back in the day when the town had streetcars, and the main route went from the Harbor district (what you see in these photos) and to Uptown (which is really the downtown). My grandparents and even my dad will refer to any downtown area as "uptown" because of that.