shs96

This is exactly right and why these types of surveys are worthless. Every major city has bad parts of town, however the cities on the list have smaller official city limits than the other major metropolitan areas.

I worked for Homecomings Financial for 1.5 years. They are GMAC's subprime mortgage servicing company. Obviously, as a servicer of subprime loans, there are a lot of foreclosures. I was an analyst in the operations performance reporting department. Essentially, I reported on how well the company was doing at preventing loss, keeping delinquency low, etc. In case you were wondering, the WORST thing that could happen to the bank that owns your loan is you go into foreclosure and the bank takes ownership of your home. Most mortgage companies will do anything to prevent that - waive late fees, set up repayment plans, cut your interest rate to get you caught up on payments, or even help you sell your house - sometimes for less that what you owe - just to avoid taking a hit. Anyway, working in a department that's sole focus was contacting homeowners who were delinquent on their payments, you would be shocked at how many people do in fact own expensive cars, eat out 3 or 4 times a week, and essentially live way beyond their means. Then, in an even more astonishing move, people would decide to stop paying their mortgage over not paying their credit card bill, downgrading their cable service, disconnecting internet service, or swapping out their car for something more affordable. FYI, nobody can come to your house and take your plasma TV you bought on your credit card. People will come take your house if you stop paying your mortgage. You know what the most common answer was to why people would pay their credit card bill but not their mortgage? "If I don't pay my credit card bill, it will ruin my credit". Look, this obviously isn't the case with everyone - I certainly heard of more sympathetic hardships such as health related expenses getting out of control, layoffs crippling income, etc. But don't be naive and think these people with escalades, mercedes, etc in the driveway of their foreclosed home are few and far between - they aren't. At the end of the day, its easy to blame predatory lenders on the situation that's a nationwide problem, but some blame needs to be on the consumer. Here you have someone who signs 75 documents that contractually binds them for making payments for 30 years yet they have no idea what any of what they are signing means. "You expected me to read all of that?!?!" Uh, yes. I bet they shopped around for months before picking out their new car, but they did basically nothing prior to making the biggest investment most people will make in their life.

I was able to meet the executive producer of the nightly news last night - they were using the unit next to me for production things. She seemed to be enjoying her time in Cleveland; she even asked to have a tour of our unit. I think she really just wanted to play with our dogs as she told me she had to put hers to sleep just over 2 years ago and was deciding if she would get a new one. Everyone seemed pretty nice that I encountered (granted, they were on a promotional trip to "reach out to the customers"). I thought it was great to have them do a live broadcast from here. Downtown looked great and it was nice to have some positive coverage of people in Cleveland. And yes, they were set up in an eclosed white tent at the end of the stonebridge, just past where the waterfront apartments end, across from where the plaza building (stage 5) starts. And then the back "wall" of the tent was rolled up so you could get a view of the city.

No. It just compounds the problem. Besides, if you are a bum and you're begging for money, it's probably not for food. It's for whatever vice you have. You're smart enough to find busy intersections, know when sporting events are, and know what times of day more people are walking on the streets but you aren't smart enough to find shelters and organizations that can provide you more long term assistance? Right.

I would agree with this. Last year during the Eastern Conference Finals, I happen to have a friend in town staying at the Ritz. The entire TNT TV crew was staying there and I saw Rip Hamilton and a few other people who were most likely "posse" members of other Detroit players. Someone else staying there told me they saw Billups and Sheed the night before. So I might scout out the hotel bar.

This is correct. It's not a soundproof building as I recently got a b*tchy letter from Stonebridge (who is acting as the condo board) regarding my dog. It essentially said there were numerous complaints about it barking and it would be removed in 72 hours if I didn't control the situation. OK, I don't want my dog barking anymore during the day than a neighbor does, but consider: 1. At the time I received the letter, I had no neighbors as I was 1 of 2 people on the floor and I was well removed from the other unit. Who exactly is complaining? 2. Construction crews were in and out of my unit all day long finishing off things they didn't do right the first time around. So some random person enters my unit and you're expecting my dog not to bark? 3. Even if they aren't entering my unit, it's LOUD in there during the day as they finish off neighboring units. If a table saw suddenly fires off and it sounds like it is in my living room, my dog isn't just going to sit there and continue to sleep. I guess I am venting here, but the attitude on the letter considering the circumstances and the level of completion of my unit left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Aside from Stonebridge's general lack of customer service though, I love living there. I just wish they weren't assuming the attitude of "we have your money, we don't care about you anymore, whether your unit is done or not." Keep your dog quiet so potential future residents don't think they will hear noisy dogs barking all day long (ignoring the fact that it sounds like a construction zone in there from 7-4:30).

Interesting topic. I think I will say if there is someone out there who is currently in a relationship that will vouch for the take that "Cleveland is a tough place to be single", I will give it some thought. Until then, I will just say "you're single and having a hard time meeting someone so you're blaming it on Cleveland". I know some people who have had no trouble bouncing in and out of relationships in this town. I know others who haven't had been in a legitimate relationship in 10 years. I think it's more of a reflection on you than it is on the city...and not you personally, but rather the routine you have put yourself in that limits who you are meeting and/or your actual desire/readiness to be in a relationship

Yeah - the playoff run by the Cavs and now the Indians are great tools for free city publicity. I thought the shots of the stadium / downtown from the blimp last night were great. Plus when the teams are successful, downtown is hopping and you get all these shots nationwide of downtown looking vibrant with lots of activity, giving Cleveland a great positive image.

Particularly sad since I go there all the time. While in Dallas, I was friends with lots of transplants from Ohio so I am not at all surprised you know someone with a similar past. I guess it goes back to my point...of all of those people I was friends with, most of them hoped to move back to Cleveland/Ohio some day and had great things to say about their hometown.

Orange County? No, I live downtown although I am working on an MBA.

I agree with most of these points. I've also noticed that people from Cleveland who have moved away speak highly of Cleveland, as if they miss it, whereas those still living here speak lowly of it. After 6+ years living in Dallas, I moved back to Cleveland because I missed it. Upon returning and telling people I just moved back, 9 times out of 10 I would get "why?" I think for people that have lived here their whole lives if something bad should happen say economically for them (laid off perhaps), they say "it's Cleveland's fault. This city sucks." If that same person were to move to another city and get laid off, they would be able to see the more macro economic picture and blame it on the industry rather than the city being depressed.

Haven't seen the other two guys, but Steve Phillips picked the Indians to win while on Mike and Mike on Monday morning during their "confidence picks" segment.

OK, I changed the language...not sure what that has to do with anything. Still, I think the word is a fitting description...definitions: Having declined, as in function or nature, from a former or original state Having fallen to an inferior or undesirable state, especially in mental or moral qualities.

Ms. Peabody, I couldn't have said that better myself! You go gurl! I'm stealing this from the Steelyard Commons thread and bringing it over here. In my opinion, this is the biggest hurdle for regionalism. Innner Ring doesn't like the outer ring and vice versa. Frankly, inner ring people are more proponents of regionalism than outer ring folks because they are the ones seeing the most deterioration. Meanhwile, outer ring people like the thought, but think there are too many unresponsible people in the inner ring for it to work - just a waste of time and money. Frankly, being born and rasied in Solon and now living downtown, I see why people would like both. The disconnect is the outer ring doesn't think the inner (as a whole) is capable of managing any kind of civic project or maintain any kind of region wide prosperity. Meanwhile the inner ring simply resents the outer ring but wants their money; could care less if they can enjoy the benefits of the the city, after all, they left to begin with. As long as there is a line of division as denoted in the quote above, it will always be every man for themselves.

This is 100% accurate. Council is notorious for being difficult with simple things like what material the sign in front of your business is made out of, let alone re-zoning an entire section of the city and building an infrastructure around it to support that kind of traffic.

Shocking that there are so many of you that haven't heard of cornhole. Doesn't anyone tailgate at football games? There's even a cornhole bar video game (like Siliver Strike bowling or Golden Tee...its called "bags"). http://www.playcornhole.org/ As far as the name goes, I mean, get over it. It's like not wanting to call "balls" in baseball because it has too much of a sexual overtone so you'd rather call it "not a strike". The bags are full of corn and you throw it in a hole.

I agree. As a kid, I thought "I'm an eastsider". As I got older and started expanding more outside of my home town and realized what people associated with "eastsider" and "westsider" I realized I am not really either. East Side essentially amounts to the "Heights" - Cleveland, University, Shaker, Richmond, Garfield and I guess Warrensville plus Euclid, Lyndhurst, and maybe Beachwood. West Side - Lakewood, Rocky River, Westlake, Bay Village, Fairview, Avon and Avon Lake. Anyone else just lives in a suburb of Cleveland (or Cleveland itself).

In theory, yes. But it only really applies if all 18-20 year olds are taught the same discipline and responsibility that those who are guarding nuclear weapons with automatic rifles are taught. Somehow, I'm not as worried about a 19 year old Marine carrying a weapon as I am some random 19 year old on the street.

Athens, OH I've been to most colleges in Ohio at some point or another...Athens wins hands down...the trees and the hills are great.

nice letter Jeff...I guess, according to Dick, Milwaukee and Toronto are the only progressive cold weather cities. Chicago, Boston, New York, Philly, Pittsburgh...what were they thinking. Anyone mention to the folks out in Denver that it snows there when they built Coors Field? Even Minneapolis is moving from "progressive" back to the "what, it's cold outside?" by having the Twins move out of the metrodome and into a new, outdoor facility next year. That might have been he dumbest column I've ever read.

There's a ferry that leaves from Sandusky and goes to Pelee Island and Leamington Ontario http://www.ontarioferries.com/jii/english/index.html Pelee Island has a nice winery if you should ever make it there.

my first job - paper boy at 12. Delivering the paper wasn't bad. I woke up early on Thursday and went around my neighborhood delivering the paper. It was collecting each month that was horrible. Some people claimed they hadn't ordered the paper and weren't paying. Some people told me to come back another time (even though I accepted cash or check). A few people actually paid. At 12, there's not much you can do about this - going door to door asking for payment. The problem was, as an employee, I was not paid - at all. My "earnings" were only tips. So I had a list of subscribers that owed X amount each month. I had to pay the newspaper that amount and I could keep whatever else I had. Obviously, since about 1/2 of the people actually paid, I ended up not having enough money to pay the total. So I actually lost money on my first job. I quit after two weeks of trying to collect.

I missed them specifically saying Heinens, but when reading those articlesa month (?) ago about Corna and Wolstein being in Vegas together for a development convention, in their plans they did have space reserved for a full service grocery store. That would be a huge boost in growing downtown as a viable living area.

I like what I've heard so far from Dr. Gene. I'm interested to see how the "bad kids school" plays out. I don't necessarily think its a bad idea...you're just going to need a lot of talented teachers to turn that group around. Hopefully in 20 years we will be able to turn around the real problem, as Dick eluded to, bad parents. How do you feel about putting laws in place to help curtail the number of kids people have with different partners? Father kids from more than 1 woman while not being married to either and you could face mandatory vasectomy (yeah, yeah...that probably won't fly...but similar laws are in place in China). That's the real problem we're facing...too many Travis Henry's out there.

it's not the same quality of suburb city as it was 20-30 years ago. And with all of the industry there, it should be (auto-mile, UH, Ford stamping plant, etc). If you ask long time residents, they say the start of it was around the same time Bedford Heights allowed section 8 housing to be built. My grandma eventually had to sell the only house she ever had owned (and the house my dad grew up in) after it was broken into for the second time in a year. Granted, it was in Oakwood, but Bedford School district (Oakwood, Bedford, Bedford Heights, and Walton Hills). It's not a "bad" area, but it has just declined over the years.