^^I honestly don't know what's worse, faking that you're in tune with your grandparents' culture or giving up and embracing the country music subculture that seems to have overtaken absolutely everything else.

 

According to my dad, his grandfather (my great-grandfather, born around 1900) took Lawrence Welk and polka completely, 100% seriously.  But my grandfather (born around 1930) smirked at each and every mention of polka, let alone the sound of it.  He'd periodically go over to the piano and rip out some ridiculous old polka song as a joke.  So polka was already on the outs by 1950.  They'd fire it up at wedding receptions for 2-3 songs and everyone would get out there.  But if that DJ had dared to play a fourth of fifth song it was going to get ugly. 

 

The onslaught of country/bluegrass was launched sometime in the late 80s and here we are nearly 40 years later.  In the early 2000s they mixed it with pop and hip-hop and killed everything real in the process. 

 

Clark Fulton is just under 50% Hispanic or Latino.  Since Hispanic is not a race I would assume it is the largest ethnicity in the neighborhood.

Though I hate this thread's premise, I'll step up for Cleveland and say they arguably do the best job in Ohio promoting their older ethnic neighborhoods (Little Italy, Clark-Fulton, Asiatown, etc), even if many of those neighborhoods aren't exactly that ethnicity anylonger.  Everywhere in the state has ethnic districts (Columbus arguably has the largest with Northern Lights [aka Little Somalia]) but Cleveland does keep them visible in ways the Italian/German/Hungarian Villages in Columbus or the older Eastern European & Latino districts in the city of Dayton (Twin Towers, Old North Dayton, Linden, etc) should at least attempt.

 

What's great about Cleveland promoting Little Italy? Seriously? Chris, I know MANY Black people who refuse to even set foot there because of the persistent racism that for some reason still happens to exist, there. I'm far from being the poster-boy for issues in equality and race relations but even I don't care to have anything to do with Little Italy. IMO, Little Italy isn't a place worthy of being promoted.

The goal posts always move.

Wow, David you have amazing knack for insecurity and for jumping to conclusions you haven't earned. And then when you realize your conclusions were unfounded, you resort to the "I didn't know about it because I don't like it and don't care to try it" defense.

 

So, back to the topic of this thread, I would like us to celebrate our differences and understand why they exist. It's a really cool story and helps different people with different backgrounds coexist. There is no threat from understanding each other. To me, that makes for a great thread, if we're mature enough, curious enough and secure enough to look and discuss further.

^^I honestly don't know what's worse, faking that you're in tune with your grandparents' culture or giving up and embracing the country music subculture that seems to have overtaken absolutely everything else.

 

According to my dad, his grandfather (my great-grandfather, born around 1900) took Lawrence Welk and polka completely, 100% seriously.  But my grandfather (born around 1930) smirked at each and every mention of polka, let alone the sound of it.  He'd periodically go over to the piano and rip out some ridiculous old polka song as a joke.  So polka was already on the outs by 1950.  They'd fire it up at wedding receptions for 2-3 songs and everyone would get out there.  But if that DJ had dared to play a fourth of fifth song it was going to get ugly. 

 

The onslaught of country/bluegrass was launched sometime in the late 80s and here we are nearly 40 years later.  In the early 2000s they mixed it with pop and hip-hop and killed everything real in the process. 

 

let's stop disparaging polka, kept alive by the Western Reserve's very own Chardon Polka Band!

 

^For as much as I poke fun at Polka, I still have a number of my grandparents' Frankie Yankovic albums that I'll throw on the record player at parties to see how people will react!  :laugh:

^For as much as I poke fun at Polka, I still have a number of my grandparents' Frankie Yankovic albums that I'll throw on the record player at parties to see how people will react!  :laugh:

 

grandparents?? you're probably too young to remember a show called Polka Varieties. It was on Sunday at noon (or maybe it was 1:00. don't remember exactly), and I think lasted well into the early 80's. A great Cleveland tradition

 

i believe the traffic circles you find around ne ohio are also a legacy of the western reserve. to be sure they are found elsewhere in ohio, and certainly there are modern versions all over as it was a development trend a decade ago, but they are not so historically embedded as like in ne ohio.

 

don't think these really have anything to do with the western reserve legacy, as part of the vans layout, and the circles aren't at town(ship) centers like elsewhere in the western reserve

 

http://images.ulib.csuohio.edu/cdm/ref/collection/maps/id/24

^ i dk for sure, but they certainly predate the van's in the more rural areas and they are not really found elsewhere in the state.

Many of the traffic circles found in the centers of towns were built as village squares, then turned into traffic circles to accommodate auto traffic.

Troubles in our papa state are the same in NE Ohio as is the solution -- the need for rebuilding our urban centers. Since Ohio isn't interested in our problems, let's join forces with Connecticut in making this happen! :)

 

What on Earth Is Wrong With Connecticut?

DEREK THOMPSON  JUL 6, 2017

Conservatives say the state has a tax problem. Liberals say it has an inequality problem. What it really has is a city problem.

 

The state of Connecticut has many nicknames. It is the Nutmeg State, the Constitution State, and America’s Country Club, while Hartford, its capital city, has been called the Nation’s Filing Cabinet. But as Connecticut grapples with a deep fiscal crisis, it might as well embrace another moniker: The Rorschach State. For the left and the right, it is the manifestation of each side’s greatest fears.

 

Despite being the richest state in the country, by per-capita income, Connecticut’s budget is a mess. Its pensions are woefully under-funded. Its deficit is projected to surpass $2 billion, or 12 percent of its total annual tax revenue. Hartford is approaching bankruptcy. Conservatives look at Connecticut and see a liberal dystopia, where high taxes have ruined the economy. Liberals, on the other hand, see a capitalist horror show, where the rich dwell in gilded mansions, ensconced in sylvan culs-de-sac, while nearby towns face rising poverty and bankruptcy. Why is America’s richest state floundering?

 

The first answer is: Corporations are leaving. Aetna, the insurance giant, is leaving Hartford, where it was founded 150 years ago. In early 2016, General Electric announced that it would move its global headquarters from Fairfield, Connecticut, to Boston.

 

MORE:

https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/07/what-on-earth-is-wrong-with-connecticut/532842/?utm_source=SFTwitter

I'd be interested in forming a Friends of the Western Reserve nonprofit association. Anyone interested?

________

 

Seeking Heritage Area designation

 

At the request of Congress in 2011, the National Park Service prepared a feasibility study for declaring the 14-county region of the Western Reserve as a National Heritage Area. This is a means to encourage broad-based preservation of such historical sites and buildings which are related to a large historical theme. Such assessment and designation has been significant for recognizing assets, and encouraging new development and businesses, including heritage tourism, often related to adaptive re-use of waterways, and buildings, as well as totally new endeavors. 49 National Heritage Areas have been designated in the United States, including two in Ohio: the Ohio Canal of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the National Aviation Heritage Area. The NPS study coordinator said that while the region had the historic assets, and there was considerable public support for such a designation, the Western Reserve lacked "a definitive coordinating entity or supporting group," which is required to gain Congressional approval.[10] If such a body developed in the future, federal designation might be sought.

 

https://www.nps.gov/heritageareas/

^I'd be on board KJP[/member] . Great idea

I'm curious why the Western Reserve Historical Society couldn't be or didn't want to be this coordinating entity or supporting group.

Thank God the Clevelanders on this forum don't reflect the sort of Clevelanders I interact with on a daily basis. I'd end up shooting myself.

 

Then move.  Simple.  Again, you complain on this forum like a City Data poster.  Your posts constantly talk about how you don't like this or that about Cleveland.  Bye, Felicia! 

 

People really find this thread insulting?  It's so tongue-in-cheek, and literally means nothing, and all the NEO posters here know that.  Go create a thread about SW Ohio becoming its own state, I am sure the Cleveland posters could care less.

They could rename the southern part of the state Sohio.  Sorry, I had to do it.

I enjoy the Western Reserve because of its history, not as a separatist movement. No need for everyone South of Mansfield to get all butt hurt.

Thank God the Clevelanders on this forum don't reflect the sort of Clevelanders I interact with on a daily basis. I'd end up shooting myself.

 

Then move.  Simple.  Again, you complain on this forum like a City Data poster.  Your posts constantly talk about how you don't like this or that about Cleveland.  Bye, Felicia! 

 

People really find this thread insulting?  It's so tongue-in-cheek, and literally means nothing, and all the NEO posters here know that.  Go create a thread about SW Ohio becoming its own state, I am sure the Cleveland posters could care less.

 

Why dig up a post from last month when the thread had finally moved in a normal, informative direction? You're just stirring up shit at this point.

Map of Ohio, ca 1815, published in Melish, Travels through the USA. Found @Cleveland_PL Digital Gallery.

https://t.co/BKlsB1teVl

What's up with the North East Quadrant? They were still in the process of dividing up counties? Ohio was established in 1803, if my memory serves me correctly. Did NE Ohio just not having county government services for over a decade? Or was there just one giant county for almost a quarter of the state? I don't know what to infer from that map. Also, it really seems that Franklin Co.'s boundaries are actually a little more centralized in the state than what appears on that map. I suppose I could be wrong but it does seem a little closer to Cincinnati/Hamilton Co. than it actually is. Of course, that was probably hand-drawn, before computers and other tools.

Are you referring to the NW quadrant?

Yeah, lol.

^ My assumption is that the size of the state has increased over time.  I know there was a "war" with Michigan Territory over Toledo.

What's up with the North East Quadrant? They were still in the process of dividing up counties? Ohio was established in 1803, if my memory serves me correctly. Did NE Ohio just not having county government services for over a decade? Or was there just one giant county for almost a quarter of the state? I don't know what to infer from that map. Also, it really seems that Franklin Co.'s boundaries are actually a little more centralized in the state than what appears on that map. I suppose I could be wrong but it does seem a little closer to Cincinnati/Hamilton Co. than it actually is. Of course, that was probably hand-drawn, before computers and other tools.

 

Originally, Lake County was part of Geauga. I'm not sure when the exact apportionment happened though.

Part of lake county was Cuyahoga County as well.

What's up with the North East Quadrant? They were still in the process of dividing up counties? Ohio was established in 1803, if my memory serves me correctly. Did NE Ohio just not having county government services for over a decade? Or was there just one giant county for almost a quarter of the state? I don't know what to infer from that map. Also, it really seems that Franklin Co.'s boundaries are actually a little more centralized in the state than what appears on that map. I suppose I could be wrong but it does seem a little closer to Cincinnati/Hamilton Co. than it actually is. Of course, that was probably hand-drawn, before computers and other tools.

 

Originally, Lake County was part of Geauga. I'm not sure when the exact apportionment happened though.

 

I know everybody is just on the edge of their seats wondering why Lake County was formed out of Geauga County, so here:

 

http://co.geauga.oh.us/Departments/Archives/Holdings/County-History

 

As the population grew, the Ohio General Assembly created the County of Geauga on December 31,1805. County business was initially conducted in New Market and Champion in northern Geauga. The site was controversial for its lack of population, being a wilderness, but was within one mile of Geauga's geographic center. People from Painesville in northern Geauga and Burton in central Geauga fought for decades to the have the seat moved. The inability of the northern Geaugans to move the county seat closer to their population center in Painesville resulted in the controversial creation of Lake County in 1840 from northern Geaugan lands.

 

 

^ I, for one, enjoyed that piece of history.  Is there an explanation as to why a small part of Cuyahoga broke off into Lake County?

I don't know. I wasn't aware of that. Just the Geauga Co history. Isn't that Willowick? Maybe no one wanted it. lol

Here is some more exciting history

 

In addition to its present borders, Cuyahoga County, when officially formed, included parts of modern-day Lorain, Huron, and Lake Counties. By the time Cuyahoga became administratively separated from Geauga County, provision was already being made to detach the counties of Lorain and Huron. Huron became a county in 1815, while Lorain became a county in 1824. The new borders, however, put one community at a disadvantage. The Lennox Township was split between Lorain and Cuyahoga. After appealing to the general assembly, the community of the township was reunited with Cuyahoga County in 1827 and changed its name to the Olmsted Township.

 

The county experienced another major border adjustment with the formation of Lake County in March 1840. Although the greatest portion of the new country was ceded from Geauga County, the Willoughby Township was separated from Cuyahoga County and added to Lake as well. Still, the boundary between Geauga and Cuyahoga was not clearly defined until 1843, when it was decided that Geauga would transfer Chagrin Falls to Cuyahoga in exchange for a strip of land from the Orange Township. Since the time of this final adjustment, the borders of the county have borne no further changes.

 

http://www.cuyahogacounty.us/en-us/history.aspx

I'm surprised anyone wanted Toledo. I would have said , "You guys can have that."

 

Just kidding. Well...kinda.

I do know that the decision to have 88 counties was made in order to "allow residents access to their county seat within a one-day carriage ride"

I do know that the decision to have 88 counties was made in order to "allow residents access to their county seat within a one-day carriage ride"

 

Heh. Clearly antiquated. If those were drawn today, 88 counties would certainly be unnecessary. Of course, the way we're politically divided, heavily influenced by demographics and urban/suburban/living is certainly another thing to consider. I can't help but think that the number of counties is yet another ridiculous example and provides yet another opportunity to eliminate redundancies in government jobs/services, which could allow more money to go to useful things like public transit and other things I care about (not that the folks in Columbus' would necessarily allocate it there.)

 

 

I swear, if I see a news article from the Dispatch or Plain-Dealer making these points in the next week or two, I'm taking drastic measures. My posts are time-stamped  :evil:

Eh, Republicans love small-town government like County Commissioners and Township Trustees.

That doesn't sound very 'Murica-like. They should hate inefficient government agencies and lazy bureaucrats.

Yep, had to do it, if only for the fun of it. The Quieting Act probably resolved this, but shouldn't a state's citizens have the right to decide whether it will no longer be a state?

 

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2017

Could the Western Reserve return to Connecticut?

 

No one in Cleveland or Akron or Ashtabula complains to or congratulates Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy. No one in Warren, Medina or Sandusky cares if U.S. Senator Chris Murphy should be re-elected in 2018. There is no sharing of state offices between Cleveland and Hartford and thus, no direct flights between Cleveland Hopkins and Hartford Bradley. And we sure don't call ourselves the Nutmeg State, or even the exclave of same.

 

Perhaps we should have been. For more than 200 years, people living in cities like Cleveland, Akron, Ashtabula, Warren, northern Youngstown, Medina, Lorain, Elyria, Norwalk, Sandusky and Put-In-Bay have lived in the state of Ohio. What if Connecticut relinquished these lands, called the Connecticut Western Reserve or New Connecticut without following proper procedure?

 

MORE:

http://neo-trans.blogspot.com/2017/12/could-western-reserve-return-to.html

The urban cores of Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton are blue islands (in stark contrast to their red immediate surroundings) in ways that Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Toledo, and Youngstown are not. Consider: What the Ohio vote looked like in 2012 when Obama won the state.

Is there a way to get a high-res version of this map?

The urban cores of Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton are blue islands (in stark contrast to their red immediate surroundings) in ways that Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Toledo, and Youngstown are not. Consider: What the Ohio vote looked like in 2012 when Obama won the state.

 

 

I'm really surprised to see so much of appalachia blue to neutral. It appears that way to me, anyway, (I'm colorblind.) It probably doesn't look like that with the most recent election. I think most people would expect this map to generally go from blue up north to red down south.

Those Appalachian/Ohio River Valley areas did flip and they are exactly what gave Trump his victory

Is there a way to get a high-res version of this map?

 

I'll check. EDIT: 500x386 is all I'm finding. Sorry.

Those Appalachian/Ohio River Valley areas did flip and they are exactly what gave Trump his victory

 

It'll flip back during the next financial crisis/recession. How quickly they forget what that was like.

 

Look at Cincinnati. That's insane. It doesn't even look like the west side of the inner city voted for Obama at all. Folks in Price Hill voted for Mitt Romney?! LOL! The map is so small, I can't really tell but either way, it looks funny. Talk about not voting in your own interest.

Those Appalachian/Ohio River Valley areas did flip and they are exactly what gave Trump his victory

 

Hillary attacked those voters, beat them away with a stick.  I can't emphasize enough how crucial it is for Democrats to revise their stance on coal and their attitude toward rural people.

Changing ones stance on coal with do nothing for these people. 

She promised to shut down all the mines like Margaret Thatcher.  Could not have screwed up worse.  Those are union voters and we need to stand with them, if we expect them to stand with us.

She was gonna shut them down huh?  Not market forces and automation.

Right. She could have stood with them by having a clear plan on creating 21st century jobs for them, before shutting down all the mines. I would love to see all the mines shut down and alternative energy jobs created in those same areas.

 

Most of those people who were offended by the idea of shutting down all the mines, aren't actually coal miners and probably don't even know one. It's really amazing how many people stick up for and have so much respect for coal miners.

Coal is the only industry she made a campaign promise to shut down.  Any electoral map will show you how catastrophic that was.  Most of the people offended by the idea were labor leaders in our region of the country.  Talk to any one of them, right now.  They're still saying the same thing with the same desperation behind it.  2018 and 2020 are hanging in the balance.  We cannot continue treating our own core voters with such contempt.  The attitude has to change now.

 

Anyone who lives in SE Ohio is in some way affected by the fate of the regional mining industry.  Many of them work in power plants rather than mines.  Even if their job is in another sector entirely, it disappears as soon as mining does.  Democrats are the party of workers.  If we intend to regain power, it is necessary to stand with workers when they are in trouble.  That is our job. 

She had a plan for coal country but they wouldn't listen.  As evidenced here many of you didn't listen either.  I guess we should just patronize people to get their votes. 

Now off topic....