This article is spot-on. I always find it really irritating when people say "Northeast Ohio" when they should be saying Cleveland. This happens all the time. This is particularly true of younger people as they grew up with the term everywhere. I've heard people now even say they are FROM "Northeast Ohio" instead of saying Cleveland or Akron, etc. Its crazy. Just listen for ONE DAY to how many times you hear it from people, the web, radio, etc. and decide how many of those times the person should have been saying "Greater Cleveland" or "Cuyahoga County" instead. I figured I'd start this as a new thread as I'm sure its a contentious topic as it seems a lot of people like saying NEO. Or maybe they're just programmed to doing so without even realizing it.

 

Personal View: Please stop saying ‘Northeast Ohio'

 

"The "Northeast Ohio" moniker is destroying Cleveland's brand and identity outside the region and, as such, severely impacting our ability to achieve economic development and population growth. Please stop saying "Northeast Ohio" unless referring to the geography that encompasses Cleveland, Akron, Canton and Youngstown.

 

"Cleveland" or "Greater Cleveland" is the region, which includes Cuyahoga and the six outer counties of Lorain, Medina Summit, Portage, Geauga and Lake. Imagine if people in Chicago started using "Northeast Illinois" when referring to their city and region. That would sound quite silly, but that is exactly what we are doing here....."

 

https://www.crainscleveland.com/opinion/personal-view-please-stop-saying-northeast-ohio

29 minutes ago, Pugu said:

 

"Cleveland" or "Greater Cleveland" is the region, which includes Cuyahoga and the six outer counties of Lorain, Medina Summit, Portage, Geauga and Lake

Interesting to know! 

I am not so sure people in Summit or Portage county will accept being called Cleveland or Greater Cleveland. We have been down this path before, Lorain, Medina, Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties yes but people are not going to be calling Greater Akron Cleveland. no way.

^I agree that all of Summit and Portage may not consider themselves "Greater Cleveland", but certainly northern Summit and Portage are Cleveland suburbs.  But the gist of the article is we should not be calling "greater Cleveland" (whatever that area contains) NEO--it should be called "greater Cleveland" and I wholeheartedly agree. We sound like idiots to outsiders when we say NEO instead of Cleveland--either that or that we are utterly ashamed of the city that we cannot even say the word Cleveland. Either way, its helping to kill Cleveland as a brand and place.

I think it's being over the top dramatic to say that "Northeast Ohio" is killing Cleveland as a brand, and I think that this is a silly thing to fight about.

I guess it depends who one is speaking with. Generally I say I’m from Akron area if someone lives within a state away, otherwise I say Cleveland area.  ‘NEO’ sounds like people listening to too many car commercials on tv. 

The Cleveland vs. Chicago comparison is not quite the same. Chicago is right on the border with its neighboring state whereas Cleveland is not.

 

I say Cleveland when referring to something that is specific to Cleveland, otherwise I say Northeast Ohio if referring to the larger area including Akron, Canton, Youngstown, etc.

 

Edited December 13, 20204 yr by skiwest

As someone not originally from Ohio, I use Northeast Ohio as a cultural identifier that largely coincides with the Connecticut Western Reserve.

I'm still scratching my head over the "Lake Erie" Monsters. Like NEO, there was something oddly dismissive and passive aggressive about the name. At least they're the Cleveland Monsters now.

 

That said, this article is alarmist nonsense. Absolute rubbish.

Edited December 13, 20204 yr by TBideon

2 hours ago, TBideon said:

I'm still scratching my head over the "Lake Erie" Monsters.

That one feels really obscure until you realize it's a play on Loch Ness/Lake Erie's own "Bessie"

3 hours ago, TBideon said:

I'm still scratching my head over the "Lake Erie" Monsters. Like NEO, there was something oddly dismissive and passive aggressive about the name. At least they're the Cleveland Monsters now.

 

That said, this article is alarmist nonsense. Absolute rubbish.

 

They've been the Cleveland Monsters since 2016

Reminds me of the Richfield Colosseum and it's absurdly inconvenient location for the Cavs, Crunch, Lumberhacks, WWF, circus, ice skating shows, etc. They really wanted the Akron market I guess, but even as a kid, I didn't get why it wasnt downtown like other city major stadiums.

 

Great memories there, especially 95. I think they all were in the playoffs in addition to the Indians.

 

Edit: whoops, Cavs were at the Gund then

Edited December 13, 20204 yr by TBideon

Nick Mileti wanted to build a new arena downtown, but he got no support from the city leaders, so he ended up building it in Richfield. Remember in the 70s downtown Cleveland was dead after 5:00 pm, so you can't really fault Mileti to deciding to build in Richfield.  I guess he thought that location would be more convenient for people coming from Akron, Canton and Youngstown. But it wasn't quite as convenient for people coming from some parts of Cleveland area, especially the western suburbs.

 

Edited December 14, 20204 yr by skiwest

16 hours ago, TBideon said:

I'm still scratching my head over the "Lake Erie" Monsters. Like NEO, there was something oddly dismissive and passive aggressive about the name. At least they're the Cleveland Monsters now.

 

That said, this article is alarmist nonsense. Absolute rubbish.

It was really only in the last maybe 15 years that Cleveland teams started using "Cleveland" on their jerseys.   For years it was just the team name (or in the Browns case, nothing at all).  

21 hours ago, TBideon said:

I'm still scratching my head over the "Lake Erie" Monsters. Like NEO, there was something oddly dismissive and passive aggressive about the name. At least they're the Cleveland Monsters now.

 

That said, this article is alarmist nonsense. Absolute rubbish.

 

I totally disagree. Saying "Northeast Ohio" instead of "Greater Cleveland" completely negates the identity of Cleveland. NEO is WAAYYYY overused. I've noticed that it's particularly used by younger people who grew up with the phrase and don't realize that it's not be the best or proper way to say "Cleveland" because they just grew up hearing it all the time. This other point in the article is I also very accurate:

 

"Cities, not abstract regions, are what capture the imagination and drive culture, creativity, innovation and economies. Sure, "Northeast Ohio" is not obscure to those in Cleveland, but it is to those outside of it. And in terms of real geographic place names, we are trading "Cleveland" for "Ohio." But the terms bring to mind opposing concepts. Cleveland is an innovative and progressive place. Ohio is far less so. Cleveland had America's first big-city African American mayor. In the 53 years since Carl Stokes assumed office, Ohio has elected only white men as governors. Cleveland voted for Kennedy and Biden, while Ohio went for Nixon and Trump. (And in the most recent election, Ohio was redder than Texas.) Ohio is often associated by people outside the state as a place of farms; Cleveland is a major American city. So dropping "Cleveland" for an inappropriate term centered on "Ohio" is not only geographically inaccurate, but undermines the very essence and soul of the city."

I'm sort of confused by the premise of this article. It seems pretty common for people to tell me they "grew up in Cleveland" but that actually meant "somewhere within an hour of driving into the city". Maybe they are responding to me saying I live in Cleveland (in the city proper in my case).

 

38 minutes ago, Pugu said:

I've noticed that it's particularly used by younger people who grew up with the phrase and don't realize that it's not be the best or proper way to say "Cleveland" because they just grew up hearing it all the time.

Can you blame them for just repeating what they hear? If younger (rural?) people have little cultural connection to Cleveland, and most of their lifetime was in the "struggle years", maybe that association is negative. Maybe they had two working parents and never even got to visit the city so the association is just non-existent.

It seems like this is more of an inter-media tiff than anything. Brand wars with city names.

I've been guilty of answering "Northeast Ohio" when people ask where I'm from. I think the biggest part of it was me not wanting to say Cleveland but worrying people wouldn't know anything about Akron. 

 

I eventually realized Akron has more name recognition than I thought ("Oh! LeBron's hometown!") so I've been just been answering with "Akron, OH" the past few years. 

 

Personally, I don't think it makes a huge difference anyway.

As someone who grew up south of Youngstown, NE Ohio just seemed natural as a place moniker. I know we are leaving Akron, Youngstown/Warren and Canton/Massilon out of this.    NE Ohio (my bad) is a region with several decent sized MSAs which is no different from other heavily populated states.  When I lived in Florida most referenced South Florida and would mention West Palm, and Miami was guilty of this, too.  Central Florida was common for someone from say DeLand - like everyone was to know where DeLand is. It's not Greater Orlando, it's just Central Florida.  What I am trying to say is these metro areas' core cities do the same thing that Cleveland does.

 

Is Greater Cleveland going to be any radical change from NE Ohio?  I see where you're coming from, and don't think it's a bad idea, but it will take a long time to follow through the name change with the local population. 

is the main complaint that Cleveland is being associated with republicans when its called Northeast Ohio?

 

I live in the city and say I'm from Cleveland, but less than ten percent of the region actually lives within the city limits. The suburbanization and exurbanization of the area means most of the people live outside of Cleveland. And it's not like a tri-county area; there's a dozen counties (many with large towns/cities) that consider themselves to be NEO. Why would someone from Perry say they're a Clevelander?

 

I don't think it matters, either way.

 

I prefer another moniker for the region and it rhymes with "rest turn, less nerve." 🙃

22 hours ago, MissinOhio said:

As someone who grew up south of Youngstown, NE Ohio just seemed natural as a place moniker. I know we are leaving Akron, Youngstown/Warren and Canton/Massilon out of this.    NE Ohio (my bad) is a region with several decent sized MSAs which is no different from other heavily populated states.  When I lived in Florida most referenced South Florida and would mention West Palm, and Miami was guilty of this, too.  Central Florida was common for someone from say DeLand - like everyone was to know where DeLand is. It's not Greater Orlando, it's just Central Florida.  What I am trying to say is these metro areas' core cities do the same thing that Cleveland does.

 

Is Greater Cleveland going to be any radical change from NE Ohio?  I see where you're coming from, and don't think it's a bad idea, but it will take a long time to follow through the name change with the local population. 

 

YOUNGSTOWN is a known place. As is Akron. As is Cleveland. Anywhere in the US, you could say these places.  "Northeast Ohio" to someone out the region doesn't mean anything, except "Ohio". Do you really think they know geography? If someone said to you they were from southeastern New Hampshire, do you picture anything except New Hampshire in your head? So all you're saying is "Ohio". If you really care about accuracy, you'd say Youngstown. If the person you're talking to didn't know where it was, you could say, "its about an hour east of Cleveland".  The point is, by saying "Ohio" over "Cleveland" its killing the brand identify of Cleveland. Its time to stop using this made-up geography that means nothing to 99% of the people when we are referring to a real place--Cleveland or Akron or Youngstown--within this geography.

 

Regarding your Florida comments, Florida--whether Orlando, Miami, or West Palm--isn't dying for jobs and population growth like Cleveland is.  They don't have the same issues we have. We need to minimize the intentional avoidance of "Cleveland" as the more it's heard out there the better.

 

 

21 hours ago, Whipjacka said:

is the main complaint that Cleveland is being associated with republicans when its called Northeast Ohio?

 

I live in the city and say I'm from Cleveland, but less than ten percent of the region actually lives within the city limits. The suburbanization and exurbanization of the area means most of the people live outside of Cleveland. And it's not like a tri-county area; there's a dozen counties (many with large towns/cities) that consider themselves to be NEO. Why would someone from Perry say they're a Clevelander?

 

I don't think it matters, either way.

 

 

Its that people when they are referring to Cleveland or Cuyahoga County say Northeast Ohio instead. It happens ALL the time. They're using the word ohio over cleveland---and so that hurts the brand but also yes, that affects how people see the city--they think farms and red state cause they hear Ohio.

 

 

 

 

 

Do you really believe that? In 50 or so years of varying city and metro decline and stagnation, I can't imagine for a second the branding of Cleveland vs NEO was remotely a factor. And I seriously doubt people who hear NEO associate it with Trump/meth country, thereby diluting the city and metro brand (if I understand your point). They probably have a vague geographical understanding of what NEO embodies or haven't a clue. Either way I doubt it's relevant to today's challenges. 

When asked by some random person, my wife always says she is from "Northern New Jersey."  She figures no one really cares or knows much about the actual town she's from.  She would never say "New York," however, even though New York is the nearest well-known city. So I can see people from Akron never saying Cleveland.  

 

I do like KJP's idea of using "The Western Reserve" over NEO; it's a good name. But would adding "in Ohio" be needed for it to mean much to outsiders?

Edited December 16, 20204 yr by Dougal
corrected spelling

23 hours ago, MissinOhio said:

As someone who grew up south of Youngstown, NE Ohio just seemed natural as a place moniker. I know we are leaving Akron, Youngstown/Warren and Canton/Massilon out of this.    NE Ohio (my bad) is a region with several decent sized MSAs which is no different from other heavily populated states.

This makes me wonder where NE OH begins and SE OH ends.

 

23 hours ago, MissinOhio said:

When I lived in Florida most referenced South Florida and would mention West Palm, and Miami was guilty of this, too.  Central Florida was common for someone from say DeLand - like everyone was to know where DeLand is. It's not Greater Orlando, it's just Central Florida.  What I am trying to say is these metro areas' core cities do the same thing that Cleveland does.

I grew up in unincorporated area "near" West Palm Beach (that was the closest nearby metro area, but I could have said other closer suburbs). It was always a game trying to explain where I was from. Even if I said "near WPB", most Ohioans don't know where that is unless they are very familiar with the state. Reason being that most Ohioans seem to be more familiar with the west coast as they go down 75, while east coasters take 95 down to the east coast.

1 minute ago, Dougal said:

I do like KJP's idea using "The Western Reserve" over NEO; it's a good name. But would adding "in Ohio" be needed for it to mean much to outsiders?

I enjoy the name but expect most outsiders would be unfamiliar with it. Also a fan of Firelands.

I very much agree that use of NEO, Northeast Ohio, Northeastern Ohio, etc.. does dilute the brand of Cleveland.

 

It's time to plant the flag and just own it already. I mean, it's not like Cleveland doesn't have a lot to actually feel good about these days to offset all the old negatives.

 

Even the branding has come along way: https://www.thisiscleveland.com/

 

Why doesn't the City of Cleveland adopt a similar logo? And a less stodgy URL & website to boot? http://city.cleveland.oh.us/

FWIW, Greater Columbus/Central Ohio has now adopted calling itself "Columbus" (sans the "comma-Ohio" part of its name).

 

https://columbusregion.com/

 

Notably, there also seems to be a concerted effort to incorporate a standard font type across logos for the city of Columbus, local and regional agencies, in advertising, etc. Whether this has been intentional or not, it does communicate a sense of commonality and unity. Note the City of Columbus' logo and compare it with what you see on the Columbus Region website -->https://www.columbus.gov/

 

Also, the Columbus Partnership --> https://columbuspartnership.com/

 

As well as the Chamber of Commerce --> https://columbus.org/

 

I know a lot of Clevelanders will bristle at the notion that Columbus does anything well.

 

I say swallow your pride, folks. Admitting that the ship is well off course is the first step to turning it around. 

Interesting conversation. FWIW, none of my friends from Cuyahoga County would ever say "Northeast Ohio" when asked where they are from. They all say Cleveland. I'm talking people in their 20s and 30s. 

 

But I think regional identifiers are pretty common. Greater Philly is the "Delaware Valley" to locals. Greater DC is the "DMV." Cincinnatians often just use "Tri-State," which is, of course, also used by New Yorkers. And southern Delaware, eastern shore Maryland, and eastern shore Virginia make up "Delmarva." None of those places seem to care too much about the brand. I'm not sure that I believe it matters too much.

Used to be known as Greater Cleveland...sprawl mostly to blame for this NEO Ohio gimmick.  Greater Cleveland has been diluted to NEO Ohio now. CLE had a real bad reputation as well, since improved somewhat though.

 

the population used to be close to 3 million when it was CLE-Akron census count.  Census reconfigured MSAs so now we have separate CLE MSA and Akron MSA...makes sense then that  this area is now NEO Ohio.  No mention of CLE at all.

Edited December 15, 20204 yr by CLENYC

well, first and foremost, you have to have shorthand monikers for the core city suburbs and for the region.

 

there is no escaping it -- and in fact its quite useful.

 

now which way people choose to describe themselves probably depends a bit on who they are talking to.

 

that said, it would be very odd for someone actually born and raised in cle city to say they were from neo right off the bat to anyone. 

 

 

edit: when i have this kind of introduction with ny'ers of course i say cleveland. if they try to ohio me, you know like they do about nj, i say to them i know as much about that as you know about upstate or buffalo. 

 

the fact i have actually lived around ohio and they likely havent around nys they don't need to know. i just like cutting them off on waving their hand at ohio as being one thing -- and jerking them around a little lol.

Edited February 10, 20214 yr by mrnyc

Don't forget that the TV market stretches out 17 counties, so the TV news/weather people want to identify with more than Cleveland.

 

If Moses Cleaveland would have continued westward and established the settlement somewhere around Vermilion or Huron, we would not be getting as much lake effect snow.  And we would be a lot closer to Cedar Point and the Lake Erie Islands.  😀

 

Edited February 10, 20214 yr by skiwest

3 hours ago, mrnyc said:

well, first and foremost, you have to have shorthand monikers for the core city suburbs and for the region.

 

there is no escaping it -- and in fact its quite useful.

 

We had that---it was "Greater Cleveland".  "Northeast Ohio" to describe Cleveland and the suburbs makes absolutely no sense and just sounds really stupid and replaces "Cleveland" as a brand and identity with "Ohio" which most people outside of this region think of as Trump-loving farmers.  

^ ah i see.

 

i didn't know greater cleveland ever went away.

 

i do see neo or northeast ohio a lot lately though come to think of it.

 

in that case, neo is too broad for most locals saying where you are from, unless you are like from conneaut or something, so greater cleveland needs to come back in use as the excellent bridge term it always was.

I think Northeast Ohio described a much larger geography than Greater Cleveland.  That's how I see it. 

6 minutes ago, freefourur said:

I think Northeast Ohio described a much larger geography than Greater Cleveland.  That's how I see it. 

Correct.  Northeast Ohio includes Akron, Canton, Youngstown, etc. whereas Greater Cleveland is just the Cleveland metro area and does not include those cities.

People from Akron and Canton won't describe themselves as being from Greater Cleveland - for people who have to cast a bigger net to describe their audience, they will use Northeast Ohio.

On 12/15/2020 at 2:50 PM, NEOBuckeye said:

I very much agree that use of NEO, Northeast Ohio, Northeastern Ohio, etc.. does dilute the brand of Cleveland.

The NY Times Style Manual says Cleveland is one of those cities that does not require additional state identification. "Cleveland, Ohio" is like saying "Paris, France" - kind of bush league. 😉

3 hours ago, freefourur said:

I think Northeast Ohio described a much larger geography than Greater Cleveland.  That's how I see it. 

 

 

3 hours ago, skiwest said:

Correct.  Northeast Ohio includes Akron, Canton, Youngstown, etc. whereas Greater Cleveland is just the Cleveland metro area and does not include those cities.

 

But the problem is PEOPLE IN CUYAHOGA county---or "Greater Cleveland" say NEO when they are referring to cuyahoga or greater cleveland---as the NEO term has wrongfully replaced "greater cleveland". I've seen people--people in the 20s and 30s--say "I'm from Northeast Ohio" and if you press them----they're from a Cleveland suburb.  No other city does that to kill their own brand. Columbus must be laughing all the way to the bank--because all that social media and advertising and all that---people hear "Ohio". so if they want to move the biggest place in ohio---they find Columbus and open an office or plant there. Columbus has been jealous of Cleveland for decades and now they must just think we're idiots.

1 hour ago, Dougal said:

The NY Times Style Manual says Cleveland is one of those cities that does not require additional state identification. "Cleveland, Ohio" is like saying "Paris, France" - kind of bush league. 😉

 

That is true. But our OWN paper, cleveland.com, belittles Cleveland by ALWAYS putting "Ohio" after "Cleveland".

1 hour ago, Pugu said:

Columbus must be laughing all the way to the bank--because all that social media and advertising and all that---people hear "Ohio". so if they want to move the biggest place in ohio---they find Columbus and open an office or plant there. Columbus has been jealous of Cleveland for decades and now they must just think we're idiots.

 

Go down this road and you'll be banned quick.  Leave this discussion to Cleveland, not Columbus.

39 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

 

Go down this road and you'll be banned quick.  Leave this discussion to Cleveland, not Columbus.

 

ColDayMan--sorry--I did not mean to offend Columbus in any way---my jab and issue here is with Cleveland, not Columbus. Columbus--and everyone--would be right to think of Clevelanders as fools as they intentionally drop their own city name in lieu of the name of the state which is, in many ways, the opposite of itself--Ohio is considered rural and agricultural and conservative--and Cleveland is none of those. So Cleveland is only hurting itself by intentionally misrepresenting itself.

 

 

When I meet people from NEO in Columbus they say they're from "Up North" whereas people from Cleveland and its suburbs say "Cleveland".

On 12/14/2020 at 6:44 AM, Cleburger said:

It was really only in the last maybe 15 years that Cleveland teams started using "Cleveland" on their jerseys.   For years it was just the team name (or in the Browns case, nothing at all).  

That’s really not accurate, at all. 
 

And to the topic at hand, I feel like the term “Northeast Ohio” actually adds weight and gravitas to our region, not less. When one says “Southern California”, “the Bay Area”, “Northern Virginia”, “Central Florida”, etc, the connotation is of a region that has multiple economic and population centers that are too numerous to ascribe with the name of just city. There’s nothing that says you cannot both identify as both being from Northeastern Ohio and being a Clevelander, if that happens to be the case.  

Edited February 12, 20214 yr by brtshrcegr

7 hours ago, brtshrcegr said:

And to the topic at hand, I feel like the term “Northeast Ohio” actually adds weight and gravitas to our region, not less. When one says “Southern California”, “the Bay Area”, “Northern Virginia”, “Central Florida”, etc, the connotation is of a region that has multiple economic and population centers that are too numerous to ascribe with the name of just city. There’s nothing that says you cannot both identify as both being from Northeastern Ohio and being a Clevelander, if that happens to be the case.  

 

Yes they are different geographies---greater cleveland and one that stretches from CLE to canton to Youngstown. The problem is people are now REPLACING Cleveland or Greater CLE with the term NEO.  Look at almost ANY news story right now--you'll see stuff like "3 people shot last night in Northeast Ohio"---and ALL will be in Cuyahoga County.  The misuse of the term is what is so dangerous. Wrongfully using NEO over "Cleveland" doesn't add weight and gravitas to us, it slowly destroys us.

24 minutes ago, Pugu said:

 

Yes they are different geographies---greater cleveland and one that stretches from CLE to canton to Youngstown. The problem is people are now REPLACING Cleveland or Greater CLE with the term NEO.  Look at almost ANY news story right now--you'll see stuff like "3 people shot last night in Northeast Ohio"---and ALL will be in Cuyahoga County.  The misuse of the term is what is so dangerous. Wrongfully using NEO over "Cleveland" doesn't add weight and gravitas to us, it slowly destroys us.

 

Can you give us some concrete examples? I think what I, and other people, have said is that we haven't seen this in our actual lives. Everybody I know from Shaker or Lakewood or Parma is much more likely to say Cleveland or Greater Cleveland than NEO. 

 

 

Here in northeast Ohio
Back in eighteen-o-three
James and Dan Heaton
Found the ore that was lining Yellow Creek
They built a blast furnace
Here along the shore
And they made the cannonballs
That helped the Union win the war...

45 minutes ago, Pugu said:

 Look at almost ANY news story right now--you'll see stuff like "3 people shot last night in Northeast Ohio"---and ALL will be in Cuyahoga County.  The misuse of the term is what is so dangerous. Wrongfully using NEO over "Cleveland" doesn't add weight and gravitas to us, it slowly destroys us.

The Cleveland media like to use the term NE Ohio in a lot of their stories since they are serving NE Ohio, not just Cleveland.  They want folks in Akron, Canton, etc. to feel they are being included.

On 12/15/2020 at 1:35 PM, Pugu said:

 

YOUNGSTOWN is a known place. As is Akron. As is Cleveland. Anywhere in the US, you could say these places.  "Northeast Ohio" to someone out the region doesn't mean anything, except "Ohio". Do you really think they know geography? If someone said to you they were from southeastern New Hampshire, do you picture anything except New Hampshire in your head? So all you're saying is "Ohio". If you really care about accuracy, you'd say Youngstown. If the person you're talking to didn't know where it was, you could say, "its about an hour east of Cleveland".  The point is, by saying "Ohio" over "Cleveland" its killing the brand identify of Cleveland. Its time to stop using this made-up geography that means nothing to 99% of the people when we are referring to a real place--Cleveland or Akron or Youngstown--within this geography.

 

Regarding your Florida comments, Florida--whether Orlando, Miami, or West Palm--isn't dying for jobs and population growth like Cleveland is.  They don't have the same issues we have. We need to minimize the intentional avoidance of "Cleveland" as the more it's heard out there the better.

 

 

 

I forgot all about this thread.  You're trying too hard.  You are also clearly missing the point.  As someone who works in economic development, I will tell you right now, in the higher paying jobs market, Northeast Ohio has a more attractive job recruiting force than pretty much most of Florida.  Northeast Ohio just like Central Florida or South Florida has importance to it.  No one, I mean no one from the northern burbs of Canton or Youngstown claim to be a part of "Greater Cleveland" even though they may work in Solon.

I noticed liberals (the vast majority) use "Cleveland" as a colloquialism. Ask someone down here who is conservative from NE Ohio where they're from and they're like "EAST of Cleveland."