April 12, 201114 yr Why dont we see Italians staying in the neighborhood, or moving back? Is it just the perception of Cleveland as a whole, or is it poor schools? Im just wondering why the large decline in Italian population.
April 12, 201114 yr ^I'm just guessing here, but most Italian-Americans probably have the same preference for single family homes as others. In our low cost market, I think the change over time is to be expected.
April 12, 201114 yr A majority of the restuarant and business owners are still Italian hertitage. Just like any authentic ethnic neighborhood...fresh immigrants are needed to keep its identity. New Cleveland Immigration Center, where you at?? ;)
April 12, 201114 yr Do you think more townhouses can help the neighborhood? yes...but it doesn't mean italians moving in...but higher incomes!
April 12, 201114 yr Is Little Italy the safest neighborhood in Cleveland? I can't think of any recent reports of violent, even non-violent, crimes, and I'm certainly at ease when walking there at night. It is up there near the top, most likely. If you go back and read the first page of this thread, you will find some posts from someone who claims to be a family member of one of the well-established restaraunts, who claims that there is some crime. I think it also depends on where you define the borders/boundaries. Kind of ironic though that it was arguably the epicenter of crime in this City not too long ago. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if there were still small remnants of that. But I don't think that type of crime is what you are talking about. I never feel threatened there, but I can say the same thing about a lot of Cleveland neighborhoods and I know for sure that you and I don't always see eye to eye on when/where we feel at ease. Bottom line is it is a great neighborhood. Great for a night out. Great for just a stroll. It is a great assett to the City and it keeps getting better.
April 12, 201114 yr Im surprised with how well Little Italy has done with the fight against parking lots. The neighborhood hasn't been destroyed by lots. Mayfield Road is mostly in tact besides for that one small lot, which needs to be filled in. I guess great access to public transportation has helped.
April 12, 201114 yr I was talking to one of the art gallery owners, who said the whole neighborhood is ticked off at the owner of the abandoned theater. I guess the owner, of one of the old school Italian families I gather, gets offers for the building practically every week, but he is completely unwilling to compromise on price. That plus Club Corbo are so out of place and blighted - c'mon guys, fill 'em up!
April 12, 201114 yr I thought Terri Tarantino of La Dolce Vita and La Strada owned the theatre and had plans to do something with it..?
April 12, 201114 yr Well this is from 2009, and maybe he was never able to aquire the property or he ran into issues..: Tarantino's wanderlust is leading him back home -- to Little Italy -- for his latest adventure. He plans to renovate the old Mayfield movie theater and turn it into a bar-restaurant. "I'm thinking of something with a Venetian theme that serves light meals and hosts string quartets and piano players," says Tarantino. "I'm still working on the details." http://www.cleveland.com/arts/index.ssf/2009/05/cleveland_restaurateur_terry_t_2.html
April 12, 201114 yr ^ also http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/02/la_dolce_vita_bistro_owner_buy.html
April 12, 201114 yr I was talking to one of the art gallery owners, who said the whole neighborhood is ticked off at the owner of the abandoned theater. I guess the owner, of one of the old school Italian families I gather, gets offers for the building practically every week, but he is completely unwilling to compromise on price. That plus Club Corbo are so out of place and blighted - c'mon guys, fill 'em up! Corbo Family and Terry Tarantino...both unwilling to compromise on price... Plus the Corbo's own that parking lot someone mentioned earlier...so bacially, expect nothing to be built on it anytime soon.
April 12, 201114 yr I would actually like to see a real theater back in there..Maybe one specializing in foreign films (Italian films?)...This and perhaps a small specialty market. Many possibilities, but maybe nice to see something other than another restaurant for a change..if anything ever does happen to it.
April 12, 201114 yr I would actually like to see a real theater back in there..Maybe one specializing in foreign films (Italian films?)...This and perhaps a small specialty market. Many possibilities, but maybe nice to see something other than another restaurant for a change..if anything ever does happen to it. That would be perfect.
April 12, 201114 yr ^ I also live in LIttle Italy and agree with MH. I take my puppy out at 3:00 AM sometimes and its actually peaceful and safe. I think it is a safe ,safe neighborhood. As far as the other topics. I still see old Italians living in the area, and i would say they still have a presence. Im not surprised about the Asian population at all. I think they are great for the neighborhood and bring alot of enthusiasm and energy towards a good urban life. As far as racism, that is over. SOrry someone had a bad experience in the 90's. My Grandfather was an immigrant in 1952 from Italy and his first job was at Presti's. From that time period Through the 70's if you were black and you came through the neighborhood, you were in trouble. Now, I see black folks walking around and driving through often. I just think they dont have a huge presence here, so they are not everywhere. As far as the poisoned food comment, its obviously not the case as most restaurant workers are college kids from the area and may or may not have any tie to the history of the neighborhood. I think the reason more Italians dont live in the neighborhood is because the immigrant population is little to none, and frankly there are not that many great units here. They are old and beat up...Build new apartments!!!
April 12, 201114 yr Why dont we see more new development in Little Italy then that we see in other neighborhoods?
April 12, 201114 yr No room and owners don't want to sell or have inflated view of the value of their property.
April 12, 201114 yr Well. I actually cant answer it with anything other than speculation, but here is my opinion. The landlords who own these buildings are making alot of $ from the college students. to them, it is great! They own the old buildings that have multiple units, they are mostly brick, so the exterior is fine and they make good revenue from this investment. They wont be changing anything anytime soon. As far as available space...there is still a sign up on Mayfield for the Mayfield Lofts, i heard a while back that the neighborhood did not welcome this, but i have no clue why. Other than that, i have no explanation. I am still waiting for something to happen to the skeleton of a building on the west side of random road. That is prize property...wish i had the $$. One final thought: I wish we could inject some current Italian vibe into the area. A piazza over near the Sidari building or on the aforementioned site on Random that is basically a square that people can sit in and drink coffee and eat would be awesome.
April 12, 201114 yr There was some objection to the Mayfield Lofts because its peak would have eclipsed the church tower up the street and that was considered a "no-no" in LI. Not sure if that was just colored bubbles or whether it really was the reason, but that's what I recall. Then, of course, the recession hit and these projects came grinding to a halt.
April 12, 201114 yr The landlords who own these buildings are making alot of $ from the college students. to them, it is great! They own the old buildings that have multiple units, they are mostly brick, so the exterior is fine and they make good revenue from this investment. They wont be changing anything anytime soon. I totally agree with this. I have been in a lot of Little Italy apartments over the past few years and most of them are dumps. A lot of them look like nothing has been changed in 40 years. It is so easy to make money without doing anything that landlords don't do as much upkeep as they could. If they would slap some new paint on the walls in some of these places with a slightly updated kitchen they could easily get a few hundred bucks more a month. None of these places ever go to sale to the general public, the people who own them just sell the buildings to friends. I think the landlords kind of like the dumpy old school feel of the place and don't want it to turn into Tremont with a lot of yuppies running around.
April 12, 201114 yr Why dont we see Italians staying in the neighborhood, or moving back? Is it just the perception of Cleveland as a whole, or is it poor schools? Im just wondering why the large decline in Italian population. If the origins of Cleveland's Little Italy date back to about the same time as NY's Little Italy, settled by Italians who arrived en masse over a hundred years ago, then most of their descendants probably fled to the suburbs decades ago. The recent census showed there was not one remaining resident of Italian birth living in NY's Little Italy. The lively Italian restaurant scene (and San Gennaro festival every September) is basically a tourist destination now. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/nyregion/22littleitaly.html http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
April 13, 201114 yr Sorry to bing this back up, but I think that Hts121 has an outdated view of Little Italy in that it is not as racist as it once was. I have black friends who frequent LI and I have seen several black people who work at some of the Italian restaurants. So, there might be the rare case of racism, like at the feast as a poster mentioned up thread, but I think for the most part Little Italy has come a long way on that front.
April 21, 201114 yr Little Italy's census tract shows that it has a 27% foreign born population. And it saw a 5% growth in foreign born population since 2000. Would that 5% most likely be Asian?
June 20, 201113 yr Here's the website of the new Club Isabella, and head chef Fabio Mato: http://www.clubisabella.com/index2.php And a review from Cleveland Magazine: http://clevelandmagazine.blogspot.com/2011/06/open-letter-to-fabio-mota.html
June 20, 201113 yr Little Italy's census tract shows that it has a 27% foreign born population. And it saw a 5% growth in foreign born population since 2000. Would that 5% most likely be Asian? Possibly, but it could also be Indian with the hospital nearby. But anything is possible with CWRU next door. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 25, 201113 yr So is anything going on or planned for the spot where the house burned down a few months ago? Was it just one house or was it two?
June 27, 201113 yr Little Italy is booming! ;) The article doesn't even mention my new favorite place, Club Isabella. business is booming in little italy thanks to slew of new openings Thursday, June 23, 2011 Business is booming in Little Italy, and the past year has seen a slew of new shops open in the historic community. Known for its galleries, shopping and great Italian restaurants, Little Italy welcomes newcomers peddling everything from fabric to vintage apparel. http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/innovationnews/littleitaly062311.aspx
June 27, 201113 yr Awesomeness! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 27, 201113 yr Little Italy seems to have been doing great the last couple of years. Tony Brush park, coltman, murray hill market, those listed in the article. Could someone more familiar with the area make a list of everything that has happened recently?
June 27, 201113 yr So is anything going on or planned for the spot where the house burned down a few months ago? Was it just one house or was it two? Also I forgot about this. Anyone know anything?
June 27, 201113 yr ^Nothing I've heard. It was one house. The houses on either side had exterior damage.
September 29, 201113 yr whoa, I walk in the streets sometimes too when it's really bad. IMO, the Little Italy Development Corp could have the most power in fixing the mudslide. Mucky mess covers doorstep to Cleveland's Little Italy: Road Rant Published: Thursday, September 29, 2011, 3:50 PM John Horton, The Plain Dealer By John Horton, The Plain Dealer Roger Coakley knows to avoid the porcheria when he visits Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood. Judging from the footprints in the muck, many don't. A thick layer of glop -- best translated as porcheria -- coats Mayfield Road's northern sidewalk beneath a railroad bridge just east of East 117th Street, according to Road Rant lookout Roger Coakley. The muddy goop poses a "significant challenge" for those entering Little Italy on foot from the University Circle area. (Tip: Leave those fancy Ferragamo loafers and pumps in the closet.) Coakley says he'll sometimes walk in the street under the bridge to avoid trudging through the recurring mess that dates back years. There's also a sidewalk running along the south side of the street, but the nearest crosswalk is a block west. http://www.cleveland.com/roadrant/index.ssf/2011/09/mucky_mess_covers_doorstep_to.html
October 1, 201113 yr OMG, truth. Although I don't think this is just a north-side-of-the-street problem ... I've gotten gooped plenty on the other side of Mayfield, too. It is really a ridiculous problem to have go on year after year. Particularly if we're hoping to see more pedestrian traffic between MOCA/Uptown and LI!!
October 1, 201113 yr No big deal...about 25 Ferrari's parked along Mayfield Rd. right now.... That's awesome! whoa, I walk in the streets sometimes too when it's really bad. IMO, the Little Italy Development Corp could have the most power in fixing the mudslide. Mucky mess covers doorstep to Cleveland's Little Italy: Road Rant Published: Thursday, September 29, 2011, 3:50 PM That's not! And it's going to be a few years before the Mayfield Rapid station gets built and should fix this problem. Maybe a public outcry about the goop will bring more funding to get the Rapid station project moving!!! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
October 1, 201113 yr This is the kind of thing city hall should address before their first pot of coffee is finished, but instead the mess has persisted for years. Impassible pedestrian link between two important neighborhoods = very high priority. At least it should.
October 1, 201113 yr I cant wait for the Mayfield Rapid Station. It will become the best located station in the system besides Tower City, and Shaker Square I suppose. But it will serve the heart of Little Italy as well as MOCA, Uptown, and University Circle. Still serves better than Shaker Square though in my opinion.
October 1, 201113 yr I just hope that this station, which I think is a good thing, does not also become a conduit for problem riders--even a couple bad apples spoil a bunch-- on the rapid to easily gain access to the neighborhood to do nothing more than to look for trouble and people to either panhandle, rob, or create some other kind of chaos.
October 8, 201113 yr We had a discussion awhile back about the percentages of races in the neighborhoods. The information was from a census tract which also included sections outside of what we would would classify as Little Italy, therefore throwing off the numbers. Now with better information available, I decided to find the true information for the neighborhood Total Population = 2004 White = 1566 Black = 43 Asian = 395 Therefore... White = 78% Black = 2% Asian = 20% When looking at age, the majority are between the ages of 20 and 34. That group tends to lean more to the 25 to 34 range. There are still a good number of people above that range though.
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