What Will Happen To Greater Cleveland?
Most of us are aware that the Greater Cleveland area has been in decline for decades. The area, once a bulwark of industry, had seen its industries slowly erode. Each recession brought layoffs. Each recovery brought rehiring, though often with fewer workers than before the recession, but the workers still made decent wages and had good benefits. The thing was, however, the area still had a relatively strong industrial base AND a strong corporate headquarters base, many in the downtown area. I remember a number of years ago, in one of campaigns to sell Cleveland to the rest of the country, it was publicized that Cleveland was home to the third largest number of Fortune 500 headquarters, and that it also had a fair percentage of the largest financial institutions on the Fortune list. Much of this came as a surprise to many people who lived here. So, maybe Cleveland was “the best kept secret,” as one of the slogans proclaimed, even to its own residents. All of this came at a time, the 1980s, when Cleveland seemed to be moving forward, and the community had a sense of pride and an attitude that it could accomplish things. The “Light Up Cleveland” nights for Monday Night Football showed the City in a glow that reflected the pride felt by many Greater Clevelanders.
Today, I shudder to think what might happen to this community. There seems to be no one able to put out a “call to arms,” to rally the community. I don’t want to bash our elected officials too much, as I think we have many office holders who are well intentioned, but they aren’t leaders. We also need to hear the stark truth about how bad the situation is, and how bad it could become. All you have to do is look around: businesses closing, businesses moving out, declining population, lower wages and benefits, if you’re lucky to have benefits. We can’t have many of those Fortune 500 headquarters here anymore, nor can we have many of the top financial institutions, either. The inner city is in serious decline, and poverty is about the only element that is in ascendance. Poverty doesn’t recognize city boundaries, and it has leapt with vigor into the suburbs. As cited by the Plain Dealer over the past year, food pantries are now not only in many suburbs, but they are visited by substantial numbers of residents seeking help. A number of years ago, such stories were a thing limited to Cleveland proper. Further, I drove down Superior Avenue at 4:30 p.m. recently, and thought for sure that I'd regret getting stuck in rush hour traffic, only to find that it was a breeze getting to the Detroit-Superior Bridge, and that there weren’t even many people waiting for buses. I lived in Downtown for years, and at that time of day, this town was alive with people rushing to the parking garages or to catch the next bus or Rapid home, and the traffic was always heavy.
It would seem to me that everything we treasure in this community is now open to demise. Make no mistake about it, we are in trouble here! The community was stunned by Modell’s treachery in the mid 1990s, but even with a new Cleveland Browns team and a new multi-million dollar stadium, the team’s embarrassing performance since its return has left even many diehard fans turned off. Let’s not forget, the team moved once, and if it moves again, I would have to believe that it would not return. The Indians have also been floundering around for a number of years. Declining attendance brings to mind the many years when the team threatened to leave town. The most disturbing thing was the poor attendance during the late run by the Indians in the 2005 season. It used to be said that if the Indians played well, the fans would come out, but that saying, just like the BP offices in the BP Building, is empty. Of course, with the tremendous cost of attending ANY professional sport’s event, average folks are lucky if they can afford to take their family to see a game or two per season, without mortgaging the homestead, which is difficult these days, since we have the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, if I understand it right. The Cavaliers have certainly been the exception, and they have given our forlorn town something of a morale boost. I don’t want to sound the “party pooper,” but if ANYTHING happens to LeBron… well you know the answer.
With so many corporate headquarters gone, money for many charities has also left town. As I mentioned above, everything here is in danger, and that includes the renowned Cleveland Orchestra, as well as the museums. I’m not saying that any of these things WILL happen in the next two or three weeks, but unfortunately, they COULD happen in the next few years or so, and we need to start thinking about how we stop the bleeding here. Some will no doubt say that I’m overreacting, and that while these things COULD happen, we COULD also have two weeks in January with temperatures in the 40s and 50s. Oh, we just did.
Today, I shudder to think what might happen to this community. There seems to be no one able to put out a “call to arms,” to rally the community. I don’t want to bash our elected officials too much, as I think we have many office holders who are well intentioned, but they aren’t leaders. We also need to hear the stark truth about how bad the situation is, and how bad it could become. All you have to do is look around: businesses closing, businesses moving out, declining population, lower wages and benefits, if you’re lucky to have benefits. We can’t have many of those Fortune 500 headquarters here anymore, nor can we have many of the top financial institutions, either. The inner city is in serious decline, and poverty is about the only element that is in ascendance. Poverty doesn’t recognize city boundaries, and it has leapt with vigor into the suburbs. As cited by the Plain Dealer over the past year, food pantries are now not only in many suburbs, but they are visited by substantial numbers of residents seeking help. A number of years ago, such stories were a thing limited to Cleveland proper. Further, I drove down Superior Avenue at 4:30 p.m. recently, and thought for sure that I'd regret getting stuck in rush hour traffic, only to find that it was a breeze getting to the Detroit-Superior Bridge, and that there weren’t even many people waiting for buses. I lived in Downtown for years, and at that time of day, this town was alive with people rushing to the parking garages or to catch the next bus or Rapid home, and the traffic was always heavy.
It would seem to me that everything we treasure in this community is now open to demise. Make no mistake about it, we are in trouble here! The community was stunned by Modell’s treachery in the mid 1990s, but even with a new Cleveland Browns team and a new multi-million dollar stadium, the team’s embarrassing performance since its return has left even many diehard fans turned off. Let’s not forget, the team moved once, and if it moves again, I would have to believe that it would not return. The Indians have also been floundering around for a number of years. Declining attendance brings to mind the many years when the team threatened to leave town. The most disturbing thing was the poor attendance during the late run by the Indians in the 2005 season. It used to be said that if the Indians played well, the fans would come out, but that saying, just like the BP offices in the BP Building, is empty. Of course, with the tremendous cost of attending ANY professional sport’s event, average folks are lucky if they can afford to take their family to see a game or two per season, without mortgaging the homestead, which is difficult these days, since we have the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, if I understand it right. The Cavaliers have certainly been the exception, and they have given our forlorn town something of a morale boost. I don’t want to sound the “party pooper,” but if ANYTHING happens to LeBron… well you know the answer.
With so many corporate headquarters gone, money for many charities has also left town. As I mentioned above, everything here is in danger, and that includes the renowned Cleveland Orchestra, as well as the museums. I’m not saying that any of these things WILL happen in the next two or three weeks, but unfortunately, they COULD happen in the next few years or so, and we need to start thinking about how we stop the bleeding here. Some will no doubt say that I’m overreacting, and that while these things COULD happen, we COULD also have two weeks in January with temperatures in the 40s and 50s. Oh, we just did.
posted by Randy at 4:13 PM
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