LeBron still may save Cleveland.
hang in there
All I hear about here when I bring up the midwest is how good Pittsburgh is doing.
"Why can't Cleveland and other 'Rustbelt' cities become as successful as Pittsburgh?"
"I hear Pittsburgh is is doing amazing things"
"I love Pittsburgh"
"Let's all live in Pittsburgh." (Just kidding about that one)
This frustrates me.
And I'm not too sure why.
It could be the Browns/Steelers "rivalry" (which is hopefully being reignited)
Or it could be that we're so goshdarn similar, which makes us similar in planners-from-outside-the-midwest's minds, which means that Cleveland can just get up and do what Pittsburgh has done and stop whining.
From my understanding, Pittsburgh was also an industrial powerhouse city, flooded with European immigrant culture. We're both very prideful towns, we love our sports, we've both been hurt over the years by loss of industry and such. We're really the same city, except 2.5 hours apart (depending on how fast you drive)
Pittsburgh held the G-20 summit in 2009 and has been receiving national acclaim for it's green growth, quality of life, sustainability, educational and medical hub, sports, low cost of living, best place to move a business, on and on and on and on...
So, what makes Pittsburgh different from Cleveland?
A lot. Obviously.
But also not so much.
Check out this article published in 2009
http://www.newgeography.com/content/001060-pittsburgh-renaissance
Pittsburgh faces the same problems Cleveland, Detroit, and many other midwest cities face, in some cases problems these cities DON'T face:
Shrinking populations, higher death than birth rates, lower cost of living, massive debt, higher poverty than Cleveland, virtually non existent immigrant population. . .
Statistically, Pittsburgh isn't THAT magical. As the article points out, the young people moving there for educational purposes and the medical fields aren't making permanent roots. Even with Pitt, Duquesne, and Carnegie Melon bringing thousands of young folk there for education, these students aren't staying!
Cleveland and Pittsburgh differ in many facets:
Pittsburgh has 75% the population of Cleveland, although the regions have about the same population.
Pittsburgh is 68% white compared to 40% in Cleveland.
Pittsburgh lost ALL of its industry in the mid-20th century, while Cleveland's industry has been leaving in chunks for the past 60 years.
At this juncture I would like to propose my theory.
Pittsburgh was FORCED to recreate itself about 20-30 years ago.
They HAD to find a new economic force, a new economy, a new approach at things for the next century.
And because communities in Greater Cleveland are divided, competitive, and show no commitment to helping the city prosper, PLUS the high demographic in poverty etc.
Cleveland's slowly adjusting. We haven't had a complete shocker, no individual slap in the face, to force us to try new things, invest in the future, come together as a region, and put our resources into redefining ourselves from just a hard-working blue collar town with bad luck to a united green city on a blue lake. (Check out gcbl.org for sustainability plans for NEO)
We can shape the future.
I'm still devastated from LeBron James's departure. It still sucks, although I'm incredibly happy with the recent fortunes of the Cavaliers and Browns.
But if there was one event in the history of our city that we could use to change things around, it's LeBron's "Decision."
The BIGGEST slap in the face our city has ever received.
Immediately after it, I talked to Chris Ronayne, and I can't quote him, but he cheered me up and made me believe things will get better, and that we just have to move on.
MOVE ON?!
I'll never move on from that.
But it made me realize we can no longer sit on our hands every year saying that sports and our hometown hero LeBron would save us from all of our woes.
UGH!
I've realized our economy wasn't based entirely on LeBron James as I had thought it may, but maybe this loss of revenue, the hit taken by our community, can be used to fuel us forward.
We have the potential to become BETTER than Pittsburgh because of the diversity which currently divides us and our location. They're located in a dark valley with threat of floods! (I don't know how legit that is...)
Should we continue to move slowly, waiting for Ford and GM to abandon their plants, steel to leave completely, our businesses to move to Columbus and Cincinnati and the coasts?
Or should we use our passionate hatred for LeBron, for all that's happened, as a reason to change how we look at EVERYTHING and leverage our location on a lake and a winding, intimate river?
The new County Government is an excellent first step. I have faith in Fitzgerald, and pray he can unite our divided communities.
I also pray that somehow Kasich doesn't cut any programs beneficial to our communities and finds a way to nurture a better business environment for our whole state, one which can attract companies from out of state, attract entrepreneurs and intellects and artists and retain the bright minds already here.
It's a decent start, and so much has to be done.
Let's be BETTER than Pittsburgh. Let's find a way to work together, regionalize, create a beautiful lakefront, and attract businesses and people in this world where cities are becoming marketable products for the brightest minds to move to.
Let's NEVER FORGET LEBRON. Let's carry that chip on our shoulder. Let's stop complaining though, and turn our hurts into action, right decision making.
If we can change our approaches to government, decision making, and focus on the betterment for all people, we can propel our city into a leader for the rest of this century.
We're a lot like Pittsburgh. Let's learn from them, learn from all successful cities, and adjust what's good there to a master plan for what's best for us.
It's manageable.
We just need the right people in office to make decisions and a willingness by the citizens to WORK (blue collar...) for a better future.
Our parent's generation has failed us. Let's not fail our children's generation.
I'm rambling, so I'm going to stop.
Lessons:
-LeBron is the pinnacle for what we should teach our children NOT to be like. If you want to leave Cleveland, do it. And never hold it against LeBron for the abandonment.
-Cleveland is similar to Pittsburgh, but we aren't Pittsburgh. We can't simply replicate what they've done. We need our own identity.
-Give me ideas and input, I want to be a giant think-tank of ideas.
I'm getting to the Lakefront soon enough, too busy this week but maybe next weekend.
This is how I see it, as un-cited as I'll ever present a document.
God Bless,
-Ken
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