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Thursday, March 05, 2009

Bad Times in the Land of Cleve

I have never lived in Cleveland. But I grew up not far from it and went to college even closer. Close enough that Cleveland was the best option when there was a movie out which was indie enough that it wasn't coming to the strip mall cinemas in Kent.

I spent some time, then, in Cleveland, watching movies or going to the art museum or visiting one or another person I knew there. I worked as an extra on a movie there. (The movie is not good and I'm not even slightly visible in it, so please don't interpret the link as an endorsement of what is truly not a great way to spend a couple of hours.)

What I'm trying to say here is that, while I don't have any claim on Cleveland as a home town or even anything remotely like it, I like the place. It's scrappy. It's underrated. It's full of people with enough heart to dearly love teams that haven't won a championship since Rush Limbaugh last saw his penis.

It's a good place and it saddens me greatly to see what's happening to it.

I read last year about the situation in Youngstown, which is much, much closer to where I grew up. The leadership in Youngstown--faced with a population that has continued to spiral downward since the steel mills which had made the town what it was closed in the late 70s and early 80s--decided that drawing new citizens to the town was a hopeless cause and, instead, focused on shrinking the town, actually tearing down neighborhoods of abandoned houses, giving their police fewer vacant buildings to try to keep safe. A shrinking city seemed like a truly bizarre idea. And yet, it looks like something similar is going to be happening in more cities around the country. Cities hit hard by foreclosures. Cities like Cleveland.

These are scary, scary times, folks. I've got friends in Cleveland. I'm hoping things start to take an upturn before the town is overrun with C.H.U.D.s and roving gangs clad in leather vests and feathers.

But what's the solution? I sincerely believe that President Obama is doing his best to try to turn things around, but even if everything he's doing works perfectly, it's still going to be awhile before the situation gets better. How can places like Cleveland keep from drowning until the worst is over? What can be done? Anyone? Anyone?

posted by Joe # 3:58 PM

Comments:

i lived in cleveland when i first immigrated into this country. 1980-1982. i liked it, even though , then, it was the butt of jokes. but fuck it, harvey pekar lived there and so...

you worked on a movie w/Grodin and i directed his show on CNBC years ago. i have a soft spot for Grodin. his opening monologue on his short-lived cable show was always awesome. he just winged it for 8 minutes. every fucking day. i gotta respect that.

# posted by

Anonymous : 5:10 PM

I want to stand up and defend Cleveland. Now, I live in a suburb that is about 20 minutes from Cleveland proper, and so far, living in the burbs is like living in a different world. Many of my friends and I seem to be sidestepping the unemployment problem and hence also the foreclosure problem right now.

The article states somewhere, though, that Cleveland's foreclosure rate was overtaken by other cities, and is no longer number one. That is bullshit. The only reason we don't have the highest rate anymore is because we simply RAN OUT OF HOUSES to foreclose on within the Cleveland city limits. So I just wanted to defend Cleveland's honor and say here that we still are, in my opinion, the foreclosure capital of the world right now. AND we may be edging up on the U.S. unemployment #1 as well! I would argue that while some places may currently have worse rates, that we are in the worst situation right now...nothing to be proud of, for sure.

This just in, though: with no factories running, Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River are insanely clean!! So it's a great time to live here...

# posted by

Anonymous : 3:02 PM

Baby Bro, there is nothing to be done...we have to ride it out. And, you think that's bad...Salem is in a world of shit. On the other hand, you can get a great big house pretty cheap..wink, wink, nudge, nudge...lol.

Love you guys,
Meg

# posted by

Anonymous : 1:40 AM

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Bad Times in the Land of Cleve

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		Thursday, March 05, 2009 Bad Times in the Land of Cleve I have never lived in Cleveland. But I grew up not far from it and went to college even closer. Close enough that Cleveland was the best option when there was a movie out which was indie enough that it wasn't coming to the strip mall cinemas in Kent. I spent some time, then, in Cleveland, watching movies or going to the art museum or visiting one or another person I knew there. I worked as an extra on a movie there. (The movie is not good and I'm not even slightly visible in it, so please don't interpret the link as an endorsement of what is truly not a great way to spend a couple of hours.) What I'm trying to say here is that, while I don't have any claim on Cleveland as a home town or even anything remotely like it, I like the place. It's scrappy. It's underrated. It's full of people with enough heart to dearly love teams that haven't won a championship since Rush Limbaugh last saw his penis. It's a good place and it saddens me greatly to see what's happening to it. I read last year about the situation in Youngstown, which is much, much closer to where I grew up. The leadership in Youngstown--faced with a population that has continued to spiral downward since the steel mills which had made the town what it was closed in the late 70s and early 80s--decided that drawing new citizens to the town was a hopeless cause and, instead, focused on shrinking the town, actually tearing down neighborhoods of abandoned houses, giving their police fewer vacant buildings to try to keep safe. A shrinking city seemed like a truly bizarre idea. And yet, it looks like something similar is going to be happening in more cities around the country. Cities hit hard by foreclosures. Cities like Cleveland. These are scary, scary times, folks. I've got friends in Cleveland. I'm hoping things start to take an upturn before the town is overrun with C.H.U.D.s and roving gangs clad in leather vests and feathers. But what's the solution? I sincerely believe that President Obama is doing his best to try to turn things around, but even if everything he's doing works perfectly, it's still going to be awhile before the situation gets better. How can places like Cleveland keep from drowning until the worst is over? What can be done? Anyone? Anyone? posted by Joe # 3:58 PM Comments: i lived in cleveland when i first immigrated into this country. 1980-1982. i liked it, even though , then, it was the butt of jokes. but fuck it, harvey pekar lived there and so... you worked on a movie w/Grodin and i directed his show on CNBC years ago. i have a soft spot for Grodin. his opening monologue on his short-lived cable show was always awesome. he just winged it for 8 minutes. every fucking day. i gotta respect that. # posted by Anonymous : 5:10 PM I want to stand up and defend Cleveland. Now, I live in a suburb that is about 20 minutes from Cleveland proper, and so far, living in the burbs is like living in a different world. Many of my friends and I seem to be sidestepping the unemployment problem and hence also the foreclosure problem right now. The article states somewhere, though, that Cleveland's foreclosure rate was overtaken by other cities, and is no longer number one. That is bullshit. The only reason we don't have the highest rate anymore is because we simply RAN OUT OF HOUSES to foreclose on within the Cleveland city limits. So I just wanted to defend Cleveland's honor and say here that we still are, in my opinion, the foreclosure capital of the world right now. AND we may be edging up on the U.S. unemployment #1 as well! I would argue that while some places may currently have worse rates, that we are in the worst situation right now...nothing to be proud of, for sure. This just in, though: with no factories running, Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River are insanely clean!! So it's a great time to live here... # posted by Anonymous : 3:02 PM Baby Bro, there is nothing to be done...we have to ride it out. And, you think that's bad...Salem is in a world of shit. On the other hand, you can get a great big house pretty cheap..wink, wink, nudge, nudge...lol. Love you guys, Meg # posted by Anonymous : 1:40 AM Post a Comment << Home		Links The Conversation Special Productions Izzle Pfaff Freida Bee Sometimes I Just Talk Alisa and the Stuff Alisa Does Tuna Girl Defective Yeti The Incurable Insomniac The Savvy, The Extreme and The Idealist Caballito del Diablo The Ambivalence of Open Spaces Bug-Eyed Blog Whiskeymarie Version 53 Things I've Noticed (S)wine: ShortLeanCuts Out of Tune Missives from the Beige Sister of Hairshirt Apostrophe Abuse Jonestown Tobacco Brunette The Public Intellectual That's Why Archives July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 March 2011 April 2011