It’s not an uncommon story at this point — in fact, you may be living this tale right now — but, whether observed at face value or forced through some media narrative, there’s something a bit exciting about it.
Young people are moving back to Cleveland!
Or maybe they never even left!
Here & Now‘s “Alternate Routes” (NPR) reporting project published its first episode from Cleveland, where there’s a hotbed of young professionals making places like Ohio City awesome. Things like the influx of nice restaurants and bars are discussed multiple times, which mirrors IRL conversations that take place everyday here.
Listen to the episode below.
The project came about with the midterm elections looming, and shifts in age demographics do tend to have an impact on election outcomes. The focus, however, is pinned more directly on the changes in Ohio City, which was recently touted separately as one of the country’s best up-and-coming neighborhoods. The craft brew scene is touted at length as a touchstone of Cleveland’s renaissance. For instance: “It’s great to be able to have such a diversity of beer in such a concentrated location.”
This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2014.
I hear Jack White “High Ball Stepper” in the background.
Everyone in this broadcast starts their sentences with the word “so.” “So, I’m Joe Schmo…” Incredibly annoying.
Unfortunately, this story is earnest, but ultimately just another rather amateurish, simplistic take on a city that should be described in nuance, not generalities.
Comparing Cleveland to New York is absurd and misleading. Even so, even a cursory check on Cleveland would reveal Northeast Ohio has stronger roots in Connecticut (the Western Reserve area before boundaries changed) than, say Kansas. The radio interviewer seem to have more a twang than some of the people she interviewed.
Restaurants aside, it has an arts scene that is comparable to Boston (and the second-largest dedicated theater district outside New York). It’s not the penultimate Midwestern backwater that hipsters suddenly “discovered.”
One final small matter: A credible journalist should never misleadingly label Cleveland the second largest city in Ohio. Unlike Columbus, Cleveland never incorporated its metro area into the city-population stats. In other words, greater Cleveland (a five-county marketing statistical area) is more than twice the size of Greater Columbus.
Nice to hear Cleveland get a bit of air time, but let’s keep it real.
the speaker states she is from the “west side” (Bay Village) rahahahaha
Here’s a novel idea. Why doesn’t NPR interview a native Clevelander who grew up in the area, moved away for university and then moved back…as the intro seems to imply…not a girl from New York.