Information about Cleveland

Cleveland, Ohio
Flag Seal
Nickname: The Forest City
Motto: Progress & Prosperity
Location in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Cuyahoga
Founded	1796
Incorporated	1814 (village)
	1836 (city)
Government
- Mayor	Frank G. Jackson (D)
Area [1]
- City	82.4 sq mi (213.4 km)
- Land	77.6 sq mi (200.9 km)
- Water	4.8 sq mi (12.5 km)
Elevation [2]	653 ft (199 m)
Population (2000)[2]
- City	478,403
- Density	6,166.5/sq mi (2380.9/km)
- Metro	2,250,871
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	216
FIPS code	39-16000GR2
GNIS feature ID	1066654GR3
Website: www.city.cleveland.oh.us

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles (100 km) west of the Pennsylvania border. It was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and became a manufacturing center owing to its location at the head of numerous canals and railroad lines. With the decline of heavy manufacturing, Cleveland's businesses have diversified into the service economy, including the financial services, insurance, and healthcare sectors. Cleveland is also noted for its association with rock music. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is located here.^[3]

As of the 2000 Census, the city proper had a total population of 478,403, making it the 33rd largest city in the nation^[4] and the second largest city in Ohio. It is the center of Greater Cleveland, the largest metropolitan area in Ohio, which spans several counties and is defined in several different ways by the Census Bureau. The Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor Metropolitan Statistical Area has 2,250,871 people and is the 23rd largest in the country, according to the 2000 Census. Cleveland is also part of the larger Cleveland-Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area, which is the 14th largest in the country with a population of 2,945,831 according to the 2000 Census.^[5]

In studies conducted by The Economist in 2005, Cleveland and Pittsburgh were ranked as the most livable cities in the United States,^[6] and the city was ranked as the best city for business meetings in the continental U.S.^[7] The city faces continuing challenges, in particular from concentrated poverty in some neighborhoods and difficulties in the funding and delivery of high-quality public education.^[8]

Residents of Cleveland are usually referred to as "Clevelanders". Nicknames used for the city include "The Forest City", "Metropolis of the Western Reserve",^[9] "The New American City",^[10] "America's North Coast",^[11] "Sixth City",^[12],"C-Town", ^[13] and "the Cleve".^[14]

History

Main article: History of Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland obtained its name on July 22, 1796 when surveyors of the Connecticut Land Company laid out Connecticut's Western Reserve into townships and a capital city they named "Cleaveland" after their leader, General Moses Cleaveland. Cleaveland oversaw the plan for the modern downtown area, centering on the Public Square, before returning home, never again to visit Ohio. The first settler in Cleaveland was Lorenzo Carter, who built a cabin on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. The Village of Cleaveland was incorporated on December 23, 1814. The spelling of the city's name was later changed to "Cleveland" when, in 1831, an "a" was dropped so the name could fit a newspaper's masthead.^[15]

In spite of the nearby swampy lowlands and harsh winters, its waterfront location proved providential. The area began rapid growth after the 1832 completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal. This key link between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes connected the city to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. Growth continued with added railroad links.^[16] Cleveland incorporated as a city in 1836.^[15]

In 1836, the city, then located only on the eastern banks of the Cuyahoga River, nearly erupted into open warfare with neighboring Ohio City over a bridge connecting the two.^[17] Ohio City remained an independent municipality until it was annexed by Cleveland in 1854.<ref name="Timeline" /> The site flourished as a halfway point for iron ore from Minnesota shipped across the Great Lakes and other raw materials (coal) carried by rail from the south. Cleveland emerged as a major American manufacturing center, home to numerous major steel producers, as well as a number of carmakers, including steam car builder White and electric car company Baker. By 1920, Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller had made his fortune and Cleveland had become the fifth largest city in the country.^[15] The city was a center for the national progressive movement, headed locally by Mayor Tom L. Johnson. Many Clevelanders of this era are buried in the historic Lake View Cemetery, along with James A. Garfield, the twentieth U.S. President.^[18]



In commemoration of the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a city, the Great Lakes Exposition debuted in June 1936 along the Lake Erie shore north of downtown. Conceived as a way to energize a city hit hard by the Great Depression, it drew 4 million visitors in its first season, and 7 million by the end of its second and final season in September 1937.^[19] The exposition was housed on grounds that are now used by the Great Lakes Science Center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Burke Lakefront Airport, among others.^[20]

Immediately after World War II, the city experienced a brief boom. In sports, the Indians won the 1948 World Series and the Browns dominated professional football in the 1950s. Businesses proclaimed that Cleveland was the "best location in the nation".^[21] The city's population reached its peak of 914,808, and in 1949 Cleveland was named an All-America City for the first time.^[22] By the 1960s, however, heavy industries began to slump, and residents sought new housing in the suburbs, reflecting the national trends of white flight and urban sprawl. Like other major American cities, Cleveland also began witnessing racial unrest, culminating in the Hough Riots from July 18, 1966 – July 23, 1966 and the Glenville Shootout on July 23, 1968 – July 25, 1968. The city's nadir is often considered to be its default on its loans on December 15 1978, when under Mayor Dennis Kucinich it became the first major American city to enter default since the Great Depression.^[15] National media began referring to Cleveland as "the mistake on the lake" around this time, in reference to the city's financial difficulties, a notorious 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River (where industrial waste on the river's surface caught on fire), and its struggling professional sports teams.^[23] The city has worked to shed this nickname ever since, though in recent times the national media have been much kinder to the city, using it as an exemplar for public-private partnerships, downtown revitalization, and urban renaissance.^[24]

The metropolitan area began recovery thereafter under Mayors George Voinovich and Michael R. White. Redevelopment within the city limits has been strongest in the downtown area near the Gateway complex—consisting of Jacobs Field and Quicken Loans Arena, and near North Coast Harbor—including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland Browns Stadium, and the Great Lakes Science Center. Although Cleveland was hailed by the media as the "Comeback City,"^[25] many of the inner-city residential neighborhoods remain troubled, and the public school system continues to experience serious problems. Economic development, retention of young professionals, and capitalizing upon its waterfront are current municipal priorities.^[26]

Geography

Topography

Cleveland is located at .^GR1 According to the United States Census Bureau,^[2] the city has a total area of 82.4 square miles (213.5 km²), of which, 77.6 square miles (201.0 km²) is land and 4.8 square miles (12.5 km²) is water. The total area is 5.87% water.

The shore of Lake Erie is 569 feet (173 m) above sea level; however, the city lies on a series of irregular bluffs lying roughly parallel to the lake. In Cleveland these bluffs are cut principally by the Cuyahoga River, Big Creek, and Euclid Creek. The land rises quickly from the lakeshore. Public Square, less than a mile (2 km) inland, sits at an elevation of 650 feet (198 m), and Hopkins Airport, only five miles (8 km) inland from the lake, is at an elevation of 791 feet (241 m).^[27]

Climate

Monthly normal and record high and low temperatures[28]
Mon.	Avg. High	Avg. Low	Avg.	Rec. High	Rec. Low
Jan	33 °F	19 °F	26 °F	73 °F	-20 °F
Feb	36 °F	21 °F	29 °F	74 °F	-16 °F
Mar	46 °F	29 °F	38 °F	83 °F	-5 °F
Apr	57 °F	38 °F	48 °F	88 °F	10 °F
May	69 °F	48 °F	59 °F	92 °F	25 °F
Jun	77 °F	58 °F	68 °F	104 °F	31 °F
Jul	81 °F	62 °F	72 °F	103 °F	41 °F
Aug	79 °F	61 °F	70 °F	102 °F	38 °F
Sep	72 °F	54 °F	63 °F	101 °F	32 °F
Oct	61 °F	44 °F	52 °F	90 °F	19 °F
Nov	49 °F	35 °F	42 °F	82 °F	3 °F
Dec	37 °F	25 °F	31 °F	77 °F	-15 °F

Cleveland possesses a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa), typical of much of the central United States, with hot, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. The Lake Erie shoreline is very close to due east-west from the mouth of the Cuyahoga west to Sandusky, but at the mouth of the Cuyahoga it turns sharply northeast. This feature is the principal contributor to the lake effect snow that is typical in Cleveland (especially east side) weather from mid-November until the surface of Lake Erie freezes, usually in late January or early February. The lake effect causes snowfall totals to range greatly across the city: while Hopkins Airport has only reached 100 inches (254 cm) of snowfall in a given season three times since 1968,^[29] seasonal totals approaching or exceeding 100 inches are not uncommon in an area known as the "Snow Belt", extending from the east side of Cleveland proper through the eastern suburbs and up the Lake Erie shore as far as Buffalo, New York.

The all-time record high in Cleveland of 104 °F (40 °C) was established on June 25 1988, and the all-time record low of −20 °F (−29 °C) was set on January 19 1994.<ref name="weatherchannel" /> On average, July is the warmest month with a mean temperature of 71.9 °F (22.2 °C), and January, with a mean temperature of 25.7 °F (−3.5 °C), is the coldest. Normal yearly precipitation based on the 30-year average from 1971 to 2000 is 38.7 inches (930 mm).^[30]

Cityscape

Architecture

Cleveland's downtown architecture is diverse. Many of the city's government and civic buildings, including City Hall, the Cuyahoga County Courthouse, the Cleveland Public Library, and Public Auditorium, are clustered around an open mall and share a common neoclassical architecture. Built in the early 20th century, they are the result of the 1903 Group Plan, and constitute one of the most complete examples of City Beautiful design in the United States.^[31] The Terminal Tower, dedicated in 1930, was the tallest building in the United States outside New York City until 1967 and the tallest in the city until 1991.^[32] It is a prototypical Beaux-Arts skyscraper. The two newer skyscrapers on Public Square, Key Tower (currently the tallest building in Ohio) and the BP Building, combine elements of Art Deco architecture with postmodern designs. Another of Cleveland's architectural treasures is The Arcade (sometimes called the Old Arcade), a five-story arcade built in 1890 and renovated in 2001 as a Hyatt Regency Hotel.^[33]

Running east from Public Square through University Circle is Euclid Avenue, which was known for its prestige and elegance. In the late 1880s, writer Bayard Taylor described it as "the most beautiful street in the world."^[34] Known as "Millionaire's Row", Euclid Avenue was world-renowned as the home of such internationally-known names as Rockefeller, Hanna, and Hay.^[35]

Cleveland is home to four parks in the countywide Cleveland Metroparks system, the "Emerald Necklace" of Olmsted-inspired parks that encircles the region. In the Big Creek valley sits the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, which contains the largest collection of primates of any zoo in the United States. The other three parks are Brookside Park and parts of the Rocky River and Washington Reservations. Apart from the Metroparks is Cleveland Lakefront State Park, which provides public access to Lake Erie. Among its six parks are Edgewater Park, located between the Shoreway and Lake Erie just west of downtown, and Euclid Beach Park and Gordon Park on the east side. The City of Cleveland's Rockefeller Park, with its many Cultural Gardens^[36] honoring the city's ethnic groups, follows Doan Brook across the city's east side.

Neighborhoods

Downtown Cleveland includes mixed-use neighborhoods such as the Flats and the Warehouse District, which are occupied by industrial and office buildings and also by restaurants and bars. The number of downtown housing units in the form of condominiums, lofts, and apartments has increased over the past ten years. This trend looks to continue with the recent revival of the Flats. The apartment and condominium project that was recently completed on the West Bank, Stonebridge Apartments, has been highly successful. The East Bank has its own redevelopment project underway orchestrated by Scott Wolstein of Developers Diversified Realty, Inc that looks only to enhance the Flats recent success.

Cleveland residents often define themselves in terms of whether they live on the east side or the west side of the Cuyahoga River.^[37] The east side comprises the following neighborhoods: Buckeye-Shaker Square, Central, Collinwood, Corlett, Euclid-Green, Fairfax, Forest Hills, Glenville, Payne/Goodrich-Kirtland Park, Hough, Kinsman, Lee Harvard/Seville-Miles, Mount Pleasant, Nottingham, St. Clair-Superior, Union-Miles Park, University Circle, Little Italy, and Woodland Hills. The west side of the city includes the following neighborhoods: Brooklyn Centre, Clark-Fulton, Detroit-Shoreway, Cudell, Edgewater, Ohio City, Old Brooklyn, Stockyards, West Boulevard, and the four neighborhoods colloquially known as West Park: Kamm's Corners, Jefferson, Puritas-Longmead, and Riverside. Three neighborhoods in the Cuyahoga Valley are sometimes referred to as the south side: Industrial Valley/Duck Island, Slavic Village (North and South Broadway), and Tremont.

Several inner-city neighborhoods have begun to gentrify in recent years. Areas on both the west side (Ohio City, Tremont, Detroit-Shoreway, and Edgewater) and the east side (Collinwood, Hough, Fairfax, and Little Italy) have been successful in attracting increasing numbers of creative class members, which in turn is spurring new residential development.^[38] Furthermore, a live-work zoning overlay for the city's near east side has facilitated the transformation of old industrial buildings into loft spaces for artists.^[39]

Suburbs

Main article: Greater Cleveland

Cleveland's older inner-ring or "first" suburbs include Bedford, Bedford Heights, Brook Park, Brooklyn, Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, East Cleveland, Euclid, Fairview Park, Garfield Heights, Lakewood, Maple Heights, Parma, Shaker Heights, South Euclid, University Heights, and Warrensville Heights. All are members of the Northeast Ohio First Suburbs Consortium.^[40]

Culture

Entertainment and performing arts

Cleveland is home to Playhouse Square Center, the second largest performing arts center in the United States behind New York's Lincoln Center.^[41] Playhouse Square includes the State, Palace, Allen, Hanna, and Ohio theaters within what is known as the Theater District of Downtown Cleveland.^[42] Playhouse Square's resident performing arts companies include the Cleveland Opera, the Ohio Ballet, and the Great Lakes Theater Festival.^[43] The center also hosts various Broadway musicals, special concerts, speaking engagements, and other events throughout the year. One Playhouse Square, now the headquarters for Cleveland's public broadcasters, was originally used as the broadcast studios of WJW Radio, where disc jockey Alan Freed first popularized the term "rock and roll".^[44] Located between Playhouse Square and University Circle are the Cleveland Play House and Karamu House, a well-known African American performing and fine arts center, both founded in the 1920s.^[45]

Cleveland is also home to the Cleveland Orchestra, widely considered one of the finest orchestras in the world, and often referred to as the finest in the United States.^[46] It is one of the "Big Five" major orchestras in the United States. The Orchestra plays in Severance Hall during the winter and at Blossom Music Center during the summer.^[47]

There are two main art museums in Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art is a major American art museum,^[48] and its collection is comprised of more than 40,000 works of art ranging over 6,000 years, from ancient masterpieces to contemporary pieces. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland showcases established and emerging artists, particularly from the Cleveland area, through hosting and producing temporary exhibitions.^[49]

Cleveland has served as the filming location for several noteworthy movies, including The Fortune Cookie (1967) with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, the Academy Award-winning Deer Hunter (1978), Antwone Fisher (2002), and the holiday favorite A Christmas Story (1983).^[50] Scenes for Spider-Man 3 were filmed in Cleveland in April 2006.^[51] Cleveland is the lifelong home of cartoonist Harvey Pekar and the setting for most of his autobiographical comic books. The city was also the setting for the popular sitcom, The Drew Carey Show which starred Cleveland native Drew Carey.

Cleveland was the home of Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, who created the comic book character Superman in 1932. Both attended Glenville High School, and their early collaborations resulted in the creation of "The Man of Steel".^[52]

Cleveland is the home of heavy metal group Mushroomhead, rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Eric Carmen and his band, The Raspberries.^[53] R&B singer Gerald Levert also was a lifelong resident of Cleveland, and it was the hometown of R&B groups the Dazz Band and The Rude Boys, as well as R&B singer Avant. It was also home to protopunk bands Pere Ubu, Rocket From the Tombs, and Electric Eels.^[54]

Tourism

Five miles (8 km) east of downtown Cleveland is University Circle, a 550-acre (220 ha) concentration of cultural, educational, and medical institutions, including Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals, Severance Hall, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and the Western Reserve Historical Society. Cleveland is also home to the I. M. Pei-designed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, located on the Lake Erie waterfront at North Coast Harbor downtown. Neighboring attractions include Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Great Lakes Science Center, the Steamship Mather Museum, and the USS Cod, a World War II submarine.^[55]

Cleveland is home to many festivals throughout the year. Cultural festivals such as the annual Feast of the Assumption in the Little Italy neighborhood, the Greek Orthodox Festival in the Tremont neighborhood, and the Harvest Festival in the Slavic Village neighborhood are popular events. Vendors at the West Side Market in Ohio City offer many different ethnic foods for sale. Cleveland hosts an annual parade on Saint Patrick's Day that brings hundreds of thousands to the streets of downtown.^[56]

In addition to the cultural festivals, Cleveland hosted the CMJ Rock Hall Music Fest, which featured national and local acts, including both established artists and up-and-coming acts, but the festival was discontinued in 2007 due to financial and manpower costs to the Rock Hall.^[57] The city recently incorporated an annual art and technology festival, known as Ingenuity, which features a combination of art and technology in various installations and performances throughout lower Euclid Avenue. The Cleveland International Film Festival has been held annually since 1977, and its eleven day run drew a record 52,753 people in 2007.^[58] Cleveland also hosts an annual holiday display lighting and celebration, dubbed Winterfest, which is held downtown at the city's historic hub, Public Square.^[59]

A large concentration of Poles in the metropolitan Cleveland area resulted in a number of impressive churches in the Polish Cathedral style, such as the Shrine of old St. Stanislaus in Slavic Village or St. John Cantius in Tremont. Both churches are included on tour itineraries.^{[60] [61]}

Sports

See also:

Cleveland's professional sports teams include the Cleveland Indians (Major League Baseball), Cleveland Browns (National Football League), Cleveland Cavaliers (National Basketball Association), Cleveland Bulldogs (Arena Football League), Cleveland City Stars (United Soccer Leagues), and Lake Erie Monsters (American Hockey League). Annual sporting events held in Cleveland include the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland, the Cleveland Marathon, the Mid-American Conference college basketball tournament and the Ohio Classic college football game.^[62] The city hosted the Gravity Games, an extreme sports series, from 2002 to 2004. Local sporting facilities include Jacobs Field, Cleveland Browns Stadium, Quicken Loans Arena, and the CSU Wolstein Center.

The Cleveland Browns dominated the NFL from 1950 to 1955. The city's franchise is one of the most storied in football, though it last won an NFL championship in 1964 and has never appeared in the Super Bowl. The Cleveland Indians last reached the World Series in 1995 and 1997, though they lost to the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins, respectively, and have not won the series since 1948. Between 1995 and 2001, Jacobs Field sold out for 455 consecutive games, a Major League Baseball record.^[63] The Cleveland Cavaliers are experiencing a renaissance with Cleveland fans due to LeBron James, a native of nearby Akron and the number one overall draft pick of 2003. The Cavaliers won the Eastern Conference in 2007, but were defeated in the NBA Finals by the San Antonio Spurs. The city's recent lack of success in sports has earned it a reputation of being a cursed sports city, which ESPN validated by proclaiming Cleveland as its "most tortured sports city" in 2004.^[64]

At the 2005 Major League Soccer All-Star Game in Columbus, MLS commissioner Don Garber announced that Cleveland was one of several top areas in contention for an expansion team in 2007.^[65] Delays in securing a soccer-only stadium have now prevented any such team from beginning play until the 2009 season, but the Cleveland area is still a contender for expansion. Cleveland fielded an NHL team, the Cleveland Barons, from 1976 to 1978, which was later merged into the Minnesota North Stars. The city has had other major-league hockey teams in the past. The most recent incarnation of the Barons, was an AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, that moved to Worcester, Massachusetts in 2006. The tradition of professional hockey in Cleveland started with the original Cleveland Barons in 1937.^[66] A new professional team is slated to begin play in 2007 with the Lake Erie Monsters, an AHL team purchased by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.^[67] Cleveland was also home to the Cleveland Rockers, one of the original eight teams^[68] in the WNBA in 1997. However, in 2003, the team folded after owner Gordon Gund dropped the team from operation.

Media

Main article: Media in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is served in print by The Plain Dealer, the city's sole remaining daily newspaper. The competing Cleveland Press ceased publication on June 17 1982, and the Cleveland News ended its run in 1960. Cleveland also supports several alternative weekly publications, including the Free Times and Cleveland Scene.

Cleveland, combined with nearby Akron, was ranked in 2006–2007 as the 17th largest television market by Nielsen Media Research.^[69] The market is served by stations affiliated with major American networks including: WKYC-TV (channel 3, NBC), WEWS (channel 5, ABC), WJW-TV (channel 8, Fox), WOIO (channel 19, CBS), WUAB (channel 43, MNTV), and WBNX (channel 55, The CW). Cleveland is also served by WVPX (channel 23, ion) and Spanish-language channel WQHS-TV (channel 61, Univision). WVIZ (channel 25) and WEAO (channel 49) are members of PBS. A Cleveland first in television was The Morning Exchange program on WEWS, which defined the morning show format, and served as the inspiration for Good Morning America.^[70]

Cleveland is also served by over 43 AM and FM radio stations directly, and dozens of other stations are heard from elsewhere in Northeast Ohio.^[71]

Economy

Cleveland's location on the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie has been key to its growth. The Ohio and Erie Canal coupled with rail links helped establish the city as a major American manufacturing center. Steel and many other manufactured goods emerged as its industries.^[72]

The city has sought to diversify its economy to become less dependent on its struggling manufacturing sector. Cleveland is the corporate headquarters of many large companies such as National City Corporation, Eaton Corporation, Forest City Enterprises, Sherwin-Williams Company, and KeyCorp. NASA maintains a facility in Cleveland, the Glenn Research Center. Jones Day, one of the largest law firms in the world, traces its origins to Cleveland, and its Cleveland office remains the firm's largest.^[73]

Cleveland's largest employer, the renowned Cleveland Clinic,^[74] ranks among America's best hospitals as tabulated by U.S. News & World Report.^[75] Cleveland's healthcare industry includes University Hospitals of Cleveland, a noted competitor which ranked twenty-fifth in cancer care,^[76] and MetroHealth medical center.

Cleveland is an emerging area for biotechnology and fuel cell research, led by Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals of Cleveland. Cleveland is among the top recipients of investment for biotech start-ups and research.^[77] Case Western Reserve, the Clinic, and University Hospitals have recently announced plans to build a large biotechnology research center and incubator on the site of the former Mt. Sinai Medical Center, creating a research campus to stimulate biotech startup companies that can be spun off from research conducted in the city.^[78]

City leaders stepped up efforts to cultivate a technology sector in its economy in the early 2000s. Former Mayor Jane L. Campbell appointed a "tech czar" whose job is to actively recruit tech companies to the downtown office market, offering connections to the high-speed fiber networks that run underneath downtown streets in several "high-tech offices" focused on the Euclid Avenue area. Cleveland State University hired a Technology Transfer Officer to work full time on cultivating technology transfers from CSU research to marketable ideas and companies in the Cleveland area, and appointed a Vice President for Economic Development to leverage the university's assets in expanding the city's economy. Case Western Reserve University participates in technology initiatives such as the OneCommunity project^[79] a high-speed fiber optic network linking the area's major research centers intended to stimulate growth. OneCommunity's work attracted the attention of Intel and in mid-2005, Cleveland was named an Intel "Worldwide Digital Community" along with Corpus Christi, Texas, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Taipei, Taiwan. This distinction will add about $12 million for marketing to expand regional technology partnerships, create a city-wide WiFi network, and develop a tech economy. In addition to this Intel initiative, in January 2006 a New York-based think tank, the Intelligent Community Forum, selected Cleveland as the sole American city among its seven finalists for the "Intelligent Community of the Year" award. The group announced that it nominated the city for its OneCleveland network with potential broadband applications.^[80] The OneCommunity Network is collaborating with Cisco Systems to deploy a cutting-edge wireless network that could provide widespread access to the region. Cisco is testing new technologies in wireless "mesh" networking. OneCommunity and Cisco officially launched the first phase in September 2006, blanketing several square miles of University Circle with wireless connectivity. Additionally, Cisco Systems acquired the former Aironet Wireless Networks, which was based in the Greater Cleveland area, to form its wireless networking product lineup and maintain a facility in the region.^[81]

Demographics

Historical populations[82]
Census year	Population	Rank	%±
1820	606	-	-
1830	1,075	-	77.3%
1840	6,071	67	464.7%
1850	17,034	41	180.5%
1860	43,417	21	154.8%
1870	92,829	15	113.8%
1880	160,146	11	72.5%
1890	261,353	10	63.1%
1900	381,768	7	46.1%
1910	560,663	9	46.8%
1920	796,841	5	42.1%
1930	900,429	6	13.0%
1940	878,336	6	-3.5%
1950	914,808	7	4.1%
1960	876,050	8	-5.4%
1970	750,903	10	-15.3%
1980	573,822	18	-24.6%
1990	505,616	23	-12.9%
2000	478,403	33	-6.4%

As of the 2000 Census,^GR2 there were 478,403 people, 190,638 households, and 111,904 families residing in the city. The population density was 6,166.5 people per square mile (2,380.9/km²). There were 215,856 housing units at an average density of 2,782.4 per square mile (1,074.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 50.99% Black or African American, 41.49% White, 1.35% Asian, 0.30% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.59% from other races, and 2.24% from two or more races. 7.26% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.^[2] Ethnic groups include Germans (9.2%), Irish (8.2% ), Poles (4.8%), Italians (4.6%), and English (2.8%). There are also substantial communities of Hungarians, Arabs (mostly Maronite Christians and Sunni Muslims), Jews, Romanians, Czechs, Slovaks, Greeks, Ukrainians, Albanians, Croats, Serbs, Lithuanians, Slovenians, Koreans, and Han Chinese. The presence of Hungarians within the Cleveland proper was so great that the city once boasted the highest concentration of Hungarians in the world outside of Budapest.^[83]

There were 190,638 households out of which 29.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.5% were married couples living together, 24.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.3% were nonfamilies. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.19. The population was spread out with 28.5% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.2 males.^[2]

The median income for a household in the city was $25,928, and the median income for a family was $30,286. Males had a median income of $30,610 versus $24,214 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,291. 26.3% of the population and 22.9% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 37.6% of those under the age of 18 and 16.8% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.^[2]

Cleveland was hit hard in the 1960s and early 1970s by white flight and suburbanization, further exacerbated by the busing-based desegregation of Cleveland schools required by the United States Supreme Court. Although busing ended in the 1990s, Cleveland continued to slide into poverty, reaching a nadir in 2004 when it was named the poorest major city in the United States.^[84] Cleveland was again rated the poorest major city in the U.S. in 2006, with a poverty rate of 32.4%.^[85]

Government and politics

See also: , , and

Cleveland's position as a center of manufacturing established it as a hotbed of union activity early in its history. This contributed to a political progressivism that has influenced Cleveland politics to the present. While other parts of Ohio, particularly Cincinnati and the southern portion of the state, have historically supported the Republican Party, Cleveland commonly breeds the strongest support in the state for the Democrats;^[86] Cleveland's two representatives in the House of Representatives are Democrats: Dennis Kucinich and Stephanie Tubbs Jones. During the 2004 Presidential election, although George W. Bush carried Ohio, John Kerry carried Cuyahoga County,^[87] which gave him the strongest support in the state.

The city of Cleveland operates on the mayor-council (strong mayor) form of government.^[88] The mayor is the chief executive of the city, and the office is held in 2007 by Frank G. Jackson. Previous mayors of Cleveland include progressive Democrat Tom L. Johnson, Republican Senator, Harold Hitz Burton, justice of the United States Supreme Court, George V. Voinovich, two-time Democratic Ohio governor and senator Frank J. Lausche, and Carl B. Stokes, the first African American mayor of a major American city.^[89]

Education

Cleveland is home to a number of colleges and universities. Most prominent among these is Case Western Reserve University, a world-renowned research and teaching institution located in University Circle. A private university with several prominent graduate programs, Case was ranked 38th in the nation in 2007 by U.S. News & World Report.^[90] University Circle also contains Cleveland Institute of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine. Cleveland State University (CSU), based in downtown Cleveland, is the city's public four-year university. In addition to CSU, downtown hosts the metropolitan campus of Cuyahoga Community College, the county's two-year higher education institution, as well as Myers University, a private four-year school that focuses on business education.^[91]

The Cleveland Metropolitan School District is the largest K–12 district in the state, with 127 schools and an enrollment of 55,567 students during the 2006–2007 academic year.^[92] It is the only district in Ohio that is under direct control of the mayor, who appoints a school board.^[93]

Transportation

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is the city's major airport and an international airport that serves as one of three main hubs for Continental Airlines. It holds the distinction of having the first airport-to-downtown rapid transit connection, established in 1968. In 1930, the airport was the site of the first airfield lighting system and the first air traffic control tower. In addition to Hopkins, Cleveland is served by Burke Lakefront Airport, on the north shore of downtown between Lake Erie and the Shoreway. Burke is primarily a commuter and business airport.^[94]

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Cleveland, via the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited routes, which stop at Cleveland Lakefront Station. Cleveland has also been identified as a hub for the proposed Ohio Hub project, which would bring high-speed rail to Northeast Ohio.^[95]

Cleveland currently has a bus and rail mass transit system operated by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, also known as "RTA". The rail portion is officially called the RTA Rapid Transit, but is referred to by local residents as The Rapid. It consists of two light rail lines, known as the Green and Blue Lines, and a heavy rail line, the Red Line. RTA is currently installing a bus rapid transit line, coined the "Silver Line", which will run along Euclid Avenue from downtown to University Circle.^[96] National bus service is provided at a Greyhound station, located just behind Playhouse Square theater district.

Three two-digit Interstate highways serve Cleveland directly. Interstate 71 begins just southwest of downtown and is the major route from downtown Cleveland to the airport. I-71 runs through the southwestern suburbs and eventually connects Cleveland with Columbus. Interstate 77 begins in downtown Cleveland and runs almost due south through the southern suburbs. I-77 sees the least traffic of the three interstates, although it does connect Cleveland to Akron. Interstate 90 connects the two sides of Cleveland, and is the northern terminus for both I-71 and I-77. Running due east–west through the west side suburbs, I-90 turns northeast at the junction with I-71 and I-490, and is known as the Innerbelt through downtown. At the junction with the Shoreway, I-90 makes a 90-degree turn known in the area as Dead Man's Curve, then continues northeast, entering Lake County near the eastern split with State Route 2. Cleveland is also served by two three-digit interstates, Interstate 480, which enters Cleveland briefly at a few points and Interstate 490, which connects I-77 with the junction of I-90 and I-71 just south of downtown.^[97]

Two other limited-access highways serve Cleveland. The Cleveland Memorial Shoreway carries State Route 2 along its length, and at varying points also carries US 6, US 20 and I-90. The Jennings Freeway (State Route 176) connects I-71 just south of I-90 to I-480 near the suburbs of Parma and Brooklyn Heights. A third highway, the Berea Freeway (State Route 237 in part), connects I-71 to the airport, and forms part of the boundary between Cleveland and Brook Park.^[98]

Sister cities

Cleveland has twenty sister cities:^[99]

Alexandria (Egypt) Bahir Dar (Ethiopia) Bangalore (India) Braşov (Romania) Bratislava (Slovakia) Cleveland, England (United Kingdom) Conakry (Guinea) Fier (Albania) Gdańsk (Poland) Heidenheim (Germany)

Holon (Israel) Ibadan (Nigeria) Klaipėda (Lithuania) Lima (Peru) Ljubljana (Slovenia) Miskolc (Hungary) Segundo Montes (El Salvador) Taipei (Taiwan, Republic of China) Volgograd (Russia) West Mayo (Ireland)

See also

• Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion
• Cleveland Torso Murderer (Kingsbury Run murders)
• List of foreign consulates in Cleveland

References

External links

• City Of Cleveland Home Page
• Greater Cleveland Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Cleveland Memory Project
• Cleveland at the Open Directory Project
• * Maps and aerial photos for Coordinates:
• Maps from , Google Maps, Live Search Maps, Yahoo! Maps, or MapQuest
• Topographic maps from TopoZone or TerraServer-USA
• Flickr: Photos tagged with "Cleveland"
• Pictures of Cleveland at UrbanOhio.com
• Historic Cleveland Maps (1835–1971)
• Cleveland Cartography

	City of Cleveland
	Geography | History | Mayors | City Council | Public Schools | Sports | Media | Economy | Sister Cities

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