How Do Clevelanders With An Inferiority Complex to Get Over It? (Columbus: health insurance, buy)

[QCongress83216]

Originally Posted by gouldnm

Before you label people as "close minded", keep in mind that many people on the Coasts lead incredibly hectic and busy lives. They literally don't have time to see much that's not right in front of their faces! They might know about other large cities, but they don't know much beyond that.


You ask how people react when I say I want to retire in Cleveland. Like I said earlier, most just draw a complete blank. I think you have this idea that people on the Coasts like to sit around all day making jokes about Cleveland. Please believe me when I say it's not like that! Most people are just normal, working people trying to get through each day of their stressful lives.


Sometimes, though, I get positive comments. You'd be surprised how many Cleveland fans are out there! And people who are really serious about classical music all know about the Cleveland Orchestra, and that includes a lot of people from New York City.

No, I wasn't saying all people on the Coasts are close minded, I was talking about a certain group of people on the Coasts just like a certain group of people in the Midwest and the South are close minded. Just like I was trying to say that a certain group of people on the Coasts may have negative perceptions of Cleveland or the Midwest based on hearsay or the media.

[Minervah]

How do your friends on the Coasts react when you say you would retire in Cleveland? That waiter from California must've been some serious rent and utilities out there.

I know you were not asking me this question but you have in the past and my answer was exactly the same as this poster’s.

You ask how people react when I say I want to retire in Cleveland. Like I said earlier, most just draw a complete blank. I think you have this idea that people on the Coasts like to sit around all day making jokes about Cleveland. Please believe me when I say it's not like that! Most people are just normal, working people trying to get through each day of their stressful lives.

Seriously, do you not want to believe this? I will also say again it’s not so much that a negative response is given when you tell people on the Coast as to where you are going, it’s more that you want to move away from the Coast at all. At least that’s the attitude on the West Coast.

So I have a question for you. How do you want to see things change for Cleveland? Do you want it to be a Media darling like those cities that have become overpriced, overhyped and oversold?

Do you want to be loved by one and all? Because that’s never going to happen. Just why do you keep asking the same question and making the same comment about poor Cleveland not getting the love over and over again? Seriously, what do you want for your city?

[bjimmy24]

Seriously, spend a month in a coastal city. I would be surprised if the topic of Cleveland, OH came up even once. And if you tell 100 people you're from Cleveland, 90 won't care. 5 will say "oh I have been there" and 5 will say something about Lebron James.

[HueysBack]

Again, being recent transports to the area, we have had all sorts of people look at us dumbstruck when we mention we're from California. Our realtor, doctor, neighbors, etc. Just today I had the oil change guy crack a joke, "You moved to Cleveland from Cali!? You must have run out of money on the way to NYC!"

"I would never live in NYC!", I responded. (See, we all have our opinions about other places)

To be fair, however, this mentality has been true for everywhere we've lived in the Midwest, so not wholly unique to CLE alone. And it's mostly weather related. Even moving from Madison to Minneapolis people were saying, "Why!? It's soo cold up there!".

Also, (many) people from the coasts DO have a really negative opinion of the Midwest as a whole -- including Cleveland. At least, many people from California do. But it is also true that most Californians think they are the center of the Universe with nothing but desolation and chaos ravaging the rest of the planet.

It's also true that many Midwesterner's think poorly of the coasts. West coasters are delusional dreamers, east coasters are brash and stuck up. Oh... and the south is full of racists. Point is, we're all guilty of trashing others. I do think trashing ourselves is fairly unique to the Midwest though. But I also think that with that comes a humility and honesty that is rarer on the coasts.

I don't know... I guess it's not correct to say CLE does NOT have a poor reputation nationally, it kinda does. And it's not hard to give a plethora of examples. It's also not correct to say Clevelander's DON'T have an inferiority complex... many do.

But... perspective is key. This exists throughout the Midwest, somewhat warranted, mostly unwarranted.

Also... the coasts aren't all glitz and glamour. The economic disparity seen on the coasts will be very interesting (and likely very sad) to watch play out in the coming decades. The populations are not sustainable in many of the cities, especially as the USA loses it's World Power privileged status and climate change really sets in. These are major considerations that younger folks like myself ARE concerned about and has influenced our decision to move "inland". I know I'm not alone in this thinking either.

Also interesting... a similar discussion happening about Philly: https://www.city-data.com/forum/city-...eption-problem

[gouldnm]

I've been reading an interesting thread on the Dayton forum titled "The Dayton 'Attitude' problem". While Clevelanders are lamenting the fact that they can't be more like the cities on the coasts, people in Dayton lament the fact that they can't be more like Indianapolis or Columbus. Get some perspective, guys!

[Minervah]

Yeah people here do ask me why I relocated from Portland, OR sometimes. It’s not because they think I’ve gone down in life, it’s just that they are surprised I moved such a long distance. I tell them economics mostly.

They ask me about Portland. They ask why I chose Cleveland. I tell them after doing my research Cleveland appealed to me the most. Their pride goes up a notch as well it should. I didn’t move here because of Media hype, family, a job or any of the usual reasons. I moved here because it was a city I felt had a lot to offer me.

I also explained that to my friends in the PNW who understood.

There will always be people who will diss a place by reputation only. That happens all the time on CD. Even if it’s by experience it doesn’t matter. What matters is what the individual feels about the place where he or she lives.

[gouldnm]

Here's what's wrong with America. Apple, along with Amazon, are considering opening up campuses in the D.C. metro area. The local people don't want them to come here because it will mean an increase in traffic, cost of living, etc. in an already overly-crowded, overly-congested part of the country. Why don't they move to places like Cleveland and other cities in the Midwest? It would simultaneously solve the problem of overcrowding on the Coasts, while revitalizing communities in the Midwest. Seriously, it would be much better for our country, as a whole.

Some of the comments (and complaints) are worth reading:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.4291dbb5a9b5

Here are a few examples from the comments (Cleveland, be careful what you wish for!):
"Yeah, I once thought we had reasonable access to an international airport too living in the Baltimore/DC/NoVa region. How brutally wrong I was. My wife made the mistake of booking her ticket for an international flight at 4 PM on a Thursday. I took me 6.5 hours to get her to the airport and back for only a 39 mile round trip. Do people posting not from this area understand how horribly densely populated it is here already?"

"You obviously have never been to Crystal City. We are drowning in traffic, massive new build apt condo buildings (10 in the in the past five years) with no improvement in infrastructure, have two metro stations so overcrowded in rush hour coming and going, especially the Blue line at Rosslyn coming south to the point I am amazed no one has been pushed off the platform at rush hour. Over crowded bridges.

What are you smoking???"

"The best way for both apple and Amazon to get northern Virginia into perspective is to compel the owners and staffs to make the commute at the height of rush hours. Anyone who thinks the workers are going to be able to use mass transit or bikes is nuts."

"Please don't. Tech has already completely destroyed California. Home prices here are already insanely expensive, yet the politicians are salivating at all of the potential tax revenue and don't care about how it'll affect the COL for an average family. Amazon and Apple need to move to Midwest where taxes are low and there is a ton of land to develop. Why must we develop every single blade of grass on the coasts? It's already crowded here; it makes much more sense to go where there is more space available."

"DC doesn't need to become a Silicon Valley of the East because it already is exactly that, at least in the worst ways that count: astronomical real estate prices, housing shortages and ubiquitous traffic jams. Amazon and, heaven help us, Apple moving to this area would only compound those existing problems. Please, Apple and Amazon, go establish your campuses somewhere else."

"More inequality! More homelessness! More transportation nightmares, even worse that the current unacceptable transportation nightmares! More snobby tech buses shuttling workers here and there! Can we write the script right now, post it, and just refer to it off and on as the story develops?"

[Minervah]

.More inequality! More homelessness! More transportation nightmares, even worse that the current unacceptable transportation nightmares! More snobby tech buses shuttling workers here and there! Can we write the script right now, post it, and just refer to it off and on as the story develops?"

Exactly! Anyone who admires these cities from afar needs to actually go to them and take a closer look. They will see that’s what happens when a city moves too fast to be called either “successful” or “cool.” When a city sacrifices a good number of citizens to get there it is neither of those things.

This description, btw, fits Portland exactly, right down to the snobby tech buses.

The point is in order to feel inferior there has to be something to which you have to feel inferior to. There has been no other city, the OP in all of his numerous threads and posts, has convinced me Cleveland has to feel inferior to.

[gouldnm]

Here's another interesting article. It says that people who live in rural areas are happier than people who live in urban areas. However, it doesn't break it down into smaller cities like Cleveland compared to mega-cities like NYC or Chicago. Having grown up in a small town of approximately 10,000 people, I can tell you that I am definitely happier living in a city than a small town. However, I also don't like mega-cities. To me, a place the size of Cleveland is an ideal compromise:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.27e1aeaf673d

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by gouldnm

To me, a place the size of Cleveland is an ideal compromise

I have always thought this too. Life in a larger city can get old, exhausting, and expensive. Just not worth it. But let's not forsake all the good things about urban environments. IMO places like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Columbus, Cincinnati, Kansas City, St Louis offer a lot of what is good about top-10 metros but without the headaches and the just generally more chill and friendly environment.