How Do Clevelanders With An Inferiority Complex to Get Over It? (Columbus: middle-class, real estate)

[Kamms]

Originally Posted by andrew61

I'll take Chicago's "hot areas" over Cleveland's any day. And, if you add up the population in the Chicago neighborhoods that are doing well, you get a figure that's larger than the entire city of Cleveland.

As WRnative stated: you missed the point.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Kamms

Yes, Minervah, there's the rub: if Cleveland does become a place that attracts the Portland/PNW types or the many other glamorous places we all know, the city will lose its local character, people are priced-out, and the locals become tech-bots or another form of ''suburban gone urban'' (provided it's trendy, cookie-cutter, safe, allegedly diverse-but not too much), also known as suburban hipsters living in a city they would never visit previously.

On the other hand, how does a city and metro grow today without this happening?

Be careful what one hopes for...

I think, at least I hope that continual planing and checking would hopefully be able to help prevent these problems. From my observations of Portland and because I lived through it, a good deal of the trouble was the inability of the city officials to handle the too-rapid growth within a very short period of time. They were too short-sighted too see the future.

That’s why I think it’s better to go a little more slowly and plan carefully than to go at high speed. That might just be the way to avoid Cleveland becoming a city looking like every other city you’ve described. At least I hope so because if that ever happened here, I would pick up and move again.

[Minervah]

Regarding those Clevelanders who may have an inferiority complex and how to get over it, remember,

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt

[gouldnm]

I’m finding the comments about Pittsburgh and Chicago interesting.

I have three siblings who live in Chicago and have no desire to live there. Yes, it’s glitzier and (on the surface) more attractive than Cleveland. But the level of traffic and high cost of living make it difficult to live there

My parents lived in a high rise on the “Gold Coast” with a view of the lake. They were within easy walking distance of the beach, Lincoln Park, great nightlife and shopping, etc. But even if I could afford that, I’m not sure I’d ever want it. Everything is just sooooooo crowded that even a routine task like going to the grocery store is a big deal. I suppose it might be okay if you grew up in a city and are used to it, but honestly, I’d rather live in a place like Cleveland where you can live in suburban neighborhood and still have easy access to the downtown, without the traffic and hassles of Chicago.

My sister is a doctor in Chicago. Her husband had a heart attack and she wanted him to get the best care possible. So guess where she took him—Cleveland Clinic. She told me that Chicago doesn’t have any exceptional hospitals.

She lives in a close-in suburb of downtown Chicago, but she almost never goes into the city because she hates fighting traffic!

As for Pittsburgh—my husband and I visited it once and just weren’t that impressed. It didn’t have nearly as much to do as even Dayton, let alone Cleveland. The downtown didn’t look very safe, either. We couldn’t understand what all the hoopla was about!

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by gouldnm

I’m finding the comments about Pittsburgh and Chicago interesting.

I have three siblings who live in Chicago and have no desire to live there. Yes, it’s glitzier and (on the surface) more attractive than Cleveland. But the level of traffic and high cost of living make it difficult to live there

My parents lived in a high rise on the “Gold Coast” with a view of the lake. They were within easy walking distance of the beach, Lincoln Park, great nightlife and shopping, etc. But even if I could afford that, I’m not sure I’d ever want it. Everything is just sooooooo crowded that even a routine task like going to the grocery store is a big deal. I suppose it might be okay if you grew up in a city and are used to it, but honestly, I’d rather live in a place like Cleveland where you can live in suburban neighborhood and still have easy access to the downtown, without the traffic and hassles of Chicago.

My sister is a doctor in Chicago. Her husband had a heart attack and she wanted him to get the best care possible. So guess where she took him—Cleveland Clinic. She told me that Chicago doesn’t have any exceptional hospitals.

She lives in a close-in suburb of downtown Chicago, but she almost never goes into the city because she hates fighting traffic!

As for Pittsburgh—my husband and I visited it once and just weren’t that impressed. It didn’t have nearly as much to do as even Dayton, let alone Cleveland. The downtown didn’t look very safe, either. We couldn’t understand what all the hoopla was about!

I actually grew up in Chicago. I lived there until I moved to Portland in the late 70’s. People often asked me why I didn’t return to Chicago when I decided to leave Portland. The reasons you give for not wanting to live in Chicago are many of the same as mine. For my purposes, Cleveland was a much better option.

Chicago is fun to visit though.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by QCongress83216

As we all know that a certain group of Clevelanders battle with a major inferiority complex, I battle with it at times. Some talk negative about the city, some feel that the city or they are inadequate to bigger cities or internalize what the media, social media and people in other cities think. Need some advice. So, how do myself and those Clevelanders get over it?

Well I learned that the inferiority complex was more about Ohio, than any one city, like Cleveland. My other inferiority was all about Akron. Cleveland was actually a city I looked up to. No matter how bad it gets in Cleveland I think it can always look at Akron for affirmation.

I've also learned in my limited travels that a lot of what people had to say was actually right. But I just did not want to believe it because I did not like the way that it made me feel. And then there is plenty that people talk about that is just wrong.

Cleveland was once 914,000. That is more than a lot of people can say about their cities. As far as city proper, that is technically still more than Columbus.

Just keep in mind that Cleveland still has great neighborhoods and still has an interesting downtown.

Go out and see other cities. Live in other cities to see what else is out there. Then go back to Cleveland. You'll realize that a lot of what you took for granted in Cleveland does not exist in other cities. And you'll see that you may not have it as bad as you think you do.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by QCongress83216

As we all know that a certain group of Clevelanders battle with a major inferiority complex, I battle with it at times. Some talk negative about the city, some feel that the city or they are inadequate to bigger cities or internalize what the media, social media and people in other cities think. Need some advice. So, how do myself and those Clevelanders get over it?

OP try Virginia for a little while. Especially Northern Virginia or Hampton Roads, where prices are out of control and commutes are insufferable and the only thing you are not taxed on are pharmaceuticals. Not to mention the s*^@ infrastructure here, the flooding and everything else. Only thing good here is the weather, and the people seem nice but the food prices, among other things. And it is filthy because the Mid-Atlantic is just a weird region between the South and the East Coast. Does not know if it wants to be ghetto, suburban, rural; too many different architectural styles and a lot of that hideous seventies stuff reminds me a lot of Randall Park mall and Rolling Acres back in the day. And no professional sports. Like none, whatsoever. You'll learn to appreciate Cleveland real quick.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by WRnative

Perhaps I don't remember correctly, but didn't you say in the past that you could no longer afford to live in Chicago's "hot areas?"

Yes, and that is the only reason I left.

But I'm plotting and scheming... I'll find my way back there somehow, before I'm too old to enjoy it.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by andrew61

Yes, and that is the only reason I left.

But I'm plotting and scheming... I'll find my way back there somehow, before I'm too old to enjoy it.

I love Chicago but I was left with the sense that Downtown and the rest of the city was two different places. But talk about beautiful architecture and a clean Downtown. Made me forget all about Manhattan. And definitely more interesting than DC.

[Kamms]

Originally Posted by andrew61

I'll take Chicago's "hot areas" over Cleveland's any day. And, if you add up the population in the Chicago neighborhoods that are doing well, you get a figure that's larger than the entire city of Cleveland.

Btw, we all know you love Chicago and like a true Chicagoan, you can't handle and get defensive when reading or hearing any negative, yet factual, points about Chi-town.

It's a fact that Chicago and its metro are losing population as the middle class leaves, the high % of underwater properties, etc. It's not a slam on Chicago, just reality. That's all. Same thing with my points about Pittsburgh.

We all know that Chicago's whatever 'hoods have more people than Cleveland....blah blah blah.

All I was getting at is that certain old Rust Belt cities have strong to strengthening cores while the rest of the city and metro are experiencing population declines. Of the bigger metros, I believe it's only Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Cleveland that are experiencing this. Also, that Pittsburgh is portrayed as a reinvented boom-town, yet the city and metro have declining populations.