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The Rise & Fall of Cleveland
This city has a life of its own.
From the outside, Cleveland's an enigma. This rustbelt city was once one of the most important industrial centers in the world.
Sitting at the edge of Lake Erie, it was a cultural and economic powerhouse, one of the largest cities in the country and one that helped spread steel, coal, and Rock'n'Roll. It was the home of John D. Rockefeller and it was to Cleveland that Eliot Ness came after he took down Al Capone. There were so many powerful businessmen in Cleveland that one of its main thoroughfares, Euclid Avenue, became known as Millionaire's Row.
However, starting in the late 1960s, the City fell into a sharp and painful decline along with many other industrial metropolises.
The city has suffered scandals, setbacks, and violence. The 1970s saw brutal gang violence spill out of back alleys and into the streets. In 1976, so many cars erupted in flames that Cleveland became known as Bomb City, U.S.A. The city became more famous for the brutal criminals and the burning Cuyahoga River than it was for its music or its industrial strength. Businesses disappeared overseas, multi-generational stores closed-up shop, and downtown Cleveland was obscured by the shadows.
However, the dawn of the new millenium has brought a mixture of hope and disappointment to Cleveland, as its nascent urban renewal has seen as many failures as successes.
But if you know where to look, light seems to be shining in through the cracks. Formerly vacant storefronts are filling up, empty apartments have been rented out, and new buildings are rising up over Lake Erie. To some, this is the shiny new future that they've worked towards for three generations.
Yet there are others. Others who don't want the city to change. There are some who are happy keeping things just the way they are.
