Howdy Neighborhoods!
Today my SAGES class, "Democracy?", took a bus tour around a few of Cleveland's neighborhoods. We were fortunate enough to have Professor John Grabowski of the history department guide the tour. I am amazed at the amount of knowledge that man has, I think he knows the history and name of every building in the area.
We started our tour by driving down Carnegie Ave. all the way to Cleveland State where we switched over to Euclid Ave. Apparently once long, long, ago Euclid Ave. was comparable to the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Definitely wouldn't be able to guess that from all of today's construction.
Some of the things we saw in the E.30-E.50 St. area were the large machine shops, factories, and previous locations of homes of notables such as Rockefeller. There were only 2 or 3 original mansions still standing and they seemed so out of place in the middle of the city. However, they were extremely beautiful.
At this time we also learned that the amount of trees in a neighborhood are a good indicator of the class, residents, and wealth of a neighborhood. This industrial section had very few trees.
After the industrial district we went back up Cedar Ave to E.105 St. Along the way we passed by the new housing settlement projects being built and they looked very nice. Hopefully that will boost the "Buckeye" neighborhood (originally Hungarian and Slavic immigrants, now mostly blacks but with this new housing revitalization some whites are moving in).
Continuing on we eventually got to Shaker Blvd. Once on Shaker, we passed by St. Luke's hospital, which is currently being renovated. Apparently St. Luke's and Cleveland Clinic have long had a rivalry with each other. When one hospital got new equipment the other made sure to get the same or better soon after. The story goes that when St. Lukes bought its own helicopter (following suit of Cleveland Clinic), some people thought that it should be named "Yeah, we got one of those too."
Soon we reached Shaker Square. This area reminded me of all of the New England small-town downtown/town-green areas. Then I found out that this is were the British immigrants mostly lived. And built colonial style buildings. I guess that's why I was reminded of back home.
We then made our way through Shaker and Cleveland Heights. I was pretty familiar with this area, having passed through it many times before. The houses are all mansions, or at the least very sizable. An interesting thing I learned about this area was that "For Sale" signs are not allowed to be posted in front of houses. This prevents the public from knowing that you are moving out. Meaning minorities can't easily get in if the sellers don't want them too. Classy. Oh yeah, there were a countless number of trees and parks (go figure).
We ended our tour by traveling through part of East Cleveland: The ghetto. It used to be a nice area; lots of Victorian housing still exists but is in shambles. All big businesses, like car manufacturing plants, have left, leaving only a few conveniences (like "Ghetto" Bell (the Taco Bell in the area), which has bullet-proof drive through windows) and the Free Clinic.
As we ended our tour we learned about some areas that we didn't get a chance to see. I asked about Tremont (an artsy neighborhood on the west side) and what I learned about it only makes me want to visit even more. Originally it started out as a pretty upper class area but quickly declined. Germans, Poles, Greeks, and almost 30 other nationalities have occupied the area during the past 150 years, leaving an eclectic mix of churches and other culture specific landmarks scattered around the area. In the 1980's, the area became inhabited by many struggling artists due to inexpensive housing, and since then has flourished as an artistic community with excellent parks, galleries, and restaurants.
In conclusion, I loved this excursion away from our regular class discussions. I was astonished by the size and diversity of all the areas of the city and really want to go out and explore more. I don't have much time left this year, but next year should now start off with a bang since I know where to visit.
We started our tour by driving down Carnegie Ave. all the way to Cleveland State where we switched over to Euclid Ave. Apparently once long, long, ago Euclid Ave. was comparable to the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Definitely wouldn't be able to guess that from all of today's construction.
Some of the things we saw in the E.30-E.50 St. area were the large machine shops, factories, and previous locations of homes of notables such as Rockefeller. There were only 2 or 3 original mansions still standing and they seemed so out of place in the middle of the city. However, they were extremely beautiful.
At this time we also learned that the amount of trees in a neighborhood are a good indicator of the class, residents, and wealth of a neighborhood. This industrial section had very few trees.
After the industrial district we went back up Cedar Ave to E.105 St. Along the way we passed by the new housing settlement projects being built and they looked very nice. Hopefully that will boost the "Buckeye" neighborhood (originally Hungarian and Slavic immigrants, now mostly blacks but with this new housing revitalization some whites are moving in).
Continuing on we eventually got to Shaker Blvd. Once on Shaker, we passed by St. Luke's hospital, which is currently being renovated. Apparently St. Luke's and Cleveland Clinic have long had a rivalry with each other. When one hospital got new equipment the other made sure to get the same or better soon after. The story goes that when St. Lukes bought its own helicopter (following suit of Cleveland Clinic), some people thought that it should be named "Yeah, we got one of those too."
Soon we reached Shaker Square. This area reminded me of all of the New England small-town downtown/town-green areas. Then I found out that this is were the British immigrants mostly lived. And built colonial style buildings. I guess that's why I was reminded of back home.
We then made our way through Shaker and Cleveland Heights. I was pretty familiar with this area, having passed through it many times before. The houses are all mansions, or at the least very sizable. An interesting thing I learned about this area was that "For Sale" signs are not allowed to be posted in front of houses. This prevents the public from knowing that you are moving out. Meaning minorities can't easily get in if the sellers don't want them too. Classy. Oh yeah, there were a countless number of trees and parks (go figure).
We ended our tour by traveling through part of East Cleveland: The ghetto. It used to be a nice area; lots of Victorian housing still exists but is in shambles. All big businesses, like car manufacturing plants, have left, leaving only a few conveniences (like "Ghetto" Bell (the Taco Bell in the area), which has bullet-proof drive through windows) and the Free Clinic.
As we ended our tour we learned about some areas that we didn't get a chance to see. I asked about Tremont (an artsy neighborhood on the west side) and what I learned about it only makes me want to visit even more. Originally it started out as a pretty upper class area but quickly declined. Germans, Poles, Greeks, and almost 30 other nationalities have occupied the area during the past 150 years, leaving an eclectic mix of churches and other culture specific landmarks scattered around the area. In the 1980's, the area became inhabited by many struggling artists due to inexpensive housing, and since then has flourished as an artistic community with excellent parks, galleries, and restaurants.
In conclusion, I loved this excursion away from our regular class discussions. I was astonished by the size and diversity of all the areas of the city and really want to go out and explore more. I don't have much time left this year, but next year should now start off with a bang since I know where to visit.
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