Gregory Szorc's blog

Reflections: Cleveland and Surrounding Areas

In this second of my "Reflections" series of blog entries about my time at Case, I will be talking about Cleveland and the surrounding areas

Cleveland rocks. You've undoubtedly heard this phrase before. It can refer to the music scene (which I refuted in a previous post) or it can be used as slang to mean "Cleveland is awesome." Unfortunately, after living in Cleveland for the past 4+ years, I have to say that my opinion of Cleveland is more bad than good.

When I was a freshmen, I had a fairly good opinion about Cleveland. This opinion was based on the rather limited exposure I had of the city, however-- that exposure being University Circle, Little Italy, Coventry, and Tower City. I will give University Circle and surrounding areas credit. This is definitely the gem of the city (and to think it generates 1/3 the economy and only occupies 1/20 the land area).

As I returned to campus with a car sophomore year, my opinions began to turn south.

When I started driving in Cleveland, I immediately noticed how poor the average Cleveland citizen is at driving. There is a glaring overuse of horns. People run red lights like you wouldn't believe. Average drivers also have little-to-no respect for the rights of pedestrians. In many urban environments, one need to just stand on the side of a road by a crosswalk and traffic will stop for you. I don't know how many times I've almost been mowed down when on a crosswalk. The horrible driving isn't limited to the drivers. City planning is at fault as well. Cleveland is the only city I have visited where traffic signals are located directly over where you stop at an intersection. I've literally had to look through my sun roof to see the signal. No wonder why people run the red lights-- they can't see them! To give some Clevelanders credit, I have been told by numerous colleagues that the west side has much better drivers. I haven't spent much time over there, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Anything has to be better than what I experience driving the Euclid corridor.

Another aspect of Cleveland that really has left a bad taste in my mouth is the racism. It seems that people of Cleveland still behave with strong racist tendencies. When interacting with people outside of the University, I notice a marked change in behavior between interactions of different races. I am still dumbfounded by this. Elsewhere, I can talk to blacks as I do whites, and vice-versa. Here, people generally alter their whole mannerisms depending on the color of skin. Generally, acts of kindness are deferred if your skin color is different. Numerous times I have witnessed drivers letting similarly colored persons cross at crosswalks, while they keep on driving for people of opposite color. I have been conducting my own experiment in this area where I step into a street in the middle of a long line of cars and witness who stops. I can say that there is a definite correlation between drivers who yield and the color of skin. Sad, I know, but true. The one bright spot in this whole mess is that Case is largely exempt from the racist tendencies. People at Case behave with the same mid-western kindness and hospitality that I grew up to love. Unfortunately, we are just the exception, and not the rule.

Although I have many more opinions about Cleveland, especially with regards to politics, the two issues I stated above are the ones that have left the biggest mark on me, especially the later. The issue of racism has single-handedly wiped out all the good things Cleveland has going for it. As long as this issue is still prevalent, I don't see how the city can advance and return to the prominence it once held. Although I will miss Case, University Circle, and some of the surrounding areas, I will not miss the greater Cleveland's racism and its negative effects which have been trying to rub off on me for the past 4 years.

You can ping this entry by using http://blog.case.edu/gps10/mt-tb.cgi/11599 .

Greg,
I'm so sorry to hear that what you've experienced here has left such a bitter taste in your mouth. One of the reasons I live here (east side) is because racism is not as prevalent as some other places, though I fully understand that attitudes range quite extensively across the county.

When I was a child I thought that by the time I'd grown, skin color would be perceived as casually as hair color. While over the past century we've made much in the way of progress, my childhood hope has not come close to fruition and we still have very far to go.

One of the reasons I live in the Heights is because here we choose diversity of culture combined with a zeal for education. Yes, we still fumble, but when I went to school in New England I was dumbfounded by some of the comments I heard. Typically these were based on ignorance, spoken by those who'd grown up in homogenous towns and had not experienced the diversity I'd seen growing up in Shaker. My naivete was in not knowing that so many people still felt this way.

The problems you describe are not unique to Cleveland, but international. Some communities are more welcoming than others, but as you wander the world, you will continue to see the inequities and hear the inappropriate comments. Ideally the responses that you make will help to educate those who speak in ignorance, but it is a slow process. No matter where you live it will always be important to both listen well and share your ideals regarding this issue.

Best wishes to you in California.

p.s. If you want a scary driving experience, try Boston. If you want horns, you should hear the roadways in Indonesia; traffic, try changing lanes on the Dan Ryan in Chicago. Cleveland is actually one of the easier cities in which to drive.