Cleveland, Ohio

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: North American Geography

   

Cleveland, Ohio
Flag Seal
Nickname: " The Forest City"
Motto: Progress and Prosperity
Location in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA
Coordinates: 41°28′56″N, 81°40′11″W
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Cuyahoga
Founded	1796
Incorporated	1836
Mayor	Frank G. Jackson ( D)
Area
- City	82.4 mi² / 213.4 km²
- Land	77.6 mi² / 200.9 km²
- Water	4.8 mi² / 12.5 km²
Elevation	177 m
Population
- City (2000)	478,403
- Density	2,380.9/km²
- Metro	2,250,871
Time zone	EST ( UTC-5)
- Summer ( DST)	EDT ( UTC-4)
Website: www.city.cleveland.oh.us

Cleveland is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the U.S. state of Ohio. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles (100 km) west of the Pennsylvania border. It was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and became a manufacturing centre owing to its location at the head of numerous canals and railroad lines. With the decline of heavy manufacturing, Cleveland's businesses have diversified into the service economy, including the financial services, insurance, and healthcare sectors.

As of the 2000 Census, the city proper had a total population of 478,403, making it the 33rd largest city in the nation and the second largest city in Ohio. Recent estimates from the United States Census Bureau show it to currently be the 36th largest in the nation. It is the centre of Greater Cleveland, the largest metropolitan area in Ohio, which spans several counties and is defined in several different ways by the Census Bureau. The Cleveland- Elyria- Mentor Metropolitan Statistical Area has 2,250,871 people and is the 23rd largest in the country. Cleveland is also part of the larger Cleveland- Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area, which is the 14th largest in the country with a population of 2,945,831 according to the 2000 Census.

City residents and tourists benefit from investments made by wealthy residents in the city's heyday, in arts and cultural institutions, and philanthropy also helped to establish a robust public library system in the city. More recent investments have provided the city with tourist attractions in the downtown area, such as Jacobs Field, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Playhouse Square Centre. In studies conducted by The Economist in 2005, Cleveland and Pittsburgh were ranked as the most livable cities in the United States, and the city was ranked as the best city for business meetings in the continental U.S. Nevertheless, the city faces continuing challenges, in particular from concentrated poverty in some neighborhoods and difficulties in the funding and delivering of high-quality public education.

Residents of Cleveland are usually referred to as Clevelanders. Nicknames used for the city include The Forest City, Metropolis of the Western Reserve, The New American City, America's North Coast, Sixth City, and C-Town. Its 20 sister cities include Volgograd, Russia; Bratislava, Slovakia; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Miskolc, Hungary; Bangalore, India; Alexandria, Egypt; and most recently Fier, Albania.

History

Cleveland obtained its name on July 22, 1796 when surveyors of the Connecticut Land Company laid out Connecticut's Western Reserve into townships and a capital city they named "Cleaveland" after their leader, General Moses Cleaveland. Cleaveland oversaw the plan for the modern downtown area, centering on the Public Square, before returning home, never again to visit Ohio. The first settler in Cleveland was Lorenzo Carter, who built a cabin on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. The Village of Cleaveland was incorporated on December 23, 1814. The spelling of the city's name was later changed to "Cleveland" when, in 1831, an "a" was dropped so the name could fit a newspaper's masthead.

Map of Cleveland in 1904.

Though not initially apparent the location proved providential, despite being adjacent to swampy lowlands and experiencing harsh winters. The city began to grow rapidly after the completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal in 1832, turning the city into a key link between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes, connecting by water the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. Cleveland's growth continued even more once railroad links were later added. The rapid growth resulted in Cleveland's incorporation as a city in 1836.

In 1837 the city, then located only on the eastern banks of the Cuyahoga River, nearly erupted into open warfare with neighboring Ohio City over a bridge connecting the two. Ohio City remained an independent municipality until it was annexed by Cleveland in 1854. As a halfway point for iron ore coming from Minnesota across the Great Lakes and for coal and other raw materials coming by rail from the south, the site flourished. Cleveland became one of the major manufacturing and population centers of the United States, and was home to numerous major steel firms. Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller made his fortune there, and by 1920, it was the fifth largest city in the country. The city was also one of the centers of the national progressive movement, headed locally by Mayor Tom L. Johnson. Many Clevelanders of this era are buried in the historic Lake View Cemetery, along with James A. Garfield, the 20th U.S. President.

Aerial view of downtown Cleveland in December 1937. The Cuyahoga River winds through the Flats.

In commemoration of the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a city, the Great Lakes Exposition debuted in June 1936 along the Lake Erie shore north of downtown. Conceived as a way to energize a city hit hard by the Great Depression, it drew 4 million visitors in its first season, and 7 million by the end of its second and final season in September 1937. The exposition was housed on grounds that are now used by the Great Lakes Science Centre, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Burke Lakefront Airport, among others.

Immediately after World War II, the city experienced a brief boom. In sports, the Indians won the 1948 World Series and the Browns dominated professional football in the 1950s. Businesses proclaimed that Cleveland was the "best location in the nation". The city's population reached its peak of 914,808, and in 1949 Cleveland was named an All-America City for the first time. By the 1960s, however, heavy industries began to slump and residents sought new housing in the suburbs, reflecting the national trends of white flight and urban sprawl. Like other major U.S. cities, Cleveland also began witnessing racial unrest, culminating in the Hough Riots on July 18– July 23, 1966 and the Glenville Shootout on July 23– July 25, 1968. The city's nadir is often considered to be its default on its loans on December 15, 1978, when under Mayor Dennis Kucinich it became the first major American city to enter default since the Great Depression. National media began referring to Cleveland as "the mistake by the lake" around this time in reference to the city's financial difficulties, a notorious 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River (where industrial waste on the river's surface caught on fire) and its struggling professional sports teams. The city has worked to shed this nickname ever since, though in recent times the national media have been much kinder to the city, using it as an exemplar for public-private partnerships, downtown revitalization and urban renaissance.

The metropolitan area began a recovery thereafter under Mayors George Voinovich and Michael R. White. Redevelopment within the city limits has been strongest in the downtown area near the Gateway complex—consisting of Jacobs Field and Quicken Loans Arena, and near North Coast Harbour—including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland Browns Stadium, and the Great Lakes Science Centre. Although Cleveland was hailed by the media as the "Comeback City," many of the inner-city residential neighborhoods remain troubled, and the public school system continues to experience serious problems. Economic development, retention of young professionals, and capitalizing upon its waterfront are current municipal priorities.

Geography and climate

Geography

Panorama of Public Square in 1912.

Cleveland is located at 41°28′56″N, 81°40′11″W ^GR1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 82.4  mi² (213.5  km²). 77.6 mi² (201.0 km²) of it is land and 4.8 mi² (12.5 km²) of it is water. The total area is 5.87% water.

The shore of Lake Erie is 569  feet (173  m) above sea level; however, the city lies on a series of irregular bluffs lying roughly parallel to the lake. In Cleveland these bluffs are cut principally by the Cuyahoga River, Big Creek, and Euclid Creek. The land rises quickly from the lakeshore. Public Square, less than a mile (2 km) inland, sits at an elevation of 650 feet (198 m), and Hopkins Airport, only five miles (8 km) inland from the lake, is at an elevation of 770 feet (235 m).

Cleveland shares borders with the following suburbs: Bratenahl, Brook Park, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, East Cleveland, Euclid, Fairview Park, Garfield Heights, Lakewood, Linndale, Maple Heights, Newburgh Heights, Parma, Shaker Heights, South Euclid, and Warrensville Heights.

Cityscape

Cleveland's downtown architecture is varied. Many of the city's government and civic buildings, including City Hall, the Cuyahoga County Courthouse, the Cleveland Public Library, and Public Auditorium are clustered around an open mall and share a common neoclassical architecture. Built in the early 20th century, they are the result of the 1903 Group Plan, and constitute one of the most complete examples of City Beautiful design in the United States. The Terminal Tower, dedicated in 1930, was the tallest building in the United States outside New York City until 1967 and the tallest in the city until 1991. It is a prototypical Beaux-Arts skyscraper. The two newer skyscrapers on Public Square, Key Tower (currently the tallest building in Ohio) and the BP Building, combine elements of Art Deco architecture with postmodern designs. Another of Cleveland's architectural treasures is The Arcade (sometimes called the Old Arcade), a five-story arcade built in 1890 and renovated in 2001 as a Hyatt Regency Hotel.

The Terminal Tower complex, with the Warehouse District, the Cuyahoga River, and Lake Erie in the background.

Running east from Public Square through University Circle is Euclid Avenue, which at one time rivaled New York's Fifth Avenue for prestige and elegance. Known as "Millionaire's Row", Euclid Avenue was world-renowned as the home of such internationally-known names as Rockefeller, Hanna, and Hay.

The countywide Cleveland Metroparks system, often referred to as the "Emerald Necklace", includes four parks in Cleveland. In the Big Creek valley sits the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, which contains the largest collection of primates of any zoo in the United States. The other three parks are Brookside Park and parts of the Rocky River and Washington Reservations. Apart from the Metroparks is Cleveland Lakefront State Park, which provides public access to Lake Erie. Among its six parks are Edgewater Park, located between the Shoreway and Lake Erie just west of downtown, and Euclid Beach Park and Gordon Park on the east side. The City of Cleveland's Rockefeller Park, with its many Cultural Gardens honoring the city's ethnic groups, follows Doan Brook across the city's east side.

Neighborhoods

Downtown Cleveland includes mixed-use neighborhoods such as the Flats and the Warehouse District, which are occupied by industrial and office buildings, and also by restaurants and bars. The number of downtown housing units in the form of condominiums, lofts, and apartments has increased over the past ten years.

The west bank of the Flats and the Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland.

Cleveland residents often define themselves in terms of whether they live on the east side or the west side of the Cuyahoga River. The east side comprises the following neighborhoods: Buckeye- Shaker Square, Central, Collinwood, Corlett, Euclid-Green, Fairfax, Forest Hills, Glenville, Payne/Goodrich-Kirtland Park, Hough, Kinsman, Lee Harvard/Seville-Miles, Mount Pleasant, Nottingham, St. Clair-Superior, Union-Miles Park, University Circle, Little Italy, and Woodland Hills. The west side of the city includes the following neighborhoods: Brooklyn Centre, Clark-Fulton, Detroit-Shoreway, Cudell, Edgewater, Ohio City, Old Brooklyn, Stockyards, West Boulevard, and the four neighborhoods colloquially known as West Park: Kamm's Corners, Jefferson, Puritas-Longmead, and Riverside. Three neighborhoods in the Cuyahoga Valley are sometimes referred to as the south side: Industrial Valley/Duck Island, Slavic Village (North and South Broadway), and Tremont.

Several inner-city neighborhoods have begun to gentrify in recent years. Areas on both the west side (Ohio City, Tremont, Detroit-Shoreway, and Edgewater) and the east side (Hough, Fairfax, and Little Italy) have been successful in attracting increasing numbers of creative class members, which in turn is spurring new residential development. Furthermore, a live-work zoning overlay for the city's near east side has facilitated the transformation of old industrial buildings into loft spaces for artists.

Climate

The Lake Erie shoreline is very close to due east-west from the mouth of the Cuyahoga west to Sandusky, but at the mouth of the Cuyahoga it turns sharply northeast. This feature is the principal contributor to the lake effect snow that is a mainstay of Cleveland (especially east side) weather from mid-November until the surface of Lake Erie freezes, usually in late January or early February. The lake effect causes snowfall totals to range greatly across the city; while Hopkins Airport has only reached 100 inches (254 cm) of snowfall in a given season three times since 1968, seasonal totals approaching or exceeding 100 inches are not uncommon in an area known as the " Snow Belt", extending from the east side of Cleveland proper through the eastern suburbs and up the Lake Erie shore as far as Buffalo.

The all-time record high in Cleveland of 104 ° F (40 ° C) was established on June 25, 1988, and the all-time record low of −20 °F (−29 °C) was set on January 19, 1994. On average, July is the warmest month with a mean temperature of 71.9 °F (22.2 °C), and January, with a mean temperature of 25.7 °F (−3.5 °C), is the coldest. Normal yearly precipitation based on the 30-year average from 1971 to 2000 is 38.7  inches (930  mm).

Demographics

As of the 2000 Census ^GR2 , there were 478,403 people, 190,638 households, and 111,904 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,380.9/km² (6,166.5/mi²). There were 215,856 housing units at an average density of 1,074.3/km² (2,782.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 50.99% Black or African American, 41.49% White, 1.35% Asian, 0.30% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.59% from other races, and 2.24% from two or more races. 7.26% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Ethnic groups include German (9.2%), Irish (8.2%), Polish (4.8%), Italian (4.6%), and English (2.8%). There are also substantial communities of Hungarians, Greeks, Arabs, Ukrainians, Romanians, Czechs, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Croats, Serbs, Slovenians, Montenegrins, and Albanians.

Built as the Second Church of Christ Scientists, this building on Cleveland's East Side now serves a primarily African American congregation. Cleveland's diverse cultural populations have left their mark on the city through architecture, especially with many of the older church structures which have new life serving succesor congregations.

There were 190,638 households out of which 29.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.5% were married couples living together, 24.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.3% were nonfamilies. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.19. The population was spread out with 28.5% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,928, and the median income for a family was $30,286. Males had a median income of $30,610 versus $24,214 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,291. 26.3% of the population and 22.9% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 37.6% of those under the age of 18 and 16.8% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Cleveland was hit hard in the 1960s and early 1970s by white flight and suburbanization, further exacerbated by the busing-based desegregation of Cleveland schools required by the United States Supreme Court. Although busing ended in the 1990s, Cleveland continued to slide into poverty, reaching a nadir in 2004 when it was named the poorest major city in the United States. Cleveland was again rated the poorest major city in the U.S. in 2006, with a poverty rate of 32.4%

Government and politics

Cleveland's position as a centre of manufacturing established it as a hotbed of union activity early in its history. This contributed to a political progressivism that has influenced Cleveland politics to the present. While other parts of Ohio, particularly Cincinnati and the southern portion of the state, have historically supported the Republican Party, Cleveland commonly breeds the strongest support in the state for the Democrats; Cleveland's two representatives in the House of Representatives are Democrats: Dennis Kucinich and Stephanie Tubbs Jones. During the 2004 Presidential election, although George W. Bush carried Ohio, John Kerry carried Cuyahoga County, which gave him the strongest support in the state.

The city of Cleveland operates on the mayor-council (strong mayor) form of government. The mayor is the chief executive of the city, and the office is currently held by Frank G. Jackson. Previous mayors of Cleveland included progressive Democrat Tom L. Johnson, Republican Senator George V. Voinovich, two-time Democratic Ohio governor and senator Frank J. Lausche, and Carl B. Stokes, the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city.

Economy

View of downtown Cleveland from the Superior Viaduct.

Cleveland's location on the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie proved providential in the growth of the city and its industry. Cleveland experienced explosive growth after the opening of the Ohio and Erie Canal, establishing the city as one of the manufacturing centers of America. Steel and many other manufactured goods were major industries.

The city was hit hard by the fall of manufacturing, but the city has diversified its economy to include service-based industries. Cleveland is the corporate headquarters of many large companies such as National City Corporation, Eaton Corporation, Forest City Enterprises, Sherwin-Williams Company, and KeyCorp. NASA maintains a facility in Cleveland, the Glenn Research Centre. Jones Day, one of the largest law firms in the world, traces its origins to Cleveland, and its Cleveland office remains the firm's largest.

Cleveland has also become a world leader in health care and health sciences. The world-famous Cleveland Clinic, the area's largest employer, is one of the highest-ranked hospitals in the United States as tabulated by U.S. News & World Report. Cleveland's healthcare industry also includes University Hospitals of Cleveland, a noted competitor of the Clinic's which is ranked #25 in cancer care, and MetroHealth medical centre.

Cleveland is emerging as a leader in biotechnology and fuel cell research, led by Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals of Cleveland. Cleveland is now one of the top areas in receiving seed money for biotech start-ups and research. Case Western Reserve, the Clinic, and University Hospitals have recently announced plans to build a large biotechnology research centre and incubator on the site of the former Mt. Sinai Medical Centre, creating a research campus to stimulate biotech startup companies that can be spun off from research conducted in the city.

Additionally, city leaders stepped up efforts to cultivate a technology sector in its economy in the early 2000s. Former Mayor Jane L. Campbell appointed a "tech czar", whose job is to actively recruit tech companies to the downtown office market, offering connections to the high-speed fibre networks that run underneath downtown streets in several "high-tech offices" focused on the Euclid Avenue area. Cleveland State University hired a Technology Transfer Officer to work full time on cultivating technology transfers from CSU research to marketable ideas and companies in the Cleveland area, and recently announced the appointment of a Vice President for Economic Development that will be working to leverage the university's assets in expanding the city's economy. Case Western Reserve University is also involved in technology initiatives such as the OneCommunity project, a high-speed fibre optic network connecting all nonprofits in the area at high speeds, intended to breed collaboration among the area's major research centers and produce jobs for the city and region. OneCommunity's work attracted the attention of Intel and in mid-2005, Cleveland was named an Intel "Worldwide Digital Community" with Corpus Christi, Texas, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Taipei, Taiwan. This distinction will eventually bring to the region around $12 million for use in marketing and expanding regional technology partnerships, creating a city-wide WiFi network, and developing a tech economy. In addition to this Intel initiative, in January 2006 a New York-based think tank, the Intelligent Community Forum, selected Cleveland as one of its seven finalists for the "Intelligent Community of the Year" award, the only city in the United States that was chosen. The group announced that the city was nominated due to the OneCleveland network and its potential broadband applications. OneCommunity is working with Cisco Systems to deploy a cutting edge wireless network that could eventually blanket the entire city with wireless access to the OneCommunity Network. Cisco is using the network to test various new technologies in wireless "mesh" networking. OneCommunity and Cisco officially launched the first phase of this network in September 2006, blanketing several square miles of University Circle with wireless connectivity. Additionally, Cisco Systems acquired the former Aironet Wireless Networks, which was based in the Greater Cleveland area, to form the basis of its wireless networking product lineup, and maintains a facility in the region.

Education

Adelbert Hall on the campus of Case Western Reserve University.

Cleveland is home to a number of colleges and universities. Most prominent among these is Case Western Reserve University, a world-renowned research and teaching institution located in University Circle. Case is a private university, the top rated university in Ohio and #37 in the nation as rated by U.S. News & World Report, and is the home of several top-ranked graduate programs. University Circle is also home to the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine. Cleveland State University, based in downtown Cleveland, is the city's public four-year university. In addition to CSU, downtown hosts the metropolitan campus of Cuyahoga Community College, the county's two-year higher education institution, as well as Myers University, a private four-year school that focuses on business education.

The Cleveland Municipal School District is the only district in Ohio that is under direct control of the mayor, who appoints a school board. It is the largest K-12 district in the state, with 127 schools and around 69,500 students enrolled for the 2005-2006 academic year. In the last decade there has been a growth in charter schools in the city, with varying degrees of success, and with nearly constant controversy.

Culture

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the shores of Lake Erie.

Five miles (8 km) east of downtown Cleveland is University Circle, a 500-acre (2 km²) concentration of cultural, educational, and medical institutions, including Case Western Reserve University, Severance Hall, University Hospitals, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland is also home to the I. M. Pei-designed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, located on the Lake Erie waterfront at North Coast Harbour downtown. Neighboring attractions include Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Great Lakes Science Centre, the Steamship Mather Museum, and the USS Cod, a World War II submarine.

Cleveland is home to Playhouse Square Centre, the second largest performing arts centre in the United States behind New York's Lincoln Centre. Playhouse Square includes the State, Palace, Allen, Hanna, and Ohio theaters within what is known as the Theatre District of Downtown Cleveland. Playhouse Square's resident performing arts companies include the Cleveland Opera, Ohio Ballet, and the Great Lakes Theatre Festival. The centre also hosts various Broadway musicals, special concerts, speaking engagements, and other events throughout the year. One Playhouse Square, now the headquarters for Cleveland's public broadcasters, was originally used as the broadcast studios of WJW Radio, where disc jockey Alan Freed purportedly first coined the term " rock and roll".

Additionally, Cleveland is home to the Cleveland Orchestra, widely considered one of the finest orchestras in the world, and often referred to as the finest in the United States. It is one of the " Big Five" major orchestras in the United States. The Orchestra plays in Severance Hall during the winter and at Blossom Music Centre during the summer.

The Free Stamp sculpture by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen in downtown's Willard Park.

Cleveland is home to many festivals throughout the year. Cultural festivals such as the annual Feast of the Assumption in the Little Italy neighborhood, the Greek Orthodox Festival in the Tremont neighbourhood, and the Harvest Festival in the Slavic Village neighbourhood are popular events. Vendors at the West Side Market in Ohio City offer many different ethnic foods for sale. Cleveland hosts an annual parade on Saint Patrick's Day that brings thousands to the streets of downtown.

In addition to the cultural festivals, Cleveland also hosts the CMJ Rock Hall Music Fest, which features national and local acts, including both established artists and up-and-coming acts. The city recently incorporated an annual art and technology festival, known as Ingenuity, which features a combination of art and technology in various installations and performances throughout lower Euclid Avenue. The Cleveland International Film Festival has been held annually since 1977, and its 11-day run draws about 43,000 people. Cleveland also hosts an annual holiday display lighting and celebration, dubbed Winterfest, which is held downtown at the city's historic hub, Public Square.

Cleveland also served as the location for several noteworthy movies, including The Fortune Cookie ( 1967) with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, the Academy Award-winning The Deer Hunter ( 1978), and the holiday favorite A Christmas Story ( 1983). Scenes for the upcoming movie Spider-Man 3 were filmed in Cleveland in April 2006. Cleveland is the lifelong home of cartoonist Harvey Pekar and setting for most of his autobiographical comic books. Additionally, the city was also the setting for the popular sitcom, The Drew Carey Show which starred Cleveland-native Drew Carey.

Cleveland is also the birthplace of the legendary comic book character Superman, created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, in 1932. Both attended Glenville High School, and their early collaborations resulted in the creation of "The Man of Steel".

Sports

Jacobs Field, home of the Cleveland Indians, features the largest scoreboard in North America.

Cleveland's professional sports teams include the Cleveland Indians ( Major League Baseball), Cleveland Browns ( National Football League), and Cleveland Cavaliers ( National Basketball Association). Annual sporting events held in Cleveland include the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland, the Cleveland Marathon, the Mid-American Conference college basketball tournament and the Ohio Classic college football game. The city hosted the Gravity Games, an extreme sports series, from 2002 to 2004. Local sporting facilities include Jacobs Field, Cleveland Browns Stadium, Quicken Loans Arena, and the CSU Wolstein Centre. Cleveland will also host both the semifinals and finals of the 2007 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament.

Cleveland has long been known as a "football town", and the Browns dominated the NFL from 1950 to 1955. The city's franchise is one of the most storied in football, though it last won an NFL championship in 1964 and has never appeared in the Super Bowl. The Cleveland Indians last reached the World Series in 1995 and 1997, though they lost to the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins, respectively, and have not won the series since 1948. Between 1995 and 2001, Jacobs Field sold out for 455 consecutive games, a Major League Baseball record. The Cleveland Cavaliers are experiencing a renaissance with Cleveland fans due to LeBron James, a native of nearby Akron and the number one overall draft pick of 2003. The city's recent lack of success in sports have earned it a reputation of being a cursed sports city, which ESPN validated by proclaiming Cleveland as its "most tortured sports city" in 2004.

At the 2005 Major League Soccer All-Star Game in Columbus, MLS commissioner Don Garber announced that Cleveland was one of several top areas in contention for an expansion team in 2007. Cleveland fielded an NHL team, the Cleveland Barons, from 1976 to 1978, which was later merged into the Minnesota North Stars. The city remains without major-league hockey to the present, and the most recent incarnation of the Barons, the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, moved to Worcester, Massachusetts in 2006. The tradition of professional hockey in Cleveland stretching back to 1937 is slated to resume in 2007 when an AHL team purchased by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert begins play. Cleveland was also home to the Cleveland Rockers, one of the original eight teams in the WNBA in 1997. However, in 2003, the team folded after owner Gordon Gund dropped the team from operation.

Transportation

A collection of bridges crossing the Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland. The low-level bridges are drawbridges, while the high-level bridge in the background is fixed.

The city is home to two airports. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is the city's major facility and a large international airport that serves as one of three main hubs for Continental Airlines. It holds the distinction of having the first airport-to-downtown rapid transit connection, established in 1968. In 1930, the airport was the site of the first airfield lighting system and the first air traffic control tower. In addition to Hopkins, Cleveland is served by Burke Lakefront Airport, on the north shore of downtown between Lake Erie and the Shoreway. Burke is primarily a commuter and business airport, though a Cleveland-based charter company, Destination One, returned limited commercial air service to Burke in 2006.

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Cleveland, via the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited routes, which stop at Cleveland Lakefront Station. Cleveland has also been identified as a hub for the proposed Ohio Hub project, which would bring high-speed rail to Northeast Ohio.

Cleveland currently has a bus and rail mass transit system operated by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, also known as "RTA". The rail portion is officially called the RTA Rapid Transit, but is better known as The Rapid. It consists of two light rail lines, known as the Green and Blue Lines, and a heavy rail line, the Red Line. RTA is currently installing a bus rapid transit line, coined the "Silver Line", which will run along Euclid Avenue from downtown to University Circle.

Three two-digit Interstate highways serve Cleveland directly. Interstate 71 begins just southwest of downtown and is the major route from downtown Cleveland to the airport. I-71 runs through the southwestern suburbs and eventually connects Cleveland with Columbus. Interstate 77 begins in downtown Cleveland and runs almost due south through the southern suburbs. I-77 sees the least traffic of the three interstates, although it does connect Cleveland to Akron. Interstate 90 connects the two sides of Cleveland, and is the northern terminus for both I-71 and I-77. Running due east/west through the west side suburbs, I-90 turns northeast at the junction with I-71 and I-490, and is known as the Innerbelt through downtown. At the junction with the Shoreway, I-90 makes a 90-degree turn known in the area as Dead Man's Curve, then continues northeast, entering Lake County near the eastern split with Ohio 2. Cleveland is also served by two three-digit interstates, Interstate 480, which enters Cleveland briefly at a few points and Interstate 490, which connects I-77 with the junction of I-90 and I-71 just south of downtown.

Two other limited-access highways serve Cleveland. The Cleveland Memorial Shoreway carries Ohio 2 along its length, and at varying points also carries US 6, US 20 and I-90. The Jennings Freeway ( Ohio 176) connects I-71 just south of I-90 to I-480 near the suburbs of Parma and Brooklyn Heights. A third highway, the Berea Freeway ( Ohio 237 in part), connects I-71 to the airport, and forms part of the boundary between Cleveland and Brook Park.