The city of Cleveland is the county seat of Cuyahoga County in the U.S. state of Ohio. The city is located on the southern shore of Lake Erie, in the Western Reserve in northeastern Ohio on the Cuyahoga River, approximately 60 miles (100 km) west of the Pennsylvania border. It was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the river, and became a manufacturing center owing to its location at the head of numerous canals and railroad lines. After the decline of heavy manufacturing, Cleveland's businesses are now more often in 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 (recent estimates from the Census Bureau show it to currently be the 36th largest). It is the center of Greater Cleveland, the largest metropolitan area in Ohio, which spans several counties and is defined in several different ways by the United States 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 Center. 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, and C-Town. Its nineteen sister cities include Volgograd, Russia; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Miskolc, Hungary; and Alexandria, Egypt.
Cleveland is located at 41°28'56"N, 81°40'11"W. 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, Newburgh Heights, Parma, Rocky River, Shaker Heights, South Euclid, and Warrensville Heights.
As of the 2000 Census , 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 41.49% White, 50.99% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 1.35% Asian, 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 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 large city in the United States. The 2005 rankings announced the city had dropped from first in poverty to twelfth, with the rate dropping from 31.3% to 23.2%.
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 Center. 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 and World Report. Cleveland's healthcare industry also includes University Hospitals of Cleveland, a noted competitor of the Clinic's which is ranked #18 in cancer research, and MetroHealth medical center.
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 center and incubator on the site of the former Mt. Sinai Medical Center, 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 fiber 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 OneCleveland project, a high-speed fiber 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. OneCleveland'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. Progress has been delayed by Intel's recent focus on New Orleans and Cleveland's mayoral election, however, Mayor Jackson has pledged to continue the work on the Digital Communities Initiative. 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.
Cleveland obtained its name on July 22, 1796, when surveyors of the Connecticut Land Company named an area in Ohio "Cleaveland" after General Moses Cleaveland, the superintendent of the surveying party, a month after white settlers had signed a treaty with local Native Americans to acquire the land. Cleaveland laid out the plan for the modern Public Square area before returning home, never again to visit the area. The village of Cleaveland was incorporated on 23 December 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.
Though not initially apparent--the city was surrounded by swampland and the harsh winters did not encourage settlement--the location proved providential. 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, and particularly once the city railroad links were added. The rapid growth resulted in Cleveland's incorporation as a city in 1836. The following year, the city, then located on the eastern banks of the Cuyahoga River, nearly erupted into open warfare with neighboring Ohio City (since annexed), over a bridge connecting the two. 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, including the 20th president, James A. Garfield.
In commemoration of the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a city, the Great Lakes Exposition debuted in June 1936 along the lakeshore north of downtown. Conceived as a way to energize a city hit hard by the Great Depression, the exposition 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 Center, 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 the NFL. 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. The city also began witnessing racial unrest, culminating in the Hough Riots on July 18-23, 1966, and the Glenville Shootout on July 23-25, 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/on the lake" around this time, in reference to both the city's financial difficulties as well as a 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River where the oil and waste on the river's surface caught on fire. The city has struggled to shed this nickname ever since, though in recent times the national media have been much kinder to the city, using it as the poster child for 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 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Cleveland Browns Stadium. 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 Lake Erie waterfront are current municipal priorities.
Source:
Cleveland-USA.com
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