Yep. Very typical stuff. He’s fortunate in two ways:

1) Sports writers don’t have to be good writers (just peruse the PD staff), and
2) He seems to have a solid work ethic and a will to improve.

When were you there, btw?

I can weigh in on this a litle bit. I had several friends from college in from out of town last week, one living in Philly, one living in NYC, and a couple that are still in Columbus (all Ohio State alums).
Just for some background, my new wife and I moved up from Columbus last August, and I have been trying to familiarize myself with the area since. From what I understood, aside from the Jake being an obvious destination, some places to go were W6th, Gateway, Ohio City, and Tremont.
We went out in Gateway before and after the game (Flannery’s, Local Heroes) and it was lively, naturally because of the Indians game. I had been out there before several other Tribe games, and the bars are typical sports bars, nothing special. E. 4th has a lot of potential, though, and has been becoming steadily more popular from what I have witnessed and read.
We went to GLBC after the game also, and around the corner to Bier Market, places I had been a few times. Fun places to hang out, and pretty lively also. I am a huge fan of Great Lakes beer, even before moving to Cleveland, so that was a natural stop. After Ohio City, on a friend’s (and many other) recommendation, we went on to Tremont, which was fun, but less lively than I expected. I didn’t feel like it lived up to its reputation, and my friends agreed. The Treehouse in particular was a cool bar. (In its defense though, last Friday night was pretty chilly, and Tremont is definitely a walking environment).
Saturday night, we went out on W. 6th. It was pretty crazy down there, with the Cavs win and the Tribe both playing and winning. The bars were very cool (the Velvet Dog, in particular), and you could hardly get in to some places. It was a huge hit with all of my of my buddies.
I think downtown is on the upswing, contrary to some thoughts posted in this thread. I read somewhere that the population of downtown has doubled over the past six or seven years, and there are a lot of condos and apartments under construction. W. 6th has a lot of future potential, also, considering the huge project that is about to go in down the street in the Flats.

There are also a bunch of close-in suburbs that are pretty nice, and in most “greater city areas,” those would be part of the city itself. Cleveland’s city lines are unusually tightly defined.

To me, a big part of the lament is that everybody has moved out of the city and couldn’t care less whether or not it dies. Folks in the Cleveland area have retreated to their suburbs and all but shut themselves off from downtown, which I think is a shame.

I actually have some friends, a younger couple, that live downtown right of W. 9th and love it. Last time I was at their place we ran into Anderson Varejao on the street, who apprently also lives (or lived) in the neighborhood.

Don’t misinterpret my tone; I wasn’t indignant about what the writer said about Cleveland. More surprised, if it’s true.

The “bars” you went to had to have been the restaurant/bar type… Harry Buffalo, Winking Lizard, Flannery’s, etc.?

Bars/clubs on W. 6th typically have a 2:00 a.m. last call.

Still not saying that the downtown nightlife is terrific, but there’s much more action on W. 6th, or in Tremont. Not sure I can lump Ohio City into that group yet.

Visitors looking for college-drunken-nightlife are better off staying in Lakewood or Cleveland Heights.

So, you live in Rome – is that right?

true.

Since I was in Camden, NJ this morning, I could not agree with you more.

Calling that place a dump is an insult to dumps around the world.

My point is, Cleveland ain’t perfect, but it could be worse.

Am I not even the funniest Andrew here anymore?

Christ. What am I doing with my life?

Yes. I think one of the things that charms Americans who visit European cities (and even cities like SF or NYC) is that there is a lot of pedestrian activity - people walking around, sitting in cafes and restaurants, window-shopping, etc. Most American cities (especially the older industrial cities like Cleveland and Detroit) really lack this. The downtown commercial districts are dead, there’s very low density, and most of what’s left is defined as a destination - you drive there, park, go where you planned, then drive back. Playhouse Square is typical—you don’t even have to go outside!! Compare that to the theatre districts in places like London or NYC where you encounter huge crowds of people walking around at virtually any hour.

That’s an interesting thought. Downtown San Diego is an interesting place, right now, I’d feel reasonably safe walking around almost anywhere at night, whereas about 15 years ago, it was a very dangerous place. Petco only helped that further by getting rid of the seedier areas of downtown San Diego (by building the ballpark and surrounding business by it).

In a sense though, Cleveland isn’t too different than San Diego in the amenities you’re talking about CLE has the Warehouse District and SD has the Gaslamp District, CLE has Tower City and San Diego has Horton Plaza.

The trouble is as peter m says , is the lack of people within those areas. Its probably about a 5 minute walk to the amenities you speak of from both Petco and the Jake however walking to the Gaslamp district after a game v. walking to the Warehouse District after a game would be pretty big differences (in both safety and weather).

See, Cleveland isn’t a college town or a white-collar town – never was, never will be. Cleveland is full of my peeps – ethnic, blue collar workers. If you’re looking for a place to have a martini and talk IPOs Cleveland is not the place for you. If you wanna go have a shot and a beer and talk baseball there was/is no better place on the planet

But, unfortunately that part of Cleveland is either dead or dying along with the industries themselves. I know if you go there now you’d never believe it by Fleet Ave., W65th and Detroit, E35th and Payne and a host of other neighborhoods were bursting at the seems with shot and a beer joints. Fleet usta have the Double X, Karb’s, the Looking Glass, Mudders and lots of other great places to grab a beer, get some fine local cuisine and talk sports. And each one specialized in one particular dish. For example you could get a T-Bone and a beer at the Double X on a Saturday night for ten buck, a humogouse burger and fries at Karb’s for seven bucks. And each one of these bars a softball team, touch football and basketball team. For years the old Pyramid Cafe won the city softball title.

Nope, the heyday of Cleveland bars has come and gone, along with the city’s economy. Sorry you boyz missed it.

Cleveland is a BIG immigrant town. Instead of historic eastern European immigrants, downtown has many Latino immigrants. Cleveland will experience its rebirth, but maybe not in our lifetimes. It makes me a little sad that I won’t be here to see it and perhaps my son won’t either. The southern rim of the sourthernmost Great Lake is one of the loveliest natural wonders of the world.

This reminds me of a funny movie I once saw (but can no longer identify), in which there are a series of shots of an airplane arriving for a diplomatic visit somewhere. Each time, the plane is met by a delegation from the host country dressed in colorful and stereotypically Eastern European native costume. Each time the plane taxis up, the screen displays the new destination:
Moldova!
Latvia!
Herzegovina!
Cleveland!

What’s amazing to me is that there are so many better models out there, but they either don’t care or don’t have a clue. The latter, I fear, is more likely.

I don’t understand why they can’t develop their own format. Does this look familiar?

NOLA

Sorry about the scatological reference but with my limited vocabulary I couldn’t think of a better word to describe my former neighbor hood. Ooops.

Look at Chicago for a good example – 18 miles of parks and bikepaths, with very few excpetions. Whenver I see Cle’s lakefront, all I can think of is what a wasted opportunity it is. Why aren’t people more angry about this?