Cleveland

Amongst the travels my family made one spot was Cleveland, Ohio.  We moved to the city in 1986 and left to move to Ottawa in 1990.  That provided me with enough time to begin Grade 9 and finish high-school completing Grade 12.  Interestingly enough we moved from Brussels, Belgium to Cleveland.  I know, odd really.  Two cities that I thought were polar opposites historically, in entertainment, architecturally, proximity to other countries, with respect to languages, in culture and in the ways of chocolate, frites and gaufres.  Needless to say, in my eyes after four years in both cities, in a list of two cities, Cleveland was not at the top.

After spending time as an adult near Brussels, I realized that each city has more in common that I once thought.  Both cities are largely overlooked as people plan travels or consider a place to live; I found friends in both cities with whom I am still in contact; each city has its respective although somewhat different entertainment activities; both specialize in amazing musical acts that sucked up much of my hard earned babysitting money.  In all, both cities made their mark on this one soul.

Returning to the point of being an over looked city, here is a cry out for help from one of Cleveland's most well-known supporters, Drew Carey, questioning the continued decline of Cleveland and attempting to find alternative ways to revitalize a large and wonderful place on Lake Erie.  While I do not agree with the documentary's opinion about education and increasing the number of charter schools (the best way to suck the public system dry of many good students, teachers and administrators), the show does raise interesting questions about the best practices involved in revitalizing and growing an already established city.  During some moments, I kind wanted to move back......