Cleveland

Introduction

Cleveland at night

© rbyslipahs

Cleveland is located on the shores of Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA. You'll see why "Cleveland Rocks" after a visit to the birthplace of rock-n-roll in northeast Ohio. But it doesn't end there, Cleveland is also known for its vivacious art scene, major sporting events and wide range of culturally diverse foods.

Neighbourhoods

• Downtown - The downtown district includes the area at the heart of the city around the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, including the Flats, Terminal Tower, the Warehouse District, Playhouse Square, the East 4th neighborhood, North Coast Harbor, and the sports arenas.
• East Side - The East Side is the portion of the city to the east of the river, including the city's world-class cultural and arts complex, and contains the following neighborhoods: University Circle, 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, Slavic Village, St. Clair-Superior, Union-Miles Park, Little Italy, and Woodland Hills.
• West Side - The West Side is the portion of the city to the west of the river, including the West Side market and the airport, and contains the following neighborhoods: Brooklyn Centre, Clark-Fulton, Detroit-Shoreway, Cudell, Edgewater, Ohio City, Old Brooklyn, Stockyards, Tremont, West Boulevard, and the four neighborhoods colloquially known as West Park: Kamm's Corners, Jefferson, Puritas-Longmead, and Riverside.

Sights and Activities

• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a great place to relive the greatest moments in rock history at the famous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Legendary memorabilia fills the halls, from Tina Turner to Jimi Hendrix. The Rock Hall also features special art exhibits, concerts and music classes.
• Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and The RainForest - Even if you spend a whole day at the Zoo, you probably won't see everything because there are over 3,000 animals. Be sure to check out the tropic wildlife in the RainForest exhibit - it's a popular attraction.
• PlayhouseSquare District, Cleveland's theatre district, offers plenty of concerts, plays, ballets and festivals - and the PlayhouseSquare theatre brings in over a million people annually as the second largest performance arts center in the United States.
• Cleveland Browns Stadium is home to NFL team the Cleveland Browns. Join the roaring crowd for unforgettable pro football games!
• Progressive Field is the world-class baseball field where MLB team Cleveland Indians play home games. Come cheer them on!
• Glass Blowing - Experience the magic of glass blowing at the Glass Bubble Project in Ohio city. Local artists give free public demonstrations. Browse the gallery and you might find a piece of hand blown glass art that fits your fancy. Visit the website for more information.
• East Fourth Street Entertainment District - East 4th is a pedestrian friendly area lined with dining and entertainment. Catch a comedy show at Hilarities, a concert at the House of Blues or grab a drink and go bowling at Corner Alley.
• Coventry Village - Artists and bohemians flock to this area for community events. Grab some coffee, listen to a poetry reading, and see your favorite indie bands put on a show for those who like to stray a little off the beaten path.
• University Circle - Immerse yourself in a cultural hub of art and history museums, galleries, botanical gardens, and theaters. Located just next to Little Italy if you find yourself searching for great food and wine nearby!
• Amish Country is a great place to escape the city and enjoy the simpler things in life, from historical homes to amazing food to beautiful antiques.
• b.a. Sweetie Candy Company is a giant candy superstore shelves loads of candy. You might feel a little nostalgic when you see the wide selection of retro treats from your own childhood available for purchase!
• Music Saves is a must for audiophiles looking to get their hands on a wide variety of music. This independent record store also hosts free in-store concerts!
• Beachland Ballroom and Tavern was originally at the forefront of social and political efforts. This landmark once named the Croation Liberty Home now serves up many eclectic musical acts as a popular concert venue.
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a short distance from the urban environments of Cleveland and Akron, but is worlds away from the busy city. The winding Cuyahoga - the "crooked river" as named by American Indians - gives way to deep forests, rolling hills, and open farmlands. The park is a refuge for flora and fauna, gives a sense of times past, and provides recreation and solitude for Ohio's residents and visitors.

Events and Festivals

• Tremont Art Hop - Explore this beautiful historic neighborhood when a multitude of art galleries open their door to the public. Art Hop is the second Friday of each month starting at 6:00pm.
• The Feast of the Assumption Festival - The four-day Feast of the Assumption (August 15) is a mix of religion and secular fun. The length of Mayfield Road, between Euclid Avenue and Cleveland Heights is closed off to traffic. In its place are carnival rides, delicious Italian-themed food vendors, arts and crafts booths, and live music stages. The event draws more than 100,000 visitors each year. Admission is free.
• Swiss Cheese Festival - Held the fourth weekend after Labor Day, in Sugar Creek. There are all sorts of samples and festivities going on, including a Grand Parade and a Yodeling Contest!
• The Geauga County Maple Festival is usually held the last weekend in April. There are rides, food, maple samples (don't miss the maple stirs!), auctions and contests. It is fun for the whole family, and a Northeastern Ohio tradition.

Holidays

• New Year’s Eve - The US celebrates the outgoing of the old year and incoming of the New Year quite dramatically. Every state boasts its own parties to ring in the New Year, but none is more extravagant than New York’s Time Square, which sees people overflowing into the neighboring restaurants, bars, parks, beaches, and neighborhoods.
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. and sometimes referred to as MLK Day) is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King's birthday, January 15. The holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The earliest Monday for this holiday is January 15 and the latest is January 21. King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law.
• St Patrick’s Day - March 17 celebrates the US’s large Irish population. Many cities around the country boast boisterous parades and Irish-themed parties, especially New York and Chicago, where the river is dyed green. Be wary of the drunkenness that dominates as this is definitely a party-day.
• Memorial Day - Memorial Day is an important holiday throughout the United States, but not for crazy festivities. Parades commemorating wartime heroes are often held and the day is also the ‘unofficial’ start of summer. Most visitors follow the crowds to parks and beaches, which are capped off with informal BBQs.
• Independence Day - Also known as the Fourth of July, Independence Day celebrates the US’s break from the British during the 18th century. Barbecues, street parties, beach trips, and weekend getaways are commonplace to appreciate freedom.
• Labor Day is a public holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, laws, and well-being of the country. It is the Monday of the long weekend known as Labor Day Weekend. It is recognized as a federal holiday. Beginning in the late 19th century, as the trade union and labor movements grew, trade unionists proposed that a day be set aside to celebrate labor.
• Halloween - Halloween is a fun holiday on October 31 for all generations to dress up in costumes and relive their youth. Children walk around the neighborhood trick-or-treating for candy, while adults attend parties. Other seasonal events include haunted houses, pumpkin farms and carving, and corn mazes.
• Thanksgiving - On the fourth Thursday in November, Thanksgiving is held in almost every home in the US. Tourists will have a hard time finding anything to do as the country essentially shuts down in observation. A typical Thanksgiving meal consists of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie commemorating the original Pilgrim’s feast at Plymouth Rock.
• Christmas - On December 25, Christians celebrate Christmas as the pinnacle of their calendar by attending church and opening gifts from Santa Claus. Almost everything shuts down to promote family togetherness. The northern regions hope to experience a “white Christmas,” with trees and festive lights blanketed by snow.

Sport

• Super Bowl Sunday - the world’s most watched sporting event and one of the highest grossing TV days of the year, Superbowl Sunday is a spectacular extravaganza. Held the first Sunday in February, the Superbowl is the final playoff game between the NFL’s top two teams. The venue rotates every year around America, yet the local parties seem to remain. Pubs, bars and restaurants are great places to enjoy the Superbowl or locals throw their own parties with different variations of betting.
• The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League (AL) champion team and the National League (NL) champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff, and the winning team is awarded the Commissioner's Trophy. As the series is played during the fall season in North America, it is sometimes referred to as the Fall Classic.

Weather

Cleveland is characterized by a humid continental climate. Warm summers last from June to September with average highs of around 24-28 °C and lows of 14-16 °C. Winters from December to February see maximum temperatures averaging around or just above zero, while nights average -4 °C to -7 °C. Absolute high and low are 40 °C and -29 °C!
Average annual precipitation is almost 1,000 mm with a fairly constant pattern throughout the year, though somewhat wetter during the warmer months, with sometimes heavy showers combined with thunderstorms after hot weather. Snowfall is possible from late October to early April, though most of it falls from December to mid-March, with around 15 inches (38 centimetres) a month on average.

Getting There

By Plane

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) is about 9 miles (14 kilometres) from the central business district of Cleveland. It mainly has domestic flights, though international connections include Cancun, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, Toronto and Montreal.

To/from the airport

• Public Transport: the airport is connected to the Cleveland Rapid Transit system. Passengers can board Red Line trains at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (RTA Rapid Transit station) airport terminal. During late night/early morning hours, service is provided by bus #75 from Hopkins to Downtown Cleveland.
• Car: the rental cars are available, but at a distance from the airport and a relatively high cost. Taxis ply the route between the airport and downtown Cleveland as well.

By Train

There are a few trains operated by Amtrak that travel to and from Cleveland.

• The Capitol Limited between Washington DC and Chicago, via Cleveland.
• The Lake Shore Limited between New York/Boston and Chicago, via Albany and Cleveland.

By Car

Cleveland can easily be reached by car from the Interstate 71 from Columbus and Cincinnati, Interstate 77 from Akron and Interstates 90, 480 and 490.

By Bus

Greyhound offers bus connections to other cities in Ohio and beyond. Megabus offers low-cost service to Cleveland from Chicago and New York City.

By Boat

The port is one of the biggest in the region, but mainly used for bulk transport.

Getting Around

By Car

Many international rental companies have a wide selection of rental cars and these include Hertz, Avis, Dollar, Thrifty, Enterprise, Budget and Alamo/National. Most companies will require you are at least 25 years of age, although younger people might be able to rent cars at slightly higher rates and with some insurance differences as well. A national driver's license is usually enough, but an additional international one is recommended. Also note that it usually costs more to include lots of other extra things. For example extra drivers, GPS, the first full tank, SLI (Supplemental Liability Insurance), PAI (Personal Accident Insurance, usually covered already at home), road assistance/service plan, and drop-off costs for one-way rentals.
If you want to book a car, it is recommended that you book your car before arriving in the USA. This is almost always (much) cheaper compared to just showing up. Also, try and book with a so-called 'broker', which usually works together with a few or many car rental companies and can offer the best deal. Some examples include Holidayautos, Holidaycars and Sunny Cars. Some of the cheapest deals to book from Europe, includes Drive-USA, which also has a German version.

For more information and tips about renting cars and campers, additional costs, insurance, traffic rules, scenic routes and getting maps and fuel it is advised to check the USA Getting Around section.

By Public Transport

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is one of the best in North America and operates a system of a buses and a rail mass transit system. The latter consists of two light rail lines, known as the Green and Blue Lines, and a heavy rail line, the Red Line. In 2008, RTA completed installing a bus rapid transit line.

By Foot

Most of downtown Cleveland is easily navigated on foot.

By Bike

Greater Cleveland is expanding its bicycle trails and bicycle paths throughout the city. In addition, the city has numerous bicycle shops, mostly located on the near west side, and a bicycle co-op. For more information on biking in Cleveland, visit the website of Bike Cleveland.

Eat

Cleveland is host to a wide variety of restaurants and is culinarily much more diverse than an outsider might suspect in the Midwest drawing on large enclaves of ethnic neighborhoods and immigration (Ohio City, Slavic Village, Parma, Hough, Little Italy, Chinatown and others). Certainly, Eastern European food and Soul food are big in a city where Hungarians, Slavs, Poles, Czechs, Bohemians and Southern African Americans were drawn to the steel and automotive industries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; however, recent emigres have spiced up the mix, adding many more influences including Indian, Chinese, Southeast Asian, Puerto Rican and Central American, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean.

In the mid-1990s Cleveland was in step with the resurgence of the restaurant industry, and has many restaurants on-par with their larger-city counterparts, many of which are located in the Historic Warehouse District, the Flats, Ohio City, Tremont, the Gateway Neighborhood and along the Restaurant Row in the East Side suburbs. In fact, the area boasts of 6 AAA Four Diamond restaurants, the most between New York and Chicago.

Today's Cleveland is not merely your Grandfather's sausage and pierogi steel town.

Drink

There are plenty of bars in Cleveland - most are located downtown.

Sleep

Hotels are mostly located Downtown, with a few additional East Side options around University Circle, and some properties near the airport on the far West Side. The only hostel in the city is in Ohio City on the West Side. Neighbouring suburbs also provide numerous lodging choices.

Learn

• Case Western Reserve University
• Cleveland Institute of Art
• Cleveland Institute of Music
• Cleveland State University
• Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine
• Chancellor University

Keep Connected

Internet

There is a very small internet bar/cafe culture in the USA. Even then most of the internet bars/cafes tend be located in major urban centers. Accessible WiFi networks, however, are common. The most generally useful WiFi spots are in coffee shops, fast-food chains, and bookshops, but also restaurants and hotels more and more have a network to connect on. Some of them might require you to buy something and you might need a password too, especially in hotels.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

The general emergency phone number is 911. The USA has a great landline phone system that is easy to use. The country code for the U.S. is +1. The rest of the telephone number consists of 10 digits: a 3-digit area code, and a 7-digit number. Any small grocery store or pharmacy has pre paid domestic or international phone cards. These phone cards are very cheap and offer good rates. The once ubiquitous pay phone is now much harder to find. Likely locations include in or near stores and restaurants, and near bus stops. The cellphone network in the states is slowly getting better but is still not as good when compared to other western countries. Cell phones tend to operate using different frequencies (850 MHz and 1900 MHz) from those used elsewhere in the world (2100 MHz). This used to prevent most foreign phones from working in America. Phones must be tri- or quad-band to work in the U.S. Fortunately, technology has meant that most phones should now be able to pick up one of the U.S. networks. Prepaid phones and top-up cards can be purchased at mobile phone boutiques and at many discount, electronics, office supply and convenience stores. A very basic handset with some credit can be had for under $40.

Post

The US Postal Service is a very good and well priced mail system. There are post offices in every small and large town for sending packages internationally or domestically. Although some might keep longer hours, most are open at least between 9:00am and 5:00pm. If wanting to send a letter or postcard it is best just to leave it in a blue mail box with the proper postage. First-class international airmail postcards and letters (up 28.5 grams) cost $1.10. There are also private postal services like FedEx, UPS, TNT and DHL, which might be better value sometimes and are generally very quick and reliable too.

External Links

• Official Governmental Website
• Cleveland Convention and Visitors Bureau