There are cities across the nation like this, unfortunately. I'm from Cleveland and it has now ranked as the poorest big city in the nation the last 2/3 years (Detroit took the title the other year).
Cleveland is the city where Rockefeller's Standard Oil began, featured Millionaire's Row, was once the 5th largest city in the nation (now 40th), and featured some of the most beautiful architecture in the world.
That has all been lost to crime, poverty, and urban flight. While the factors listed in textbooks are the decline in the steel market and Rockefeller moving to NYC; the real cause is a lack of innovation. The city should have taken extra steps with the capital it had to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.
I love my city so much, but I honestly don't know if it will ever rebound now that the hole is dug so deep. Detroit and other cities have fallen victim to the same syndrome and it's a shame.
I went to college in Cleveland (CWRU) and fell in love with the area. There is a certain beauty there that no booming metropolis can match. The old, industrial architecture of the buildings and bridges is amazing. It has that classic beauty that can never be achieved with modern architecture.
I think that Cleveland is able to rebound. Just look at its neighbor, Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is reinventing itself as a new tech hub. Cleveland could do the same. It just needs smart leadership.
Cleveland is the city where Rockefeller's Standard Oil began, featured Millionaire's Row, was once the 5th largest city in the nation (now 40th), and featured some of the most beautiful architecture in the world.
That has all been lost to crime, poverty, and urban flight. While the factors listed in textbooks are the decline in the steel market and Rockefeller moving to NYC; the real cause is a lack of innovation. The city should have taken extra steps with the capital it had to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.
I love my city so much, but I honestly don't know if it will ever rebound now that the hole is dug so deep. Detroit and other cities have fallen victim to the same syndrome and it's a shame.