A Post Grad Appreciates the Sixth City Known as Cleveland
Part One of a Series

Like every month, June has a lot of weird "awarenesses" attached to it. It's National Accordion Awareness Month, National Turkey Lover's Month, and "Fight the Filthy Fly" (?!?) Month. But for recent college graduates June is "National What Am I Doing with My Life" Month. Even though most college seniors graduate in May, the reality of no longer being a college student doesn't really kick in and stick until June.

There are too many parties and last hurrahs/hizzahs going on in May to actually step back and realize the dream-like state of educational immersion is over. No more cutting class to play Frisbee golf. It's time to find a job.

It took me five years to graduate, so naturally it took me a couple of Junes to freak out and realize I need to get my act together. But in a way it was a blessing.

My plan after graduation was to move to Chicago or New York. More than likely I would have became a professional drifter rather than getting my name out as a writer. My daily routine would have been; dumpster dive for breakfast, hound every newspaper/magazine/anyone who would pay me a nickel per article, some more dumpster diving, cry myself to sleep, and repeat.

Instead I found Cleveland... A city where I can not only pursue my dreams but also a city where I want to (and can) live. After talking to some friends who are also recent graduates moving to Cleveland, I came up with a list. Three things that separate the Sixth City from other major cities as a cool place to live for post-grads. And three things the Sixth City can easily do to attract more of them/us:

Goldilocks with Beer Money

I love big cities but hate sitting in traffic. I love public transportation but hate waiting 40+ minutes on the next bus, tram, or subway car. I love having a slew of options on a random Saturday night, but hate having them spread out over hundreds of blocks from my apartment. Most of all, I love going out on a Saturday night, but hate being reminded of just how poor I am as a post-grad.

Get the picture? Cleveland is just right.

First off, unlike other major cities, it’s actually possible to get around Cleveland in order to see what the city has to offer. I can’t sleep if I know I’m going to Chicago or New York the next day. I’m up all night preparing myself to be miserable while stuck in traffic trying to get where I want to be. The amount of time it takes to get anywhere in those cities is like an episode of Tyler Perry’s House of Payne -- long, excruciating, and ultimately unavoidable.

Because here’s the thing about my generation: we essentially grew up in two different worlds. The first part of our lives nothing was immediate. Pagers only worked if you had change for a payphone and forget about cell phones. The only person who had one was Zach Morris from Saved By the Bell. So if you missed a call, you sat at home... you either caught the Seinfeld Finale or you didn’t.

The second part of our lives is fueled by immediate, instant gratification. If you didn’t have the new Eminem album before it was released then there is something wrong with you. If you don’t respond back to a text, Facebook, or Twitter message within three minutes your friends think you are ignoring them or dead.

The point is my generation doesn’t want to cut to the front of the line; we (Wii?) don’t want lines period.

We saw what waiting was like and decided it wasn’t for us. That’s why Cleveland is a perfect city in terms of size and volume for post graduates. Everything is located within a ten-mile radius from downtown Cleveland. At the same time, I’ll never have to plan my night around what’s going on in the city. Worst case traffic scenario means instead of taking a cab, it’s a twenty minute walk. Best of all, I’ll never be bored or feel as poor as I actually am because Cleveland is an affordable big city. This is why it drives me insane when I visit friends in Chicago.

My friends in Chicago live in glorified prison cells -- which cost them over a grand per month, easily. The cost of living in Chicago is easily three times that of Cleveland, and with the economy being what it is, it feels more like four times. Every cent of their income goes to bills, student loans, and having the privilege to sit in their bungalows on a Saturday night. Their idea of eating out is a five dollar foot long from Subway.

But a 900-square foot apartment in downtown Cleveland goes for less than six hundred bucks a month. Translation: you can do more than watch cable TV in Cleveland.

When I bring this point up, the comeback is always, “Yeah, but I live in Chicago.” My counterpoint is, “No, you work in Chicago. You live in this crummy apartment.”

If you live in Cleveland, you can actually afford to live. Ten bucks gets you into virtually any show at the Cleveland Play House, a lot of great stuff at PlayhouseSquare and dozens of other amazing locations all across town. Ten bucks. Bored on a Sunday afternoon? Kill a few hours at a Tribe game for under twelve bucks. It just makes sense to move to a city where you can actually live.

And a city like Cleveland offers breathing room to post graduates who are harassed on a daily basis by the legalized loan sharks at Sallie Mae. Every day is not another reminder of how poor you are because Cleveland is affordable. Unlike other big cities, it’s possible in Cleveland to pay back the loan sharks while still enjoying your mid to late twenties.

The Cult of Culture

Cleveland has a rare combination of glitz and grit. The city is a blend of modern, contemporary, and postmodern elements. They are seen clearly in the city’s ideals, architecture, and professional opportunities. Each street has a different feel to it. Walking down one road is like traveling back in time. Walking down another feels like witnessing the future. This is a big part why Cleveland didn’t really work in 90’s and into the 2000’s. Young adults were moving to places like the Silicon Valley, Seattle, and Dallas.

These places not only looked like 22nd Century cities but each place was known for a certain industry.

Cleveland didn’t have a clue who it was and (to some degree) still doesn’t. The city isn’t really banking on any one strength or being known as a tech-, financial-, fine arts-, engineering-, or a "green industry" city. Cleveland has taken a "Jack of all trades" approach, throwing up its hands and saying, “OK, here’s a little bit of everything. Come and do what you want.”

This is why when the economy was at its highest peak; Cleveland was perceived as a struggling and unstable -- a virtual "no-fly zone" for young adults. But this really isn’t the case today. Young adults are flocking to cities in flux; those cities that are in the process of changing/establishing their identities are seeing the windfall of that.

“Struggling” has been replaced with “potential” and “unstable” has been swapped out for “reliable”. At the same time, Cleveland hasn’t lost that feeling of being a retro-future city. Cleveland is essentially a record player with an iPod deck. Something my generation can’t get enough of. We love combing elements of the past to the future.

Give us a LeBron James jersey in the style of the Mark Price era and we’ll sell them out. Give us a Bone Thugs -N- Harmony song with a Motown vibe and we’ll put it on the charts at number one. Give us a city with the look of the early to mid 20th Century, the feel of the 60’s, with the endless potential of the 21st Century... and we’ll call it home.

Loving Me Some Me

I have an awkward mixture of hypervigilance, super narcissim, and zero self-confidence. In essence, my life has been one big oxymoron. The decisions I make don’t make a ton of sense, but in a way feel extremely logical. I try to go against “The Man” so much I often wonder if that’s exactly what “The Man” wants me to do. I know I’m capable of doing great things but don’t have a clue on how to get started. These are the reasons why when I decided to move to Cleveland I was kicking myself for even debating somewhere else.

Around a month ago, I was talking with a friend of mine about moving to Chicago. My lifelong dream has been to write for Saturday Night Live and his is to be a SNL cast member. Anyone in comedy knows that Second City in Chicago breeds SNL talent. But we both came to the same conclusion -- it’s actually smarter not to move to Chicago and to move to Cleveland.

Our reasoning was pretty simple; Chicago is not not Cleveland.

Okay follow me here: both cities are known for comedy and their clubs but there are two distinct differences between the cities. Cleveland is smaller and there are less people pursing comedy in Cleveland than in Chicago. We came to the conclusion, because of the accessibility the internet provides, it’s actually easier to get started, fine tune our craft, and get noticed in Cleveland.

The same is true for any young adult looking to break into fashion, film making, art, etc. But I don’t think this equation is limited to just the arts and entertainment industry. I think it works for anyone in the environmental field as well as science and technology fields.

So why am I crazy enough to believe that it is easier to make a name for yourself, to become nationally recognized in Cleveland compared to other cities like Chicago, New York, and L.A.? Because Cleveland is still a giant wet ball of clay where as those other cities have already been glazed and tossed into the kiln. Nothing really earth shattering is ever going to come out of those cities. Sure, someone might invent the next 4G technology service or whatever in one of those cities. But the overall feeling will be, “What took them so long?” The story won’t have legs because big things happening in those cities are not new occurrences.

It’s like Michael Jordan winning. Expected.

Nevermind the fact that everyone from Tom Hanks and Bob Hope to Drew Carey and Trent Reznor have come from these parts -- if the next Dave Chappelle, Cameron Crowe, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, etc. comes out of Cleveland, it's certain that both the local and national media will latch onto them and take notice. There will be a double take and people will say, “Wait, let me get this straight... this is happening in Cleveland? Cleveland, Ohio? I didn’t know it was possible to do that sort of thing in Cleveland.”

The bottom line is that opportunities are finally available in Cleveland. In order to capitalize on what Cleveland has to offer we need to do a couple of things; stop being so defensive about our city and just do work. Cleveland has cried wolf in the past in terms of becoming a dominant city. Now is the time to show people we got it instead of just saying it. The collapse of the national economy has leveled the playing field and given us a chance to do something great. You and I can’t let this opportunity slip past us because there isn’t always going to be a George Bush around to screw things up so bad that it actually helps Cleveland.

Tune in next time for another look at the Sixth City.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Jeff Biasella jeffbiasellaATyahoo.com
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