Great Lakes Green Pages

Thanks to my pal Mark Lastition, a local Realtor, for alerting me and the rest of his Facebook friends to the article on Forbes.com about Cleveland.  They ranked Cleveland as number one in a list of America’s most miserable cities.  I, Mark and his other buddies, seem to agree that Forbes has surely missed the mark.  I immediately inserted my comment on his page, then went off on my own little tirade int eh comments section of the Forbes site.  Here is what I wrote:

I have lived in a lot of places. Every town has its good and bad points. Cleveland is a great town with a less than stellar past, but with a bright future. We are working hard in this town to create new industries and new jobs based around emerging green technologies. We have a Chief of Sustainability who is working hard to develop and implement our long term plan for a green future. While it is true that Cleveland has suffered greatly from this recession, we are not alone. We still see a great deal of urban flight as people move to the suburbs, but those who stay are more committed than ever to revitalizing our city. Things may not be moving very quickly right now, but we are poised to have big improvements in the coming years. We have a balanced budget without laying off workers. We are installing a generator that will use trash to create electricity. Our sports teams go back and forth, but more money is spent in this town in the area of arts and culture than is generated by our sports teams anyhow. Not a big surprise when we have a world class museum (free) and symphony, and the largest theater district in America west of NYC. We are finishing a comprehensive plan to develop our lakefront, revitalize our ports, and add a new convention center and medical mart. Now that the lending crisis is about over, we can expect developments that were previously put on hold to resume soon. Jobs in the steel industry have been lost, but we are finding ways to replace them with new manufacturing and technology. Cleveland is a great town with a great future, and I say shame to Forbes for passing around more unproductive ill will about us and other cities who are in recovery. Luckily, businesses may see this article and realize that Cleveland is cheap and the perfect place to relocate their headquarters.

I didn’t even mention the Cleveland International Film Festival that get a lot of world press, the fact that we were chosen over Boston and Washington DC as hosts for the 2014 Gay Games, the Ingenuity Fest (the most unique festival I have ever attended), any of the neighborhood arts festivals, Rock Hall, MOCA and  host of other museums, or the great selection of first class restaurants that abound here.  I didn’t mention UH’s world renowned Cancer Center, or the fact that patients come from around the country to be treated at the Cleveland Clinic’s Heart Center.  I wanted to mention the work of Michele Kilroy and how she has taken the local affiliate of the USGBC to full member status and gotten an entire community involved through committees and groups.  What about our leadership in the local foods movement, thanks to advocates like Peter McDermott; the efforts toward green entrepreneurs thanks to E4S’s Holly Harlen; the movement toward Zero Waste thanks to the efforts of Annabel Kouri and Victoria Avi; the efforts of Andrew Watterson, Mayor Jackson and all the committee members from the Cleveland Sustainability Summit who are working in their own way on their own time to develop new ideas and plans for the region.  Eco Village, Cleveland Carbon Fund, Domestic Partnership Registry, Jump Start, Farmer’s Markets, City Fresh, Eco Watch…..There are so many positives going on in the area that I am sickened by this article.  What about your story?  If you love the city as much as me, I encourage you to read this article and send them your comments.  Cleveland has a truly bright future ahead, and I am personally sick of hearing otherwise.  In a time when Americans need hope and we need to pull together, the fact that Forbes felt compelled to write an article entitled America’s Most Miserable Cities just goes to show that they have no spirit!  Okay, crazed rant over, you can go about your day….