What's Good About Cleveland

This post derived from today's Field Economist phone interview. The interviewer wanted me to write a two to three-page essay about What's good about Cleveland? Below is my essay.

What is good about Cleveland

Cleveland, a city of a little over 500,000 people, is a cosmopolitan metropolis with an abundance of arts, music and entertainment to satisfy anyone.

Arts, Culture and Entertainment
During this summer, I partook in three different but amazing festivals. The first one was IngenuityCleveland, a festival which combined arts, culture and music with technology and innovation. Throughout the Labor Day weekend, I was treated to the Cleveland Museum of Art incorporated technology to offer visitors a fresh perspective on art. There were 3-D animated movies and a laser machine that uncovered Picasso’s mistakes in one of his blue period paintings. NASA Glenn Research Center highlighted its Garrett Morgan Business Initiative partnership with a Cleveland school to teach students about implementing music with computers. During the hour-presentation, local music production and filmmaking were highlighted. The Art Gallery Hop offered me a chance to view various downtown, East and West art galleries via a trolley. During this event, three other festivals, Tremont Art Festival, the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper’s ArtJam Festival and the Cleveland Playhouse Theater’s Centerfest, ran concurrently allowing me to culturally immerse myself in art, acting, ballet, fashion and theatre. At the ArtJam Festival, I visited Pink’s Daily Planner, a start-up haute couture here in Cleveland; while attending the Tremont Festival I ate sweet potato chips. The Taste of Cleveland, also during the Labor Day weekend, I enjoyed music entertainments and numerous concerts from big-name artists.

Sports
Cleveland is home to a bunch of die-hard fanatics. Right now the Cleveland Indians are tied with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees for the American League wild-card pennant race. I am also an avid fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers (basketball) and the Cleveland Browns (NFL football) as well as the Ohio State Buckeyes! Plus I religiously watch Channel 5’s Sports Saturday and Sunday; Channel 3 The Point After and Channel 19’s Sunday and Monday BrownsTown for all of the latest sports information.

Travel
Cleveland is strategically located 500 miles from both Washington, DC and New York City. Its prime location provides the access to diverse array of cultures, arts, theater and entertainment, because I can take either a plane, bus or train to these two cities. I have accumulated frequent flyer miles because of my jet-setting lifestyle and my love for arts, culture and entertainment. Washington, DC has the Smithsonian while New York City has Broadway. During my last DC trip, I visited the Freer Art Gallery where I viewed the Asian, African and Arabian artwork. As a connoisseur, Cleveland’s location allows me to get my art fill.

Cleveland offers an eclectic mix of arts, culture, and entertainment and many travel options to other cultural hubs. This is an exciting place where there is always something interesting to do, and these three things are what is good about Cleveland.