Cleveland Rocks: Difference between revisions
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Known in some circles as "The Mistake By The Lake" or "The/Tha Land", Cleveland has the largest urban area in Ohio. It's often considered a [[Wretched Hive]] and a [[Place Worse Than Death]], a joke that's been ongoing for years. Many recent polls and news articles only reinforce this image, as it was once rated the [http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/11/americas-most-miserable-cities-business-beltway-miserable-cities.html most miserable city in America]. It was also the original [[Trope Namer]] for [[Aliens in Cleveland]], as the city is considered by many the image of mundane mediocrity (at best).
Possibly the biggest reason why this goes unchallenged is because all but the most anal-retentive Clevelanders have a sense of humor about it; they'll tell you ''themselves'' how Cleveland is America's [[Butt Monkey]]. With the brutal winters, massive [[Dying Town|urban decay]], a river that was once [[Never Live It Down|so polluted that it]] [[Beyond the Impossible|caught on fire]] [[wikipedia:Cuyahoga River#Environmental concerns|thirteen times]]<ref>[[It Got Worse|It got worse]] a [[The Seventies|few years later]], when, in a failed photo-op with a welding instrument, the city's then-mayor, Ralph Perk, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgGv9JwKeCY ''set his hair on fire'']. Then his wife [[Turned Up to Eleven|upped the ante]] by turning down a visit at the White House because it interfered with her regular '''bowling night'''.</ref>, several political scandals leading to multiple FBI raids, and the fact that road construction is ''never'' finished (also a staple of Ohio in general), most residents have no illusions of being in paradise, and rely often on [[Gallows Humor]]. Some choose to stay, however, as the city has a low cost of living, a growing healthcare industry (the world-renown Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals), and decent nightlife. It can even be called a mini-[[The Windy City|Chicago]], due to its patchwork of ethnic neighborhoods, midwestern atmosphere, public rail that's both elevated and underground<ref>Although a subway system was proposed, planned out, and [[wikipedia: Detroit-Superior Bridge|partially built]]... but [[What Could Have Been|never completed]].</ref>, and division by a major river (east and west in this case, with people on either side almost never going further than downtown).
The term "[[Rock and Roll]]" was coined in Cleveland, and the city has a proud musical heritage and is home to both the [[Rock and Roll]] Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Orchestra, one of America's "Big Five" symphonies. Also, Playhouse Square in downtown is the second-largest theatre complex in the United States, behind [[New York City]]'s Lincoln Center. The city is also sometimes used as a stand-in for NYC or Chicago in film, due to lower filming costs, since it has similar architecture<ref>Many a local has [[Squee|squeed]] upon seeing the Trust Company Rotunda in ''[[Spider-Man]] 3''... which also makes an appearance in ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', where Cleveland serves as a stand-in for Washington, DC (eagle-eyed observers will note Cleveland-centric signage on specific bridge spans that weren't digitally altered or edited out). ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' and ''[[The Avengers (film)|The Avengers]]'' are the highest-profile films thus far that have had significant production take place in Cleveland.</ref>. It possesses a surprising number of truly beautiful churches, more museums than a city thrice its size generally has, and two of the best library systems in the country. Cleveland's the home of Case Western Reserve University, one of the more bizarrely named colleges in the country<ref>The Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University used to be two separate institutions until 1967. "Western Reserve" itself refers to an old name for northeast Ohio, the Connecticut Western Reserve, claimed by the state of Connecticut for its veterans to settle in following the American Revolution until the state agreed to give it up to the newly-formed state of Ohio.</ref>, and Cleveland State University. An hour southeast is Kent State University, a [[Strawman U|Berzerkley]] known for an infamous shootout in 1970.
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