A vibe in Cleveland

Jun 13, 2012

A couple of times each year, Erin and I pack the kids into the van and take a road trip to Cleveland, where Erin grew up and we both went to college. Sometimes we are there in the heat of summer, other times during the cold, grey winter.

This week, we’ll be there for a warm reunion at John Carroll University. It’s been 20 years since I graduated there with a degree in communications and an infatuation with Erin. Things have turned out quite well for me, in both my career and love affair (it’s been nearly 16 years since we got married in the JCU chapel). I’ll step back on campus with a feeling of accomplishment.

As this blog has chronicled through the years, I’ve tried to make the most of my short visits to Cleveland, wading through the depressing grayness and crumbling industrial cityscape to meet friends and family in the cool cafes and restaurants and galleries and parks that have made northeast Ohio such a livable place.

Now I’m coming back to Cleveland at a very interesting time.

On NPR earlier this week, Rust Belt Reboot Has Downtown Cleveland Rocking looked at the resurgent downtown (my friend and fellow JCU ’92 alum, Joe Cimperman, visited us in North Carolina last week and was telling us about some of these exciting developments for the city). And writer Anne Trubek was recently inspired to create a Rust Belt Chic anthology to celebrate the area.

I’m picking up a definitive vibe: Cleveland is rocking its way back.

Anton Zuiker ☄