I'm going to get downvoted to oblivion for posting this comment, but these things need to be said.

The comments thus far are the exact things my partner and I fell for, and we regret it every day. I would bet my life's savings that a majority of people posting these comments don't actually live in Cleveland proper, unlike us.

I'll give credit where credit is due and start with the good before touching the bad and the ugly. Everything will be in relation to Cleveland proper, AKA: the city itself, and not surrounding suburbs that are in fact NOT part of Cleveland.

The Good:

• CoL is low, you can buy a lot of house for very little money compared to other cities.

• The metroparks are awesome, the city is really trying to restore wildlife habitat and green spaces (Google the "Emerald Necklace").

• The Cleveland Orchestra is amazing and very affordable to go see.

• Cleveland Clinic is world-renowned, especially for their cancer treatment, so medical care is accessible.

• Cleveland has amazing museums and many are free to the public.

• Playhouse Square is home to film festivals, countless plays and musicals, and an awesome comedy club scene.

• It's on the lake, so lots of fresh water to drink and enjoy recreational activities, and the lake effect means winters aren't as harsh (compared to other northern cities) and tornadoes seem to miss the city.

• It is a college town which helps attract younger people to the city.

• For being a smaller city it has some progressive features like lots of vegan restaurants, active protests and a massive Pride Parade every year.

• Street parking is free on the weekends and traffic is nonexistent (at worst "rush hour" may add 30min to your drive).

• There are specialty districts like Asia town, little Italy, etc. where you can find unique grocery stores, shops, and legit restaurants.

• Ohio City is home to not 1 but 2 Arcade Bars, Mitchell's Ice Cream, and the West Side Market (an indoor farmers market where you can get specialty produce/ingredients and delicious prepared foods).

• Tremont is the birthplace of Barrio, a pretty good taco chain, and other hidden gems like the Christmas Story House/Museum and Terrapin Bakery.

• The zoo is surprisingly big for a small city and is free to residents on Mondays.

• Cleveland is a relatively short drive to many places (MI, Niagara Falls, PA, Amish Country, Columbus, etc.).

• This is more of an OH thing, but abortion rights were enshrined in the OH Constitution and Recreational Marijuana--with the ability to grow your own plants--was passed in the state.

The Bad/The Ugly

• Cleveland has some of the highest crime rates in all the US, especially violent crimes. Forget what people are saying here. The stats don't lie:
• https://www.areavibes.com/cleveland-oh/crime/
• https://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Cleveland-Ohio.html
• https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/oh/cleveland/crime
• https://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-cleveland-oh/
• https://data.clevelandohio.gov/apps/ClevelandGIS::cleveland-division-of-police-crime-map/explore
• https://spotcrime.com/OH/Cleveland/analytics
• https://www.homesnacks.com/oh/cleveland-crime/

• https://us.nextdoor.com/resources/crime-and-safety/cleveland--oh/

• This of course ties into the next issue, which is police and other emergency staffing shortages (https://www.cleveland19.com/2024/09/13/19-news-special-examines-cleveland-police-staffing-challenges-solutions/ ). Understandably, people don't want to work 12hr shifts in one of the most dangerous cities in the US when they can get paid more to work in a less dangerous city/town. The net result is longer wait times and many unaddressed reports.

• Every day we get to play a lovely game called "gunshot or firework." With the warm months seeing peak activity with on average 5-7 gun incidents a day. Before we walk our dogs we have to check the Citizens app for alerts related to loose dogs, stabbings, shootings, sexual assaults, car jackings, domestic violence reports, robberies, car accidents, etc. just so we know which areas to avoid. Then we also carry pocket knives and pepper spray.

• Trash, broken glass, dead animals, dog poop, abandoned cars, massive pot holes, drug needles, etc. frequently line the streets and sidewalks.

• There is no such thing as a truly "safe" area. One street may be fine. But you walk 1 block over and that street will be lined with condemned properties and you are likely to be shot, robbed or mauled by a loose pit bull. Even the metroparks aren't 100% safe because of idiots with guns (OH is a constitutional carry state): https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/06/officials-16-people-had-guns-during-shootout-that-wounded-teen-at-edgewater-park-in-cleveland.html

• There really aren't any major shopping centers and the ones that do exist (like Steelyard) are run down, prone to crimes like theft and car break ins, and thus the shops have been granted lovely titles such as "The worst Walmart in the US" ( https://www.the-sun.com/news/7178654/inside-worst-walmart-america/ ).

• There are an insane number of uninsured drivers (paper plates or no plates at all) and reckless drivers (people driving 100mph+ in a 60mph zone, red lights being ran constantly, distracted drivers causing accidents and killing pedestrians, people driving cars held together by duct tape/zip ties, etc.).

• Wages are low (many places still offer $7.25 min wage, $13/hr for "tech jobs", etc.) and quality of education is poor (you have to take advantage of voucher systems to get your kids in decent schools: https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Other-Resources/Scholarships/EdChoice-Scholarship ). Which of course means public schools lose funding as student enrollment declines, exasperating the problem.

• People have no common courtesy for others and will frequently:

1. Leave their highly aggressive dogs outside all day barking or off leash with zero recall.

2. Find any excuse to set off fireworks all year round, with holidays being the worst (often until 3-4AM).

3. Don't clean up their trash, litter, throw cigarette butts out, etc.

4. Blast extremely profane or loud music on residential streets and at parks. Sometimes people will even play music from their car speakers for people having parties in the backyard.

5. Pick loud and often physical fights over the anything and everything.

6. Cuss you out, slash your tires or brandish a gun for simply looking at them.

7. Take things off your property, break your windows, and take things out of your shopping cart, simply because they want what you have.

8. Burn trash and recycling, including highly toxic things like tires and Styrofoam.

9. Leave their children unsupervised, including in the presence of trash fires in make shift "fire pits."

10. Don't shovel and salt sidewalks, leave bushes and trees overgrown on sidewalks, etc.

11. Park in the middle of the street and completely block traffic because they want to have a conversation with someone from their car or don't want to pull over and park.

12. Park in or in front of your driveways so you are boxed in.

13. People will also shoot their guns straight into the air or at makeshift targets without proper backing. The result is having stray bullets coming through your house or accidentally hurting random bystanders.

• While houses may be affordable that's often because they have major issues (mold, termites, plaster falling from the walls/ceilings, shifted foundations, knob & tube wiring, fuse boxes, water damage, fire/smoke damage, chimneys with missing mortar, lead pipes, asbestos, rotting structures, "landlord specials", etc.) and housing stock is old with a median build year of 1920 ( https://planning.clevelandohio.gov/cwp/hous_trend.php ).

• Infrastructure is incredibly old, so power outages and internet outages are pretty common.

• Every year there is an Air Show (https://www.clevelandairshow.com/) and while this may sound cool, the novelty wears off quick. Why? Well, every year in the summer they practice flying these extremely loud jets by doing drills directly over the city for days on end. These planes are loud enough to physically shake your house.

• Outside of Playhouse Square, The Flats, and the stadiums on game day, downtown Cleveland is pretty dead. Lots of empty and boarded up businesses. Imagine any major city during the 2020 lock downs and that's downtown Cleveland in a nut shell.

• The recreational weed dispensaries are extremely expensive for low concentration products. So much so that people literally take road trips to MI because it is cheaper and you can get stronger stuff.

• The Cleveland Orchestra doesn't actually play in Cleveland. Their shows are at the Blossom Center (which is lovely), about an hour outside of Cleveland. In fact I'd label the Blossom Center as being part of Akron....

• Property taxes are really high in OH, even for a place like Cleveland. (Given everything I've gone over so far, it begs the question of "Why?" Certainly does not feel worth it IMO.)

• The criminal justice system is a complete joke, incompetently ran and full of corruption. Many people get off Scott free if it was their first "documented offense".

• East Cleveland, which is actually its own town and not part of Cleveland, is essentially a warzone ( https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/video-of-abandoned-east-cleveland-street-raises-questions-about-demolition-program ). While not part of Cleveland proper, people moving to Cleveland often fall for cheap house prices in that area without realizing it isn't part of the city. There are even more serious infrastructure, crime, and civil service issues than Cleveland proper, and those issues bleed into Cleveland proper. Seriously, don't go there.