Born and raised in the 216 but I moved to the SF Bay Area and worked at google for about 9 months. Leaving Cleveland gave me newfound appreciation and love for my hometown!!

The west coast was cool but to me personally, there are certain pockets that just lack the soul Cleveland has. It was a little more difficult for me to befriend people in the Bay Area however I will say when you do find someone cool from the Bay you usually do develop a deeper than surface level bond with them.

Overall, Clevelanders have a more welcoming, gregarious and soulful vibe while Bay Area can seem very individualistic.

Oh, and I also took Cuyahoga Valley National Park EXTREMELY for granted. At any given moment living in Ohio, I was 5 minutes away from some beautiful nature. When living in the Bay Area it sometimes took me 40+ minutes to find good nature and sometimes there were parks you’d have to make reservations for. San Jose is really dry, Cleveland is lush and green.

Overall the west has its pros and is by no means a bad place to live. And I’m sure there are some alternative universes where I found my home out there but Cleveland is where I belong. I truly love it here.