History UsefulNotes / Cleveland

** ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' creator Bill Watterson. [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield Although it is never explicitly mentioned where the strip takes place]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes#Books signs point to Watterson's hometown]] of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagrin_Falls,_Ohio Chagrin Falls]], a suburb of Cleveland.

Known in some circles as "The Mistake By The Lake" (i.e., Erie), "The Land," "The 216," or "Cleland" (locals tend to drop the V), Cleveland is one of the three "Big C's" of UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}}, along with Columbus and Cincinnati. Located on the state's northeastern coast, Cleveland was once one of the industrial boom towns that surrounded the Great Lakes in the late 19th and early 20th century and (briefly) was the fifth-largest city in the United States. Those days are long, long gone, and Cleveland is now often considered a WretchedHive and a PlaceWorseThanDeath, and the source of a [[http://youtu.be/L_DEp1lz0CM?t=32s steaming joke]] that's been going for years. 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|s}} for AliensInCleveland, as the city is considered by many the image of mundane mediocrity (at best).

Known in some circles as "The Mistake By The Lake" (i.e., Erie), "The Land," "The 216," or "Cleland," Cleveland is one of the three "Big C's" of UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}}, along with Columbus and Cincinnati. Located on the state's northeastern coast, Cleveland was once one of the industrial boom towns that surrounded the Great Lakes in the late 19th and early 20th century and (briefly) was the fifth-largest city in the United States. Those days are long, long gone, and Cleveland is now often considered a WretchedHive and a PlaceWorseThanDeath, and the source of a [[http://youtu.be/L_DEp1lz0CM?t=32s steaming joke]] that's been going for years. 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|s}} for AliensInCleveland, as the city is considered by many the image of mundane mediocrity (at best).

On some more positive notes, the term "RockAndRoll" was coined in Cleveland by local DJ Alan Freed, and the city has a proud musical heritage and is home to both the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame and the Cleveland Orchestra, the youngest of America's "Big Five" symphonies (the others are New York, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia). Cleveland also houses the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polka_Hall_of_Fame Polka Hall of Fame]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenian-style_polka Cleveland Style Polka]] is a sub-genre of music named after the [[PolkaDork Polka Dorks]] of the city due mostly in part to the success of Frankie Yankovic but also to a large number of people of German and Eastern European (especially Polish) descent in Cleveland. Jazz musicians, including scat jazz, also have been and continue to be popular. The Playhouse Square in downtown is the second-largest theatre complex in the United States, behind UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity'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[[note]]Many a local has {{squee}}d upon seeing the Trust Company Rotunda in ''Film/SpiderMan3''[[/note]]. 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[[note]]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.[[/note]], and Cleveland State University. An hour southeast is Kent State University, a [[StrawmanU Berzerkeley]] known for an infamous massacre in 1970 where four students protesting the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar where shot dead by the Ohio National Guard. Kent State also has a bitter rivalry with the nearby University of Akron[[note]]And we ''do'' mean nearby, the two schools are ten miles apart.[[/note]] in the [[UsefulNotes/GroupOfFiveConferences Mid-American Conference]].

Cleveland's professional sports teams generally go through extended periods of crappy performance with losing streaks of several games on end, interrupted with periods where they steamroll through everyone in their way[[note]]We win a title about every century![[/note]]. Its [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball football team]], the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRBDMMVctu8 Browns]][[note]]Before you ask what a "Brown" is, the team was named after its first owner, Paul Brown, former Ohio State University coach and a highly respected figure in Ohio athletics. It wasn't even his idea and he was against it at first, but later went along with it. For an animal mascot, dogs have long been popular due to the city's first pro football team, the Bulldogs.[[/note]], who used to be one of the most dominant teams in the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague NFL]] in the '50s and '60s and has had a rivalry with UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}} for decades. Never, ''ever'' say anything nice about the UsefulNotes/{{Baltimore}} [[BerserkButton Ravens]] to a Browns fan; the original Browns franchise moved to Baltimore through some shady dealing on owner Art Modell's part, then quickly went on to achieve UsefulNotes/SuperBowl success that Clevelanders believe should be theirs. The city fought to hold on to the Browns' name and history, and the "new" Browns debuted in 1999. They have not fared nearly as well, sitting at the bottom of the league's standing almost every year and taking over two decades to win a playoff game, which they finally did in 2021 against Pittsburgh.

On some more positive notes, the term "RockAndRoll" was coined in Cleveland by local DJ Alan Freed, and the city has a proud musical heritage and is home to both the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame and the Cleveland Orchestra, the youngest of America's "Big Five" symphonies (the others are New York, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia). Cleveland also houses the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polka_Hall_of_Fame Polka Hall of Fame]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenian-style_polka Cleveland Style Polka]] is a sub-genre of music named after the [[PolkaDork Polka Dorks]] of the city due mostly in part to the success of Frankie Yankovic but also to a large number of people of German and Eastern European (especially Polish) descent in Cleveland. Jazz musicians, including scat jazz, also have been and continue to be popular. The Playhouse Square in downtown is the second-largest theatre complex in the United States, behind UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity'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[[note]]Many a local has {{squee}}d upon seeing the Trust Company Rotunda in ''Film/SpiderMan3''[[/note]]. 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[[note]]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.[[/note]], and Cleveland State University. An hour southeast is Kent State University, a [[StrawmanU Berzerkeley]] known for an infamous massacre in 1970 where four students protesting the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar where shot dead by the Ohio National Guard. Kent State also has a bitter rivalry with the nearby University of Akron[[note]]And we ''do'' mean nearby, the two schools are fifteen minutes apart.[[/note]] in the [[UsefulNotes/GroupOfFiveConferences Mid-American Conference]].

On some more positive notes, the term "RockAndRoll" was coined in Cleveland by local DJ Alan Freed, and the city has a proud musical heritage and is home to both the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame and the Cleveland Orchestra, the youngest of America's "Big Five" symphonies (the others are New York, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia). Cleveland also houses the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polka_Hall_of_Fame Polka Hall of Fame]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenian-style_polka Cleveland Style Polka]] is a sub-genre of music named after the [[PolkaDork Polka Dorks]] of the city due mostly in part to the success of Frankie Yankovic but also to a large number of people of German and Eastern European (especially Polish) descent in Cleveland. Jazz musicians, including scat jazz, also have been and continue to be popular. The Playhouse Square in downtown is the second-largest theatre complex in the United States, behind UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity'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[[note]]Many a local has {{squee}}d upon seeing the Trust Company Rotunda in ''Film/SpiderMan3''[[/note]]. 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[[note]]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.[[/note]], and Cleveland State University. An hour southeast is Kent State University, a [[StrawmanU Berzerkeley]] known for an infamous massacre in 1970.

* The short story [[http://sfreader.com/contest-2008-1.asp "On a Clear Day You can See All the Way to Conspiracy"]] by Desmond Warzel.

Cleveland's baseball and basketball teams are respectively the Guardians (formerly the Indians) and the Cavaliers. The Guardians have gone over sixty years without a World Series title, longer than any other Major League Baseball team that hasn't been [[UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} cursed by a goat-owning bartender]]... at least until 2016, when they inherited the title of longest drought ''by losing to the Cubs!'' Meanwhile, the Cavs (founded in 1970) never even made it to the NBA Finals until 2007. When it looked like the latter were poised to finally win a championship in the late [=2000s=], they ended up losing star player UsefulNotes/LeBronJames (from nearby Akron, some 40 miles [64 kilometers] to the south) to the UsefulNotes/{{Miami}} Heat in 2010, with whom he won two titles... before he chose to return to the Cavs in 2014, leading them to their very first NBA title in 2016 (in which they became the first team to ever rally from a 3–1 hole in the Finals) and ending a 52-year championship drought which had affected ''all'' of Cleveland's pro sports teams ever since the Browns last won a title in 1964 (two years ''before'' the Super Bowl even ''existed'', and also before [=LeBron's=] ''mother'' was born). The Cavs eventually lost [=LeBron=] a second time in 2018, this time to the Los Angeles Lakers. In other sports, hockey is only represented through the second-tier American Hockey League (the NHL only had a Cleveland team for two years), where ten Cleveland teams won the Calder Cup, most recently the Lake Erie Monsters (since renamed the Cleveland Monsters) in 2016--just 8 days before the Cavs' title;[[note]]The Monsters, farm team of the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets, are owned by the same guy as the Cavaliers and the teams share an arena![[/note]] and while Cleveland won some indoor soccer tournaments, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFC_Cleveland the town's only team]] is in the fourth tier (UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer has two teams in Ohio, but they're in Columbus and Cincinnati).

* ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' (whose one-time theme song is the former TropeNamer, used in full irony here. The original version of the song was recorded by [[Music/MottTheHoople Ian Hunter]] in the late 1970s, who got tired of Cleveland being America's national worst.)

* Music/NineInchNails

* Wrestling/TommasoCiampa

* Wrestling/DanaBrooke (the southern suburb of Seven Hills)

* Creator/AmberLeeConnors (Born in Cleveland, later moved and split time between LA and Dallas)

* Creator/KathrynHahn (Born in Westchester, IL but raised in Cleveland Heights)

* Langston Hughes

* Creator/JerrySiegelAndJoeSchuster (the creators of Franchise/{{Superman}})
** Siegel and Schuster originally wanted Superman's adventures to be set in Cleveland before ExecutiveMeddling vetoed that idea. We can only speculate how this would have affected Cleveland's image in the public consciousness...