History UsefulNotes / Cleveland

* S. Andrew Swann, a local, set both this first book of his ''moreau'' series, and both books of his ''Dragons of the Cuyahoga'' series in Cleveland.

Known in some circles as "The Mistake By The Lake" (namely, [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Lake Erie]]) or "The/Tha Land," Cleveland is the largest urban area in UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}}. Located on the state's northern coast, it's often considered a WretchedHive and a PlaceWorseThanDeath, 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|s}} for AliensInCleveland, as the city is considered by many the image of mundane mediocrity (at best).

* ''Film/TheAvengers'' was filmed in Cleveland, probably in response to ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' being filmed in UsefulNotes/Pittsburgh. Locals found it hilarious when "Germany" looked like the Cleveland Museum of Arts.

* [=LeBron=] James (basketball player once worshiped for making the Cavs a respected team, now hated with a violent passion for moving to UsefulNotes/{{Miami}} and making a huge media event out of announcing [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Decision_(TV_special) The Decision]])

* Music/NineInchNails
* Creator/HalleBerry
* Arsenio Hall
* Mushroomhead

* Tracy Chapman

* Jim Backus

* Avant
* Filter
* Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel (the creators of Franchise/{{Superman}})
** Siegel and Schuster originally wanted Franchise/{{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.
* Award-winning sportswriter Joe Posnanski
* Wrestling/JerryLawler (Spent some of his childhood there, life-long Cleveland Browns fan. We're sorry, King.)

* Molly Shannon
* Teri Garr

* Burgess Meredith
* Hal Holbrook

* Pere Ubu
* Harvey Pekar, creator of the autobiographical comic ''ComicBook/AmericanSplendor''
* Steve Harvey
* Tim Conway
* Mike Douglas
* Bill Watterson (creator of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'')
* Bernie Kosar (Who famously played the NFL Draft system so he could end up with his hometown team.)
* Langston Hughes
* Creator/PaulNewman
* Creator/BobHope (born in UsefulNotes/{{London}}, but grew up in Cleveland)
* Michael Symon (Food Network Chef)
* Creator/WesCraven
* Mary Ann Winkowski - Television personality whose claims of paranormal experiences are the basis for ''Series/GhostWhisperer'', on which she is also a paid producer.
* Creator/HarlanEllison (Grew up in the nearby town of Painesville)
* George Steinbrenner (Who tried to buy the Cleveland Indians before [[WhatCouldHaveBeen settling]] for the [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity New York]] Yankees instead.)
* Lady Akashia (DragQueen who appeared in the first season of ''RupaulsDragRace'')
* Music/KidCudi
* Wrestling/PerrySaturn.

Known in some circles as "The Mistake By The Lake" (namely, [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Lake Erie]]) or "The/Tha Land," Cleveland is the largest urban area in UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}}. Located on the state's northern coast, it's often considered a WretchedHive and a PlaceWorseThanDeath, 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 TropeNamer for AliensInCleveland, as the city is considered by many the image of mundane mediocrity (at best).

-->-- '''Yakov Smirnoff''' with the opposing viewpoint

->''"All the little kids growing up on the skids\\
Go 'Cleveland rocks!', 'Cleveland rocks!'"''
-->-- '''Ian Hunter''' ([[CoveredUp not The Presidents of the United States]]),[[TropeNamers Trope Namer]]

-->''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM It could be worse, at least we're not Detroit!]]'' ♪

* Wrestling/{JerryLawler (Spent some of his childhood there, life-long Cleveland Browns fan. We're sorry, King.)

* [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} Jerry Lawler]] (Spent some of his childhood there, life-long Cleveland Browns fan. We're sorry, King.)

* Bill Watterson (creator of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes ''

* Wes Craven

* ''Film/TheAvengers'' was filmed in Cleveland, probably in response to ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' being filmed in Pittsburg. Locals found it hilarious when "Germany" looked like the Cleveland Museum of Arts.

* [=LeBron=] James (basketball player once worshiped for making the Cavs a respected team, now hated with a violent passion for moving to Miami and making a huge media event out of announcing [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Decision_(TV_special) The Decision]])

* NineInchNails
* HalleBerry

* AnneHeche

* [[ComicBook/AmericanSplendor Harvey Pekar]] (who also wrote about it)

* TimConway

* [[CalvinandHobbes Bill Watterson]]

* Paul Newman

* Lebron James (basketball player once worshiped for making the Cavs a respected team, now hated with a violent passion for moving to Miami and making a huge media event out of announcing The Decision)

* TheMiz

* BobHope

-->-- '''Ian Hunter''' ([[CoveredUp not The Presidents of the United States]]), TropeNamer

* A few ''{{Route 66}}'' episodes take place in Cleveland.

-->'''Ian Hunter''' ([[CoveredUp not The Presidents of the United States]]), TropeNamer

* [[Film/TheAvengers]] was filmed in Cleveland, probably in response to TheDarkKnightRises being filmed in Pittsburg. Locals found it hilarious when "Germany" looked like the Cleveland Museum of Arts.

Its baseball and basketball teams--the Indians and Cavaliers respectively--are fairly solid, although the Indians have currently gone more than 60 years without winning the World Series, longer than any other team in the American League and longer than any Major League Baseball team that hasn't been [[UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} cursed by a goat-owning bartender]], and the Cavs lost its star player; ESPN had an hour-long special dedicated to his announcement. And supporting its football team, the Browns [[note]]Before you ask what a "Brown" is, the team was named after its first owner Paul Brown, former Ohio State 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]], tends to be [[ButtMonkey/{{Sports}} a lesson in masochism]]. The city has had a rivalry with UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}} for decades. Also, never, ''ever'' say anything nice about the [[BerserkButton Baltimore Ravens]][[note]]The original Browns team moved to Baltimore through some shady dealing on owner Art Modell's part, and then went on to achieve SuperBowl success that Clevelanders believe should be theirs. The new Browns debuted in 1999 and have not fared nearly as well[[/note]].

** Ted’s best friend from school, Punchy, still lives in Cleveland with his fiancée. In season 6, he asks Ted to be the best man at his wedding, [[spoiler:which may or may not lead to a major turning point in the series]].

Known in some circles as "The Mistake By The Lake" (namely, Lake Erie) or "The/Tha Land," Cleveland is the largest urban area in UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}}. Located on the state's northern coast, it's often considered a WretchedHive and a PlaceWorseThanDeath, 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 TropeNamer for AliensInCleveland, 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 ButtMonkey. With the brutal winters, massive [[DyingTown urban decay]], a river that was once [[NeverLiveItDown so polluted that it caught on fire]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuyahoga_River#Environmental_concerns thirteen times]], 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 GallowsHumor. 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-[[TheWindyCity Chicago]], due to its patchwork of ethnic neighborhoods, midwestern atmosphere, public rail that's both elevated and underground, 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 "RockAndRoll" was coined in Cleveland by local DJ Alan Freed, and the city has a proud musical heritage and is home to both the RockAndRoll 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 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 ''SpiderMan 3''[[/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 Berzerkley]] known for an infamous shootout in 1970.

Its baseball and basketball teams--the Indians and Cavaliers respectively--are fairly solid, although the Indians have currently gone more than 60 years without winning the World Series, longer than any other team in the American League and longer than any Major League Baseball team that hasn't been [[TheWindyCity cursed by a goat-owning bartender]], and the Cavs lost its star player; ESPN had an hour-long special dedicated to his announcement. And supporting its football team, the Browns [[note]]Before you ask what a "Brown" is, the team was named after its first owner Paul Brown, former Ohio State 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]], tends to be [[ButtMonkey/{{Sports}} a lesson in masochism]]. The city has had a rivalry with UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}} for decades. Also, never, ''ever'' say anything nice about the [[BerserkButton Baltimore Ravens]][[note]]The original Browns team moved to Baltimore through some shady dealing on owner Art Modell's part, and then went on to achieve SuperBowl success that Clevelanders believe should be theirs. The new Browns debuted in 1999 and have not fared nearly as well[[/note]].

* George Steinbrenner (Who tried to buy the Cleveland Indians before [[WhatCouldHaveBeen settling]] for the [[NewYorkCity New York]] Yankees instead.)

* Mary Ann Winkowski - Television personality whose claims of paranormal experiences are the basis for GhostWhisperer, on which she is also a paid producer.

The city was named for surveyor Moses Cleaveland (the first 'A' was reportedly dropped so the name would fit on a newspaper masthead) and has no connection to [[OopNorth the English county of Cleveland]], or the [[GroverCleveland 22nd and 24th President of the United States]] (who was only distantly related to Moses Cleaveland).

* On ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', passing references are made to a Hellmouth in Cleveland. Robin is shown to have moved there with his own squad of slayers.

* HarlanEllison (Grew up in the nearby town of Painesville)