The fact that it had been decades since the city won a major championship was the least of Cleveland’s worries, although with how much attention it got, you’d never know it. But now that LeBron James has seen to getting the city its championship, the Rust Belt city’s other issues are being dragged into the spotlight.
As Zillow reports, Cleveland has lost tens of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in home values, not to mention 58 percent of its population since 1950. It is the most distressed city in the country after Camden N.J., according to Economic Innovation Group, and it has the second lowest median home values of the country’s top 35 housing markets.
There are signs of life, however. Take Hingetown, for example. A two-block are that has flourished over the past five years, thanks in large part to one couple, Graham Veysey and Marika Shioiri-Clark. It all started with the rehab of an old firehouse and spread from there.
Now crime is down, community events are up, and people looking for art, coffee and tea, and its cycling studio and flower shops frequent it.
If Hingetown can have a renaissance, why can’t the rest of the city?
