Finding the positive in Cleveland

June 25, 2010  |  Dan Rafter  |  Print Article  |  Email this Article

The Cleveland shoreline

Michael Glass knows that Cleveland doesn’t have the best reputation across the country. But the people who live in the city know the truth: It’s not a bad place to live. Not at all.

Glass should know. He was born and raised in Chicago. Now he lives and works in Cleveland, where he serves as the manager of the Cleveland and Columbus offices of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. He’s discovered a whole new side of the city: There’s a bustling healthcare/medical office district here. There is immense potential for lakefront development. The cost of living isn’t at all unreasonable. And the arts and culture is abundant, with everything from the Cleveland Orchestra to the Cleveland Museum of Art to Opera Cleveland.

Glass touted the Midwest city during a recent interview with Midwest Real Estate News, which will appeaer in the magazine’s July/August issue. Glass told me that things are slowly, but surely, getting better in Cleveland. He said there’s been significant jobs growth since the start of the year here, and that banks are beginning to provide financing again for commercial real estate projects.

Of course Cleveland still faces challenges. Glass doesn’t deny this. But he also sees the potential in the city. He has hope that one day the city’s lakefront area will be developed into a system of parks, retail establishments and walking trails that attract people back to Cleveland’s downtown. Once this happens, he says, the future will be even brighter in the city.

Personally, I’ve only visited the city twice, once on business with Midwest Real Estate News. But I can vouch for what Glass says: There’s a lot more going on in Cleveland than outsiders might think.

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© 2012 Real Estate Communications Group. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from the Real Estate Publishing Group. For information on reprint or electronic pdf of this article contact Mark Menzies at 312-644-4610 or menzies@rejournals.com

2 Responses to “Finding the positive in Cleveland”

  1. John Norquist says:
    July 1, 2010 at 9:30 pm

    Cleveland will rise again, but first it needs to, as Glass points out, open its waterfront. Currently much of the Lake Erie shore is covered with freeways(East Side) and industrial ruins and salt piles to the West. There are on and off again plans to convert the lakeside freeway(now I 90) to a boulevard with more connections to the city neighborhoods. Cleveland also needs to expand what is a pretty good rail transit system. It connects the airport to downtown and services cool places like Shaker Heights. The new city leadership seems upbeat compared to the Mayor Michael White era in the 90s when self pity and ethnic confrontation were the main political themes.
    Now if they can only hang on to LeBron…….

    John Norquist
    President
    Congress for the New Urbanism
    Chicago

  2. Dan Rafter says:
    July 1, 2010 at 10:56 pm

    Thanks, John, for your thoughts. Glad to see that you’re visiting our site.

    Dan


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