Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Letters

Stop Hating

It is sad to see the otherwise fine writer Austin Ratner (“Cleveland Rocks — Not Really,” March 16) using the threadbare trope “Cleveland = misery” to describe a city that is on the rise.

At a recent community conclave, Ari Maron, a young Jewish developer, stated succinctly that Cleveland self-loathing is a generational phenomenon that is not present in the new generation of entrepreneurs, artists, highly trained academics/professionals and boomerang kids coming to (or back to) Cleveland. These young folks (and their enlightened elders) have contributed to the growing vibrancy of Cleveland, where you will find $7 billion in projects recently completed or under construction, some of the nation’s — if not the world’s — finest cultural and health care institutions, wonderful cuisine, emerging city neighborhoods with remarkably affordable housing and a thriving Jewish community.

But don’t take my word for it — come see for yourself. If you come soon, you can catch the 36th Cleveland International Film Festival or the Eighth International Public Markets Conference this September. The International Gay Games will be hosted by Cleveland in 2014. Or perhaps you’ll join us in 2019 as we become the nation’s most sustainable city, celebrating our new status as the “green city on a blue lake” on the 50th anniversary of the infamous Cuyahoga River fire.

Martin Kohn
Shaker Heights, Ohio

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.