Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Downtown

It is a very interesting phenomenon, the whole dining scene in Cleveland is of course, but the extreme peaks and valleys are amazing. This is my second stint working downtown, both times in the hot new area were business is almost built into the street, yet there are times the streets are empty. Luckily there are times when the streets are full as well.

It’s understandable that people want to be downtown when there is an event, sporting or otherwise, but our downtown just isn’t a destination in and of itself like other cities. Downtown is not just a physical space, but an idea, an event in and of itself. Downtown is the city center, the heart of the city, where things are always happening. Well, not exactly in Cleveland. While there are a plethora of destinations that happen to be located downtown, people aren’t coming nearly as much as they should.

We aren’t people coming downtown, specifically why do they stay away when the area is most accessible. When parking is available, bars and restaurants are open, there is no crush of a pre-event crowd, and this is when people should be flocking downtown. Instead, I’m sitting here, at the wonder bar writing this post, wondering why?

3 comments:

Rachel said...

Possibility number 1: the swarms of little insects at Friday's Tribe v. Yankees game made people stay home in fear of other biblical plagues.

More realistic number 2: They are tapped out of coming into the city with the recent ballgames and are saving their reserves until the next round. Go Tribe!

Michael Walsh said...

Customers seem to be like the bugs, they swarm in with such numbers it's difficult to deal with them properly, then....boom, they are all gone.

michelle v said...

Good post. Although, it makes me sad. I agree with you, though, I just wish our downtown was a destination. I'm hopeful we are on our way, though.

When I lived downtwon, one of my favorite things was walking around on Saturday morning b/c it was so quiet and peaceful. But at the same time made me so sad b/c a city is not supposed to be quiet and eaceful on a Saturday.

Thanks, by the way, for you post above and for what you said about my blog - i really appreciate that. And I do hope things are going well for you at WB.