Cleveland: great for singles, porch parties

Admittedly this is old news since the ratings came out last July; however, it bears repeating. I interviewed prospective students for the master’s program in organizational leadership at Cleveland State University, where I am a faculty member. I was impressed with all four candidates we interviewed. They were well prepared and had researched the program before coming to us. That’s always a good sign.

One in particular had spent the past year visiting cities and universities for “fit.” She told us that in her research she had run across the news that Cleveland was ranked 14th Best City for Singles by Forbes.com. It was one of the reasons she had chosen our program. She also liked Cleveland for its friendliness and livability compared with Cincinnati or NYC, where she had grown up. She was moving from Puerto Rico—committing to our city, having faith that she would be accepted into the program, because of what she had found here in Northeast Ohio.

Cleveland Heights is part of that picture. Minutes from the heart of Cleveland’s cultural center, we are living on a gold mine, but I’m not sure we who live here truly understand what a great place it is. The Heights is home to many of the people who make up Cleveland’s braintrust—from artists and carpenters, to surgeons and industrialists, to academics like me.

Talk about a friendly neighborhood, last weekend we joined a group of folks who call themselves “porch people.” They’ve  been gathering on my neighbor’s porch on alternating Sundays for over 20 years. People bring food and drinks to share. A couple of their kids—young adults who grew up together through those years of shared porches, and have returned home to Cleveland after years in other places—joined us, initiating what might be a new generation of porch people.

Lisa Gaynier lives in the old Coventry School neighborhood with her husband Mike and their cat Andie. She teaches and directs a masters program in diversity management at Cleveland State University.