Cleveland

Understand

Cleveland is named after Moses Cleaveland, a veteran of the American War of Independence and distant relative of U.S. President Grover Cleveland, who surveyed the area and founded the city in 1796.

Cleveland is the urban center of Northeast Ohio, with 363,000 people in 2020. It is the center of the 15th largest combined metropolitan area in the United States. From 1890 until 1970, Cleveland was ranked as one of the 10 largest cities in the U.S. Like most U.S. cities, Cleveland began to lose population to suburban areas in the 1960s and 1970s. However, in the mid-1980s, Cleveland earned the nickname the "Comeback City" as the urban core experienced a dramatic revitalization process that continues today. As its "comeback" has continued, the official moniker is now the New American City as Cleveland has rightfully earned the reputation as a model of effective public-private partnership for urban planning.

Despite the common perception that Cleveland is an industrial town, just beyond the automotive and steel plants, a clean and beautiful downtown rises at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on the southern shore of Lake Erie (often marveled over by visitors who are surprised you can't see the other side, i.e., Canada). Like other cities in the so-called "rust belt", Cleveland has endured growing pains as it makes its transition from a manufacturing-based economy. While Cleveland continues to play a leading role in building the U.S. industrial base, it has also developed economic prowess in the fields of health care, law, finance, insurance, real estate development, and professional services. In fact, Cleveland's economy frequently ranks amongst the most diverse and most dynamic in the USA.

Cleveland's long history of industrial wealth has left it chock full of cultural riches as well as the beginnings of a "sustainable city" movement. Serving as a global model for urban rebirth, Cleveland has been named one of the top 10 international visitor hotspots by Travel and Leisure magazine.

Climate

Cleveland experiences four seasons, with vibrant spring blossoms, hot humid summers, colorful autumns, and frigid winters.

• July, on average, is the warmest month with a mean temperature of 71.9 °F (22.2 °C); however, Cleveland summers often experience temperatures in the high 80s to low 90s °F (low 30s °C) with relatively high humidity. In heat index terms factoring in humidity, average summer heat indices are around 84°F during the day and 69°F, and some exceptionally hot and sweltering summer days can see heat indices upwards of or exceeding 96°F and not go below 76°F at night.
• January, on average, is the coldest month with a mean temperature of 25.7 °F (−3.5 °C). Cleveland winters are cold, but the city usually experiences just a handful of heavy snowfalls, but does have the occasional windchill factor below 0 °F (-18 °C). Also, Cleveland gets lake effect snow from mid-November until the surface of Lake Erie freezes, typically by early February. This is snowfall due to Cleveland's position on the southern shore of Lake Erie, at the point where the shoreline shifts from an east-west direction to a northeast-southwest orientation. The East Side primarily experiences lake effect snow. Cleveland's snow belt, which receives substantially more snowfall than the West Side, begins on the East Side of the city (spreading southward from the Lake for up to 10 mi in Greater Cleveland) and stretches northeast along the I-90 corridor past Buffalo as far as Syracuse.
• Due to its proximity to Lake Erie, autumn in Cleveland has some enjoyable weather of the year. Some years, high 60°F weather can be enjoyed through Halloween, without the humidity of the summer months.

Read

• Showplace of America: Cleveland's Euclid Avenue - once considered among the most beautiful and wealthy corridors in the world, read about the tightly knit community where Corporate America was born (including the likes of John D. Rockefeller).
• The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History - the rich history of Cleveland includes the story of the industrial revolution, the roots of a vibrant arts and cultural mecca, and description of the proto-typical 'melting pot' of America. This is a thick book, but answers just about any question that arises - perhaps plan a stop at a Cleveland or Cuyahoga County Public Library.

Visitor information

Get in

By plane

Go Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE)

13 mi southwest of Downtown. The RTA Red Line Rapid Transit provides frequent and fast rail service from the airport to downtown.

💲 $2.50☎ +1 216-265-6030⚠ Last checked Jul 2019 — confirm before you go

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Go Burke Lakefront Airport (BKL)

A small airport downtown right on the shore of Lake Erie that handles private jet, business, and general aviation traffic. Ultimate Air Shuttle offers twice daily flights to Cincinnati from Burke.

📍 1501 N Marginal Rd⚠ Last checked Jul 2019 — confirm before you go

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Go Cuyahoga County Airport (CGF)

Serves private planes as a General aviation airport.

In northeastern Cuyahoga County.⚠ Last checked Jul 2019 — confirm before you go

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By car

Four two-digit interstate highways serve Cleveland:

• Interstate 71 runs primarily west before heading due south into the suburbs, and most directly connects downtown to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (via Ohio 237), the lower west suburbs (via I-480), the southwest suburbs, and eventually the state capital of Columbus. The curved section of I-71 that runs between W 25th Street and I-90/490 is referred to as the Metro Curve, due to its proximity to MetroHealth Medical Center.
• Interstate 77, shown on maps as the Willow Freeway is Cleveland's oldest freeway, and heads due south from the Innerbelt along the east side of the Cuyahoga Valley and most directly connects downtown to the south suburbs, southeast suburbs (via I-480), Ohio Turnpike (I-80), and the city of Akron. The stack interchange at I-480 is sometimes referred to as The Cloverleaf, although the actual cloverleaf is located at the junction of Brecksville Road and Granger Road, which is just west of the later extension of the Willow Freeway.
• Interstate 80/Ohio Turnpike is a toll road that connects the Greater Cleveland with Toledo to the west, and Youngstown and Pittsburgh to the east. Access to the city and its suburbs is from I-90, I-480 Eastbound, I-71, I-77, Ohio 8, and I-480 Westbound.
• Interstate 90 connects the two sides (the terms "East Side" and "West Side" have deep root in defining this region) of Cleveland, and is the northern terminus for I-71 and I-77. I-90 separates from the Ohio Turnpike just west of Elyria and joins with Ohio 2 until Ohio 2 separates at Detroit Road in the west side suburb of Rocky River. I-90 then proceeds to I-71, I-490, and the Jennings Freeway (Ohio 176) in the Tremont neighborhood, and over the Innerbelt Bridge into downtown; from this confluence of freeways, I-90 is known as The Innerbelt, until it again merges with Ohio 2 at Dead Man's Curve and becomes the East Shoreway. I-90 once and for all splits from Ohio 2 near the Cuyahoga-Lake County line at the Euclid Spur, which connects to the northern terminus of I-271 and then parallels the lakeshore to Erie, PA.

Several other freeways also serve the city:

• Interstate 271 runs primarily north and south through the city's east suburbs, forming The Outerbelt East, which connects to I-90 at the end of the Euclid Spur in Lake County and I-71 just north of Medina. I-480 briefly follows I-271, and Ohio 8 connects I-271 to Akron in the south.
• Interstate 480 runs east-west along the southern edge of the City of Cleveland, forming The Outerbelt South. It is a loop route into the city that both begins and ends at the Ohio Turnpike (I-80). I-480 is also the primary route to access Hopkins Airport from the east suburbs.
• Interstate 490 connects I-71, I-90, and the Jennings Freeway (Ohio 176) on the near west side to I-77 on the near east side just south far enough to bypass much of downtown traffic.
• The West Shoreway, which is also Ohio 2, follows the lakeshore across downtown west from I-90 past the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Edgewater Park to just short of the west side suburb of Lakewood.
• The Jennings Freeway (part of Ohio 176) connects I-90/490 to I-480 on the west side of the Cuyahoga Valley. It serves as an effective alternate route to I-71 and I-77 from I-480 to downtown.
• The Berea Freeway (part of Ohio 237) connects I-71 and I-480 to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the southwest suburb of Berea.
• Ohio 2 connects far east lakeshore suburbs in Lake County to I-90 and I-271 (via the Euclid Spur).
• Ohio 10/US 20 connects Oberlin in southern Lorain County to I-480 at its western terminus at the Ohio Turnpike.
• US 422 becomes a freeway at I-271/I-480 and connects to the far southeast suburbs and Warren farther to the east.

By train

Go Cleveland Lakefront Station

The station is located on the north end of downtown (near FirstEnergy Stadium).

📍 200 Cleveland Memorial Shoreway🕒 Ticketing and station hours: 9:30PM-1PM daily. The station is closed 1PM-9:30PM⚠ Last checked Oct 2019 — confirm before you go

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• Most Amtrak routes serving Cleveland arrive and depart in the 1AM-5AM time frame. Routes stopping at Cleveland:

• Capitol Limited operates daily between Chicago and Washington, D.C. including stops in South Bend, Elkhart, Waterloo, Toledo, Sandusky, Elyria, Cleveland, Alliance, Pittsburgh, Connellsville, Cumberland, Martinsburg, Harpers Ferry, and Rockville.
• Lake Shore Limited operating daily between Chicago and Boston or New York City. It makes stops at most stations along the route, though it does not stop at some of the smallest stations. Trains consist of train cars from both branches between Chicago and Albany (Rensselaer). The trains split into separate branches between Albany (Rensselaer) and both Boston and New York City. Stops between Chicago and Albany (Rensselaer) include South Bend, Elkhart, Waterloo, Bryan, Toledo, Sandusky, Elyria, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo (Depew), Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, and Schenectady. Stops between Albany (Rensselaer) and Boston include Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester, Framingham.

By bus

By boat

Many boaters use the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway and their connection points as a travel route. There are many marinas and public boat ramps available for this purpose. Also, some commercial cruise lines provide Great Lakes cruises that include Cleveland on the itinerary.

Get around

By car

Cleveland might be one of the easiest cities in the world to navigate. There are almost no one-way streets, because the city was planned to have "European Avenues" (which resulted in the foresight to make them broad enough for vehicular transportation that couldn't have been imagined in the late 1700s). Traffic is generally not a problem relative to other major U.S. metro areas. Throughout the downtown area, purple signs direct visitors to let you know where you are and what district you are in. The streets that run north-south are numbered, except for Ontario Street (the north-south street bisecting Public Square). Numbered streets are named "West", west of Ontario and "East", east of Ontario. (Broadview Road becomes the primary geographic boundary between 'East' and 'West' addresses to the south of the city.) The major east-west streets are generally named as "avenues".

Finding an address is simple as well. Numbers on north-south streets increase as you head south from Lake Erie, numbers on east-west streets increase as you head away from downtown and coincide with the numbered streets (i.e. 6500 Detroit Ave is located at the corner of Detroit Ave and W 65th St). Odd addresses on north-south streets are for buildings on the east side of the street, and even addresses are on the west side; on the west side of Cleveland, odd addresses on east-west streets are located on the south side of the street, while even addresses are on the north side—the reverse is true for east-west streets on the east side of Cleveland. This addressing scheme continues into most of the suburbs (some exceptions include Berea and Bedford) and even most cities and townships in Lake and Lorain Counties.

Most of the city is laid out in grids and has very clear signage enabling you to easily know where you are. Throughout the area, signs are thoroughly placed to indicate the route to the nearest major freeway, making the city extremely visitor-friendly!

Cleveland rush hours (7AM-9AM; 4PM-6:30PM in the afternoon) are light compared to many metropolitan areas, with traffic still moving near posted speed limits throughout most of the area. Some places notorious for slow or stop and go traffic are:

Morning:

• I-71 Northbound from W 25th St into Downtown and from Bagley Rd to I-480
• I-77 Northbound from I-490 into Downtown and from the Ohio Turnpike to I-480
• I-90 Eastbound from W 25th St into Downtown
• I-90 Westbound from E 55th St into Downtown
• I-271 Northbound approaching I-480
• I-480 Eastbound from the Jennings Freeway (Ohio 176) to I-77 and approaching I-271
• Jennings Freeway (Ohio 176) approaching I-90/490

Afternoon:

• I-71 Southbound from I-480/Ohio 237 to Bagley Rd
• I-77 Southbound from downtown to I-490 and from I-480 to Pleasant Valley Rd
• I-90 Westbound from downtown to the Innerbelt Bridge
• I-90 Eastbound from downtown to Dead Man's Curve
• I-271 Southbound approaching I-480
• I-480 Westbound from W 130th St to I-71/Ohio 237

Road construction can impact travel times at rush hours, and usually occurs only from March to November. Any point in Cuyahoga County is normally reachable from any other point in the county by car in 45 minutes or less at non-peak driving hours.

By public transit

Greater Cleveland is also served by a public bus and rail transit system, operated by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, also known as "RTA". The rail portion is officially called the Cleveland Rapid Transit, but is known by locals as "The Rapid". It consists of two light rail lines, known as the Green and Blue Lines (which extend to the east side suburbs), and a heavy rail line, the Red Line (which connects Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the west side suburbs with Tower City Center downtown and continues past University Circle to the inner-ring suburb of East Cleveland.) RTA's Waterfront Line is a short track specifically catering to tourists by connecting Tower City Center to the Flats Entertainment District, Cleveland Browns Stadium, Great Lakes Science Center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Burke Lakefront Airport.

Bus

A bus rapid transit line, called the "Health Line", runs along Euclid Avenue, providing a direct route between Cleveland's primary tourist attractions from downtown to University Circle. A $5 All-Day Pass is good for unlimited rides on the trains and the buses.

By bicycle

Greater Cleveland is expanding its bicycle trails and bicycle paths throughout the city. In addition, the city has numerous bicycle shops, mostly located on the near west side

Stay safe

When driving at night in the city, stay in your car along major urban corridors (like Euclid, Chester and Carnegie Avenues heading east and Detroit and Lorain Avenues heading west). At night, you may want to avoid inner city neighborhoods and the City of East Cleveland in its entirety.

Many of the city's so-called "rough" neighborhoods are on the east side. However, tourists in general wouldn't have any reason to visit these neighborhoods, and University Circle on the east side, where all the city's main cultural institutions are, is safe. Eastern inner-ring suburbs such as Cleveland Heights, University Heights, Beachwood and Shaker Heights are all very safe.

The city of Cleveland is ranked 7th in violent crime rate among major US cities.

When walking at night, avoid eye contact, walk assertively, stay in lit areas, be aware of your surroundings, and travel in groups if possible.

Go next

• Not amused by nature? If you prefer to step up the pace, Northeast Ohio offers world-class amusement parks including Cedar Point (1 hour drive west to Sandusky) and Memphis Kiddie Park (in Brooklyn, Ohio), a small but fun park for the little ones (toddlers to pre-teens).
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Located south of Cleveland, this park follows the course of the Cuyahoga River and the historic Ohio & Erie Canal between Cleveland and Akron. A number of older buildings are preserved here. The Cuyahoga Scenic Railroad, with train cars from the 1940s and 1950s also runs through the park. Pick up the train in Valley View near Thornburg Station (8111 Rockside Rd), a mixed-use retail, restaurant and office complex sitting between the river and canal.
• North Coast Beaches. Along the southern shore of Lake Erie are a large number of public beaches. The largest natural sand beach in Ohio, Headlands Beach State Park, is located east of Cleveland, in Mentor. Edgewater Park, located just west of downtown Cleveland, includes a large beach. Many other beaches are available throughout Northeast Ohio, including Huntington Beach, Euclid Beach and Fairport Harbor.
• Lake Erie Islands. Located west of Cleveland, a group of picturesque and festive islands in Lake Erie are accessible via ferry. In addition to several Ohio State Parks located on the islands, there is plenty to do including wineries, restaurants, bars, marinas and beaches.
• Hall of Fame Cycle. Tourists can plan visits to the Rock Hall, Inventure Place (the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron) and the Pro Football Hall of Fame (in Canton).
• Historic Downtown Painesville. Visit quaint Painesville for specialty shops, ethnic restaurants, relaxing spas, college nightlife from nearby Lake Erie College, historic homes, and bed and breakfasts.
• Sandusky. Sandusky is home to Cedar Point, the world's largest amusement park, and Kalahari Resorts, a massive water park. Also home to Ghostly Manor, a top rated year-round haunted house, a Carousel Museum, and a historic downtown.