A few years back, I discovered independent real estate agent Tom Holst's site, seattlemodern.com. It was refreshing to see an entire site dedicated to the celebration of Seattle's stylish Northwest Modern architecture in this declining age of cheap architecture, violent crime, low standards and joyless "neutral nightmare" houses and business offices.
Seeing Tom Holst's site, I realized that Cleveland, Ohio deserved its own website, one dedicated to promoting and preserving the area's many exciting and often undervalued treasures -- like the many bastions of Mid-Century Modern in homes and buildings; fun vintage shops; hometown diners and world-class restaurants; a notable radio history with legendary disk jockeys; the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra, whose home is a grand 1930s Art Moderne building; and one of the nation's top funded art museums, The Cleveland Museum of Art, also with a fabulous building and grounds. In this environment, the Lake Erie coastline is never more then a short drive away, and the cost of living is very affordable for a larger city which, unlike contemporary New York City, is amenable to artists.
Cleveland is also rated one of the nation's top ten
walking cities by the American Podiatric Medical Association --
thanks, in part, to the Cleveland Metropolitan Park System's "Emerald
Necklace," a connected collection of parks and tree-lined areas and
walking paths that encircle the metropolitan area. Cleveland also
benefits from the outstanding Cuyahoga County Public
Library system. Our library system is nationally recognized;
CCPL placed
third in the Hennen's American Public Library Ratings for
its population catagory.
About me
I'm not affiliated with any of the businesses, institutions or agencies mentioned on my site, aside from patronage; I'm a non-partisan resident offering my guide to the Cleveland area and all that it has to offer the discerning citizen. I've lived in Cleveland all my life -- I was born on the East side and as a young lady took up residence on the West side. Both the East and West sides have been an important part of my life.
As time permits, I travel the country exploring the new exotic of the twenty-first century: hunting down endangered American landmarks, lost vestiges of Tiki, Mid-Century Modern, and traces of our recent past, finding things unique to an area and its history, often specific to the region. One way to fight the advance of globalism is to make sure the local never dies.
So, that's what I'm about and why I took on this site, which is very much a work-in-progress and will continue to grow. While I hope you find it useful, the lawyers insist that it must be mentioned that this directory and critical guide is offered with no warrany, expressed or implied. Do you have any suggestions, comments, links or ideas for my site? You can contact me by sending a note to the address listed below. I'd love to hear from you!
Marie Stutz
moderncleveland.com (c) 2002-2004 Marie R. Stutz. All rights reserved.