Welcome to Cleveland!

Vol. 40, No.3, July 2011
Printer friendly version of Newsletter

by Alan Rocke, Co-Chair, Local Arrangements

Cleveland

For the first time in its history, on 3–6 November, 2011, HSS will hold its annual meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, in a co-located conference with SHOT and 4S. Cleveland is situated at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on the shores of Lake Erie, almost equidistant between Chicago and New York City. It is an easy city for many of our members to reach—less than eight hours drive not only from Chicago and New York, but also from Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Madison, Ann Arbor, Blacksburg, South Bend, and Bloomington. For those who arrive by air, Cleveland is a Continental/United hub (for discounts on Continental Airlines, see the HSS web site: http://www.hssonline.org/Meeting/index.html#travel).

We will be meeting in the historic Renaissance Cleveland Hotel on Public Square in the very center of the city, with numerous restaurants and attractions just a short walk away (about which, more below).

A 500-Word History of Cleveland

Cleveland was founded in 1796, when a survey party from the Connecticut Land Company arrived at the mouth of the Cuyahoga to map out the so-called Western Reserve, a 3-million-acre tract to which the company had recently purchased the title. The city took its name from the leader of the party, Moses Cleaveland (the name of the city was soon shortened by one letter). General Cleaveland paced out a ten-acre Public Square in the style of the New England villages of his acquaintance, and the major street running east was baptized Euclid Avenue after the founder of the surveyor's art.

After a slow start, Cleveland's population took off when the Ohio and Erie Canal was completed in 1832, and after a burst of railroad construction 20 years later. The Civil War brought economic prosperity to the city, and in the post-war period it quickly rose to be a major American industrial center. The city was not only a crossroads between the Great Lakes and the Ohio/Mississippi river system, but was also well-situated for the sudden "Oil-Dorado" petroleum boom in western Pennsylvania.

Crucial to this new growth were the refinery operations of a young Cleveland entrepreneur named John D. Rockefeller, but banking, steel, manufacturing, and railroads were also major industries. Residents ogled at the mansions on Millionaire's Row, large companies made great fortunes, and immigrants from many countries provided much of the labor force for this rising Great Lakes city. In 1887 a tour de force of experimental science put Cleveland in the European limelight: in a dormitory basement at Western Reserve University, Albert Michelson and Edward Morley demonstrated that the earth was at rest in the luminiferous ether.

By early in the new century Cleveland was a colossus of heavy industry and, at nearly a million residents, the fifth biggest city in the United States. But after the Second World War Cleveland entered a period of decline. It largely shed its industrial roots and began to down-size; the city's population is now less than half a million, and the metropolitan area, at 2.9 million, is 16th in the country. In 1969 an oil slick caught fire on the Cuyahoga River. The city became infamous for its pollution, and the butt of jokes of late-night comedians.

But a lot has changed in the last forty years! Although much remains to be done, a 2008 EPA survey found 40 species of fish in the stretch of the river between Akron and Cleveland, including steelhead trout and northern pike. Lake Erie, which almost choked to death on algae in the 1970s, is mostly clear again, to the joy of walleye fishermen. A smaller Cleveland is turning largely to service industries, specializing especially in health care, education, tourism and leisure activities. Today, when Clevelanders now hear the words "Burning River," they think not of a historic embarrassment, but of the name of a highly regarded pale ale prepared by the Great Lakes Brewing Company, one of the finest craft breweries in the nation.

Photo by Ian Freimuth

Cleveland Today

When in 2007 The Economist rated Cleveland (tied with Pittsburgh) as the most livable city in the United States, some Americans were surprised, but long-time residents of the city were not. Many of us who live here—especially in beautiful inner-ring suburbs like Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, and Lakewood—regard the city and its environs as a secret American treasure. Cleveland has one of the best orchestras in the world, a leading American art museum, the highest-ranked university in the state, an "emerald necklace" system of parkland, and two world-famous medical centers, the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, as well as major league teams in baseball, football, and basketball (yes, even sans LeBron James).

The 500-acre district known as University Circle, on the eastern edge of the city five miles from Public Square, is one of the greatest concentrations of cultural institutions in the nation, with numerous museums and arts organizations clustered around the park-like campus of the host institution for this meeting, Case Western Reserve University. You can easily get from Public Square to University Circle using the "HealthLine" Bus Rapid Transit route that runs down Euclid Avenue; it costs $2.25 and takes 25 minutes.

The Local Scene

All HSS sessions will take place in the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel. On Thursday night (3 November) we are planning a lavish opening reception from 7 until 10 p.m. for all three societies at the nearby Great Lakes Science Center. At a price of $10 per person, the entire museum will be open exclusively to attendees, with hearty appetizers and a substantially subsidized cash bar.

The conference program will provide an immense intellectual feast, but before and after sessions, do take a short walk to a wide selection of other attractions, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Great Lakes Science Center, and numerous historic architectural gems. We are also planning several organized optional tours of some of the city's highlights; stay tuned for details.

The immediate neighborhood of the Renaissance Hotel is fascinating. The Terminal Tower Complex, connected directly to the hotel, is filled with art deco details which anticipated features of Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building. When it opened in 1928, the 700-foot structure was the second-tallest building in the world. The railway terminal over which the office tower sat is now only a rapid transit rail junction, but Tower City also hosts retail shops, an eleven-screen cinema, and an extensive food court.

In the first years of the twentieth century, the Chicago architect Daniel Burnham directed a building program of monumental structures on a mall near Public Square, including the Cuyahoga County Courthouse (1911), the Cleveland City Hall (1916), Public Auditorium (1922), the Cleveland Public Library (1925), and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (1923). The Arcade (1890)—locals call it "The Old Arcade"—at Euclid and East Fourth Street is one of the country's oldest indoor malls. It was modeled after the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele in Milan, and is another architectural treasure of Cleveland.

Just west of Progressive Field (the Cleveland Indians baseball stadium) lies the Hope Memorial Bridge (1932) across the Cuyahoga, which boasts art deco pylons depicting the city's industrial and transportation history. The bridge was named to honor William Hope, Bob Hope's father, a stonemason who helped build the structure. The bridge leads directly to West 25th Street and the West Side Market, a publicly owned market in a striking 1912 building. Possibly the grandest indoor public food market in the country, it features an astonishing variety of foodstuffs that reflects the city's rich multi-ethnic history. In 2010 the Food Network named the West Side Market the nation's best market for food lovers. Across the street is the fine craft brewery and restaurant, the Great Lakes Brewing Company.

Speaking of food, Cleveland has increasingly become a destination city for the culinary arts, and many of the city's best restaurants are close to the Renaissance. In about eight minutes you can walk to East Fourth Street, a pedestrian zone with a dozen fine restaurants featuring a wide range of specialties and prices—the best known of which is "Iron Chef" Michael Symon's signature restaurant, Lola. A short walk in the opposite direction takes you to the Warehouse District of West Sixth and West Ninth, with a number of other terrific choices. If you want to go further afield, ask us locals about the great restaurants in the Tremont neighborhood, or University Circle, or elsewhere in the city.

Arrival Information

In the era of Google Maps and MapQuest, it is probably not necessary to provide detailed driving directions, but the city is easy to reach via Interstates 80, 90, 71, or 77. For those arriving by air, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) is about 12 miles southwest of Public Square. A taxi to downtown costs about $20 and takes about twenty minutes, but it will be easiest just to hop on a rapid transit (RTA) train, which costs $2.25 and takes 25 minutes. It's about as simple as it could possibly be: board the RTA "Red Line" from inside the airport (there's only one line, and it goes only one direction), then get off at the Tower City station, which connects inside to the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel.

The average Cleveland high temperature in early November is 54º F, and the average low is 39º. Cleveland weather is unpredictable, so be prepared for a range of weather possibilities, often served up by winds off of beautiful Lake Erie.

We are looking forward to seeing you in November!

History of Science Society