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Working in the downtown of a Large City(Advice needed)

Cleveland. right. According to wiki it's got 397,000 people. This is not even a city in my book. It's not a city with less than 3,000,000.
 
Cleveland. right. According to wiki it's got 397,000 people. This is not even a city in my book. It's not a city with less than 3,000,000.

Like we don't have enough of a complex without the likes of YOU! :w00t: I always wonder if that includes all the suburbs that are within 10 miles of downtown.

In all seriousness, people from the burb's (and I am one of them) often think of downtown as a mass gathering of thieves, murderers, and other ruffians. A lot of this comes from the fact that when the flight happened, most of my friends parents (or grandparents) told us that the reason they moved to the suburbs was because of the crime. I am not going to get into a Cleveland history lesson, but that is the case. I remember being a new driver, I think I had my license for about 2 weeks) and going downtown for a concert. Got terribly lost and spent 40 minutes driving in circles. I made it home and headed back again the next day. Drove around until I had my bearings and I have been driving down there ever since.

OP, you will be find. The food in Cleveland is awesome. Where will you be working?
 
Where I'm living at the moment has an official population of 6 million, but is considered too small to have an airport!
It's very near Shanghai (pop. 16M) but The Hai still manages to be comparatively relaxed in most areas.
My ex-flatmate is from Wuxi, population 20 million.....and nobody in The West has even heard of it. Street Crime is very low in China though. Nobody wants to get into it with the police, understandably.
I suppose it's the ultimate ymmv.
 
Although it may seem terrifying at first, you'll get used to it in a month or two and it will just seem like another day on the job.

I would take public transportation in to the office ... look into Federal and State grants and subsidies that will help to reduce the costs of your commuter ticket in exchange for you being "Eco-Friendly." Research the routes available and try and arrange your trip with as few transfers as possible. This may mean driving your car to a point that is not necessarily closest to your home, but it will save you a lot of time and stress and aggravation in the long run.

As for dealing with the crowds ... no way around it, unless you want to brown-bag it and eat lunch at your desk every day. Even so, there are plenty of reasons to leave the office during your break times, whether its to go get something to eat or go do some shopping or just take in one of the myriad of free cultural events that large cities seem to have all over the place.

If you can, you might want to invest in a good bicycle to keep at the office. This will extend your lunch-hour range considerably, and you won't need to confine yourself to the 2-square block area immediately surrounding your office.
 
Not at all. A running gag in the US is that Cleveland is an awful place and we all have an inferiority complex.
Someone on another forum once described my hometown (Baltimore, MD)
as "the skankiest city in America outside of Detroit."

I took it as a compliment.
We Balti-Morons love our self-deprecating humor.
 
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Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Someone on another forum once described my hometown (Baltimore, MD)
as "the skankiest city in America outside of Detroit."

I took it as a compliment.
We Balti-Morons love our self-deprecating humor.

What happened to "Charm City"?

I remember once somebody had spray painted graffitti on an interstate exit sign that originally said "Baltimore next 4 exits" or something like that. The graffitti said, "That's BALMER, Hon!"

I sailed with a guy who identified himself as a SMIB. Stands for "Southern Maryland In-Bred".
 
I'm jealous. I used to work in the Cambridge (MA), and was banished to the exurbs. Being able to walk outside and choose from one of 50 places to eat for lunch, or get some errands done, or even enjoy the weather and watch some people was wonderful! And public transportation was an option, although I usually commuted by bike along the Charles River. Most cities have nice parks, places to run separate from traffic, etc.
 
Like we don't have enough of a complex without the likes of YOU! :w00t: I always wonder if that includes all the suburbs that are within 10 miles of downtown.

In all seriousness, people from the burb's (and I am one of them) often think of downtown as a mass gathering of thieves, murderers, and other ruffians. A lot of this comes from the fact that when the flight happened, most of my friends parents (or grandparents) told us that the reason they moved to the suburbs was because of the crime. I am not going to get into a Cleveland history lesson, but that is the case. I remember being a new driver, I think I had my license for about 2 weeks) and going downtown for a concert. Got terribly lost and spent 40 minutes driving in circles. I made it home and headed back again the next day. Drove around until I had my bearings and I have been driving down there ever since.

OP, you will be find. The food in Cleveland is awesome. Where will you be working?

It looks like somewhere 1100 Superior Avenue. Is that a good area or a bad area.
 
Going to have to agree with Steve here, you're worrying over nothing.
Cleveland is pretty small potatoes, after a week you won't even notice all the people around you.
 
What happened to "Charm City"?
Baltimore is still quite charming, in its own special way. You have to know the good neighborhoods from the bad parts of town, and sometimes, they're just one block apart. But we Native Balti-Morons keep that secret to ourselves, and let the out-of-towners get all mixed up in the Tourist Traps and the overpriced, underperforming restaurants and bars. If you know where to go, you can have a helluva good time with very little out-of-pocket expense.

I remember once somebody had spray painted graffitti on an interstate exit sign that originally said "Baltimore next 4 exits" or something like that. The graffitti said, "That's BALMER, Hon!"
I remember that incident ... for a long time, it was a local mystery as to who painted those signs. He was referred to as "The HON Man." After a few years, someone came forward and confessed to the deed, but there are doubters (like Me) that don't think he was The Real Deal.

I sailed with a guy who identified himself as a SMIB. Stands for "Southern Maryland In-Bred".
That's not Baltimore. We have our share of clique groups and closely-knit communities, like the thousands of Orthodox Jews that live in the NW corner of the city.

Your sailor friend sounds like he was from the DelMarVa Peninsula/Eastern Shore, down close to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel ... I never got over that way too much. There are a lot of families that have lived there continuously since Colonial times, and considering that even today it is rather isolated, the in-breeding may have been more than just an inside joke.
 
I went to Brunswick High School, and used to deliver industrial parts to downtown Cleveland. There are definately places I felt out of place, and spots I didn't feel safe. Did I ever get mugged? No. Did I ever get into a fight? No. Was I ever helped by a stranger? Yes. More times than not people will surprise you in a good way. Don't sweat it. You can easily live Lakeview, or a suburb close and be in a nice neighborhood.
 
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