A few things to know about Cleveland:

• Old manufacturing city (through rail and canals to Lake Erie)
• Population ~500,000 (smaller than Columbus)
• Metro area population ~2.25 million (largest in the state)
• Half African-American, slightly less than half Caucasian. Hispanic population and populations of other races are all well under 10%.
• VERY poor--poorest major city in the United States
• Health care and biotech have started to replace manufacturing as the most important element of the economy
• Home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Home to Playhouse Square Center, a performing arts center larger than all in the US except Lincoln Center
• Home of Case Western Reserve University (the top-rated school in Ohio--we will probably want to hang out in University Circle near Case)
• Home of the Cleveland Orchestra, one of the "Big Five"
• The daily newspaper is The Plain Dealer
• The leading alternative newsweeklies are The Cleveland Scene and the Free Times
• Home of Cleveland Indians (MLB), Cleveland Browns (NFL), Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
• The mass transit system consists of a bus line and a rail line (Cleveland Rapid Transit, or "The Rapid") run by the Regional Transit Authority (RTA)
• Cleveland is less than an hour north of Kent, so look out for National Guardsmen
• The current junior senator of Ohio, George Voinovich, is a native and former mayor of Cleveland (as well as governor of Ohio) and is well-liked despite the city's deep blue politics (he beat Kucinich to become mayor). He has been attacked by the right, but should not be considered a RINO like Chafee--he is still moderately conservative.
• The House seat that encompasses most of Cleveland (the 11th) is held by Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who is very well-liked and has never seen serious opposition in an election. She is running for her fifth term in 2006 and has already announced that she will support Hillary in 2006. She is famous for objecting to the countin of Ohio's electoral votes in 2004 due to voting irregularities. The White House hates her and has retaliated by removing federal jobs from Cleveland.