Last time I saw it, people were dining beside it in the Flats. It was a pretty pleasant setting.

Of course, Randy Newman referred to the Cuyahoga catching fire in one of his songs. Good ol' Randy the city-slagger - at least of the cities that don't have the wealth and prestige of the very largest in the US.

It's been a while, though. My impression was that there was potential for a lot, but what was there was in real danger. At the same time, nothing could take away the lakefront parks, with a view of the water and the city. When I was there, the downtown area had an arcade of little shops that was wonderful. It didn't seem to be growing, and I don't know if it's still there.

Then there's the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame, which had just been built when I was in Ohio. A pigrimage to view John Cippolina's amps/speakers would still be something I'd be interested in.

The area around the art museum was one of those dignified older uptown settings; I think Severance Hall is in the vicinity there, too.

And towards the suburbs, there's Parma, not slagged by Randy Newman but by the legendary Ghoulardi. I thought it was an attractive area in a near-urb sort of way. I don't know about the particular attitudes of the inhabitants, though; they might not be so attractive.

As far as I'm concerned, Cleveland is a place that weeds out the city-haters who nonetheless pay lip service to the richest and most prestigious cities in the hopes of some of the prestige rubbing off on them. As a big city, Cleveland cannot fail to be an amazing place.

My main beef with Cleveland is the whining of its football fans about being without an NFL team for two whole years (count 'em) - and even then they had a promise from the NFL for a replacement team. They are still furious at Art Modell for moving the Browns to Baltimore.