The following article appears in City Living 2008, available now at downtown apartment and condo buildings, restaurants, public buildings and many other downtown, University Circle and near East and West Side locations.

I am a writer who lives in the city of Cleveland. By choice. With children who attend the Cleveland public schools. Who walks the streets and shops in the stores and maintains an office downtown to which I commute by RTA. And I like it.

The reason for the disclaimer is because a large but thoroughly unscientific check of where the top editorial people working in the Cleveland media reside indicates Lakewood, Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, Beachwood, Bay Village, Westlake and numerous other locations. And since this is an article about what downtown Cleveland is really like, not had been in Aunt Ida's day or will be when my children are grown, I also have to admit I don't currently live downtown. However, I previously lived at West 6th and Lakeside in the Bradley Building, still spend my days downtown, and will be returning to a downtown apartment when our lease is up on the West Side.

Having said that, please also note that this article is not going to tell you the 10 best restaurants, condos to kill for, or how to get to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It is also not going to tell you the wonderful future if everything talked about is built, China outsources all its manufacturing to Tremont, and the second coming occurs. The economy has tanked, the housing crunch is hell, corporate executives let greed destroy what should have been nurtured, and the population of the city proper is below a half-million. But we are hardly unique. Google your favorite city and you'll find reports on its tales of woe. And while Cleveland is in crisis, downtown thrives with life too often overlooked.

First, the horror of it all: The construction in the downtown area in order to improve mass transportation has created a nightmare. No one comes downtown anymore. Conventions aren't happening. Stores are going out of business....

Oops! Sorry. I got that nightmare from Manhattan, where spontaneous flooding of some streets, the construction of the Second Avenue subway, and transportation problems so severe there are plans to charge to drive through the city during several hours of the day have caused locals to bemoan the fact that nobody feels their pain.

Second nightmare: Rents. Despite high occupancy and disruptions from construction, the apartment owners are getting high rents - $55 to $60 a square foot to rent what often has the feel of an airless, oversized walk-in closet.

Oops. My bad once again. That's also New York. Downtown Cleveland's rentals rarely go much higher than $1.25 to $1.50 per square foot, and that includes such amenities as concierge service and free breakfasts in some locations, in-suite washer/dryers in many, and more pet-friendly buildings than in suburban locations. The rents overall are either in line with what money management experts say they should be based on area incomes, or they are lower. In fact, unlike almost any other comparably sized city, two people making minimum wage and living together can afford apartments in several quality downtown buildings.

SIGNS OF LIFE

A Lakewood resident told me recently she hadn't been downtown in five years because "There's nothing to do." Turned out that she didn't even know about East 4th Street.

Unlike the piecemeal effort that created the Warehouse District, an area that is just now figuring out what it wants to be when it grows up, 4th Street was planned right from the start. MRN Construction created an instant neighborhood that was designed to be successful and to mature with the changing city. This one pedestrian-friendly strip includes the House of Blues; the Corner Alley bowling alley and martini bar; the Pickwick & Frolic restaurant, bar and comedy club; and "Iron Chef" Michael Symon's home base Lola, to name a few of the attractions. You could spend a weekend just in this little section of downtown and not only would you not have time to see and do everything offered on the one street, if you approached strangers to ask how often they visited the area, perhaps two-thirds would tell you that they live there in the apartments above and around the street. How cool is that?

(Note: Far more is happening in the city with the construction on both banks of the Cuyahoga River and into the Ohio City/West Side Market area. This article is only concerned with what exists today where you can work/play/live.)

If you look from the Avenue District (new condos, the established Galleria and office tower) to the clustered apartments in the East 12th, Chester, Superior and St. Clair area, you find apartments with amenities for everyone from singles to families to upscale urban professionals. There is a real supermarket in Reserve Square, though it is not too far to walk or bike to the specialty grocers near Asia Plaza, Dave's Supermarket on Payne or even Constantino's Market on West 9th. There are nearby parks and the Lake Erie shores, and the Galleria has the largest indoor collection of art galleries in the city.

Shepherded in part by Jack Hamilton of Artist Review Today Showcase, the Galleria, a former shopping mall, is a remarkably diverse group of art galleries featuring everything from sculpture to jewelry, photography, painting and drawing. Hamilton has three locations - two in the Galleria and a rotating exhibition in the City Club Building - displaying the works of approximately 200 Cleveland-based artists. And there are eight other galleries in the same structure. Prices for the art range from less than $100 to several thousand dollars.

David Bishoff, whose E.V. Bishoff Company owns the 815 Superior Building and the City Club Building in Cleveland, with other buildings in Columbus and Pittsburgh, feels the city is in an evolutionary phase. It is the reason he bought the two properties for long-term holding, not resale. "Years ago this city was built by a lot of bright young men working out of small offices in the downtown area. Some didn't make it. Some because the successful industries that made the city strong. Then times changed. The men grew old. Some retired. Some died. Some sold their businesses," explained Bishoff.

These pioneering "old white men" left behind Severance Hall and all the cultural and educational institutions that have made University Circle famous. They gave us the sports teams and a viable fresh water port.

"Now I'm seeing the same thing. Instead of the old white men, we have men and women, blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians. ... We have bright, aggressive people with their own dreams. That's why I bought my buildings, to be part of the next evolution. We have large tenants, some who have been in the buildings for years. But we also have one- and two-person businesses needing a small space to build their future. The construction is a nuisance. Parking can be difficult at times. However, we're getting many new tenants who want to work downtown, who often live downtown, and who are building the businesses that will be tomorrow's major employers."

Take, for example, the Jacob Fleming Company, which began as one person occupying 200 square feet and sharing a secretary and office equipment with other tenants. Today it employs 25, and uses 3,800 square feet on the 18th floor of Bishoff's Superior building.

The Downtown construction has cost Bishoff some tenants, including two large ones in the City Club Building. However, the lost tenants not only stayed downtown, they were replaced by 25 others needing far more square footage.

Also successful despite the construction is the Park Building next to the old May Company and across from the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Public Square. For 100 years there were business and medical offices. Then there was a conversion to 27 two- and three-bedroom condominiums, offering luxury at a cost lower than for comparable new construction. The location is so desirable, the view so spectacular (think the love scenes in the movie An American In Paris), that more than two-thirds of the units sold in less than six months, and one new tenant so loved her space that she bought the adjoining suite and turned it into a master bedroom. And this at a time when suburban housing is not turning over.

Many of the downtown buildings focused on retail and service have made changes that fit Bishoff's idea of evolution. Kitty Cross has overseen the Colonial Market Place growing into a boutique mall with everything from the Heritage Museum to the soon-to-be-opened Hall of Fame Café, to the addition of Gems Boutique, the vintage, quirky clothing and accessory shop that relocated from near Cleveland State University. She also added free concerts by the food court every Thursday and Friday.

SPEAKING OF MUSIC

The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame might give Cleveland a music cachet, but for low-budget, high-quality listening, downtown has a surprising variety of options.

Singer/composer Ghani Harris has traveled the country with a number of successful groups but discovered the extra joys of playing on downtown Cleveland streets. "I have to practice sometime," says Harris, who previously practiced and wrote music wherever he was living. Then he discovered that he could set up his guitar, a car battery-powered amplifier and a microphone wherever people gathered on nice days, and do his practicing there. Some people watch and listen. Some people express their opinion of his original work. And many people tip him for enhancing their lunch hour. Now he can be heard most days at noon outside the fast food restaurants on the east side of 9th Street between Superior and St. Clair. He also occasionally plays between Prospect and Bolivar on Ninth before Indians games as well. You can listen for free. You can toss in a tip. Or you can go to whatever club he is appearing in and pay to enjoy the same music.

Then there is the Colonial Market Place (nee Colonial and Euclid Arcades) where manager Kitty Cross auditions top local music talent like Anne E. DeChant and pays them to play every Thursday and Friday. (DeChant recently moved to Nashville to further her national career. On her last day here she made a media tour of interviews, playing live only in one location - the Colonial). The eclectic mix of performers covers every musical taste, and the free concert (tips welcome but the performers are paid, a rarity in most cities) is attended by everyone from street people to high-priced lawyers on lunch breaks.

Sax man Maurice Reedus Jr. is in his 14th or 15th year of what appears to be a lifelong street gig. He flips from song to song depending upon the reaction of passers by, but tip him and mention your favorite song and he will happily play it all the way through. His "back story" includes the time he and Count Basie both received ovations at the Kool Jazz Festival.

Or how about the Robert Lockwood Jr. All Stars, the back-up musicians for the late Robert Lockwood Jr.? Now led by Maurice Reedus Sr., these older, seasoned musicians, some of whom have played throughout the world, gather every Wednesday night at 8 in Fat Fish Blue, on the corner of Ontario and Prospect. There is no cover charge. There is no minimum. The staff makes you feel welcome whether you order food and drink for yourself and several friends or you nurse a single soft drink just so you hear music by men who, this year, shared in a Grammy. You can also occasionally hear their often brilliant playing at other locations - for big bucks.

KID STUFF

One criticism of downtown living used to be that there weren't many places to take children, and if you are seeking swings, sandboxes, slides, and what my sons used to call "climbers," you are right. But that is all that is missing. Little kids will delight in the play area, complete with a range of toys, in the Children's Room of the Cleveland Public Library. You can read to your children, have them attend regular story sessions, or relax with your own book or iPod or whatever while they play with the variety of toys supplied by the library.

Older kids will want to go to the free outdoor Cleveland Skatepark, 1050 East 9th St., next to the Rock Hall. A helmet is required but there are no other restrictions. And the numerous open green spaces, especially off Lakeside, are great for all ages for everything from Frisbees to flying models to badminton.

I GET AROUND

Be aware with the gas crunch that when you have traveled the major cities of the United States using their public transportation system, the 2007 award won by Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority as having the nation's best service was not a mistake. I have ridden the Rapid almost daily for two years, and rarely has a train been more than a minute late. And the buses are almost as good. New York newspapers have been screaming for two years that their rail system is unpredictable and does not stay on schedule. Washington's Metro train into the airport differs from RTA's into Hopkins in a key area - theirs is not timed so you can get through check-in and security and make the earliest flights out. RTA assures you can. Boston's rail system has a time schedule often based on wishful thinking, and Los Angeles, where elderly joggers pride themselves on outrunning buses on the freeway, hasn't had a viable system since they started building their highways in 1958.

BUT IS IT SAFE?

Statistically you are in greater danger in the Beachwood area than you are downtown if you are worried about crimes against person. In addition, downtown Cleveland probably has more armed law enforcement officers per square foot than anywhere else in the county - unfortunately almost all in Tower City. Most other places, if you need a cop, look for the gold and blue uniform of the Cleveland Downtown Alliance Safety Ambassadors who are literally everywhere.

I know - the Safety Ambassadors are supposedly doing work that should be done by city employees in the laborers union. But I've never seen one of the city workers give directions to tourists (including suburbanites) or escort them to their destination. I've never seen city workers talk to street drunks, such as those on the northeast corner of Superior just past 9th, but I've seen the blue and gold DCA workers quietly convince them to pack their bedding and move on until after dark. The DCA workers also clean, are familiar with hotels, restaurants, clubs, Playhouse Square theaters and most other destinations, and what one person does not know, a person who does is a two-way radio call away.

The second service the DCA employees provide is an escort for anyone who asks. Working late or eating out and feeling uncomfortable about going to and from your apartment or car or public transportation or hotel or wherever downtown? A call to 216.621.6000 will link you with central dispatch and an ambassador will escort you wherever you need to go.

And third, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance helps alleviate the problem of street people by doing more than sweeping arrests. Cross, the Colonial Market Place manager, was troubled by a verbally violent schizophrenic woman disturbing the customers. She has a reputation for treating street people with dignity, buying them coffee and sitting with them so they quiet down and learn to respect the merchants and the building. Then if they act out and she must order them to leave, they do so in a way that does not upset the patrons. That was how she learned that the screaming woman was 58 and had been on the streets since she was 14. Cross called the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, which dispatched Social Services Outreach Specialist Helena Miller. Miller arranged for proper medication and an apartment for the woman who is now functioning in society such that no one would suspect her mental illness. And no matter how good other resources are supposed to be, it was the DCA people who gave her a life denied her for more than four decades.

ORANGE BARREL PARADE

Yes, downtown is in construction turmoil and retailers have suffered. It will take three to five more years before so much space is filled that you will have to look hard to find a vacancy. In the meantime a number of businesses have folded that otherwise could have been viable. But the construction is restoring the infrastructure in ways other older cities envy. And Euclid Avenue is not all of downtown.

Neighborhood living has become vibrant in locations like East 4th, West 6th, and the area bounded by the Avenue and the Statler Arms. Older high-rise apartments going down into the Flats are doing well with occupancy but still lack the amenities that make other locations shine.

Perhaps more important is the fact that singles and couples are looking to downtown for the long term, including raising families. There are already good schools with excellent teachers, ranging from Cleveland's Success Tech to private and charter schools. There is the Cleveland Public Library. There are the museums no one has ever heard of - Police Historical Society (ultra kid cool), the Hungarian Heritage Museum, the International Women's Air and Space Museum, the money museum in the Federal Reserve Bank, the Heritage Museum stressing the Negro Baseball League, to name a few. And there is the cost of apartments, several of which are far less expensive than less-desirable, often smaller units in suburbia.

As for shopping for "things," columnist Dick Feagler has bemoaned that out of town guests who just want to shop have to go out to Legacy Village and similar locations. Some of the most unusual Oriental art objects, as well as swords for the inner Samurai, chess sets, clothing, etc. I ever encountered in Beverly Hills is identical to the really cool "stuff" in Eastern Genuines in the Old Arcade (down the hall and across the way from Mark Anthony's, where you can buy Ralph Martin ties, luggage, and such needful things as an electronic whoopee cushion). There is a day spa in the Old Arcade and a health club you can use by the hour in the Colonial. There are custom dress designers, like Valentina's Tailor Shop known for traditional and special event fashion needs and costumes for figure skaters. There is much more but it is most exciting to walk the streets and go in and out of the stores many in the media don't know exist.

Finally there is the food. Reserve Square's supermarket caters to diverse incomes and needs. Constantino's Market caters to the upscale buyer who appreciates fine wine, fresh produce, Amish farm products, and the like. It is a seduction food store, the type of place you would expect to find in a movie about two soon-to-be lovers in a major city where one stops by to purchase a carry-out gourmet meal and a bottle of quality wine, then takes it to the other's apartment or even to a hill overlooking the lake where they will talk and kiss and... fade to black (the store's PG - if you want X, try Adult Mart across the street). And for those not interested in traveling a mile to the West Side Market across the bridge, the Galleria has a year-round, indoor farmer's market every week, and Constantino's will be adding one during the summer months.

To paraphrase an old car ad, it's not your father's downtown Cleveland.