This is what greets me from the headlines of today's local paper.
One of the victims of last night's double homicide at an apartment building on Cleveland's West Side was a world-renowned photographer who had taught art at Cleveland State University for 24 years. Masumi Hayashi, 60, has won a Cleveland Arts Prize, three Ohio Arts Council awards and a Fulbright fellowship. Her work has been shown in New York, Los Angeles, London and Tokyo.The other victim, John Jackson, 51, was also an artist. He was a sculptor who lived in the building.
The shooting deaths followed a complaint about loud music.
Police believe Hayashi called her neighbor in the apartment building in the 1400 block of West 75th Street, 29-year-old Jacob Cifelli, to complain about his loud music, said Nancy Dominik, police spokeswoman.A short time later, another resident came home to find a gun in the hallway and that Jackson had been shot.The resident went to the third floor to call police but before getting to the phone found Hayashi. She and Jackson were both dead when police arrived, Dominik said.
Cleveland is crazy as hell. It enjoys separating itself from Ohio - but at the same time, the city's population is vanishing because NO ONE wants to live here anymore. Over the years, there's been a frantic rush to live in the areas *right outside* the city, to escape the shittiness. People turn their backs on the same city that helps them out: they're willing to work here, but don't want to live in the city's community and give back. In a few years, Cleveland will have finished decaying, and all that'll be left will be a ring of suburbia on the outskirts: yet the survival of these communities also depends directly on the well-being of the actual city.
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3 comments:
Move to Columbus.
At least we don't have rivers that catch on fire.... O___O
We have the same issues in St. Louis, everyone who can moves out to the suburbs. Although, there has been attempts at urban renewal, most notably the area directly around St. Louis University. That came about because of a VERY demanding Catholic dean.
The city of St. Louis going through the start of a revitalization. Its population is beginning to increase for the first time since 1950. Father Lawrence Biondi has played a major role in helping out the area around the campus and many others have done the same thing around Forest Park. I first heard about Father Biondi from my dad, who was getting his mba from St. Louis University. Also, last year I believe the St. Louis Post-Dispatch named him the Citizen of the Year. It has been pretty cool seeing the city of St. Louis begin to get better after being among the top three cities in crime rates the past several years.
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