The depressed economy of the Greater Cleveland area has impacted every student in some way or another. While it has never been unusual for high school students to leave the Cleveland area for their college experience, a failing local economy and a lack of potential job opportunities have discouraged many students from returning to Cleveland after college. This negative phenomenon has been called “the brain drain.” 

The Cleveland area is our home. While we all have a stake in its future, how many of us will be willing to invest in that future after college? The Edsman has examined this issue from four distinct perspectives: local college opportunities, job opportunities, student flight, and living environment.

The Brain Drain 

Prashanth Vijay  ’10

Cleveland’s failing economy not only consists of extensive job loss, but also phenomenon known as the “brain drain.” This occurrence is defined as the loss of skilled intellectual and technical labor through the movement of such labor to more favorable geographic, economic, or professional environments. 

Many factors contribute heavily to Cleveland’s brain drain. Because many corporations have either decided not to stay in Cleveland or have left Cleveland all together, numerous job opportunities are lost, specifically skilled jobs. Jobs in the computer sector are becoming scarce in Cleveland due to outsourcing and the emigration of some companies. The lack of technology leads to less skilled people settling in Cleveland, creating a vicious cycle. 

Recently, the presidents of various Cleveland colleges met together in an effort to plug the leak on Cleveland’s brain drain. Although Cleveland can offer excellent educational opportunities, one third of Ohio students leave the state after graduation. The presidents plan to create curricula that integrate more specifically into the job market, especially in the fields of technology. It seems like the only hope Cleveland has to solve this crisis will be found in job training. 

Decline of Industry

Forde Ripich   ’12 

At the end of the twentieth century, industry was booming in Cleveland. The city was a major producer of steel and also home to one of the largest steel companies in the nation, LTV Steel. Also,

Ford’s Cleveland engine plant was producing vast quantities of cast-iron engine blocks for use in a number of Ford production cars. However, changing economic climate has caused a downturn in the city’s economy. 

Many major corporations have left Cleveland, abandoning their cities like Chicago and Pittsburgh. A deteriorating steel industry caused LTV Steel to leave Cleveland, causing major reverberations in the Cleveland job market. In 2002 Northrop Grumman purchased TRW Corp., a supplier to the automotive and aerospace industries since the turn of the century, leaving almost 2000 Clevelanders unemployed.  

National City, BP, and Oglebay Norton, all of which had headquarters in Cleveland, have also left the city. Ford has cut production at the Cleveland plant, outsourcing jobs to Mexico and Canada. Cleveland is slipping in national population rankings and unemployment has jumped to 9.4%. Future forecasts for the city are bleak, as increased competition from China may undercut American steel production, a major part of the Cleveland economy. 

Local College Opportunities

Joe Mazanec ’10 

It seems today that most students do not stay in Northeast Ohio to attend college.  Does our area not boast enough colleges with sufficiently impressive names or prestigious programs to entice high school students to want to remain here and not attend out-of-state schools? 

The appeal of Northeast Ohio has seemed to have gone “down the drain” as more families have move to the suburbs, and the industry that used to run Cleveland has gone to bigger cities with more white collar environments.  The steel and automotive industries used to be the primary reasons that the city of Cleveland was a major city.  However, these industries have gone overseas or declared bankruptcy.  It seems that once a high school students leave Ohio, they are not going to return to Cleveland unless they are in the medical profession.  

There are several quality schools in Northeast Ohio such as John Carroll, Case Western Reserve, Baldwin Wallace, and Kent State; however, their programs do not focus on the development of jobs that are available in Cleveland.  It is not that Cleveland is unappealing, but other big cities like Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, and New York have much more to offer in terms of white-collar jobs. 

Cleveland was once known as a working class city but now must adapt to the times. Job opportunities must be nurtured and more industry attracted to Cleveland before all our students leave without returning after college. 

The Positives of Cleveland

Lucas Denzler   ’12

Cleveland is not necessarily a horrid place in which to live.  Being positioned on Lake Erie is a huge plus for shipping, manufacturing, and recreation.  There has been talk of piping the freshwater of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie included, to southwestern states lacking readily available sources of fresh water.  This shows how important this resource is.  

Real estate in Cleveland is also widely available and reasonably priced.  In Cleveland, the median home price, according to the National Association of Realtors, is $120,000.  In New York, a city many consider very livable, the median home price is $379,800.  Cleveland’s median price is even lower than the national median of $174,433.  

Furthermore, Cleveland is home to well-known places of education, including Case Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, Baldwin Wallace College, and Cleveland State University.  Cleveland also contains many sought after amenities, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Playhouse Square, and the Cleveland Clinic.