This video is sponsored in part by Newsvoice Cleveland, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan Two Midwestern cities in the United States
that um….well Let’s just begin with this classic video:
Come on down to Clevelandtown everyone. Here's the place where there used to be industry. This train is carrying jobs out of Cleveland. Cleveland leads the nation in drifters. Here's a statue of Moses Cleveland. He's the guy who invented Cleveland, yeah! Oh and the sequel: Come on down to Clevelandtown everyone. Under construction since 1868. See our river that catches on fire. It's so polluted that all our fish have AIDS. It could be worse, though, at least we're not Detroit. It's actually a trilogy: Fun times in Cleveland some more! New Cleveland. Welcome to New Clevelandtown everyone. No river fires for over 50 years. Our hearts are swelling with pride and plus corn beef. Spend all your money and have fun while you're here. It could be worse, you could be in Detroit. Still not Detroit! Yeah, so...the implication here is that sure,
uh, Cleveland is bad, but Detroit is worse. Google “Mistake on the Lake.” Yep, that’s a nickname for Cleveland. But Cleveland has more appealing nicknames,
like The Forest City. Detroit, of course is known as Motor City,
or simply Motown. Indeed, both cities have had their struggles
in recent decades, and thus have developed a reputation for being not desirable cities
to live in. When we often see Cleveland and Detroit in
videos, we see huge abandoned buildings and dying neighborhoods. Now, fortunately, in the last few years both
cities have made significant improvements. Both actually rock. (Clip of the Drew Carey Show theme of “Cleveland
Rocks” by the Presidents of the United States of America) (Clip of live performance of “Detroit
Rock City” by Kiss) And yes, look at all these things they have in common! Both are in the Great Lakes region of the
country. While both are near Lake Erie, Cleveland is
right up on it. Detroit is actually right up on the Detroit
River, but is also next to Lake St Clair, which is not great. Er, I mean, it’s not technically a Great
Lake, but it IS part of the Great Lakes system. The Detroit River is actually a strait, and
divides the metropolitan area of Detroit from Windsor, Ontario. Indeederoo, Detroit borders Canada. Downtown Detroit is about 110 miles from downtown
Cleveland. Driving by car around Lake Erie, the two cities
are about 2 and a half hours apart. Of course, you could take a 30-minute flight
between the two. Or even take a boat. That’d take around two hours. Or you could swim. Eh, I don’t recommend swimming between the
two. Both have shrinking populations. As far as the actual cities, the population
peaked for both of them in the 1950s. Back then, Detroit had almost 1.9 million
people, and Cleveland had almost a million. Detroit was the fifth biggest city in the
country, and Cleveland 7th. Since then, however, both have steadily been
losing people. Today, Detroit proper has just 667,000 people
and is the 24th biggest city in the country. Cleveland is down to 379,000, and now the
54th biggest city in the country. That said, Detroit still has the 14th largest
metro population in the country with 4.3 million, and Cleveland is 33rd with a metro population
of 2.1 million. Detroit’s metro population has gone up in
recent years, but Cleveland’s has continued to go down. And this is why real estate continues to be
just so darn cheap in both cities. I recently found 697 homes in Detroit and
162 homes in Cleveland currently for sale for less than $10,000. Seriously, YouTubers and TikTokers, why are
you living in L.A.? Detroit has about 20 square miles of empty land within city limits. Anyway, so yeah the cost of living in both
cities is wayyy lower than most cities in the country. However, Cleveland has a much lower cost of
living compared to Detroit. Not only that, but Detroit has higher taxes. Both are ethnically diverse. In each city proper, the largest ethnic group
is African American. Around 79% of those living in Detroit identify as such. Both continue to have some of the worst air
pollution in the country, but Detroit’s is slightly worse. The water quality is also better in Cleveland. That said, the Cuyahoga river has caught on
fire at least 13 times. I’m not joking. It was so polluted due to folks just dumping
trash, sewage, and oil into it. Today, more than 40 species of fish have returned
to the Cuyahoga thanks to massive cleanup efforts over the decades. Both have higher crime rates compared to most
American cities. Detroit has more violent crime, while Cleveland
has more property crime. Both have rival Major League Baseball teams. Tigers fans and Indians fans just love to
talk trash. Their NBA teams, the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland
Cavaliers, are kind of rivals. Their NFL teams are not rivals, mostly since
the Cleveland Browns are in the AFC and Detroit Lions are in the NFC. Oh, um, yeah both the Lions and Browns do
have a long history of not being good. But people forget, both the Lions and Browns
used to be unstoppable, way back in the 1930s through 1960s. I do feel for you lately, though, Lions and
Browns fans. Detroit has an NHL team, the Red Wings. Cleveland hasn't had an NHL team for 42 years. Neither city has an MLS team. Both historically have been known for producing
automobiles. You know, cars? Cleveland used to be an auto industry hub,
but Detroit kind of stole the spotlight, becoming the Auto Capital of the World. Even today, the Detroit metropolitan area
produces more cars than anywhere else in the country. “The Big 3,” as they’re called-General
Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler-are all based there. Both have a similar population density. Both have similar climates (humid continental),
with four distinct seasons. Detroit gets a little hotter in the summer
and a little colder in the winter. Cleveland gets more snowfall, and more precipitation
overall. (D-33.5 in, 850cm, C- 39.1 in, 994 cm) It
gets that lake-effect snow, and Detroit doesn’t. Now let’s just focus on differences for
the rest of the video. First of all, Detroit has been around longer. Before European arrival, the Huron, Odawa,
Potawatomi, and Iroquois lived in and near the area that is now Detroit. The American Indians who lived in the area
that is now Cleveland were long gone by the time Europeans settled it. A French dude named Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac
founded Detroit as a fort in 1701. The British took over the fort after their
victory in the French and Indian War. A dude named Moses Cleaveland and his team
of surveyors from the Connecticut Land Company founded Cleveland in 1796. His surveyors named the town after their leader,
Cleaveland, but hold up, that’s not how you spell “Cleveland.” What the heck? Well, the theory goes that somebody messed
up with the spelling of his name when they made one of the first maps of the town, and
the misspelling just stuck, especially after The Cleveland Advertiser later dropped the
first “a” since it didn’t fit on the newspaper’s masthead. Anyway, by that time both cities were under
American control. On June 11, 1805, a huge fire destroyed almost
all of Detroit. Still, they rebuilt, and the newly established
Michigan Territory made Detroit its capital. In the early 1800s, people tried to bring
slaves to the two cities, but that didn’t last long. Both became abolitionist strongholds and stops
on the Underground Railroad. In fact, Detroit was often the last stop on
the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves, who then went on to freedom in Canada. The United States temporarily lost Detroit
to the British in the War of 1812, while Cleveland proved to be an important supply post during
that war. In 1832, Cleveland quickly began to grow after
the completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal, and Detroit did also as a transportation hub
due to its central location in the Great Lakes Region. By the American Civil War, both cities had
around 45,000 people. During that war and the following decades,
both cities became highly industrial, and thus became two of the wealthiest cities in
the country. This attracted many entrepreneurs and immigrants,
and the late 1800s and early 1900s were the boom times in both. Earlier I mentioned how both produced lots
of cars, but it was Henry Ford who helped make Detroit dominate the automobile industry. He basically invented the assembly line at
his Highland Park Plant in 1910. He also revolutionized labor relations by
paying his workers well and giving them a five-day work week. Later, General Motors came to town, and so
did Chrysler. From the 1920s to 1950s, well other than the Great Depression, Detroit was unstoppable
when it came to automobile production. Cleveland was also unstoppable, becoming the
fifth largest manufacturing center in the country by World War Two. Suburbanization, the rise of people driving
to work every day, and white flight caused dramatic demographic shifts in both cities
beginning in the 1950s. The downfall of Cleveland and Detroit came
around that time, mostly due to deindustrialization. In the following decades, manufacturing went
to other countries, where labor was cheaper. In addition to becoming Rust Belt cities,
pollution, political ineptitude, and racial tensions further led to each cities’ decline. Racial tensions were especially bad in Detroit,
as seen by the 12th Street Riot in the “long, hot summer of 1967.” By the 1980s, most of the manufacturing jobs
were gone, and since then both cities have been in recovery mode. Today, both continue to struggle with poverty. The poverty rate is currently higher in Detroit. (C-35.2%, D-37.9%) However, the median household
income (C- $29,953, D- $31,283) and minimum wage (C- $8.70 per hour, D- $9.65 per hour)
is higher there. Also, Detroit currently has faster job growth,
and is the second-biggest source of architectural and engineering job opportunities in the country. Other than automobile manufacturing, other
major industries in Detroit include bioscience and technology. Major industries in Cleveland also include
bioscience and technology, but additionally healthcare. The median age is lower in Detroit. (C-35, D-31) More in Detroit are single. Marijuana is legal in Detroit, since it’s
in Michigan. It’s not in Cleveland, although Ohio does
allow marijuana for medicinal use. Cleveland residents are more religious. Detroit residents are more left leaning. That said, residents of both consistently
vote for the Democratic Party. Detroit has worse traffic and higher commute
times. Well lucky for them, public transportation
is cheaper there. Major attractions in Cleveland include the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Great Lakes Science Center, and West Side Market. Major attractions in Detroit include the GM
Renaissance Center, Motown Museum, Henry Ford Museum, and Campus Martius Park. Just like several other parts of Michigan,
Detroit uses a Mile Road System to name different roads and streets. Probably the most famous of these is 8 Mile
Road, which separates Wayne county from Macomb and Oakland counties. Over the years, it has been seen as a cultural
divide, with generally more white, wealthier residents in the suburbs to the north, and
generally more black, less wealthy residents in Detroit to the south. There’s even a film called 8 Mile, loosely
based off the life of Eminem, who grew up in the area. While both cities used to have a magnificent
network of streetcars and tore them down in the 1950s and 1960s, Detroit recently brought
back a street car, the QLine, which runs along Woodward Avenue. Detroit has an arguably better music scene. And don’t forget that Motown Records started
there. According to the website Walk Score, Cleveland
has a higher walkability score. On September 27, 1986, Cleveland residents
released almost 1.5 million balloons into the sky. It was supposed to be a harmless fundraising
publicity stunt to return a positive light to the city, but sadly it ended up being a
disaster, causing traffic problems and polluting Lake Erie, even preventing the U.S. Coast
Guard from finding two missing boaters. Detroit was the first city in the country
to pave a road with concrete. Cleveland was the first city in the country
to successfully demonstrate electric lighting. Detroit was the birthplace of techno. Cleveland was the birthplace of not rock and
roll, but at least the term rock and roll. Cleveland was also home to the first shopping
mall. Detroit mayor Coleman Young once gave Saddam
Hussein the key to the city. What the heck? Ok, so you may have noticed several negative
facts I’ve said about both cities throughout this video. Well, fortunately, the future for both cities
looks incredibly bright. Cleveland Rising, a community-driven initiative
to dramatically improve the city, has set goals of making it easier to start businesses
there, making the city more environmentally friendly, increasing access to healthier food,
raising the minimum wage, and making mass transit and internet access free. Cleveland has also already attracted many
biomedical and tech startups away from the East and West Coasts. There’s even this winery there on formerly
vacant land. Oh but Detroit now also has a winery on formerly
vacant land. Detroit’s downtown has also experienced
a renaissance, with dramatic redevelopment. It also has attracted tech startups away from
the East and West coasts. In conclusion, stop making fun of Cleveland
and Detroit. They are both wonderful cities with fantastic
opportunities, and the recent rebirth of these two Rust Belt cities will only continue for
years to come. If you’ve been watching my channel
for awhile, you know that I've had several videos sponsored by Newsvoice. And it's a good match. It makes sense. I teach media literacy, for a living. It's a good resource to get my students to critically think about the news. It’s a free app that is breaking people
out of those news bubbles and is revolutionizing the news landscape. Newsvoice gives you a personalized news feed
by aggregating major news sites, including international and independent media. The best part about it? It shows multiple sources for the same stories,
and tags the bias and perspective of each source. You can upvote stories you find interesting
and add stories or links that are missing. So dig deeper, and try Newsvoice by clicking
the link to download it in the description and pinned comment. Thanks to Newsvoice for sponsoring this video. A shout out to Scott, who lives in Detroit,
and Xyla, who lives in Cleveland, for both looking over the script for this video. Scott has a YouTube channel called Scottman895. I've been watching it for awhile. It's quirky. I love it. Check it out. I put the link in the description. And Xyla also has a channel. It's just her name Xyla Foxlin, but she also has a channel called Beauty and the Bolt. Check them both out and subscribe. So which city is better? Detroit or Cleveland? As always, I especially want to hear from you if you are actually from one of those two cities. And, I love to read your suggestions
in the comments for future cities to compare for this series. And here’s a gentle reminder to follow my
social media stuff. Twitagram. Facetok. All of it. Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching!
