It is sad to see the otherwise fine writer Austin Ratner (“Cleveland Rocks — Not Really,” March 16) using the threadbare trope “Cleveland = misery” to describe a city that is on the rise.

At a recent community conclave, Ari Maron, a young Jewish developer, stated succinctly that Cleveland self-loathing is a generational phenomenon that is not present in the new generation of entrepreneurs, artists, highly trained academics/professionals and boomerang kids coming to (or back to) Cleveland. These young folks (and their enlightened elders) have contributed to the growing vibrancy of Cleveland, where you will find $7 billion in projects recently completed or under construction, some of the nation’s — if not the world’s — finest cultural and health care institutions, wonderful cuisine, emerging city neighborhoods with remarkably affordable housing and a thriving Jewish community.

But don’t take my word for it — come see for yourself. If you come soon, you can catch the 36th Cleveland International Film Festival or the Eighth International Public Markets Conference this September. The International Gay Games will be hosted by Cleveland in 2014. Or perhaps you’ll join us in 2019 as we become the nation’s most sustainable city, celebrating our new status as the “green city on a blue lake” on the 50th anniversary of the infamous Cuyahoga River fire.

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Martin Kohn
Shaker Heights, Ohio

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