Find a Lawyer in Cleveland, Ohio
Looking for a lawyer in Cleveland, Ohio? One of our partner firms will contact you for a Free, no-obligation Case Evaluation, and, if appropriate, help put you in contact with an attorney in Cleveland, Ohio. Please fill in this form, and we'll get back to you soon. (If you prefer, you may contact one of our firms directly by phone).
If you wish you can enter the minimum information (items marked with a *), but providing as much as possible will help us process your inquiry more quickly.
* Indicates Required Fields
Wikipedia - Cleveland, Ohio
| City of Cleveland | |||
 |
|||
|
|||
| Nickname(s): The Forest City | |||
| Motto: Progress & Prosperity | |||
 |
|||
  City of Cleveland
|
|||
| Coordinates: Coordinates: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | United States | ||
| State | Ohio | ||
| County | Cuyahoga | ||
| Founded | 1796 | ||
| Incorporated | 1814 (village) | ||
| 1836 (city) | |||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Frank G. Jackson (D) | ||
| Area [1] | |||
| - City | 82.4 sq mi (213.4 km²) | ||
| - Land | 77.6 sq mi (200.9 km²) | ||
| - Water | 4.8 sq mi (12.5 km²) | ||
| Elevation [2] | 653 ft (199 m) | ||
| Population (2000)[1][3][4] | |||
| - City | 478,403 | ||
| - Density | 6,166.5/sq mi (2,380.9/km²) | ||
| - Metro | 2,250,871 | ||
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
| Area code(s) | 216 | ||
| FIPS code | 39-16000[5] | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 1066654 | ||
| Website: www.city.cleveland.oh.us | |||
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles (100 km) west of the Pennsylvania border. It was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and became a manufacturing center owing to its location at the head of numerous canals and railroad lines. With the decline of heavy manufacturing, Cleveland's businesses have diversified into the service economy, including the financial services, insurance, and healthcare sectors, though the city's population has continued to decline. Cleveland is also noted for its association with rock music; the city is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[6]
As of the 2000 Census, the city proper had a total population of 478,403, and was then the 33rd largest city in the nation, (now estimated as the 40th largest due to declines in population)[7] and the second largest city in Ohio. It is the center of Greater Cleveland, the largest metropolitan area in Ohio, which spans several counties and is defined in several different ways by the Census Bureau. The Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor Metropolitan Statistical Area which in 2000 ranked as the 23rd largest in the United States with 2,250,871 people. Cleveland is also part of the larger Cleveland-Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area, which in 2000 had a population of 2,945,831, and ranked as the country's 14th largest.[8]
In studies conducted by The Economist in 2005, Cleveland and Pittsburgh were ranked as the most livable cities in the United States,[9] and the city was ranked as the best city for business meetings in the continental U.S.[10] The city faces continuing challenges, in particular from concentrated poverty in some neighborhoods and difficulties in the funding and delivery of high-quality public education.[11]
Residents of Cleveland are usually referred to as "Clevelanders". Nicknames used for the city include "The Forest City," "The Cleve," "The Land," "Metropolis of the Western Reserve,"[12] "The New American City",[13] "America's North Coast",[14] "Sixth City",[15] "Rock 'n' Roll Capital of the World" (because of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame),[16] and "C-Town".[17]
Contents |
History
Cleveland obtained its name on July 22, 1796 when surveyors of the Connecticut Land Company laid out Connecticut's Western Reserve into townships and a capital city they named "Cleaveland" after their leader, General Moses Cleaveland. Cleaveland oversaw the plan for the modern downtown area, centered on the Public Square, before returning home, never again to visit Ohio. The first settler in Cleaveland was Lorenzo Carter, who built a cabin on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. The Village of Cleaveland was incorporated on December 23, 1814. The spelling of the city's name was later changed to "Cleveland" when, in 1831, an "a" was dropped so the name could fit a newspaper's masthead.[18]
In spite of the nearby swampy lowlands and harsh winters, its waterfront location proved providential. The area began rapid growth after the 1832 completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal. This key link between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes connected the city to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. Growth continued with added railroad links.[19] Cleveland incorporated as a city in 1836.[18]
In 1836, the city, then located only on the eastern banks of the Cuyahoga River, nearly erupted into open warfare with neighboring Ohio City over a bridge connecting the two.[20] Ohio City remained an independent municipality until it was annexed by Cleveland in 1854.[18] The site flourished as a halfway point for iron ore from Minnesota shipped across the Great Lakes and other raw materials (coal) carried by rail from the south. Cleveland emerged as a major American manufacturing center, home to numerous major steel producers, as well as a number of carmakers, including gasoline cars Peerless, People's,[21] Jordan, Winton (first car driven across the U.S.),[22] steam car builders White and Gaeth, and electric car company Baker. By 1920, Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller had made his fortune and Cleveland had become the fifth largest city in the country.[18] The city was a center for the national progressive movement, headed locally by Mayor Tom L. Johnson. Many Clevelanders of this era are buried in the historic Lake View Cemetery, along with James A. Garfield, the twentieth U.S. President.[23]
In commemoration of the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a city, the Great Lakes Exposition debuted in June 1936 along the Lake Erie shore north of downtown. Conceived as a way to energize a city hit hard by the Great Depression, it drew 4 million visitors in its first season, and 7 million by the end of its second and final season in September 1937.[24] The exposition was housed on grounds that are now used by the Great Lakes Science Center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Burke Lakefront Airport, among others.[25]
Immediately after World War II, the city experienced a brief boom. In sports, the Indians won the 1948 World Series and the Browns dominated professional football in the 1950s. Businesses proclaimed that Cleveland was the "best location in the nation".[26] The city's population reached its peak of 914,808, and in 1949 Cleveland was named an All-America City for the first time.[27] By the 1960s, however, heavy industries began to slump, and residents sought new housing in the suburbs, reflecting the national trends of white flight and urban sprawl. Like other major American cities, Cleveland also began witnessing racial unrest, culminating in the Hough Riots from July 18, 1966 – July 23, 1966 and the Glenville Shootout on July 23, 1968 – July 25, 1968. The city's nadir is often considered to be its default on its loans on December 15, 1978, when under Mayor Dennis Kucinich it became the first major American city to enter default since the Great Depression.[18] National media began referring to Cleveland as "the mistake on the lake" around this time, in reference to the city's financial difficulties, a notorious 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River (where industrial waste on the river's surface caught on fire), and its struggling professional sports teams.[28] The city has worked to shed this nickname ever since, though in recent times the national media have been much kinder to the city, using it as an exemplar for public-private partnerships, downtown revitalization, and urban renaissance.[29]
The metropolitan area began recovery thereafter under Mayors George Voinovich and Michael R. White. Redevelopment within the city limits has been strongest in the downtown area near the Gateway complex—consisting of Progressive Field and Quicken Loans Arena, and near North Coast Harbor—including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland Browns Stadium, and the Great Lakes Science Center. Although Cleveland was hailed by the media as the "Comeback City,"[30] many of the inner-city residential neighborhoods remain troubled, and the public school system continues to experience serious problems. Economic development, retention of young professionals, and capitalizing upon its waterfront are current municipal priorities.[31] In 1999, Cleveland was identified as an emerging global city.[32]
Crime
Based on the Morgan Quitno Press 2006 national crime rankings, Cleveland ranked as the 4th most dangerous city in the nation among the 213 US cities with a population of 100,000-500,000 and the 7th most dangerous overall.[33] Data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual publication, Crime in the United States 2006 supports those findings.
Violent crime from 2005 to 2006 was mostly unchanged nationwide, but increased more than 10% in Cleveland. The murder rate dropped 30% in Cleveland, but was still far above the national average. Property crime from 2005 to 2006 was virtually unchanged across the country and in Cleveland, with larceny-theft down by 7% but burglaries were up almost 14%.[34]
History
A study in 1971–72 found that although Cleveland's crime rate was significantly lower than other large urban areas, most Cleveland residents feared crime.[35] In the 1980s, gang activity was on the rise, associated with crack cocaine. A taskforce was formed and was partially successful at reducing gang activity by a combination of removing gang-related graffiti and educating news sources to not name gangs in news reporting.[36]
Distribution
The distribution of crime in Cleveland is highly heterogeneous. Relatively few crimes take place in downtown Cleveland's business district, but the perception of crime in the downtown has been pointed to by the Greater Cleveland Growth Association (now the Greater Cleveland Partnership) as damaging to the city's economy.[37] Neighborhoods of higher socioeconomic status in Cleveland and its suburbs have lower rates of violent crime than areas of lower status, and even controlling for this factor, areas with higher populations of African Americans have higher violent crime rates.[38] A study of the relationship between employment access and crime in Cleveland found a strong inverse relationship, with the highest crime rates in areas of the city that had the lowest access to jobs. Furthermore, this relationship was found to be strongest with respect to economic crimes.[39] A study of public housing in Cleveland found that criminals tend to live in areas of higher affluence and move into areas of lower affluence to commit crimes.[40]
Geography
Topography
Cleveland is located at .[41] According to the United States Census Bureau,[1] the city has a total area of 82.4 square miles (213.5 km²), of which, 77.6 square miles (201.0 km²) is land and 4.8 square miles (12.5 km²) is water. The total area is 5.87% water.
The shore of Lake Erie is 569 feet (173 m) above sea level; however, the city lies on a series of irregular bluffs lying roughly parallel to the lake. In Cleveland these bluffs are cut principally by the Cuyahoga River, Big Creek, and Euclid Creek. The land rises quickly from the lakeshore. Public Square, less than a mile (2 km) inland, sits at an elevation of 650 feet (198 m), and Hopkins Airport, only five miles (8 km) inland from the lake, is at an elevation of 791 feet (241 m).[42]
Climate
Cleveland possesses a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa), typical of much of the central United States, with very warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. The Lake Erie shoreline is very close to due east-west from the mouth of the Cuyahoga west to Sandusky, but at the mouth of the Cuyahoga it turns sharply northeast. This feature is the principal contributor to the lake effect snow that is typical in Cleveland (especially east side) weather from mid-November until the surface of Lake Erie freezes, usually in late January or early February. The lake effect causes snowfall totals to range greatly across the city: while Hopkins Airport has only reached 100 inches (254 cm) of snowfall in a given season three times since 1968,[43] seasonal totals approaching or exceeding 100 inches (2,500 mm) are not uncommon in an area known as the "Snow Belt", extending from the east side of Cleveland proper through the eastern suburbs and up the Lake Erie shore as far as Buffalo, New York. Despite its reputation as a cold, snowy place in winter, mild spells often break winter's grip with temperatures sometimes soaring above 70 °F (21 °C).
The all-time record high in Cleveland of 104 °F (40 °C) was established on June 25, 1988, and the all-time record low of -20 °F (-29 °C) was set on January 19, 1994.[44] On average, July is the warmest month with a mean temperature of 71.9 °F (22.2 °C), and January, with a mean temperature of 25.7 °F (-3.5 °C), is the coldest. Normal yearly precipitation based on the 30-year average from 1971 to 2000 is 38.7 inches (930 mm).[45]
 Weather averages for Cleveland, Ohio  |
|||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °F | 34 | 36 | 46 | 58 | 69 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 63 | 50 | 38 | 59 |
| Average low °F | 19 | 21 | 28 | 38 | 48 | 58 | 62 | 61 | 54 | 44 | 35 | 25 | 41 |
| Rain Fall inches | 2.6 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 37.2 |
| Snow Fall inches | 12.6 | 12.3 | 10.6 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 5.0 | 11.9 | 55.4 |
| Average high °C | 1 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 21 | 26 | 28 | 27 | 23 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 15 |
| Average low °C | -7 | -6 | -2 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 2 | -4 | 5 |
| Rain Fall mm | 66 | 58.4 | 76.2 | 86.4 | 88.9 | 88.9 | 91.4 | 86.4 | 81.3 | 66 | 81.3 | 73.7 | 944.9 |
| Snow Fall mm | 320 | 312.4 | 269.2 | 58.4 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.2 | 127 | 302.3 | 1,407.2 |
| Source: [46] 2008-08-28 | |||||||||||||
Cityscape
Architecture
- See also: List of tallest buildings in Cleveland and North Coast Harbor
Cleveland's downtown architecture is diverse. Many of the city's government and civic buildings, including City Hall, the Cuyahoga County Courthouse, the Cleveland Public Library, and Public Auditorium, are clustered around an open mall and share a common neoclassical architecture. Built in the early 20th century, they are the result of the 1903 Group Plan, and constitute one of the most complete examples of City Beautiful design in the United States.[47] The Terminal Tower, dedicated in 1930, was the tallest building in the United States between New York City and Chicago until 1967 and the tallest in the city until 1991.[48] It is a prototypical Beaux-Arts skyscraper. The two newer skyscrapers on Public Square, Key Tower (currently the tallest building in Ohio) and the BP Building, combine elements of Art Deco architecture with postmodern designs. Another of Cleveland's architectural treasures is The Arcade (sometimes called the Old Arcade), a five-story arcade built in 1890 and renovated in 2001 as a Hyatt Regency Hotel.[49] Cleveland's landmark ecclesiastical architecture includes the historic Old Stone Church in downtown Cleveland and the onion domed St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Tremont.[50]
Running east from Public Square through University Circle is Euclid Avenue, which was known for its prestige and elegance. In the late 1880s, writer Bayard Taylor described it as "the most beautiful street in the world."[51] Known as "Millionaire's Row", Euclid Avenue was world-renowned as the home of such internationally-known names as Rockefeller, Hanna, and Hay.[52]
Cleveland is home to four parks in the countywide Cleveland Metroparks system, the "Emerald Necklace" of Olmsted-inspired parks that encircles the region. In the Big Creek valley sits the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, which contains the largest collection of primates of any zoo in the United States. The other three parks are Brookside Park and parts of the Rocky River and Washington Reservations. Apart from the Metroparks is Cleveland Lakefront State Park, which provides public access to Lake Erie. Among its six parks are Edgewater Park, located between the Shoreway and Lake Erie just west of downtown, and Euclid Beach Park and Gordon Park on the east side. The City of Cleveland's Rockefeller Park, with its many Cultural Gardens[53] honoring the city's ethnic groups, follows Doan Brook across the city's east side.
Neighborhoods
Downtown Cleveland is centered around Public Square and includes a wide range of diversified districts. Downtown Cleveland is home to more the traditional Financial District and Civic Center, as well as the distinct Theatre District, which houses Playhouse Square Center, and mixed-use neighborhoods such as the Flats and the Warehouse District, which are occupied by industrial and office buildings and also by restaurants and bars. The number of downtown housing units in the form of condominiums, lofts, and apartments has increased over the past ten years. This trend looks to continue with the recent revival of the Flats, the Euclid Corridor Project, and the success of East 4th Street.
Cleveland residents often define themselves in terms of whether they live on the east side or the west side of the Cuyahoga River.[54] The east side comprises the following neighborhoods: Buckeye-Shaker Square, Central, Collinwood, Corlett, Euclid-Green, Fairfax, Forest Hills, Glenville, Payne/Goodrich-Kirtland Park, Hough, Kinsman, Lee Harvard/Seville-Miles, Mount Pleasant, Nottingham, St. Clair-Superior, Union-Miles Park, University Circle, Little Italy, and Woodland Hills. The west side of the city includes the following neighborhoods: Brooklyn Centre, Clark-Fulton, Detroit-Shoreway, Cudell, Edgewater, Ohio City, Old Brooklyn, Stockyards, West Boulevard, and the four neighborhoods colloquially known as West Park: Kamm's Corners, Jefferson, Puritas-Longmead, and Riverside. Three neighborhoods in the Cuyahoga Valley are sometimes referred to as the south side: Industrial Valley/Duck Island, Slavic Village (North and South Broadway), and Tremont.
Several inner-city neighborhoods have begun to gentrify in recent years. Areas on both the west side (Ohio City, Tremont, Detroit-Shoreway, and Edgewater) and the east side (Collinwood, Hough, Fairfax, and Little Italy) have been successful in attracting increasing numbers of creative class members, which in turn is spurring new residential development.[55] Furthermore, a live-work zoning overlay for the city's near east side has facilitated the transformation of old industrial buildings into loft spaces for artists.[56]
Suburbs
Cleveland's older inner-ring or "first" suburbs include Bedford, Bedford Heights, Brook Park, Brooklyn, Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, East Cleveland, Euclid, Fairview Park, Garfield Heights, Lakewood, Maple Heights, Parma, Shaker Heights, South Euclid, University Heights, and Warrensville Heights. All are members of the Northeast Ohio First Suburbs Consortium.[57]
Culture
Fine Arts
Cleveland is home to Playhouse Square Center, the second largest performing arts center in the United States behind New York's Lincoln Center.[58] Playhouse Square includes the State, Palace, Allen, Hanna, and Ohio theaters within what is known as the Theater District of Downtown Cleveland.[59] Playhouse Square's resident performing arts companies include the Cleveland Opera, the Ohio Ballet, and the Great Lakes Theater Festival.[60] The center also hosts various Broadway musicals, special concerts, speaking engagements, and other events throughout the year. One Playhouse Square, now the headquarters for Cleveland's public broadcasters, was originally used as the broadcast studios of WJW Radio, where disc jockey Alan Freed first popularized the term "rock and roll".[61] Located between Playhouse Square and University Circle are the Cleveland Play House and Karamu House, a well-known African American performing and fine arts center, both founded in the 1920s.[62]
Cleveland is also home to the Cleveland Orchestra, widely considered one of the finest orchestras in the world, and often referred to as the finest in the United States.[63] It is one of the "Big Five" major orchestras in the United States. The Orchestra plays in Severance Hall during the winter and at Blossom Music Center during the summer.[64]
There are two main art museums in Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art is a major American art museum,[65] with a collection that includes more than 40,000 works of art ranging over 6,000 years, from ancient masterpieces to contemporary pieces. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland showcases established and emerging artists, particularly from the Cleveland area, through hosting and producing temporary exhibitions.[66]
Film and Television
- See also: Category:Films set in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland has served as the setting for several major films, including The Fortune Cookie (1967) with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, Major League (1989), Antwone Fisher (2002) and Welcome To Collinwood (2002). Cleveland is also the setting for the film American Splendor, the lifelong home of writer Harvey Pekar and also the setting for most of his autobiographical comic books, upon which the film was based. The city was also the setting for the popular television sitcom, The Drew Carey Show which starred Cleveland native Drew Carey.
Because of its architecture, its proximity and its ease of access, locations in Cleveland are often used by filmmakers as a stand-in for other places. For example, a complex battle scene that was set in New York City in Spider-Man 3 was filmed in Cleveland in April 2006.[67] Also, many of the external shots for the widely beloved holiday film A Christmas Story (1983), which was set in a small town in Indiana, were filmed in Cleveland.[68]
Literature
Cleveland was the home of Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, who created the comic book character Superman in 1932. Both attended Glenville High School, and their early collaborations resulted in the creation of "The Man of Steel".[69]D. A. Levy wrote : "Cleveland: The Rectal Eye Visions)".
Popular Music
Cleveland has also produced a diverse range of popular musical artists, such as:
- heavy metal bands Chimaira and Mushroomhead
- alternative rock groups Nine Inch Nails and Filter
- hip-hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
- rock band Eric Carmen and The Raspberries[70]
- R&B groups Dazz Band and The Rude Boys
- protopunk bands Pere Ubu, Rocket From The Tombs and Electric Eels[71]
- hip-hop artist Ray Cash
- R&B artists Gerald Levert, Bobby Womack and Avant
- singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman
- Benjamin Orr, bassist/singer/songwriter for rock band The Cars
Cuisine
Cleveland's many immigrant groups have long played an important role in defining the regional cuisine. Polish and Eastern European foods, such as beer, pierogi, and kielbasa are popular in and around the city, as are foods associated with Cleveland's Irish and Italian immigrants. Residents like Hector Boiardi (Chef Boyardee) and Michael Ruhlman have been noted for their contributions in the culinary world. The West Side Market is home to vendors selling many kinds of ethnic food, as well as fresh produce, and ethnic restaurants can be found in the Little Italy, Slavic Village, and Tremont neighborhoods, among others.
Culinary scene
Beginning in 2007, Cleveland's culinary scene began to receive international attention. In early 2008, the Chicago Tribune called Cleveland America's "hot new dining city".[72] The national food press—Gourmet, Food & Wine, Esquire and Playboy.com—heaped praise on several Cleveland spots this year for best new restaurant, best steakhouse, best farm-to-table programs and great new neighborhood eateries.[72]
On November 11, 2007, Cleveland chef Michael Symon helped brighten the spotlight on Cleveland's culinary scene when he was named "The Next Iron Chef" on the Food Network reality TV show by the same name. Anthony Bourdain highlighted the city's food scene on a 2007 episode of his Travel Channel show "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations".
Tourism
Five miles (8 km) east of downtown Cleveland is University Circle, a 550-acre (2.2 km2) concentration of cultural, educational, and medical institutions, including the Cleveland Botanical Garden, Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals, Severance Hall, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and the Western Reserve Historical Society. Cleveland is also home to the I. M. Pei-designed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, located on the Lake Erie waterfront at North Coast Harbor downtown. Neighboring attractions include Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Great Lakes Science Center, the Steamship Mather Museum, and the USS Cod, a World War II submarine.[73]
Cleveland is home to many festivals throughout the year. Cultural festivals such as the annual Feast of the Assumption in the Little Italy neighborhood, the Greek Orthodox Festival in the Tremont neighborhood, and the Harvest Festival in the Slavic Village neighborhood are popular events. Vendors at the West Side Market in Ohio City offer many different ethnic foods for sale. Cleveland hosts an annual parade on Saint Patrick's Day that brings hundreds of thousands to the streets of downtown.[74]
Fashion Week Cleveland, the city's annual fashion event, is one of the few internationally-recognized fashion industry happenings in North America.[75] The show is considered by many to be the best in the Midwest—perhaps second only to New York for fashion weeks in the US.
In addition to the cultural festivals, Cleveland hosted the CMJ Rock Hall Music Fest, which featured national and local acts, including both established artists and up-and-coming acts, but the festival was discontinued in 2007 due to financial and manpower costs to the Rock Hall.[76] The annual Ingenuity Festival and Notacon conference focus on the combination of art and technology. The Cleveland International Film Festival has been held annually since 1977, and its eleven day run drew a record 52,753 people in 2007.[77] Cleveland also hosts an annual holiday display lighting and celebration, dubbed Winterfest, which is held downtown at the city's historic hub, Public Square.[78]
Sports
- See also: List of Cleveland sports teams
Cleveland's professional sports teams include the Cleveland Indians (Major League Baseball), Cleveland Browns (National Football League), Cleveland Cavaliers (National Basketball Association), Cleveland City Stars (United Soccer Leagues), Lake Erie Monsters (American Hockey League), and the Cleveland Gladiators (Arena Football League). Annual sporting events held in Cleveland include the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland, the Cleveland Marathon, the Mid-American Conference college basketball tournament and the Ohio Classic college football game.[79] The city hosted the Gravity Games, an extreme sports series, from 2002 to 2004, and the Dew Action Sports Tour Right Guard Open in 2007. Local sporting facilities include Progressive Field,