CLEVELAND – Have you ever stopped and taken a moment to appreciate the city we live in? Have you made a detour along a road that you might otherwise never have traveled? Or have you visited a neighborhood you’ve never been to?
Cleveland has a rich history and you can find it on every corner. But sometimes it takes an outsider to give you a new perspective.
Phil Kidd moved to Cleveland in 2019. He is a recreational runner but his traditional route was getting boring and like any runner he was looking for a new challenge.
“I was really interested in getting to know the city on a more detailed level,” said Kidd.
That’s when he decided to drive on every street in Cleveland. Even at first glance, it sounds like a daunting challenge. But the opportunity to delve deep into the fabric of Cleveland could not be missed.
“To the best of my knowledge, there are about 3,000 miles of road in Cleveland,” said Kidd. “I started in my own neighborhood and it just expanded beyond that.”
So Kidd hit the streets of Cleveland and started blogging each run on his website EveryStreetCleveland.com.
“It’s basically an accumulation of everything I’ve seen on this run,” said Kidd. “The night before the run, I research the area and all the notable sights.”
His posts include this research as well as any photos he took along the way and a map of his route. His mission was not just to mark the miles, but to take readers on an adventure of their own, helping them live vicariously through his runs and explore the streets of Cleveland.
“It was just an amazing experience to learn the history of each of these neighborhoods,” said Kidd. “A lot has been preserved here, but you can also see the future of the city.”
From the Clark Fulton area to Irishtown Bend, Kidd has slowly ticked everyone off the list.
“These [Irishtown bend] The first Irish immigrants settled here. They helped build the Canalway systems, ”said Kidd. “
But his favorite place? The flats.
“Me, [the Flats are] one of, if not the coolest places in Cleveland, ”said Kidd. “Here, Moses Cleveland basically took the boat and said, ‘This looks like the place.
While the history is rich, the scenery is breathtaking.
“Look at the view of the downtown skyline. The old infrastructure with the old drawbridges. The old trains themselves that are still on the tracks. “
A walk through any neighborhood reveals layers of the city you might not otherwise see and gives you a more intimate view of Cleveland.
“There’s a lot of art in little alleys, on the back of garages, or on fences,” said Kidd. “It was really cool to stop at some of the iconic places that kind of slipped into oblivion.”
What Kidd notices most about his runs is how much history remains and how much information he has learned about the city so far.
“Cleveland Fire Station No. 24, which the firefighters refer to as the wild wild west, “said Kidd.”
By taking a deep dive into Cleveland’s past, he can also see that the city has a bright future ahead of it. Because of this, the Flats, a place literally defined by its east and west banks, are a popular place to think and look ahead.
“It really is something like Ground Zero for what Cleveland used to be,” said Kidd. “The nice thing about a place like Cleveland is that it can constantly reinvent itself.”
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