Most of the northern and downtown sections of Cleveland lie on terraces between 18 and 24 m (60 and 80 ft) above Lake Erie. These terraces are divided by the valley of the Cuyahoga River, which flows northward through Cleveland. The valley, called the Flats, was once the city's main industrial section but has since been converted into an entertainment district, with numerous restaurants and nightclubs in renovated warehouses on both banks of the river. High bridges across the Flats link the commercial and residential areas to its east and west.
The heart of the central business district is Public Square, on a lake terrace east of the Flats. The square contains a large monument to participants in the American Civil War (1861-1865) and statues of city founder Moses Cleaveland and of one of America's greatest reform mayors, Tom L. Johnson, who served from 1901 to 1909. Public Square is the focal point of several main thoroughfares and is dominated by the 52-story Terminal Tower (1929), which for several decades was the tallest building in the United States west of New York. Terminal Tower's lower concourse, originally the station for the New York Central Railroad, was renovated in 1990 into an open three-level development of retail stores and restaurants known as Tower City. Other important retail complexes in the downtown are The Galleria, a collection of stores in a mall-like, ultra-modern building; and the Arcade, a magnificently restored late 19th century three-story shopping and office arcade listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Euclid Avenue, which runs eastward from Public Square, formerly was the main retail concentration, but its shopping influence is today greatly reduced. Eastward along Euclid Avenue is the University Circle area, a neighborhood of educational, medical, and cultural facilities.
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Cleveland Information info
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