20 December 2017 Downtown Visit

Some of my staff had been in town for the week for a meeting. We adjourned the meeting with travelers heading home. My engineer from Mexico had a later return flight home so after lunch I offered to drive him to the airport with a stop to see downtown Cleveland. Eduardo is my tour guide in the mountains surrounding Mexico. I couldn't offer him the same great adventures in northeast Ohio so I offered a view of Lake Erie and the skyline.

Although northeast Ohio's 3.5 million population isn't that much smaller than Monterrey's 4.5 million, Cleveland's skyline is relatively low. Part of that goes back decades when the city staunchly defended the Terminal Tower as the designated tallest building in the area. I remember when 200 Public Square, formerly the Sohio Building, was planned in 1982, the building was designed to be taller than the tower until the city of Cleveland stepped in and said no. Eventually the Key Bank Building eclipsed Terminal Tower with construction that began in 1998. Between protecting the status of the terminal tower and the area sprawling away from the center, Cleveland has a much smaller feeling than the heavily built, cosmopolitan urban center of the mountain-ringed Monterrey. Eduardo still seemed to enjoy his visit.

We also made it to the airport in time for his flight. ;)