To supplement Fr. George's earlier posts, Greater Cleveland, Ohio has a comparatively high concentration of Eastern Orthodox Christians. Nearly all of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops ecclesiastical jurisdictions are represented among 23 or so parishes, whose priests are members of the Greater Cleveland Council of Orthodox Clergy, see "OrthodoxCleveland.us". The larger jurisdictions have multiple parishes in the area. Parishes include those whose services are all conducted in the mother language of their jurisdiction, all English, and variations in between. Parishes are large, medium and small sizes. Separated Old Calendar jurisdictions are minimally represented. The Orthodox population is concentrated in the West and Southwest parts of the area.
The region is family friendly. There are large representations of the various ethnic groups of Eastern Europe, plus high concentrations of Italians and Irish. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religious denomination, and many Protestants and Jews are well represented, along with a small Moslem population.
However, the region is economically depressed, having been a classic "rust belt" town, it has been in population and economic decline for over 30 years.
Politically, Democrats are the majority political party, and these Democrats are of the traditional variety, old time Truman and JFK supporters, not so much associated with the current prevailing philosophy of the Democrat party's dominant liberal philosophy. It's a "Big Union" town too, which largely accounts for the economic decline. Yet, due to the size of the County, Republicans in the area are the largest concentration of Republicans of any of the other 87 counties in the state. There are small Tea Party chapters too.
Government provides numerous services, compared with many other regions; taxes are moderate comparatively, but are comprehensive, including all types, income, state and local; property taxes, numerous county levies; and a 7.75% retail sales tax.
There is a very vibrant health care industry and internationally recognized health care quality.
The Cleveland Orchestra, the art and history museums, are among the finest nationally.
And there are major sports teams, The MLB American League's first place Cleveland Indians, NBA basketball's Cavaliers, and the Cleveland Browns NFL franchise.
Despite popular perception, the climate is moderate from April through October, but the Winter's are rough, cold and snowy.