Faces of Cleveland are tough, resilient MORRIS from E1

Some downtown denizens have complained about loud street musicians. The complaints have sparked a city proposal to trim the evening hours of street performers. Maurice Reedus, known as Sax Man, is a street musician who regularly plays downtown during sporting events. (Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- After succumbing to years of redevelopment and marketing campaigns portraying downtown as a vibrant place to live and play, some of the city's newest residents are now complaining that downtown is ... well ... too vibrant.

I'm referring to the whining from some downtown denizens about loud street musicians that has sparked a city proposal to trim the evening hours of street performers.

Councilman Kerry McCormack, who represents downtown, sponsored the proposal to appease city dwellers who presumably chose to live near the noise -- but now say they can't get a good night's rest.

Cleveland finally has First World problems!

McCormack recently explained the risk that downtown's vibrancy poses to the health and safety of its residents.

"When there was very loud, amplified music at 11 p.m. on a Monday or Tuesday, [residents] were really being sleep deprived and it affected their work because of that," McCormack said at a council hearing.

He added that downtown residents "deserve the high quality of life we seek in our other neighborhoods."

What did these residents think they were getting when they paid twice the average rent in Cuyahoga County to move in and around East Fourth Street, Gateway, The Warehouse District, Playhouse Square or the Flats? Their complaints should be taken as seriously as those from people who move next to train tracks and then complain about the blare of horns.

McCormack's proposal would limit street performances from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. (So much for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's vision for creating a 24-7 downtown city life.) Street performances would be allowed from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. during special events, parades and festivals. Yet through some sort of twisted logic, sports games would not be considered one of those events. Is there anyone other than City Council members who thinks a World Series game would not be special? (The proposal has cleared the finance committee but awaits approval from the whole council.)

The Downtown Cleveland Alliance, the non-profit group that promotes downtown development and living, is behind the proposal. After hearing from residents, the alliance approached McCormack.

Joe Marinucci, president of the alliance, told me street music has become a real issue, especially as more people move into concentrated areas of downtown.

"We want to be sensitive to their needs and we thought these changes would be reasonable," he said.

I'm not convinced.

Not long ago, we had few street performers and no one living downtown to notice them. Now we have both. Let's enjoy that for a moment, please. (In a month, it will be too cold for anyone to hang outside, so this problem will be gone.)

I'm not writing this from the perspective of some uninformed resident of a noiseless suburb. (My suburb has plenty of noise, including trains.) And I spent many years in various apartments and homes in the city. When I lived in the Metzner Building, above West 25th Street, near the West Side Market, I accepted the traffic din, homeless people yelling at all hours, the rumble of trucks loaded with stones leaving the Flats, and guys on loud motorcycles visiting the ABC Tavern (pre-makeover years).

I admit I did complain once, when the city of Cleveland was repairing the vaults under the sidewalks along the West 25th Street. Crews used jackhammers in the evenings because the city figured it was better to disrupt my rest than the businesses below my apartment during the day. I would have gladly traded the jackhammer for a saxophone.

When I lived in the Federal Knitting Mills Building on Detroit Avenue, I accepted the noise from the nearby clubs that stayed open nearly all night. I was displaced from the apartment by a fire that started on the building's rooftop deck above my unit. When I moved to a house near Kamm's Corners, I agreed to the sirens from ambulances headed to nearby Fairview General Hospital. And many years ago, when I lived in downtown Philadelphia, I embraced the cacophony of street noise as part of the energy that drives a real city.

Maybe living downtown isn't for everyone. If Cleveland's vibrancy is too much, residents need to get some ear plugs - or move. The city won't suffer. There's a long line of people waiting to give downtown living a try.