Downtown Cleveland is seeing more and more visitors
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
More people visited downtown over the past year, and traffic should pick up even more in 2024.
Why it matters: In previous years, downtown activity lagged behind pre-pandemic levels.
Driving the news: Downtown Cleveland saw a 9.2% increase in visitor activity between March 2023 and February 2024, per new University of Toronto data.
How it works: Researchers at the university's School of Cities are using anonymized mobile device location data to estimate visitor activity in the downtown areas of dozens of North American cities.
- They define "downtown" as the location in each metro area with the highest job concentration.
The big picture: Most American downtowns saw a bump in visitor activity between March 2023 and February 2024.
- Cleveland's increase ranked No. 24 out of the 54 cities studied. Columbus came in at 36th with 3.2% growth, while Cincinnati was fifth-highest at 28.3%.
The intrigue: In late December, the Washington Post called Cleveland "America's best example of turning around a dying downtown," citing renovations and the city's attempt to become an 18-hour city.
What's next: Expect Cleveland to rank much higher next year. Data was gathered just before the total solar eclipse and NCAA women's Final Four, which Destination Cleveland estimated would bring a combined 200,000-plus visitors to town.
- Downtown will also host the Pan-American Masters Games, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and WWE SummerSlam this year.
What we're watching: Cleveland is setting itself up for the long haul with a $3.5 billion project that would develop new residential units, office space and retail locations, while connecting downtown to the lakefront near Browns Stadium.
What they're saying: "Cleveland has a string of pearls, including things like North Coast Harbor, Edgewater Park and Voinovich Park," David Gilbert, CEO of Destination Cleveland told Axios earlier this month.
- "What we're going to see start developing over the next five years is much more access and many more pearls along that string to strengthen it and make Cleveland a place far more people want to be."