Cleveland's biggest storylines in 2024

As 2024 winds down, let's review some of the major storylines in Cleveland this year.

🏟️ The Browns and the lakefront

Nothing dominated headlines like the drama surrounding the Browns stadium.

The big picture: After two years of failed negotiations behind the scenes, Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam announced in October that they planned to vacate the current lakefront facility and build a new roofed complex in suburban Brook Park.

By the numbers: With ancillary development included, the stadium is projected to cost $2.4 billion, and the Haslams want the public to contribute $1.2 billion.

What we're watching: Where that money will come from.

• Cleveland and Cuyahoga County have thus far been resistant to providing taxpayer resources, though deals may be in the works.

Zoom out: Cleveland, meanwhile, is marching onward with its $440 million lakefront development plan, including a pedestrian bridge from downtown to the current stadium site.

🏘️ Homelessness and housing

Homeless services are largely funded by Cuyahoga County, but the city this year devoted $2 million to a new initiative serving homeless people who sleep outside.

State of play: City Council authorized the spending in June, and by the end of October, the initiative had already found housing for 70 residents.

Friction point: Early this month, a Cuyahoga County judge denied a variance that would have allowed the nonprofit Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry to use its facility on Franklin Boulevard as a homeless youth drop-in center.

Zoom out: As the city addresses the broader affordable housing shortage, Habitat for Humanity is building modular homes quickly and at scale, with the goal of completing 400 by 2027.

• The city has issued a request for proposals and hopes to have a new manufacturer of modular homes operating within city limits by the end of 2026.

⚾ The Guardians' magical October

Playoff baseball in Cleveland is what sports is all about.

The big picture: The Guards advanced to the American League Championship Series with a first-year manager, Stephen Vogt, and the smallest payroll of any team in the postseason.

• The games were filled with dramatic highlights, including home runs by Lane Thomas, Kyle Manzardo, Jhonkensy Noel and David Fry.

What we're watching: The Cleveland Cavaliers.

• The Cavs have been the hottest team in the NBA through the first quarter of the season and look like they have the ingredients for a lengthy postseason run.

📍 City Council redistricting

Council President Blaine Griffin and consultants drafted a new ward map for the city while promoting the fairness and transparency of the process.

Catch up quick: Cleveland voters passed a charter amendment in 2008 that ties the number of wards to the overall population — roughly 25,000 residents per ward.

• Based on the 2020 census, Council had to shed two seats before the 2025 elections.

State of play: Griffin held a series of community meetings this summer and invited residents to submit their own maps.

Friction point: Though Griffin affirmed that no councilors were targeted, Councilwoman Rebecca Maurer — who criticized the process — had her ward split into six pieces, jeopardizing her ability to run again.

• In Collinwood, the new map will likely pit incumbents Anthony Hairston and Mike Polensek against each other.

✊ Grassroots organizing

The committed work of local activists yielded public awareness and tangible results.

The big picture: Local pro-Palestinian organizations have been demonstrating at City Council and County Council all year, first in support of a ceasefire resolution and then for the county to divest from Israel Bonds.

The latest: At his State of the County address in September, County Executive Chris Ronayne said he would not divest.

Flashback: Students, faculty and staff at Case Western Reserve University camped out for more than 10 days in May in solidarity with Palestinians, prompting backlash from administrators.

Zoom out: On the west side, neighbors in Ward 11 and Ward 15 successfully pressured the city and CMSD to retool the plan for a new elementary school to preserve mature trees at Cudell Commons Park.

• Later, their advocacy — alongside the city's planning department — convinced the city to reconsider a controversial gas station planned for a former CVS site.

And in Buckeye-Shaker, residents fought to save a Huntington Bank branch that planned to close due to rising crime.

Honorable mentions: Bollards at Public Square! Superman filming downtown! The Huntington Convention Center expansion!