🌞 TGIF. Enjoy the long weekend.

🌧️ Today's weather: Chance of showers and thunderstorms then partly sunny, with a high of 80 and a low of 67.

📅 Programming note: We're off through Labor Day and back in your inboxes Tuesday.

Today's newsletter is 1,008 words — a 4-minute read.

Buying a house in Cleveland isn't as cheap as it used to be.

Why it matters: Cleveland remains one of the country's most affordable big housing markets, but years of steady price increases are chipping away at that advantage.

State of play: The Cleveland area's median home sale price hit $279,000 in July, up 4.1% from a year ago, according to Homes.com's latest housing market report.

• That's the highest monthly figure in the site's data going back to 2018.

By the numbers: Cleveland had the seventh-fastest price growth among the nation's 40 largest housing markets.

• Cleveland was still a relative bargain, with prices 30% below the national median of $400,000.

The big picture: Cleveland has posted some of the country's fastest-rising home prices in recent years, though the pace has slowed.

• Prices rose 12.5% year over year in July 2025 and 8.1% this April, when Cleveland led the nation's biggest housing markets.

Between the lines: Cleveland still doesn't have nearly as many homes for sale as it did before the pandemic.

• There were about 6,600 homes on the market in July — roughly 2,700 fewer than in July 2019, according to Homes.com.

Yes, but: Cleveland's housing shortage is showing signs of easing. The 6,568 homes for sale in July were the most for that month since 2021 and 4.3% more than a year ago.

The bottom line: Cleveland is still cheap by big-city standards. It's just getting a little less cheap every year.

As you can tell by the recent heat wave, summer isn't done quite yet.

State of play: The season officially sticks around until Sept. 22, and Cleveland has plenty of outdoor activities left on the calendar until then.

✈️ Look up: The Cleveland National Air Show roars over Burke Lakefront Airport tomorrow through Monday.

• The Blue Angels are once again closing out each day.

🎶 Catch an outdoor concert: Venues like Blossom Music Center, Jacobs Pavilion and Cain Park still have a few shows left featuring the likes of Modest Mouse, Billy Idol and Pitbull.

⚾ Play ball: Catch a Guardians game at Progressive Field while shorts and a T-shirt remain reasonable baseball attire.

• Cleveland is in a tight race for the American League's final wild-card spot.

🚤 Get on the river: Cleveland Metroparks' narrated Cuyahoga River boat tours leave from Merwin's Wharf several times before the end of the month.

🎢 Make one last Cedar Point run: September crowds can be lighter, but the coasters still hit the same.

🛍️ Shop outside: The West Side Market's final Market in the Park of the season takes place Sept. 12 with pop-ups, food trucks and entertainment.

🚚 Bring the kids: Cleveland Metroparks' free Touch-a-Truck brings roughly 50 giant vehicles to Brookside Reservation on Sept. 20.

🍔 The TGI Friday's in Brooklyn — the last of the chain's locations in Ohio — closed on Aug. 31 after 27 years in business. (Cleveland Scene)

🏟️ The city of Cleveland has spent $36 million on emergency repairs at Browns' stadium since 2016, though the bills should theoretically be lower through 2029 as the Haslams focus on the new domed facility in Brook Park. (Ideastream)

⚖️ A 19-year-old Lakewood man has been indicted by a Cuyahoga County grand jury for an August fire at the former Friendship Baptist Church in Cleveland. (WKYC)

📉 Fatal drug overdoses in Cleveland fell to their lowest quarterly total in more than a decade during the final three months of 2025. (Cleveland.com)

College football's top tier is on track to set an attendance record of 39 million this season.

Why it matters: Total attendance at Football Bowl Subdivision games last season was just a few big games short of California's total population.

Pre-pandemic crowds are back (up 3.7 million since 2021) across FBS games, and then some, according to NCAA data.

• College football attendance at all levels nearly hit 50 million in 2024.

Stunning stat: Attendance at 28 stadiums averaged at least 100% of their listed capacities in 2025, according to D1.ticker.

• Ohio State was among them, averaging 104,105 fans per home game, even though "The Horseshoe" — the nation's third-largest college football stadium — officially only holds 102,780.

Fun fact: Bowling Green State University boasted the second-highest year-over-year attendance increase in all of college football, thanks in part to the hiring of Ohio football legend Eddie George and a sellout against the University of Toledo.

Zoom out: The FBS expanded from 120 teams in 2009 to 136 teams in 2025, contributing to the attendance increase.

• Average attendance remains roughly 5,000 below the peak during the 2005–2011 seasons.

What's next: Week 1 will give 2026's attendance numbers an early jolt: Ten of the nation's 11 largest stadiums will host games — easily bringing more than 1 million fans through just those schools' turnstiles.

• That includes OSU. The Buckeyes kick off their season hosting the Ball State Cardinals Saturday at 12:30pm.

Cleveland's newest public art installation is a 15,000-pound, intricate wooden structure you can walk through at Canal Basin Park.

State of play: "Centrum Kolossio" is a 2,500-square-foot installation designed as a gathering and performance space. It features four interconnected rooms inspired by the four ancient neighborhoods of Rome.

Zoom in: The piece was designed by Cleveland artist David Biro and built with his collective, Midnight Art Club, which spent nine months designing and fabricating it for Miami's Love Burn arts festival.

Stop by: The installation is free, open day and night, and runs through Sept. 13.

👏 Sam is energized by the historic punishment the NBA levied on the Los Angeles Clippers for salary cap circumvention because it demonstrates the power of rigorous, uncompromising journalism to hold power to account.

😷 Troy is back in action and stocking up on Airborne for the rest of the school year.

This newsletter was edited by Delano Massey.