So I went on to Cleveland and I ended up insane

One of my more peculiar obsessions the last couple of years is noting every pop culture reference that cites Cleveland as a bottomless pit of despair.

There's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which puts the second(-rate) Hellmouth there. 30 Rock decided it was the most hilarious contrast possible with New York City. On the early seasons of Weeds I think but cannot prove Cleveland is the location Shane Botwin is always advocating they move to, but a substantial risk of prison or death is apparently preferably to everyone else. To Ryan Adams Cleveland is the place you go when you have nothing else. And today Matthew Yglesias notes that Cleveland is the cheapest place to go if you want a job.

I confess I've always found this puzzling. I have a small list of awful cities I've never visited, and Cleveland was never on the radar. Detroit or Newark, sure. But what's so special (or the opposite) about Cleveland?

Maybe the problem is me and my prejudices. As I am perpetually telling one of my frenemies who hails from there, Ohio is the most generic and boring state in the United States. It's not terribly important or irrelevant or culturally significant or notable or notorious in any way. Who cares?