Largest city Cleveland | Time zone ET (UTC-5) | |
Other cities ListIn Region:WarrenMassillonLorainElyriaMentorAshtabulaMansfieldNew Philadelphia | ||
Northeast Ohio refers to the northeastern region of the U.S. state of Ohio. The region contains six Metropolitan Statistical Areas: Cleveland–Elyria; Akron; Canton–Massillon; Youngstown–Warren–Boardman; Mansfield, and Sandusky, along with six Micropolitan Statistical Areas: Ashland, Ashtabula, New Philadelphia–Dover, Norwalk, Salem, and Wooster. Most of the region, with the exception of the Youngstown–Warren–Boardman and Mansfield metropolitan areas, is also part of the Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area and media market, while Mahoning, Trumbull, and Columbiana counties form part of the Youngstown–Warren CSA and media market with Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Northeast Ohio also includes most of the area known historically as the Connecticut Western Reserve. In 2011, the Intelligent Community Forum ranked Northeast Ohio as a global Smart 21 Communities list. It has the highest concentration of Hungarian Americans in the United States.
Contents
Composition of the region
The state of Ohio Defines Northeast Ohio as an 18-county region. The 18-county region is home to over 4.3 million people, has a labor force of almost 2.2 million and it has an economic GDP (nominal) of $195 billion, which makes it comparable to that of New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland.
Higher education
Northeast Ohio is home to a number of higher education institutions, including:
Sports and recreation
Northeast Ohio is home to a number of professional sports teams, including three from the major North American sports leagues. The Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball play at Progressive Field, Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) are based at FirstEnergy Stadium, and the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) play at Quicken Loans Arena. Quicken Loans Arena is also home to two additional professional franchises, the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. The Monsters are the top minor league affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL).
There are a number of other professional sports teams in the region that play in various minor leagues. The Indians have three minor league affiliates in the area: the AA Akron RubberDucks of the Eastern League who play at Canal Park in Akron, the Single-A Lake County Captains of the Midwest League who play at Classic Park in Eastlake, and the Single-A Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the New York–Penn League, who play at Eastwood Field in Niles. Additionally, there is an independent baseball team, the Lake Erie Crushers of the Frontier League, who play at Sprenger Stadium in Avon. The Youngstown Phantoms are a junior ice hockey team in the United States Hockey League that has home games at Covelli Centre.
Motorsports venues in the region include Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington and Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, a major NHRA venue.
The region is home to a number of NCAA athletic programs, including four in Division I: the Akron Zips, Cleveland State Vikings, Kent State Golden Flashes, and Youngstown State Penguins. Both Akron and Kent State are members of the Cleveland-based Mid-American Conference, while Cleveland State and Youngstown State are members of the Horizon League. Six schools compete at the NCAA Division II level: the Lake Erie College Storm, Ursuline Arrows, Malone Pioneers, Ashland Eagles, Notre Dame Falcons, and Walsh Cavaliers. There are eight schools at the Division III level: Mount Union Purple Raiders, Hiram Terriers, John Carroll Blue Streaks, Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets, Case Western Reserve Spartans, Kenyon Lords, Oberlin Yeomen, and Wooster Scots. One school, the Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars, competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
The Cleveland Metroparks are a system of nature preserves that encircle the city, and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park encompasses the Cuyahoga River valley between Cleveland and Akron. The region is home to Mentor Headlands Beach, the longest natural beach on the Great Lakes.
Airports
Definition of abbreviations:
Area codes
In the 1950s, AT&T assigned most of Northeast Ohio area code 216. The western half of the region, including Ashland and Richland counties, and parts of Huron, Wayne and Erie counties, was assigned area code 419. In 1996, area code 216 was reduced in size to cover the northern half of its prior area, centering on Cleveland. Area code 330 was introduced for the southern half of Northeast Ohio, including Summit, Portage, Medina, Stark, Columbiana and Mahoning counties, and much of Wayne, Trumbull and Tuscarawas counties.
In 1997, area code 216 was further split as the need for additional phone numbers grew. Area code 216 was again reduced in geographical area to cover the city of Cleveland and its inner ring suburbs. Area code 440 was introduced to cover the remainder of was what previously area code 216, including all of Lake, Lorain, Ashtabula and Geauga counties, and parts of Trumbull, Huron, Erie and Cuyahoga counties. Some communities, such as Parma and Parma Heights, were divided into multiple area codes. In 1999, Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced federal legislation to protect small and medium-sized cities from being split into two or more area codes.
In 2000, it was anticipated that the available phone numbers in area code 330 would be exhausted, and an overlay area code was introduced. Area code 234 was assigned to overlap existing area code 330. With the creation of area code 234, any new phone number in the geographical area formerly covered by area code 330 could be assigned a phone number in either the 234 or 330 area codes, with no change in local or long distance toll status. This made necessary the use of ten-digit dialing within the 330/234 area code region. After the introduction of area code 234, assignments of new telephone numbers in the area did not continue at an accelerated pace, and new phone numbers for area code 234 were not assigned until 2003.