Was 2016 Great, or Nah?

Between championship runs, national political conventions and more, last year was pretty awesome. But the best ever? Arin Miller-Tait and Greg Deegan, co-founders of Teaching Cleveland, argue the case for 2016 being our crowning achievement.

For: Arin Miller-Tait: What compels me about 2016 is that it’s an emotional shift. There’s myriad problems, but there’s something real to that. I keep thinking about the parade, all the action around the convention and everybody smiling and being nice to each other. There was that shift about halfway through the convention where people realized it wasn’t going to be a total disaster: This is not Ten-Cent Beer Night. This is the great thing we were hoping it would be. The narrative outside Cleveland has changed as a result.

Against: Greg Deegan: From 1910 to probably 1929, it’s hard to top what Cleveland did — from earning a spot as one of [only 12] distribution centers for the Federal Reserve Bank to the civic organizations created. By 1920, we’re the fifth largest [city in the country]. That population growth showed that there were so many opportunities here. And the Cleveland Indians end up [winning] this amazing World Series in 1920 with the only unassisted triple play and the first grand slam.