Your tax refund might be bigger, but is Cleveland feeling it?
So this is the thing—everyone's talking about bigger tax refunds this year, right? And no yeah, for some folks, that extra cash is a lifeline, especially with how tight things are. But here in Cleveland, with everything going on—Perry Township still fighting to pass road levies just to fix potholes that could swallow a Smart Car, and the price of everything at the West Side Market going up even if you're just grabbing some kielbasa and pierogi—it feels like whatever extra we get just gets eaten up by, well, *life*. You see those gas prices on the 480/77 interchange every morning? It's like whatever the refund gives, the pump takes, you know?
It’s not just about what you get back, it's about what you’re up against. We've got initiatives like Archwood Foods trying to fill food deserts on the Near West Side, and Slavic Village pushing their People's Budget pilot to get some control over where money goes. That's real grassroots stuff, people trying to make a difference because the bigger picture often feels like it's missing us. A bigger refund is nice, yeah, but for a lot of families in Cleveland, it’s just patching over the cracks, not rebuilding the foundation. We’re still out here, trying to make it work, same as always.
Cleveland on the wire — we've been here the whole time. You know who breaks this down every morning? The crew on the Morning Wire. Catch 'em live at mornings.live.