That’s probably why; I assure you it gets much more ghetto as you go south.
But I agree with you; Cleveland gets a bad rap and is a great choice for a convention. I hope the delegates try some Great Lakes Brewing Company beer and stop at Melt for a gourmet grilled cheese. :)
I did go south once, and I've gone through some pretty sketchy parts of the city (all cities have them). I never found one, though, that compares to some of the sketchy places in Baltimore.
But I'm not turned off by cities that have ghettos. That's just a reality of all cities, and you have to look beyond them to see what a city really offers. Cleveland should be proud of itself.