Judge Ray Pianka Interview, 2005

In this 2005 interview, Raymond Pianka, Judge of the City of Cleveland Housing Court, discusses the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. He first discusses the historical ethnicity of the neighborhood, including the immigration of Irish, and then later Italians and Romanians, into the area. He also discusses his own Polish heritage, and talks about his father and grandfather\u27s industrial employment in Cleveland for a large part of the twentieth century. Judge Pianka also talks about the architecture of the Detroit-Shoreway area, noting houses designed by a number of prominent local architects, including Frank Coburn, Frederick Baird, Hopkinson, and Charles Pennington. Having grown up in the area and gone to West High school in the late 1960s, Judge Pianka talks about gang violence, race relations, and the Vietnam War as each impacted his high school. He also talks about the maritime industry of the west side of Cleveland, and the departure of that industry from Cleveland during his lifetime. Also, Judge Pianka discusses his early involvement in the formation of the Detroit-Shoreway Association. He finally talks about Gordon Square and his own interest in Cleveland history