A tight river bend crossed by lift and swing bridges, with old warehouses turned into bars and lofts on both banks.
What The Flats looks like
The Cuyahoga River bends sharply through a narrow valley here, with brick warehouses and steel mill sheds lining both banks. A black lattice railroad bridge sits permanently raised at an angle near Settler's Landing, its trusses locked open against the sky and lit at night. The Center Street swing bridge and the cross the water a short distance apart, one a low red truss and the other twelve concrete arches and one steel span, with a disused lower deck that once ran streetcars.
On the west bank, the old Powerhouse holds an aquarium behind gabled roofs and arched windows, with its coal tunnels and steel girders left exposed inside. sits farther south on a deck built out over the water. runs two stages inside a plain brick building nearby, a supper club downstairs and a concert hall above.
Glass towers and converted warehouses line the east bank along a riverside boardwalk, with apartment buildings stacked above ground floor restaurants. A light rail platform under a curved glass canopy sits inside , framed by the Detroit-Superior Bridge's arches. Older brick blocks with painted lettering still stand on the bluff above, their ground floors now offices or lofts.
Salt storage mounds sit along the riverbank near downtown, dwarfed by a long steel bridge and the lit towers of the skyline behind them. Lake freighters and tour boats still use the channel, docking at rowing club piers and old loading docks. A brick building marked Foundry, once part of the industrial waterfront, now stores rowing shells and sailing dinghies beside its own dock.
Shot in The Flats
Jenny's Wedding used the East Bank of the Flats as one of its Cleveland locations in 2015. The production did not name a specific block or building there.
Jenny's Wedding, 2015
The East Bank of the Flats
Jenny's Wedding shot on the East Bank of the Flats, without naming a specific block or building. The riverfront here runs bridges, retaining walls and paved walkways rather than a single storefront. Street View
Brick warehouses and rail spurs line the riverside in the Strip District much like the buildings here, with a working river close behind them. Look along Smallman Street for loading docks and exposed rail sidings at the same scale. Pittsburgh's own river bridges are mostly fixed through trusses rather than movable spans, so keep a lift or swing bridge out of any wide shot. Try searching riverside brick warehouses now.
Cream brick warehouses along the Milwaukee River give the Historic Third Ward a similar working riverside scale, with several bascule bridges crossing near the buildings. The blocks nearest the water still carry loading doors and exposed brick party walls. Milwaukee's brick runs paler cream rather than the redder and yellower brick here, so a tight brick only frame can give the city away. Try searching cream brick riverside warehouses now.
Goose Island in Chicago, Illinois
Goose Island sits on the North Branch of the Chicago River, its riverside ringed by brick industrial buildings and crossed by several movable bridges. The channel there is narrower than the Cuyahoga here, which keeps most usable shots close to the water. Chicago's bridges are mostly bascule spans rather than the vertical lift and rolling lift types here, so a raised span in frame would need to be this river's own. Try searching riverside industrial movable bridges now.
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