AMN

I don't understand why you don't wait until you save some money up for a hotel room and then go? Is there a reason the trip is so urgent? He may just enjoy cheap travel. I prefer to travel cheaply. It forces me to be more creative, and, typically, I have a better time.

As an FYI, couch surfing is the exact opposite of a "hook up" site. http://www.clevelandmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=E73ABD6180B44874871A91F6BA5C249C&nm=Arts+%26+Entertainemnt&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=1578600D80804596A222593669321019&tier=4&id=7B0F68FBFEAC458A8BEEF2239CDA7219 I live in Tremont (near downtown, on a 24-hour bus line). I might be able to put you up. PM me if you're interested. I say "might" because I need to check with my roommate first.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio (West Park) Mentor, Ohio As Pontes, Galicia, Spain Kent, Ohio Columbus, Ohio (West side) Brimfield, Ohio Newark, NJ (Downtown) Washington, D.C. (Petworth Neighborhood) Burlington, Vermont (Old North End) Milton, Vermont Mobile, Alabama Grand Bay, Alabama Back for good to Cleveland, Ohio (In Tremont, plan to stay in this house for a while but probably won't stay in this neighborhood forever).

Saying that ridership up is a tad misleading...Ridership is down for the year. Source: http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business-6/1211531627200290.xml&coll=2&thispage=3

How are they breaking? My 8830 with Verizon had its center button stop working. I was able to have them send me a new one for free since it was within a year. With Verizon, even on a two year contract, if your phone breaks after your first year, you can buy a new one at the two-year-contract price so long as you sign a new two year contract (it replaces the old one). So, basically, I have a one-year replacement warranty for defects, and if it doesn't last the whole second year, i can replace it for relatively low cost. All this said, I'm considering ditching my cell phone and getting a landline. I am increasingly missing the days of not being available 24/7.

I'm saying exciting, you are saying rare. And for a single play. 4HR isn't a single play, neither is a perfect game. Anywho, this is all a matter of preference. Fernando Tatis is the most exciting player EVER, and that's a fact. My apologies: Rarest feats in baseball. I'm sort of with you, though. There are more exciting things in baseball. Winning the game would have been more exciting. I think watching a perfect game would be way more exciting. The pressure keeps mounting. There's usually some ridiculous plays to keep it perfect. I've seen a few perfect through the sevenths, and I can't pry myself away for any reason. After see AsCab's play, I said, "Holy crap. That was a triple play. Wait. He did that all by himself. That was a frigging unassisted triple play. That doesn't happen. That was an unassisted triple play, right? Like, there wasn't an out already, right?" He was half way off the field before what happened fully sunk in.

Unassisted triple play is the rarest play in all of baseball. It happens less frequently than a perfect game, less frequently than four homeruns in one game, and far less frequently than an inside-the-parker. And I was there :-D

My upstairs neighbors just bought a house and are moving. We are in the Tremont neighborhood -- an arty, urban neighborhood with a 24-hour-bus line. You can also bike downtown from where we are. It's a large (1200 sq ft) 2.5 bedroom apartment for 750ish with washer/dryer and a porch. It's in the nice part of the neighborhood, too. You might be able to sublease from them since they are stuck in a contract. PM me if you're interested -- although it's probably too big of a space for a single woman. And you can definitely do cheaper with a one-bedroom. The lakewood suggestion is good, too, if you can find a flexible lease. I would not worry about anywhere in Lakewood safety-wise. If you are within walking distance of Detroit Avenue, there is a 24-hour bus line that goes up through there, as well. If you're near West 117 and Madison, you'll be near a Rapid (rail). I disagree that you can't get by without a car in Cleveland. I've done it as recently as a few months ago. I primarily use public transit to get around town. If you see an ad that looks alluring, I imagine you can post the general area here and folks will tell you if there's anything sketchy about the neighborhood. Best of luck.

I should have taken the train...which leads me to the question-are buses anywhere really on schedule?I think of a schedule as a guideline, ie use it to figure out a bus runs every say 15 minutes a certain time of day. I don't even think the rapid schedules do much more than that. Do people experience anything different? Do they actually arrive on schedule outside of conincidence? The 81 typically runs pretty close to schedule. A tad late at my stop M-Th. Early on Fridays. The weekends are almost always early. I'd put it generally within 5 minutes of schedule. I rarely look at the Rapid schedule unless I'm trying to catch a flight at the airport.

How many "pre war" stadiums are left? Don't worry. We have new wars. Keep it on topic, nobody wants to hear your opinions on military conflicts in a thread about baseball stadiums. How is that an opinion on military conflicts? It's a fact that there are more wars. Therefore, there will be new reference point for pre-war buildings at some point in the future, when it's historically significant. Sheesh. To contribute something on-topic: I found Camden Yards failed to impress. Now I hadn't gone to it until after I'd been at the Jake, but I felt Cleveland's park was better. Fenway is great if for the majesty, but as car as a place to watch a game, it does leave something to be desired. The view lines are not great everywhere. The seats are uncomfortable. The prices are crazy. PNC Park is a great new ballpark. Yankee Stadium is a great, but HUGE, place to watch a ball game. I'd rank it above the Jake. I haven't been to enough stadiums to say what's the best, but the Jake is the second best of the eight parks where I've watched a game.

Indeed I do. The "Take Back Vermont" sign was in protest of Vermont's legalizing same-sex unions. Some of the indigenous population saw that as symbolic of takeover of their turf by urban liberal outsiders. I saw those signs when I was there in 2000. A little late on this one, but as a flatlander who lived in Vermont for a while, I wanted to chime in: The Take Back Vermont signs also popped up in response to the pro-civil unions slogan, "Take Vermont Forward," thereby making the Take Back Vermont signs worth a chuckle. And I have to say, I did not believe a photo could make Vermont look that ugly. You may have found the one non-awe-inducing vantage point in the state (outside of Mud Season)!

How many "pre war" stadiums are left? Don't worry. We have new wars.

OK, I think I found data from five years ago. I'm assuming the gallons per day per driver are the same. How much more Gallons per Incr in gas 2 driver family day per price - last pays this year driver 5 years Urban Area over five years ago Cincinnati OH-KY-IN $4,071 2.57 146.6% Dayton OH $3,915 2.53 140.4% Columbus OH $3,763 2.42 140.1% US AVERAGE $3,544 2.29 141.3% Toledo OH-MI $3,496 2.27 138.8% Akron OH $3,435 2.23 140.6% Cleveland OH $2,327 1.54 135.3%

I would like to see this update for todays cost. Wow things can change in such a short time. Here's a look at today's gas prices compared the prices of one year ago, using the gallons per day average supplied in the 2005 chart. I don't have figures for further back in time, but if someone knows of a good spot to pull 2003 or 1998 prices, I can update to five years ago and 10 years ago. Annual increase Gallons per Incr in gas in gas cost - 2 day per price - last Urban Area driver family driver 12 mos. Cincinnati OH-KY-IN $1,350 2.57 24.6% Dayton OH $1,348 2.53 25.2% Columbus OH $1,272 2.42 24.6% Toledo OH-MI $1,176 2.27 24.3% Akron OH $1,140 2.23 24.0% US AVERAGE $1,070 2.29 21.5% Cleveland OH $764 1.54 23.3% EDITED: Fixing math

I have been unsuccessfully searching for a central database of sidewalk miles in Ohio municipalities. Has anyone heard of any such thing that exists? I found a report by the Ohio Public Works Commission that gives road miles (scroll down to the bottom and select a district): http://www.pwc.state.oh.us/cir.htm I've spot checked the data and it appears these numbers are center-line road miles. The spot checks put them as extremely accurate for total miles. That has some interesting data -- such as the quality of road by mileage -- but, alas, not everything that I need. Any help would be appreciated.

According to ABC, the Blade has more than 100k. BLADE, TOLEDO (LUCAS CO.) SAT M DLY 119,611 BLADE, TOLEDO (LUCAS CO.) SUN DLY 150,019 BLADE, TOLEDO (LUCAS CO.) AVG M (M-F) DLY 120,125 Each of the newspapers mentioned are over 100k daily. But, you're right. Typical breakup of newspapers are Big: 100k+ Mid-size: 50k-100k Small: >50k This does not divvy papers up into three equal stacks. There are way more small papers than mid-size or big.

did you even read the article? I used I and think as a representation of my personal opinion. Just to clarify (from graf 2): Editors from out-of-state newspapers gave The Plain Dealer the General Excellence award in its division — newspapers with circulation greater than 75,000, which included the Toledo Blade, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Dayton Daily News, the Akron Beacon Journal, and the Columbus Dispatch. Not to pick on you, because I thought Grey's comment was a tad harsh, but a fact is a fact. The Blade does fall into the large newspaper category. That's not a personal opinion, it is a fact.

I do wear a helmet every time I ride. I know there's a huge anti-helmet coalition out there, and those who will point to the fact that we're one of the only countries that has such a large contingent of helmet advocates, but I don't let that bother me. Yes, most accidents the helmet will not do anything. But just in case I'm in one where the helmet is needed to protect my noggin, it's worth it to me. He's open all the time. I would call first (216.685.2453). The store's phone rings to his cell phone. I've never had him tell me it's not open. If he is closed, I think he just walks downstairs and opens up.

I've only been regularly riding the RTA since the beginning of this year, but I've never felt unsafe, and I've seen one person who looked homeless. (But wasn't -- we were the only two on the bus at the end of the route and we talked to each other. She was very nice, but she was in serious need of a shower.) For the most part, I've seen the same folks I see in the street, in businesses and everywhere else in Cleveland. Anyone see Phillip Morris' column today? He gave a sort-of-thumbs up to the cameras and said he may acquiesce to becoming an RTA rider: http://www.cleveland.com/morris/index.ssf/2008/04/phillip_morris.html

BTW: Important things for bike commuting: Fenders, lights, repair kit, basket or rack to hook up something more fancy for lugging purposes. If you don't know how to change a tire tube, ask your bike dealer to show you. Another good resource is www.bikeforums.net.

I suggest going to visit Mitch at Shaker Cycle (located at West 5th and Jefferson in Tremont). He's a little kooky, but no one will give you a better deal. He has lots of great used bikes and he knows his stuff. He also won't overcharge you. He'll tell you what's worth cheaping out on, and he'll tell you what's worth spending the money on. If you go in and tell him you have $200 and you want to be fully outfitted in a bike, he'll put a package together. I bought my commuter bike from him, and it's been great. That was a year ago. I spent $60. I also have a nicer bike that I wouldn't want to drive through the Flats on a regular basis nor would I want to leave it locked up somewhere outside for eight hours for fear it would get stolen.

Make sure you're comparing apples to apples. Cleveland is about the same size as Surrey, British Columbia or Halifax, Nova Scotia. Winnipeg dwarfs us. Ah, no. How do you figure that math? Winnepeg Population (2006 Census[1][2]) - City 633,451 (Ranked 7th) - Density 1,365.2/km² (3,535.9/sq mi) - Urban 641,483 (Ranked 9th) - Urban Density 1,428.95/km² (3,701/sq mi) - Metro 694,668 (Ranked 8th) - Metro Density 130.996/km² (339.3/sq mi) Maybe dwarf is a bit overstatement. But 200k more people is nothing to sneeze at. We're actually a tad higher than Brampton, Ontario, and a tad under Quebec City, QC.

Make sure you're comparing apples to apples. Cleveland is about the same size as Surrey, British Columbia or Halifax, Nova Scotia. Winnipeg dwarfs us.

LOL! I was going to put Werthers, but I figured noone would get where I was going with it. Werther's Originals. The preferred hard candy of creepy old men in cardigans! <tosses newspaper over dish of Werther's on desk>

Meh: Travel Channel Features the Rock Hall/Cleveland - Tomorrow Night (4/23) Cleveland, OH- The Travel Channel's MADE IN AMERICA with John Ratzenberger will feature the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum as one of America's iconic structures tomorrow night at 9:30 p.m. In addition to profiling the sought-after products of American manufacturers, season five segments feature some of the country's most fascinating American-made wonders including the Sears Tower in Chicago, the General Jackson Showboat in Nashville, the Twin Span Bridge in New Orleans, Seattle's Space Needle, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Marathon Oil Company in Garyville, LA and the Cable Car system San Francisco. Ratzenberger takes viewers along for rare, behind-the-scenes tours of these iconic American-made structures. Equipping viewers with insightful, insider information, he reveals the fascinating stories behind how they were built and how they continue to operate today. Tune in tomorrow night as Cleveland and the Rock Hall are featured at just the right time to encourage people around the country to visit Northeast Ohio this spring and summer! "I grew up in a manufacturing town with a deep appreciation for the ingenuity and craftsmanship that goes into creating an American-made product. Now I travel all over this country, searching for what makes America great - and what great Americans make. You know what? I find it everywhere I go," says Ratzenberger.