sir2gees

^Good point. Pittsburgh's industrial economy bottomed out 20 years ago. In my opinion, Cleveland's industrial economy bottomed out at the end of the last recession.

^McCleveland, I totally agree. Yes, Cleveland has made some terrible decisions. I often wonder if our manufacturing base never disappeared would we be having this conservation about sprawl and urban development? I mean, when your losing its easy to find your mistakes. 327, you are right. There is a hell of a lot more pride in the metro Pittsburgh than Cleveland. I attribute that to the "woe-is-me" syndrome the hangs over NEO. Pittsburghers have one common thread the binds them and makes them proud: The Pittsburgh Steelers. I know this sounds trivial, but this stuff goes along way. Name one event over the last 40 years that NEO can rally around and say we're proud of? Nothing. Southwestern PA has had the same economic decline as us, but they also found pride in the Steelers. We can't hang our hat on anything. Our sports teams underperform, our city has lost population , we became the butt of national jokes, and the list goes on. Also, there are a lot of things NEO has that Southwestern PA doesn't have. Let's not make this into the typical Cleveland sucks and we need to be like xyz city. Yes, we have a lot of work to do, but there are still positive things about our region.

327, Homewood and East Liberty did go the way of Glenville and Collinwood. According to my wife, Pittsburgh does not have better than average race relations. Remember, Cleveland had the first African-American of a large city, and we are currently on our third. My mother-in-law is convinced the city of Pittsburgh would never elect an African-American mayor. In my opinion, the reason why we didn't see riots in Pittsburgh is because the city has a lot less African-Americans than Detroit or Cleveland. African-American culture is not nearly as strong in Pittsburgh as it is Cleveland and Detroit. I think Allegheny County has a little under 150,000 African-Americans compared to over 350,000 in Cuyahoga County and over one million in Wayne County. Like I said in my last post, African-Americans are scattered throughout Allegheny county rather than grouped on one side of town. Also, the topography in Pittsburgh made it much more difficult to sprawl than in Cleveland. Putting a freeway in Pittsburgh requires either building a tunnel or going over a hill, so I think Pittsburgh had to be anti-sprawl out of necessity rather then planning.

^ Exactly. I lived there for four years and my wife is from there. Pittsburgh has some advantages that helped it keep vibrant in some neighborhoods. Metro Pittsburgh does not offer the same kind of suburbs that surround Cleveland and Detroit . Therefore, Squirrel Hill is their Cleveland /Shaker Hts. I think the biggest thing is some of their poorer neighborhoods are small and scattered, rather than a whole side of town.

Pittsburgh's better street life has a lot do with different demographics and cultural factors than better planning. Pittsburgh did not experience the same amount of "white flight" during the 60's and 70's as Cleveland or Detroit. Take a drive around the Hill District, Wilkinsburgh, Homewood, parts of East Liberty, Duquesne and Rankin and you will see similarities with the East side of Cleveland. However, these neighborhoods are relatively small compared to the East side of Cleveland, and they're not clustered together. We want to compare Pittsburgh to Cleveland, when in all honesty they're not that similar. Detroit and Cleavland are more similar culturally, especially when it comes to African-American cultural.

^ You guys make some valid points.

^ I totally agree. In my opinion, it's a waste of resources and money. Bulldozing, rather than reinvesting in some of these areas, or figuring out ways to encourage growth, seems to be the easy way out. We're talking about cities that already have the capacity to support thousands of people. So, it's more economical to keep building new exburbs fifty miles from Phoenix or Atlanta rather than trying to encourage growth in Flint or Detroit? I equate failing regions of the country to a failing brand of a large corporation. Before you sell the brand, or just drop the brand altogether, the corporation should try to find value in the failing brand before giving up on it. In my opinion, this analogy applies to the industrial midwest.

^He said he was attending his niece's graduation from Shaker.

^ Thanks. It just feels like there hasn't been much said in almost a month.

What's the next step in the convention center process? Wasn't City Council supposed to vote on the sale in May, or did I miss something?

There is a generational gap when it comes to urban development. My parents live pretty close to the Chagrin Highlands. They were pretty excited about the potential move. I told them this was a shortsighted decision by Eaton, and the company would have a hard time attracting "talent." They looked at me like I was crazy. The first thing my mom said was the area offered ample parking and highway access. No matter what I said, my parents just didn't get it.

I usually don't read the comments on cleveland.com. However, I took a quick look, and once again I was amazed at the amount of ignorant comments. Most of these people have no idea what's going on downtown. It's really frustrating. Anyway, I really like this project. Hopefully, we hear some news about the Ameritrust Building.

I agree. The Cavs have several holes to fill; however, this idea that Lebron is not surrounded with talent wasn't an issue until this series. Orlando was the worst possible match up for the Cavs. This team went 76-20 this season, 45-4 at home, and I think 23-5 against the West. After last year's loss to the Celtics, Ferry went out and surrounded Lebron with players that match up well against Boston. Now, he has to go out and find a way to match up with Orlando.

^Did I miss something?

^I like the positive attitude. Remember the 2007 Cavs against the Pistons? How about last year? Lebron doesn't seem like the type of player that's going to rollover. I'm trying something new. Rather than using the "woe is me" Cleveland approach, I'm going to be positive until the series is over. Go Cavs!

^Exactly...I was going to say that, but I'm hoping they go cold tomorrow.

If you get a chance, read Brian Windhort's postgame blog. He lays out some very interesting stats about the series. Right now, the Magic are playing the best they could possibly play. Last night, they went 18 of 37 from beyond the arc. The first two games, they shot over 45% from beyond the arc. The Cavs have run into a team that is built to beat them. The Magic create some many match-up problems from the Cavs, on top of that, they're shooting 50% from the field. Think about it, Alston and Pietrus went 11 of 23 from three last night. How can you win?

This is a very smart move by Dan Gilbert.

I expect a much better game from Delonte and Mo. I don't see Orlando shooting 45% from beyond of the arc. As a team, I think they were just under 40% for the season.

Bench has to step it up. Also, Delonte and Mo went 10 for 30. They're in a dog fight now.

I started working out again after my younger bother, who is 23, said he was stronger than me because I was an old man (I'm 28). In January, I challenged him to a NFL combine bench competition (most reps at 225). I smoked his punk a$$. After we were done, I told him I had old man strength. Lol. Since then, I've been in the gym four days a week and I love it. Honestly, I feel guilty as hell when I can't make. I even get up at 5:45 somedays to workout.

^ Exactly. It seems like most of the NEO suburbs take the "us against the other NEO subrubs" approach rather than the "it's NEO against the world."

Who cares if they're not intriguing. Last time I checked, the have the best record in the league and have swept their last two opponents. "The 2010 debate may be the most interesting thing about them." Seriously, how about the fact they're 74-16 this season you moron, or how about they're the only team in history to win their first eight games by double digits. Just another stupid article by an arrogant New Yorker.

Varejao is a legit 6'10. He can do what Perkins did. He's a better overall defender than Perkins. Also, don't discount Z's length. It could be very disruptive against Howard if he keeps him from getting the ball too deep in the post. It's going to be difficult, but the Cavs frontcourt is much deeper than Boston's.

It's not Howard that concerns me. It's all about properly closing-out on their three-point shooters. Howard will get his 20 and 15. However, if you can limit Rashard Lewis and Turkulou, the are very beatable. In my opinion, Ben will probably match-up with Lewis more than Howard.