327

First Merit put a lot of money into renovating it, right before they got bought out.

I've been supportive of the color scheme, but one thing I noticed today is that it blends so well with the BP building that Beacon will be invisible from the east.

I've been hearing radio ads for a pickup truck with "the most powerful steering wheel in its class." What?

I hope buses will stop at the actual hospital once it's moved back from the road, instead of dropping people on the wrong side of the greenspace.

It was. And there were a lot more tenants when it was there.

I'm with you but not every party can take place within a couple blocks of High Street. Crocker Park is similar to Easton, at least context-wise, and it has lots of nightlife. The whole point of these lifestyle centers is fake urban living.

Regarding demo, I'll take any good news I can get.

Metrohealth has not indicated that they intend to manage recreation facilities as part of this plan. Maybe it is pessimistic to assume this greenspace will be closed to the public, as MH hasn't indicated that either, although that is exactly what happened to Public Square after its terraforming was complete.

That stuff all costs money to maintain, even more than grass does. This will be a bunch of grass and you won't be allowed to walk on it. Let alone play baseball. The only neighborhood problem it will solve is lack of ornamental grass, which does not seem like it should be a top priority.

You make some good points. I think downtown retail still plays a critical role in making a city function. I suppose none of it needs to be in this structure, although it's no coincidence that so much of it was located near the rail hub long before it was converted into a mall. Of course it's been years since Tower City had much retail to offer. So when you lived downtown, where did you shop? Amazon? Steelyard Commons? The suburbs?

It looks like there should be a parallel tower there, like Reserve Square.

I love the sign on the wall that just says "WORK"

That's not what happened with Progressive, for example. Don't be so quick to deploy the market purity argument. Alternative tax schemes were just being discussed upthread. There's plenty of evidence that the downtown Cleveland office market has been distorted over the years by a handful of misguided people and misguided policies. Maybe it is time to change the parking tax. Maybe it's also time to review the city's efforts at making itself liveable, time to consider new approaches. That discussion might belong in a different thread, but it absolutely impacts the future of the Jacobs Public Square Lot. You just said yourself that the desirability of living here is an important factor.

Wow. You're certain there's no other factor involved, given how many corporate HQs have been built in the Greater Cleveland suburbs since the 1990s??

Stark's efforts over the years have been pretty visible, including the failures. What covert efforts of FCE and Jacobs have we been missing? You make them sound like Rocky Balboa. When Tower City still had a McDonalds it charged about 50% more than any other McDonalds, and panhandlers would go from table to table unabated. I think it makes sense to hold out for a proposal that fits this lot's location. Who knows why it's taking so long, but without further info we shouldn't assume the owner has been grunting and straining for decades to make something happen. It's safe to assume they were in on the Amazon proposal. Maybe Jacobs would rather someone else puts a deal together, maybe that's been their approach all along. Why waste the effort when the lot is profitable as is?

It would be strange NOT to encounter people from different states in a city of this size. The bottom end of the local economy is still disintegrating as we speak, as are lower class neighborhoods throughout the city and inner ring.

So just one side of Woodhill? That's odd.

There's no good way to measure what they're claiming to measure. The physical condition of the city is more telling than any of these made-up stats.

I piggyback off my friend's service so I don't know. It's only a few bucks, he tells me, every time I offer to split the bill. I just assumed the video access came with Prime and specific channels are a little extra.

I get HBO and Showtime on demand through Amazon Prime and a Roku box. It's all streaming so there might be a small delay from "real time" but it's so much cheaper.

I agree on the need for reform. But the PD office would need to hire a ton of new staff to cover everything that assigned counsel covers now... for meager pay and no benefits. Other counties use assigned counsel too but Cuyahoga is notable for barely paying us. And yet there's always money to pay for all these court staffs, just like there's always money to pay for all the admin of all these little suburbs.

The only thing you mentioned that does not vary by courtroom is booking, which usually varies by police agency. In many local courts, public defenders are chosen and arranged for by individual judges. I know that because I am one. Bail procedures can be unrecognizable from room to room. Costs can be waived at the judge's discretion.

Most of the things you mention there are under the control of individual judges and can vary wildly from room to room within the same building. Bear in mind that this only comes into play in courts that have more than one judge; most muni courts don't. But it's observable when they do. I agree that we'd be better off consolidating the courts, just like we'd be better off consolidating other aspects of government. But much of the variation you describe would still exist, so long as individual judges maintain the power they currently have.

It serves as proof of concept for those locally who equate mergers with terrorism. Gotta start somewhere and luckily we already have. Didn't say it was perfect or ideal, far from it. But there's often more variation between judges in the same court than there is between courts.

That's not how it works with judges. Some of the most lenient are Republicans and vice versa. Courts in Republican areas do charge higher fees and costs though-- especially Berea, holy smokes. They're not any tougher on crime, they're just greedy.