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There's no reason those workers can't build other things, like railroads, and there's no reason a contractor must profit from it. If we're going to make work, and I think we should, there are endless possibilities.

There have always been lots of ads for beer and pop too, but not because people fail to drink them. There's money to be made in trucks these days. I prefer cars myself, bigger cars, I hate compacts... so I think the real victim here is me. Bring back my pimp-mobiles!

It's a good to see the ethics rules enforced vigorously, and he did screw up, but I agree this is a big pile of nothing in terms of actual corruption. Whether he'd had abstained or not would have made zero difference. Even without Cimperman in office, LAND is pretty much the only outside party the city trusts to shepherd big projects of this nature through. Not at all the same thing as public officials steering contract to shadowy consultants or contractors with murky ownership. it's not the same thing as steering contracts to shadowy consultants or contrators - LAND Studio & Park Works are non-profit, right? Salaries at legitimate businesses are the way this is often done. It doesn't have to involve a company that sounds like Grifter & Sons Garbage Cartage. well that didn't take long - you just compared a non-profit parks designer to a mob outfit. Congrats How is that relevant? Non-profit parks designers shouldn't have government officials in their pockets.

It's a good to see the ethics rules enforced vigorously, and he did screw up, but I agree this is a big pile of nothing in terms of actual corruption. Whether he'd had abstained or not would have made zero difference. Even without Cimperman in office, LAND is pretty much the only outside party the city trusts to shepherd big projects of this nature through. Not at all the same thing as public officials steering contract to shadowy consultants or contractors with murky ownership. it's not the same thing as steering contracts to shadowy consultants or contrators - LAND Studio & Park Works are non-profit, right? Salaries at legitimate businesses are the way this is often done. It doesn't have to involve a company that sounds like Grifter & Sons Garbage Cartage.

Taller. When the road is dominated by SUV's, everybody at traditional car height is effectively blinded.

It helps to have a market interested in that sort of thing. What we think of as compact is considered midsize in Asia. Their economy cars are practically coffins on wheels, a category we just don't have. Over there you might even see a family of 4 on a scooter. The tail isn't wagging the dog on this, Americans really do like their big bulbous trucky things.

City policy was steered toward LAND's specialty, which happens to be greenspace. Think of all the parks that have been torn up and replaced with different parks during his time in power.

Demand for those is high enough they can soak people for big margins. Compacts are sold at cost and GM is down to a single shift in Lordstown producing theirs. Ford moved domestic compact production to Mexico a few years ago.

IIRC the big Taurus factory is in Chicago.

Tower City was a big deal in the early 90s. IMO it was the catalyst that first got people interested in living downtown. But I'm not sure I would use "boom" to describe that period or this one. A healthy city is going to have some degree of construction and renovation happening all the time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Tower_(San_Francisco) Why risk it? This one is 645 feet and it sounds like they used a hybrid approach but did not anchor to bedrock.

Multi-family means more than just high rises. Cleveland has been averse to it for a long time and still is. Not just averse but hostile, different groups for different reasons. Since 2000 we've seen extensive single-family construction-- including big areas right by downtown, which is absolute nonsense-- while modest multi-family proposals face pushback again and again. We have to want it before we can get it. That is a threshold matter.

I once attended a Cleveland Heights zoning meeting where an attorney from Pittsburgh complained about having to stop at every possible light on Mayfield. City officials said that was intentional because they wanted her to go shopping. Problem is, her only purpose for being on Mayfield was to arrive at a zoning meeting, and their plan for her ran counter to that purpose.

^^ Trump did not capture all those Obama districts by emphasizing conservatism like these people are. Instead he adopted specific leftist positions that were calculated to appeal in those districts.

Trump would be a nightmare to drink with. Smug, hostile, grabby... you can't take him anywhere.

Attention Mr. Litt: Greenspace is not architecture. It is a lack thereof.

So which populist candidates are we concerned with? Kucinich I understand but you indicated GOP specifically. I'm not saying hard right and populist can't mix, it seems more common in Europe, but I don't see much of that mix around here. That's what I'm getting at. Anti-government rhetoric does not a populist make. Populism and Ayn Rand corporatism are practically opposites.

Increased density along the lines isn't entirely an RTA issue, but yeah I'd like to see that too. The more jobs that are accessible via the rail lines, the more impetus there will be to live near them. We have two Amazon job centers on the way that really ought to be rail accessible. Our system heads straight toward both of them but fails to reach them. In the case of the blue line, it gets tantalizingly close but RTA put a new parking deck in the way of any possible extension. Thousands of jobs are located just beyond the reach of every one of our rail lines.

What do we mean by Populist? I wouldn't call Taylor that.

This bike problem has been relentless. Is it possible to lay down semi-permanent spike strips?

I think the declining ridership is a function of the outages and service cuts. People can only use the system if it meets their performance requirements. We never needed brick bus stops on Clifton, we never needed any STJ transit center. We need crosstown routes and we need circulators. Bigger picture and longer term, the rail system absolutely must extend its reach to remain viable. Obviously maintenance comes first, and obviously the funding situation has to change.

I'm glad there was a cop!

The Vox article says she is pursuing the Trump crowd, which means she has to be anti-establishment even if that makes no sense for her. I don't think she has much of a chance. DeWine is a big name and she isn't. Seems like the Syria story has put a damper on Kucinich too, though I haven't seen recent polling. So it's Cordray vs DeWine... a pair of low-charisma moderates who would probably both be solid governors.

Demolition is our plan right now. I'm glad we're seeing some zoning reform and better project proposals in the last couple years, so I'm less worried about the rebuild process than I used to be, but I still think our historic building stock is criminally undervalued.

Dubai is planning one right now that will dwarf the monster they already have. So is Riyadh. What happens when their oil runs out, or when climate change makes that region uninhabitable? Part of me wants to be there to hear the boom when one of those things falls.