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I happen to know that the Chesterfield is undergoing a large-scale extermination. Still not recommeded though, based on everything I've heard. Maybe it turns the corner in a year or so. At least they're addressing the bug issue.

Indeed. I was really hoping this would have a retail component. I like that it will at least acknowledge passers-by with the demos and video screens.

I go between Shaker Square and Lakewood a lot, and it's a solid 30 minutes. It's not easy on the clutch either. I don't think I'd want to do it daily.

Any of the places you listed initially would be a decent fit for you. Shaker Heights might be ideal, if you like older homes and don't mind higher taxes. If Highland Heights is involved you may want to focus on the east side. Crosstown commutes here aren't awful but they're no picnic.

Also consider that if you're going to use the transit system regularly, that's another $85 per month. At $700 you can probably find a suitable place downtown. Then you wouldn't have to worry about transit or driving, which seems ideal.

I think that's District 10, and I don't think this guy has a chance there. Or anywhere.

That price range does not fit well with downtown, and I've heard the same things you have about those buildings on 12th. Not recommended. Crittenden has studios for 500ish, I believe, but parking would be extra. I would check out Shaker Square and Lakewood. Both have a large variety of reasonable apartment options, are fairly close to downtown for driving, and have good transit access too.

This is prevalent throughout northeast Ohio. The difference from other parts of the state is somewhat striking. For example, US 422 in Geauga County is a 4-lane divided federal highway set at 45, with constant radar patrols by the sheriff's dept. Many 2-lane county farm roads in that area are 55, but not US 422. No no no. Another example is that massive boulevards which would be 50 in Toledo are 35 in Cleveland. Freeway traffic in Columbus is typically 10-20 mph faster than in Cleveland. This one may be more of a cultural thing. New Rome did so "well" because the rest of Columbus isn't that way at all, so everybody was like WTF.

I'm with KJP. Considering how long the move will take, it's best we get underway.

I was merely handcuffed to a church pew in said trailer, for a traffic violation.

Holy crap! How awesome.

Hire educated people, who don't have conflicts of interest? Perish the thought! It's sad when moral issues take a back seat to expediency. Mayor's courts cheapen the very concept of law, causing people to lose (more) faith in it. That cost should be accounted for somewhere. There are plenty of other ways to save money.

I know there's been considerable discussion, which is why I'm surprised it didn't make it into these ideas. But if they're assuming it's a done deal... that sounds like good news.

Evidently. What a strange letter for the PD to publish.

I generally agree, but I see the specifics differently. Local taxes need to come down and could be reduced substantially through regionalism. But consider that Ohio now has some of the lowest business taxes in the nation. Let's give that a chance to work, statewide. I believe it will. As for land use and labor laws, I don't think we'd see much net gain from moving those to the right as you suggest. Those are separate debates, more appropriate for their own threads... but as it relates to University Circle I will say that loose land-use controls have practically ruined it. Most everything that's been done there, and nearby, has moved it in an auto-oriented anti-pedestrian direction that has prevented it from becoming a high-quality example of what it fundamentally IS and must always be: the cultural center and second downtown of a major city.

Times have changed, and so have educational costs, but not in the same direction. On a smaller scale, the same imbalance exists with regard to trade schools. Some of those are flat-out ripoffs. Anything that advertises as much as they do can't be that sweet of a deal. The biggest savior for those without postsecondary education has been the housing boom. For quite a while it provided much better outcomes than college grads were seeing. Millions of garbage sprawly housing units went up, and profits were huge because the market was "bearing" prices for this crap which far outstripped its value. That's done, finished, over with. Or rather, it should be. Unfortunately decades of largess have given sprawl developers and contractors a lot of lobbying influence. So the legislature is constantly pressured to get the overpriced-sprawl industry back in action as soon as possible. I think we need to look at a different solution. Above all, our solution needs to be sustainable.

True. The difference here, I think, is the number of large cities mixed in.

The legislature should take a hard look at whether these municipalities ought to continue existing. New Rome is a great example. It was simply terminated, and reverted to being part of the township and county from whence it came.

Idea 13: Trolleys on Broad and High! I would rank that far above any bus system improvements. These other ideas are nice, especially major development around COSI, but other than that I really think a trolley system could outdo all of them combined.

We do need these things, but we also need them to not fail. Maybe this is another chicken/egg problem... drawing new business would stabilize the money issues, yet we need attractions to help promote the region for investment. This was the thinking behind Gateway and RRHOF in the 90s: if you build it, they will come. Of course our national economy since the 90s has not cooperated, so I'm hesitant to chalk up those efforts as failures. They've certainly helped build the downtown population and that's been our biggest success story in the past decade. In that sense they've been very effective, although that success didn't take place in a vaccuum. Would recent investments in E 4th and the WHD have taken place without the major projects of the 90s? I doubt it. One thing about UC's attractions is that many have a dated feel to them, and they don't compare favorably enough to counterparts in nearby cities to be any more than a regional draw. I mean, yeah, CMA is great, the best of the bunch, and it has some unique collections... but the same can be said (at least) for Toledo's. Pittsburgh's natural history museum is awfully nice. So is Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus. MOCA is getting ready to solve its visibility problem and represents a major upgrade. I don't think the superiority of our orchestra is debatable, but that's not something you can just go visit on a whim, like a museum is. Bearing all that in mind, I worry about the aquarium plans. On the good side there seems to be a regional need for one, but on the bad side the scale is such that it won't do much to set Cleveland apart. Quality over quantity. UC is unique in its tightly packed collection of features, so clearly that's what it needs to build on. But it also needs something more, because individually those features are only marginal draws. Above all it needs to focus on becoming an independent and fully-funtional urban neighborhood, like Pittsburgh's Oakland and the OSU area of Columbus. Then it can promote its advantages without having to defend its current shortcomings. Uptown is a big step in this direction.

Great thread! NE Ohio is littered with these surprisingly impressive downtowns. Barberton isn't even a county seat but look at the place. It rocks. And a little further out from Barberton is Doylestown, which also has a great downtown area. Geauga County has Middlefield, Lake County has Willoughby, Portage County has Garrettsville and Mantua (plus Kent and Hiram), Trumbull County has Niles and Girard and Newton Falls and Kinsman, Ashtabula County has Ashtabula, Lorain County has Lorain... these are just the counties which do NOT contain one of the region's major cities, and each also has their county seat in addition to what's listed. Add those elements back in and you get a sense of NE Ohio as a uniquely urban region. Imagine having all these downtowns connected by rail!

peabody99 I think I found that same street you did, while lost in Parma one day. It isn't all bad... but those aluminum-sided bungalow streets are dominant there. And not just there. Am I correct in remembering that these were how Forest City Enterprises made its fortune? At the same time, I can see where EC is coming from. Parma is like a time capsule of the 70s-80s, and for people of a certain age (mine) this is comforting.

When the cost of getting to "entry level" became outrageous, along with other costs of living. Wages have not kept up.

That's probably because of their loan balances, which often presume a middle class salary. Nobody goes to college to become lower class. That's easy enough to do w/o spending four years in training. Something is wrong if you have to borrow $25k to make $25k. The current college equation is untenable for too many people, and I don't mean poetry majors. A lot of finance grads end up at branch banks, which pay a lot less than one might think. That's fine if you got there free and clear but fewer and fewer people are able to do that.

Kinda basic, inoffensive. OKC deserves a signature building at this point. This one will do. I prefer Key Tower and Queen City Square.