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One thing MTS and I have in common is our distaste for lists that malign Cleveland, even if only in their intros. And if these same folks put Cleveland on this same list last year... then they misled that poor girl from BW, didn't they?

Certainly not inappropriate to post, and certainly not inappropriate to question or criticize.

Was it something I said? I obviously found this interesting, and similarly appreciated Jeffrey's review of the categories. I'm still planning on reading the full report this weekend. EDIT: OK I've read the d@mn intro section, which is where most of the typography info seems to appear. Jeffrey's summation was spot on, and the authors did go out of their way to be even handed. My criticism was overly harsh. But aside from the tone, my points stand unchanged. StrapHanger's more moderate take really nailed it. Thin and vague, little insight. An example: "Pittsburgh and St. Louis still specialize in non-auto-related manufacturing sectors that remained relatively steady over the 2000s. These characteristics have kept Skilled Anchors demographically more vibrant than other parts of the North..." I'm not sure where they're getting this, and there's no citation to explain it. What sort of manufacturing do they mean? Now that would be useful to know. St. Louis has a huge automotive sector, I know because I've dealt with it. I guess the best way I can put it is that the report is too ambitious. It's making points supported by missing data and it's painting in some really broad strokes. I like a lot of what it's saying, but most of it rehashes stuff we've been talking about here for years. I shall read on, and maybe the thread stays open long enough for me to eat crow.

Good call. I've lived in & around Cleveland for years, and my "average rent" has been well below any of the numbers in this list. And I hope sales and customer service are not really considered proper jobs for a college graduate. "Sales" is repeated for every entry, as if we're supposed to say "oh wow, if I move to Arkabama I might be able to get into sales!" Sales jobs exist everywhere. Many are straight-commission, which isn't the best thing for people beginning their careers, who may be short on business contacts and high on student loans. And some of these jobs are the dreaded "list off all your relatives, and start calling them about Merrill Lynch" type jobs.

I'll give it a look. And I'm sure they have great data points, but we're talking about the typology listed above. Does the full report disown or contradict this typology in some way? I've provided concrete reasons why I believe Cleveland was detrimentally mislabeled, and there are several threads here discussing the effect this type of thing has on our community. I don't care who they are. And they don't appear to care what Cleveland is. After reading the report, if I find that I'm off base here, I'll gladly admit it.

The part where I'm still confused is why all these support systems are necessary for high speed rail, but low speed rail is expected to flourish without them. It seems to me that the more desirable product or service would require less support, not more support, than the less desirable product or service. And I don't get why this incremental requirement is so steadfast for rail development yet so counterintuitive in other contexts. You don't use a hammer when you need a nailgun... well, you could, but there's no requirement that you do so unless you're in 6th grade shop class. When you go to buy an ATV they don't put you on a tricycle, ever, and when you go to a gun store they don't make you buy a revolver before you can have a semi-auto.

It doesn't help that "respected institutions" spread bad info about us unabated. [EDIT: This was particulary harsh. Who's that eatin that nasty food? Nasty me!]

I don't understand how demand could exist for low-speed rail but not high-speed rail in the same place and time, nor do I understand how demand for high-speed rail can be measured by a market's response to low-speed rail. That's like saying a new airline must first succeed with Ford Trimotors, in 2010, before it can use jets. I can't think of any other real-world parallel to this incremental concept. Perhaps Chevy-Pontiac-Olds-Buick-Cadillac, but that's no good in 2010 either. I just don't see much justification for purchasing technology and infrastructure that is not state-of-the-art. Ohio is not a third world country, and it's not a child, and we have no need to appreciate slow trains before we deserve fast ones. Right now, at this moment, Ohio deserves transit technology that is on par with China's.

They came awfully close to calling us the "rust belt," even if they didn't use that term. How else is one to interpret their "industrial core" category? They put Cleveland in the same boat as Detroit and Youngstown, neither of which contains anything similar to Ohio City or West Park, and neither of which has a mostly-occupied downtown like Cleveland does. Though they each feature several hospitals and a small state university campus, so does Cleveland... but neither Detroit nor Youngstown contains any approximation of the Cleveland Clinic or Case Western Reserve University. In more ways than one, Cleveland should have been grouped with Akron.

gotribe I respect your view, and you make some good points, but I just don't see that happening. I'm not sure a bank HQ is all that different from a health care facility in this regard. I don't think we can say that the majority of the workers at our hospitals are "quanrantined" in any way... certainly not before or after their shift, even if they are "quarantined" for lunch, and I'm not sure that's the case either. I would note that aside from the Clinic and UH, plenty of other massive east side employment centers (like Nela Park) have failed for decades to produce the effect you're describing. If we want visitors and pedestrian activity, we need to focus specifically on what interests visitors and pedestrians. Employment centers aren't it. Living close to work and eating lunch in nearby restaurants do not appear, on the evidence, to drive sufficient demand for neighborhood growth.

Agreed. To me this has about the same value as a Forbes list.

Agreed. A permanent casino in the Higbee building would help bridge the gap between E 4th and W 6th.

This was a very long time ago, but I researched this back in high school and found that many states (Pennsylvania in particular) simply make funding more of a state thing, rather than a local thing. This reduced the need for levies and reduced wealth-based discrepancies among districts, at least in terms of funding. Obviously other wealth-based discrepancies aren't as easily addressed.

"If you build it they will come" doesn't apply to everything one might build. Velodrome = good, corporate HQ = not bad but not helpful either. Unless you work there and have a security pass, you have no reason (or ability) to ever visit a bank HQ, therefore there's no reason to believe much spinoff development would occur nearby. Anyone who expected spinoff there does not understand what makes people want to visit and walk around and spend money in an area... i.e. what leads to "vibrancy." For the same reason, our plans for Euclid Ave will do nothing to add pedestrian life or spinoff retail. This velodrome, on the other hand, will draw people who want to spend time there. A people magnet. Open to all, it will welcome them in and create positive associations. That might actually help the area, which I agree is one of the city's most underrated.

We have a number of blank walls downtown that need banners. Love the idea of celebrating historic department stores.

Most aren't in jail for doing it but for selling it. Take away the illicit market. This would also do a number on those Mexican gangs. Most of the social damage caused by drugs results from the black market aspect. I don't condone crack and heroin, and I don't imagine that anyone lacking education and drive would be a high-functioning addict. But let's address the addiction problem by itself, on its own terms, after eliminating the black market. It doesn't help education when the highest paying job these kids ever see is crack dealer.

Charter schools do not "do better usually." A friend of mine was involved in an audit of the whole system, and says there's wide variation in their performance. A large number of them are outright scams. Unfortunately the private sector does not police itself very well. I don't think the drug reform idea is unrelated to schools at all. I fully agree that it would help address the broken family problem faced by many inner city students.

This plan is shaping up very nicely.

That's convenient enough, but Brookings is claiming that two different classes of economy exist within 30 miles of each other and share suburbs. I find this unlikely.

I don't understand putting Akron in a separate category from Cleveland, or even making it a separate entry.

Buckeye at 118th.

No doubt Lutheran is an asset. Same goes for Cleveland Clinic, but both create dead zones on their streets. I think Lutheran's impact could be lessened if parking were handled differently there, i.e. no surface lots fronting 25th street. Our "market district" abruptly ends 1/2 block north of Bridge. The entire strip would benefit from extending it to Detroit, perhaps with Lutheran parking structures behind new mixed-use blocks. There just isn't enough for critical mass as it stands now. Think of the views these new east-facing blocks could have if Riverview weren't there!

How far down Lorain and Detroit (and Bridge, and the west bank) would this BID go? If it includes all the commerial areas in Ohio City, maybe there's enough now to pull it off.

Aw man... everytime I see this thread, I think they're finally gonna build on top of it!

Housing, the housing is the problem. There are tons of jobs at nearby hospitals, universities and institutions... not to mention downtown, which isn't far... but those workers choose to live elsewhere. Some of them always will, no matter what's done to fix up the city. But if we provide some desirable urban housng in areas like Buckeye, where there's so much character and potential, some of those workers would give the area a shot. Don't forget, Buckeye is right around the corner from Shaker Square. And once you cross Moreland Blvd, Buckeye becomes South Woodland and features some badass mansions that have Shaker Country Club for a backyard.