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I don't know if you follow the news in Cleveland, but bribery of building inspectors is hardly a China-specific problem.

What you've seen done over the past couple decades was the brain child of essentially one woman, Fannie Lewis. Whatever master plan guided development in Hough existed only in her head. Without her, it is hard to know what the future of Hough will actually be. I did not know that. Maybe one person can make a difference, even if it's an ugly suburban diference. I can't help believing that the future of Hough is ours to decide. A change in direction seems paramount. Renovating League Park is a big part of that. I don't think density and transit, as per the photo, are unreasonable expectations. But until the zoning code is changed to ban Solon and require urbanity, more Solon is the only reasonable expectation... because it's mandatory. IIRC, the setbacks of the "townhouse" debacle between Euclid and Chester were somehow required by code. This sort of travesty need not be repeated. If I had a time machine, I'd go back about 10-15 years and get a variance for that development. One piece of paper, timely filed, could have improved today's Hough dramatically.

I want to know what that sounded like.

The city seems determined to rebuild Hough in a very different manner than what's shown in that picture.

I think that's correct, no assembly takes place in the US. The most significant operation I know of is Bombardier's in Quebec.

We're talking about the space across from Flanery's, right? Filling that in would be beautiful.

Whatever the law is on DUI, it should be the same for cell phone use... especially if typing is involved. I don't think anyone can seriously claim .08 BAC is more dangerous than driving while you're doing office work.

Good. I like this change.

Speaking of which, I was a witness to their ballot fraud this weekend. A COAST petitioner told me two distinct lies while attempting to get me to sign his petition. Is there anyone I can call about this? Their signature tactics are obviously illegal, but I have no idea to whom to report it. Try the Hamilton County Board of Elections and the Ohio Secretary of State. The SoS has authority over all of this. You could also contact Cleveland State University's Center for Election Integrity.

This came up in the Sprawl of it All thread a couple weeks ago. Short verson from my perspective: Cleveland and Pittsburgh made different choices about their historic building stock, particularly of the mixed-use and neighborhood retail variety. At the time Cleveland seemed more "progressive" by tearing it all down, but hindsight has favored Pittsburgh's approach. I think Pittsburgh's hills get more credit than they deserve in this equation. Plenty of flatter industrial cities also retain more intact neighborhoods than Cleveland. P.S. Excellent photo essay.

Jimmy seems to think that bribery and extortion are the essence of governance, and if he were right, then yes he's being persecuted. But he's wrong, and he's not being persecuted. He's being removed. Then hopefully he's being arrested. The community and the democratic party both need this to happen.

Yao Ming is done... maybe all of next season, maybe longer. Unfortunate. It reminds me of Z's story. Looks like Ferry made the right call going with Shaq. http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2009/06/houston_rockets_star_center_ya.html

The red line still features RTA's embarassing female robot voice, explaining connections to nonexistent bus routes on the opposite side of town from where it's headed. For example, there no longer is a 326 route. Somebody has got to inform the robot voice. Better yet, the most cost-effective solution would be to just turn the thing off. It malfunctions the majority of the time-- everywhere it's installed-- and it still sounds awful when it's working perfectly.

I support the texting ban and would support a talking-while-driving ban too. But I hate when they claim it's not about money. And I hate when visitors are greeted with signs explaining how aggressive our traffic laws are. "Welcome to Cleveland, founded 1796... prepare to be scrutinized."

I shall investigate. Those buildings don't look bad at all, if we're thinking of the same ones.

I lived on Belmar (N of Mayfield) some years back and I got robbed there... so I agree with your assessment of the area. However, this is a newer building and it might fit my budget. Most of Coventry exceeds my budget. Do you know of any 1br places south of Mayfield one could get for around $500? As mentioned above, a lot of these places need work and I'd be concerned that taking one at the very bottom of the market is just asking for trouble. The one I had before was $575 and tiny, on the wrong side of Mayfield, overrun with mice, and had a toilet that barely worked. Most of the units I looked at before taking that one cost more and looked worse.

What do people think of Lake Park Tower? It's that hi rise on Superior just north of the Coventry area. I believe it's in East Cleveland, so that's one issue right there. But has anyone been inside? How's the maintenance? How's the management?

I really like the new look and the 1st floor setup. However, the price seems a little high for a studio in that particular area, even with all the amenities thrown in.

I agree with jam40jeff's analysis on rape. The death penalty is another tough issue. I tend to doubt its effectiveness for two reasons: 1) It's targeted at people who aren't motivated by legal consequences, and 2) We're trying to discourage taking violent revenge, trying to demonstrate that it's wrong. This is a losing fight if our tactics include taking violent revenge. It tells everyone that society sees value in this tactic, despite all claims to the contrary.

It is not uncommon for important places to have police assigned to guard them round the clock. In fact it's unbelievably common, if I'm hearing you right. I am aware of several such instances within Cleveland city limits, although entities other than CPD provide the necessary manpower. But in each case the location is important enough to guard, so it's guarded. Period. If you want an area secured, you assign staff to stay there and provide security. That is exactly how it's done, all around us, every day. I don't understand how my suggestion that we guard important areas like Wade Lagoon could be interpreted to mean that I expect every inch of city to be covered in this manner. That makes no sense. But neither does assuming that a police officer's natural place is in his cruiser, which it isn't and never has been. I never thought the idea of having people guard important places seemed so ludicrous or so impossible. It is neither. And anyone who didn't think crime could happen on the steps of this particular art museum missed a pretty big story about a bombing.

I have never suggested that teens be profiled. The cops would be there to prevent rapes from happening in broad daylight, not to harass every teen who walks by. I assume we can all perceive the difference between those two courses of action. The procedure manual would go something like this: Kids walking by, not raping anyone: Smile and nod. Note their presence. Lady being attacked in front of museum: Aggressively intervene! The idea is that if police are constantly observing the area, and something happens in that area which we all clearly think should not be allowed to happen there, the police will see it as it develops and will take action. I find it hard to believe that it is physically impossble to secure the front of a museum. And if the police are assigned to guard the front of the museum, why are we talking about what happens after they idly wander off? They get fired, that's what happens.

That is precisely why I want the police out of their cruisers. They're very unlikely to see anything take place while sitting in their car seats, let alone while they're driving and focused on the road ahead. Are you guys aware they can watch DVDs in their cruisers? Unless something has changed recently, they can. Again, if regular average citizens are supposed to prevent violent crime, then regular average citizens need more firepower. I agree that neighbors should look out for each other, and should testify in court when they see something, but it is not legal for private citizens to match force with force. The law assumes reasonable access to police protection, which we don't have here. The law does not allow what you're suggesting. Whether it should be changed, to allow for more vigilante action, is debatable and I don't know where I'd come down on it. Just like downtown retail, active policing is a change we have to make BEFORE we can expect to see people out walking the streets. I am amazed by the idea that we can start making positive changes only AFTER we have magically refilled the city with willing inhabitants and visitors. We're blaming them for making rational decisions to avoid places that lack safety and shopping. The market is waiting for these changes to take place BEFORE it takes Cleveland seriously again.

Political killings don't seem very random to me. Those people were chosen as victims for specific reasons, and that doesn't seem likely in the case at hand. I don't think patrolling every alley and streetcorner is necessary. You've heard of dark alleys being scary, and we can probably agree they'll always be scary, but it's a little strange to apply the same thinking to Wade Lagoon at 11am. Come on. This is a place we need to guard, period. The stakes are too high for us not to. Same goes for downtown, same goes for a handful of intersections and commercial strips throughout the city. It is not asking too much to ask for those areas, where we expect and encourage pedestrian traffic, to receive police protection. The majority of the city's alleys and intersections are residential, and I would agree that we neither can nor should have police watching all of them.

The Cleveland Blues vintage baseball team plans to make League Park their home by the end of this season. Last Saturday they played a split doubleheader at Lakewood Park and the new stadium in Avon. The Blues are actually Cleveland's second team in that league... maybe League Park could house them and the Forest Citys. A little league tournament at League Park would be great too. It would also be helpful if CSU would drop the idea of building a competing facility only a mile or two away.

That does seem like a strange place for a race track. I'm very much pro-racing, but it's not appropriate for urban settings. Not at all. I'm surprised anyone is serious about doing this. Not even Indianapolis has a track this close to their statehouse rotunda.