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That probably is a big part of the answer. I would hope that contracts paying these failed execs zillion$ would be similarly scrapped or modified. There's plenty of manegerial talent available right now too. If these moves were proposed together, it might go down easier.

Two things: unlucky past experiences and a need to control my fate. Last month my whole world almost crashed when my roommate wanted to move out before we had originally agreed. Similar problem to the one you have right now, but worse for me at the time because of unique factors. If you like having roommates, even random ones, more power to you. It is a more economical way to live. But you can be left hi and dry at the most inopportune times.

Ari Maron deserves his own *I Love Cleveland* entry. I got to meet him once and thanked him for everything he's done, plus everything he's still doing. The Maron family's efforts have made this a much better place to live.

I agree, and I'm the one who started it. My recent approach has been to create new threads when broader issues become contentious in threads about specific projects. What you just described is the drawback of doing that. This thread started with me defending the appearance of the sports hall of fame sign. I explained my criteria for judging signs and provided counterexamples to illustrate. That itself become an issue, and here we are. Now I owe jpop two minutes.

I really wish WSM was the national iconic symbol of Cleveland instead of the R&RHoF. WSM makes an overwhelmigly positive impression on everyone who experiences it, and it legitimately makes bigger cities jealous.

At least he doesn't wear vinyl with a spotlight on it.

Thanks for the support, Mr. 7. Orthodoxy is a powerful force. It's true that everything on that laundry list of my shortcomings is an area in which I lack professional expertise. Then again, the reason I didn't pursue an urban planning degree was the amount of redundancy, at the class-by-class level, with what I have already studied. I imagine that's true for lots of other UO members who don't introduce themselves as urban planners or developers or city officials. That's not the point anyway. The point is that I just spent 4 years studying the law, yet a person who hasn't read book one about the law can still make valid arguments to me. They may develop a better way to solve a legal dilemma, because they aren't held back by the inertia of existing canon. They may even show me up with something they saw on TruTV. None of this devalues my training, nor does my training devalue that other person. And no, I do not think a banner with a spotlight on has anywhere near the impact of a solid 3-D backlit sign. Between that and their front door, "Sometimes in the Silence" has really crappified what might be the nicest facade in Ohio. Though yes I still prefer it to the alternative of having the building empty.

Being unarmed in a gunfight, or a knife fight, is not my idea of a good time. The essence of a mugging is to have one of these foisted upon you, unless you buy your way out of it. I think there is a difference between a man walking alone through a scary place and a woman doing it. Firearms close the self-defense gap considerably, but the woman is still more likely to be messed with. This sucks... and it may a key reason why new urbnanism appeals so much more to males at this point. I mean, the ratio on this forum does not reflect society at large.

Does AIG have a positive net present value?

"Elsewhere on the site, there would be no sky over the trail, only the underside of a parking garage." Great way to end the article.

Waterslide.

There has to be a "deal" (contract) first before interference can be claimed. True. But deal is a relative term. That's what I meant by long story short they have nothing. You don't need a written contract for interference, or even a formal agreement. I know this because I got someone big bucks on an interference theory with none of that. Much stronger case though, than for FCE here. As they say, it has a lot to do with the judge's breakfast that morning, i.e. the law can be very random. All that said, I don't think FCE could accomplish anything on this through litigation. And their PR would suffer for trying it.

They need to sell the mall portion to or partner with a company like simon to manage it. Thats part of the problem, the mall is operating as an "independent" with little power. Partnering with Simon or Macerich would help the mall tremendously. It has to be more then just a mall it has to be thee mall! Add some housing, ad a hip hotel. That would help immediately. The housing doesn't have to be luxury but mid level with upper or corner luxury units. Add a Palamor, Helix Rosewood or Westin hotel and tha could help revive your "ailing" mall. That's the ticket.

Hts is right, an injunction seems very unlikely. Hypothetically... Bob and Betty aren't the government. Any government decision made in a secret meeting is void. This doesn't apply to land deals, so it's borderline frivolous to use it here. Though it could be said that this is more than a land deal. I don't know how that would go. They could claim that a fraud of some sort is being perpetrated on the county, but standing could be tricky, hence the possible "taxpayer action." That would also keep FCE's questionable role out of the spotlight. Their biggest problem is they have nothing on MMPI. MMPI does equal Bob and Betty, and they can live where they want. That leaves the city or county as targets, who are both generally immune to lawsuits. In a non-governmental situation FCE could sue for business interference. It's illegal to mess up someone else's deal. But long story short, they have nothing there either, and it would be useless against the mall's owner anyway.

FCE has presented their case up down left and right, several times over. They should focus on developing Scranton peninsula. Leave MM/CC to the professionals, the ones who said they want it at the mall. Considering how funny the whole process has looked so far, and all of FCE's apparent machinations, I wouldn't want this in court if I were them.

For the most part, but the problem exists for me to complain about, so somebody must disagree. I drove by Luxe this morning, hoping to have a newfound appreciation for their sign. Nay. Although I can now see how it's different and why people like it. My main issue is that it lacks nighttime impact, and this is supposed to be a nascent entertainment district.

I can't imagine the basis. Who do you think they will use, Squires,Sanders and Dempsey? or Jones Day? Dewey, Screwem and Howe? I don't want to give them any ideas. There may have some potential bases. Most of these would probably be defeated by sovereign immunity, because their cause of action would be against the county. In the end the government can basically do what it wants where it wants.

In the Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame thread.

One could say that about a lot of people. You're attacking the straw man that "no one else uses vinyl/mesh banners." You'll always win that argument but who's taking the other side I don't know. I'm talking frequencies and percentages, and have been all along. I think the example Willyboy posted was an intentional joke, considering that I was talking about commercial districts and that appears to be a giant institutional building. None of the same standards or expectations apply. In fact, that's the sort of use I'd say banners are appropriate for. In this thread, as with all threads, I will continue attempting to discuss ideas, rather than evaluating individuals. I may get blustery but I do my best not to get personal.

Geez, all I did was fall behind on dishes!

Me too. Let's do this thing.

I am honored to have been criticzed by the likes of you. But seriously, I think design standards matter and Cleveland too often falls short. I think good urban design standards are readily observable in several well-branded regional neighborhoods. Only a couple of these are in the Cleveland area and sadly none are in Cleveland proper. I would count E4th as well-branded but it's one block of one street, and it's very very new. Point is, these ideas are not my own. It's like the Far Side comic where the cavemen are all holding their food in the fire barehanded, but the one guy uses a stick, and another guy points and says "Look what Zog do." In our case, Zog doesn't let major developments go up with materials and designs that would not pass muster in other nearby cities. We should observe design standards in cities generally considered more competitive and adopt similar ones here. If you think we should we should build everything going forward with poured concrete and polyvinyl carbonated pastel flubber, with flippity-floppity invisible-at-night signs to match, may all your dreams come true. In Orlando.

What do you mean "we're to poor"?? You are really reading way to much into this. If the city/CDB don't have a problem with a business using an awning in this manner, why do you? If it's that much of an issue, become an investor in that business and layout a plan for improvement. I'm not saying that to be mean, but your argument is way off base. What other cities do is irrelevant in this nature. And why would someone make fun of us over a sign? Hell I'm sure that tacky "welcome to Las Vegas" sign was deemed tacky at once and now its a tourist draw. What other cities do is entirely relevant when we're in competition with them, which we are. By "we're too poor" I mean that when I ask why we can't utilize the strategy Cincy uses to get retail downtown, we can't afford it. When I ask why we don't have stricter design standards in showpiece districts, we can't afford it. In both cases, I think we can't afford not to. If we can't afford to compete we're better off following the Youngstown 2010 plan and bulldozing half the city. Do it right or don't do it at all. Drive around successful urban neighborhoods and take notes. If they have brick we need brick, not vinyl. If they have backlit signs or painted wood signs, we need those too, not vinyl. I have met the enemy and he is vinyl. Don't ask me to evaluate the city's position on this if you want to hear anything nice. It is and has been their job to make sure we keep the pace and don't become a non-competitive national joke. Fail. Next!

Two br is always a better deal. But no offense, if I'm paying that much to have a roommate, we're talking about a serious girlfriend. For $1000/month you could have a decent 2br house of your own. It may be difficult to find people in the roommate-having stage of life who are able to spend that kind of money on an apartment. I had a similar problem recently and found that decent roommates are very hard to come by once you hit 30. I would first try to find someone through work or through friends, someone who is "pre-screened" as much as possible. You could also check out colleges like Notre Dame or John Carroll. They often have roommate bulletin boards.

Who cares what counties it passed in, when the population is concentrated in a handful of them. We've been offered a lot of terrible casino setups, worse each time. The last couple have been ridiculous. They're right that the state's cut is paramount in evaluating a proposal.