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There is no bar in the 1800 block of Euclid. Do they mean Becky's? It's never struck me as a fightin' bar.

Me too! This neighborhood could match any in the world for easy living. I could go for one more live music venue, but there's a bunch just down the road.

That was my big fear about this project all along. I hope this doesn't become the new Scranton Peninsula. Unless you mean duration-wise, it already is. We now have two of them. This is the kind if project where the feds should say to PNC /Key/Fifth/Huntington you get money IF AND ONLY IF... in fact, why can't they do that? Here's a chance for Dennis! to show up LaTourette.

They should not have been allowed to tear anything down until they had a deal in place.

Gramm-Leach-Bliley went through because congress was convinced that our banks were too small and fractured to compete with overseas megabanks. It looks like the same thinking continues.

This merger idea sucks, but having either one close down would be even worse. I reiterate that we cannot afford to lose the auto industry, specifically THIS auto industry. Supposing others come in to fill the gap after one of the big 3 crashes, there is no way they'll be opening anything in the rust belt. It'll be California, Alabama, Texas, etc... Our region is not forever tied to the big 3, but at this moment we definitely are. Boot the management, scale back the brands, invest in efficiency, do whatever we have to do but they cannot be allowed to fail at this juncture.

People who live a good distance from Pittsburgh claim to be from Pittsburgh, while people from Beachwood say they're from Beachwood. Not across the board but it's a notable tendancy. The anti-urban mindset didn't take over Pittsburgh like it did here. Sir2gees makes a good point about sports success-- it does draw people together, and we could use some of that. My belief is that the people who fixed sports so the patriots could win after 9/11, followed by the red sox, white sox, and probably phillies breaking their "curses," are saving up a good one for us. Maybe a trifecta.

I just got a coat there, super cheap!

Jetdog, thank you. I've benefited from the officers' discretion in the past...

Latourette had me a little riled on the private-property-trumps-great-lakes thing, but he did a great job on DoD and he's doing a great job here. We can't have most of NCB HQ losing their jobs just because a few powerful people screwed up. In general, I don't understand how the feds are helping the big picture by facilitating mass layoffs. We need stronger cities more than we need stronger banks.

If RTA wants people to respect the system then the system needs to respect people. Right now it's overmanaged. It shouldn't take 5 minutes or multiple traffic cycles to get a walk light. If there's obviously nobody coming, there shouldn't be a penalty for crossing one lane of an empty street, regardless of lights. Nor should there be a penalty for cars sensibly turning right on red. RTA should not be imposing its judgment on everyone's every move just because Euclid is involved. Attempting to do so is creating unnecessary PR challenges. Sometimes, crossing at crosswalks at the same time parallel traffic goes green can be more dangerous than crossing when the cross traffic is green but nonexistent. The unfortunate ubiquity of no-turn-on-red for Euclid means that cars are chomping at the bit to turn right when their light finally does change-- they've been waiting a long time for a short light. They don't always see pedestrians, yet they were told by the light they could go. When somebody is making a right-on-red decision, they're more likely to look around because they're taking the responsibility and the initiative. Instead, we have a system that aggressively purports to control everyone's every move, and then sets them up for collisions. Letting cars turn right on red would mean that when the walk sign goes on, the car next to you is more likely to go straight instead of turning into you. If you (the pedestrian) hesitate and the car beats you to the punch, you're likely to miss the walk sign altogether and wait another several minutes. If the cars turning right let a few pedestrians go first, the same thing happens to them-- they miss their opening and wait thru another looooong cycle. As does everyone behind them, who may have just wanted to go straight. There will always be idiots jumping in front of buses. But there always have been. The average Clevelander, whether on foot or in a car, has good enough judgment to determine when it's safe to go. Allowing them to do so is not only respectful, it improves traffic flow by letting each person make the most efficient move at the most effective time.

For review, the east and west transit centers are intended to relieve bus congestion on public square, right? Has there been a decision about where the west center will be?

Lakewood-- better living for less rent!

Facilitating the closure of an economic anchor in an already depressed area doens't seem like sound recovery policy. But ever since Gramm-Leach-Bliley passed the goal has been consolidation of the financial sector. They're plowing ahead with it unabated. Every bit of severance pay allotted for the captains of these scuttled ships should be split among those getting laid off. When the people who caused the problem don't get held accountable, it gives the impression that nothing has been learned from all this.

If they really do come every 5 minutes as the signs advertise, they won't have to be that big inside.

Rode it this morning, pleasant overall. Two buses showed up together. The signal preemption was not happening, so I guess they aren't turning it on until the fare machines are up.

^^Yes!

I agree. Chew gum or drink coffee. I have about 500 3-packs of orbit gum laying around my office and homes. I chew gum until I fall asleep so I wont drink coffee or a coke. Aren't you the one whose avatar used to be a Starbucks IV?

^^Whoops... missed that. I always wondered what used to be on that site.

Where on Euclid was this Sahara?

We don't need to revert from the service economy, it's doing that all on its own. How can China truly be lower in the pecking order when we owe them zillions? They've been loaning us all of our goods, with interest. We are not wearing the pants in that relationship. If we want to remain "above" manufacturing for another 10 years, we'll owe them another zillion. We can make stuff, or we can not make stuff, but we can't all sell each other insurance anymore and call that a national economy. Service presupposes industry as its basis. Finance what? Insure what? Write code to accomplish what? None of these are ends in themselves. Certain sectors will always be indispensible-- health care, government, agriculture, etc. But I'm aghast when people say the hospital is the new factory. That's a hollow economy, it's the snake eating itself.

Yes, we must make stuff. Specifically trains and alternative energy equipment, but everything else too. Basic things we use everyday that are all Chinese now. I'm not pooping on biotech here, I just doubt it has the employment or export potential of heavy manufacturing. It's like all we can build now is hospitals. Are we that sick? I know this sounds reactionary but I think we need to get back to basics. The presence of solid bread & butter industry will spawn more opportunities for the high-end stuff. Yes we've had a brain drain overall, but a disproportionate segment of the talent left around here knows how to build things. That knowledge base hasn't vanished yet. If we screw around another 20 years it will. All of the forces that took manufacturing out of here need to be met head on. It may require some protectionism. China couldn't build up their industrial sector without it and neither will we. It will require direct investment by the government. Tons of it. The treasure of the nation is held fallow now by the few and that can't be a barrier any longer. They've had their say. It's time to recognize that some mass theft has taken place. Not just money but time. We need to undo Reaganomics and proceed as if it never happened. We were on the right track beforehand. We'd be on Mars by now. Instead we spent all our energy spreading ourselves thin in a postindustrial suburban nightmare. Let's pick up where we left off before. All the tools are still there, plus we have computers & cell phones. It makes no sense that we all just have to sit here and wait for improvement to be announced from Wall Street. How can a few hundred bankers just shut the whole world down?

Good. I was gonna puke if I saw one more business put up some flappity banner instead of a real sign.

If that's the new courthouse, what becomes of the tall building in the background? Isn't that the current courthouse?

That is awesome, congratulations!