Clevelander17

That's the problem, he can't get anyone to follow him to Cleveland. If basketball season was in the summer, maybe a typical NBA player would want to live in Ohio 7-8 months out of the year, but not October-March. He's gone, he's going to Miami.. He couldn't get free agents to come here before because they didn't know that he himself was committed (see Trevor Ariza). Bosh has delusions of grandeur about turning into a celebrity in a big market, which is why he wanted to go to a place like Miami. However other solid guys like Mike Miller, David Lee, heck even a Chris Paul, would probably have no problem playing here assuming LeBron makes a commitment. That's why it's so important for LeBron to sign a six year deal if he stays here. Doing so would really make Cleveland more attractive to potential free agents.

I don't want them to give up JJ and Andy, but boy do I really want Bosh. Maybe it's just the optimist in me, but I believe that LBJ can convince Bosh to come to Cleveland.

That Germany-Spain game should be quite the matchup.

Woodland Cemetery has some great views of the entire city.

I strongly support pushing the closing time back to 4am and allowing for liquor sales on Sunday. I even support lowering the drinking age to 18 or 19, but that's probably not possible because of the way that MADD has ensured that the Federal government blackmail states into having a 21 year old drinking age by threatening to withhold highway funds.

The Netherlands haven't won before, but they've finished second on two occasions. But you're right, I consider this a very minor upset because the Dutch are ranked in the top five in all of the world soccer polls.

Awesome! ODOT can't clear the snow off of the roads in the winter, but they waste no time in taking down these banners!

Technically we have 26 months, but I guess they'd have to have a guarantee that it would be up by then. Is the cruiseship-docking idea feasible or a joke?

I don't think we need to wait around for a day that may never come. Let's throw our hat into the ring and hopefully land one of these big events. This is the second straight election cycle that one of the parties has deemed our fair city as being worthy of being a finalist, so we must be doing something right. Hopefully this time we get the event, and with or without a bunch of new construction, I think we can emphasize our strengths and put a positive spin on our weaknesses.

I would argue the opposite: public schools suffer from major diseconomies of scale from corruption, loss of sense of community, and many other factors that can only be witnessed in very large educational institutions. Maybe it's my bias as a product of a small public school speaking, but I have never seen a high-quality unified school district. Frankly, every city has areas that can do without fantastic public education at the ready, and those who don't need such services tend to live in those areas. In our city, the problem we need to overcome is that of public safety, which forces someone like me to live in an area with decent public schools even though I have no future plans to utilize the public education system. I graduated from a midsized, exurban high school that was the product of the consolidation of several rural school districts about a generation earlier (about 900 students in 9-12 when I was there). I think that that consolidation worked out well. However, I think that different problems beset urban consolidations and rural consolidations. Independently, they'd never have had the resources to offer even the modest honors curriculum that they did, and even that wasn't much. That said, merging a trio of 200-400 person high schools to make a 900-person one isn't in the same league with merging enough districts to create a super-district with 50,000+ in high school alone, to say nothing of PK-8 education. Interesting that you would bring that up, as I remember reading a study a while back that discussed how rural school districts saw the most benefit from merging with neighbors and that urban/suburban districts gained little. Though, I've said this before and I'll say it again: I'm not in favor of a county-wide school district merger, but I do think that of the 33 districts in Cuyahoga County, we could benefit from some small-scale mergers of similar, adjacent districts, and perhaps we could cut that number in half or down to a third. For instance, I think that Cleveland Heights-University Heights should look into a merger with South Euclid-Lyndhurst and Richmond Heights, and maybe Shaker Heights and Beachwood, though I doubt the latter two would consider it under any circumstance.

I think schools are the excuse for the move. I went to school in one of the western suburbs and I witnessed the same sh*t that only supposedly happens in cleveland. I mean how far away do you move? People are in alot of denial in the burbs because it's "their" kids Not with the frequency and acceptance of which it happens in Cleveland you didn't. There's no denial in graduation rates and test scores. CMSD isn't under academic probation because the kids can't learn, the teachers can't teach, or the buildings aren't modern enough. They're under academic probation because the environment they live in outside of school doesn't continue or enhance the education they receive while at school, basically nullifying anything productive they do while at school. Great points all around, which is why whenever someone tries to make the argument that Solon has the best schools in the area I laugh, because it's not about the schools or the teachers, it's about the kids and their families. Solon has the best of the "d" word that I'm not allowed to say on here.

And maybe in the process give the Federal government and people around the country an idea of just how serious of a problem the country's older, urban centers are facing. Although I guess it's easier for those in office to pretend that every city looks like Charlotte.

Awesome news! I think we were a finalist for the 2008 Republican Convention. Seeing Charlotte on that list makes me nervous.

We could go on and on about whose perception of the city is closer to reality. I don't think it really matters, I still spend time there and will continue to do so unless something drastic happens to change my opinion. However the fact remains that the city has serious problems that seem to get worse with each passing year, and its viability as an entertainment attraction to middle- and upper-class outsiders (which is a nice niche for the city since middle class families aren't choosing to live there anymore) takes a hit every time something like this happens. Whether or not you are threatened by such near riots such as the one that happened last week isn't entirely relevant--if you decide that a moderate risk such as that isn't a big deal for yourself or your family, that's your prerogative. However as a citizen, you should be concerned about the general reputation of the city and how it is affected by newsworthy events like these, that seem to have every other month or so. The truth is that things like this don't happen at the Orange Jubilee or Solon Home Days, so please stop trying to gloss it over. This and other newsworthy "crime events" are simply a reflection of the growing crime problem in the city, even if most of them don't make the news. We're arguing in circles here so I'll simply leave you with this. It is not in your best interest to downplay the problems that the city has. There are too many people (like yourself, I'm afraid) in Cleveland Heights who seem all too willing to enable this type of behavior. It doesn't matter if they were teenagers. These young thugs turn into adult thugs who, at their worst, shoot each other at bars and kill police officers, and many of the ones that aren't going to that extreme are riding around the neighborhood booming their car systems and dealing drugs. I hate to say it, but I think you need a reality check. If I recall, you've already found it necessary to have your kid avoid the CH schools. That's how it begins for a lot of people. Next perhaps one day you'll wake up and realize that it's necessary to leave the city altogether. Maybe CCW isn't your cup of tea, but that doesn't mean that you can't acknowledge the problem and can't fight back against this crap in other ways.

The system is extremely flawed with the way one is suspended by an anonymous moderator (or administrator, who cares, let's no nitpick) and not given a chance to state their side of the story or even read responses. Clearly the meaning of a term in my post was misinterpreted and I wasn't given the benefit of the doubt like some on here. Conspiracy, bias, I don't know, nor do I really care, I was suspended unfairly for a second time, and that's the bottom line.

I'm sure glad that you can so flippantly brush the incident off as if it's a non-issue. While things like that may not scare you off, you better damn well believe that there are undoubtedly dozens of families that will not be returning to the Coventry Street Fair the next time it is held, and countless other potential visitors will simply look elsewhere for summer entertainment. You seem to fail to grasp simply how damaging these types of crime stories are to Cleveland Heights. Sure there are some that blow things out of proportion, but let's get real, perception of the city and reality really aren't that far off. Except for certain folks who will continue to visit the city no matter what, Cleveland Heights' continuously growing negative reputation is going to keep dissuading people from spending time there.

You still haven't answered my question about what good a weapon would have done the artist that got shot in Tremont. I don't know the specifics of the situation to answer the question. But the idea is that simply the possibility existing that a thug or group of thugs might get injured or kill would act as a deterrent. In some situations, sure, the fact that one is armed isn't going to make a difference. But in a lot of situations, it will. Just because it's not 100% effective doesn't mean that it wouldn't work.

Well-documented to anyone who isn't blinded by their own biases. :laugh: It's not an assumption based on anything but reality. But it's okay, even if there are crime problems in Coventry Village, you've got plenty of cops around to protect you. Well, of course the ones that aren't writing parking tickets or setting up speed traps. And the ones that aren't medically unfit for service. Hmmm, maybe CCW isn't looking so bad after all... By the way, there is nothing about Beachwood that I find appealing except for its low taxes, which of course is only made possible by the fact that they've hoarded a large chunk of the business tax base in Northeast Ohio. But nice strawman argument.

You know exactly what that means! :roll: Funny how one of the boards biggest rule-breakers can misinterpret what my statement meant and it gets me suspended for a week. When I use the word "demographics," it refers to a number of factors, race simply being just ONE of them. Other factors that correlate strongly with educational attainment include family income, family education history, and family structure. But of course you and some others here (including some overly sensitive moderators who can't seem to do their jobs in an unbiased manner) are way too quick to assume the worst. It isn't all about race--some of the same issues affect schools in Southeast Ohio, which is why you never Athens High School on such lists--and those schools are mostly white. I'll say it again, this board is leaps and bounds better than others for discussing these types of things as they relate to Ohio, but there is a big problem when we can't have a discussion in a mature manner without someone being offended by misinterpreting a statement, which leads to a suspension by some anonymous moderator who isn't even available for an explanation.

Why? So he can make sure to squeeze every ounce of attention and praise in all of the cities during his "tour"? This whole situation is almost unprecedented in sports. Dude lacks character.

Santana is already tearing it up. He's going to be a star.

Depends on the time of day. Coventry's problems are well-documented, though of course can't be talked about here without earning one a week-long suspension. And Tremont, from all indications, requires much more caution.

There's no denying that the reason the Heights Schools have a bad perception is because of the demographic changes. I have no doubt that the teachers are good and they work hard, but they're dealing with many troubled students. The types of families who used to send their kids to the schools aren't doing it anymore, if they're even staying in the Heights (which obviously many aren't). If I had kids now, I'd have a hard time justifying sending them to the Heights Schools past elementary school because of the problems and atmosphere generated by the demographics changes. And bringing this full circle, the Newsweek rankings are stacked against schools like Cleveland Heights with unfavorable demographics. And by the way, Heights Schools present situation could very well be Shaker's future. If Shaker isn't on the list this year, it could be a reflection of a trend in that school district, as well.

With each day that passes, LeBron James exposes himself as being more and more selfish. I'm really getting tired of his schtick. He's really too good to pick up the phone for Izzo?

Mizzou makes more sense for the Big Ten than Kansas in my opinion, but I don't see that happening now because it looks like the Big XII is going to be sticking together. In fact, it looks like there won't be any more conference expansion at this point, so probably no Notre Dame joining the Big Ten, either.