mu2010

Yeah, he just wants to go to Austin, has nothing to do with money.

Exactly. Going to Austin is a lateral move, Columbus and Austin are very similar size-wise. Demographics are similar too - Austin's median age is 34.4 and Columbus' is 35.6. The only big difference I see is Austin is more Hispanic and less white than Columbus. It doesn't have anything to do profitability or demographics, he is lying. What it has to do with is this guy has had his sight set on Austin from day one, and never gave Columbus or Ohio a chance, didn't know anything about us and was never interested. When really they are very comparable cities at the end of the day. I was never a huge fan of soccer or the Crew but I went to a handful of games when I was living in Cbus and I was always very impressed by the devotion of the diehard fans. The stadium was basic but it was fun, everybody banging on the metal bleachers making tons of noise. I also have always found Lamar Hunt to be an interesting character in American sports, founding the AFL and then MLS and the Crew. Ironically he was a Texan, but of course he and his family always treated Columbus well. These diehard fans deserve better. It's very rare that we have such a true villain as Precourt. He's just a snake who bought a team with the intention of stealing it. There is no other side of the story. At least Art Modell gave Cleveland his all for thirty years before he did what he did. Columbus til I die!

That is what I have always wanted and always felt we lacked. I was in Cbus for a few years after college and I felt that the neighborhoods off of North High Street (and a few other places) were better as traditional urban neighborhoods than what CLE has. Nicer stock of old homes there. Though Cleveland has its gems on streets like Clifton and Franklin, mostly there were a lot of cheap wooden houses built here back in the day. Cincy probably beats us too with OTR as well as some of the east side neighborhoods and the area around UC. (Though Cincy can be very disconnected due to hills creating large geographic barriers, it's truly a city made of separate villages.) However, Lakewood is probably the best traditional urban area of a significant size and population in the whole state, and Cleveland Heights also holds its own.

Saw it last night. Same complaints as last time. The Last Jedi, just like The Force Awakens, is an incredibly good execution of a bland rehash. The characters, the acting, the effects, all top notch. Kylo Ren's fall to the dark side was superbly done, much better than Anakin's was done in the prequels. The plot is good on a micro level but when we zoom out to the plot at a macro level of the saga as a whole, we are right back to a rebellion fighting an empire, rendering the entire events of the Original Trilogy to be pointless failures. They could have set their story in a whole new galactic situation, dealing with the infancy of a New Republic and new Jedi, and all the various evils that would come up and need to be dealt with to ensure it lasts. They could have had Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Kylo Ren, Rey, and Finn, all the same as they are but fighting in a new situation. Instead, in TFA, the New Republic is seen by Rebootin' JJ Abrams as a writing problem to be dealt with, so it is destroyed in a three minute sequence, in order to get the heroes back to being a desperate rebellion ASAP. Even before that happens, the military group associated with the Republic is called the "Resistance" and are scrappy underdogs, even though they are supported by the galactic government. Doesn't make sense. The writers are just trying to unoriginally, desperately follow the rebels/empire dynamic. Our heroes Luke, Leia, and Han die (or will die) sad and lonely deaths, having failed at their lives' goals. I can't wait until episodes Ten, Eleven, and Twelve, when the New New Republic, after a three year reign, is overthrown by a New New Empire with a New New Darth Vader. Jedi Master Rey, who had all of her apprentices killed by one who turned to the dark side, can go into hiding as the latest Last of the Jedi, until one lone voice in the galaxy, a New New Hope, calls out to her to be trained as a Jedi. Then, don't even get me started on the anticipation I have for Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen when we see the New New New Rebellion face off against the New New New New First Second Order with the New New Emperor. I know history repeats itself, and that's a theme in Star Wars, but it does not mean the exact same thing should happen every thirty years. Bottom line is, these movies took no risks and relied on a perfect execution of a reboot. The audiences love it so you can't blame them. But for those like me who appreciate the entire epic narrative arc, well, I think I prefer the prequels, which had a very flawed execution, but at least tried to add something new to the saga as a whole.

Love the idea of a commuter tax, how would you collect it?

I rode the substitute red line bus today, it's pretty crazy how many higher end restaurants etc have gone in on Detroit in just the two or three years since I first really explored the West Side.

That's sincerely great, but come on, you know that your neighbors aren't doing that. Most of our peers, the supposed downtown progressive yuppies who desire walkability, drive. Like the guy I met yesterday who lives on 6th and Euclid and works down by the Clinic and has never ridden the Healthline. Didn't even remember what it was called. I pressed him on it and he said he regularly travels to Boston and DC for work and walks and rides transit all the time in those cities, it's just not on his radar here in Cleveland. A lot of the downtown CLE population are people who used to live in large coastal cities and took transit all the time, are open to transit in theory, but moved back home, and have never set foot on an RTA vehicle let alone walk more than 10 blocks. I actually think I convinced this guy to try the HL, so there's hope, but it just doesn't reflect the current mindset here and most people just do what their peers do. Getting off topic, sorry. More condos please.

Thinking about this I'm kind of surprised Playhouse Square isn't planning on selling condo units in their tower.

The small sample size I think first of all makes it hard to get an idea if the property you're looking at is a good deal or a ripoff - a shortage like this can really drive prices up. He was just complaining about it the day before this article went up, he was showing me a unit in the building between W. 6th and W. 9th kind of behind the RTA headquarters. He's also looked at Stonebridge but I think yeah he'd just appreciate more options. I personally would argue that Stonebridge isn't even downtown - I doubt anyone who lives there walks to work or play downtown? They might Uber over on the weekends.

I currently share an apartment with a friend downtown, my roommate is dying to buy a condo but can't find anything.

I know some of you read MMM, here's his latest article about the math of driving for Uber: Mr. Money Mustache, UBER Driver “Hmm”, I would think to myself. “If this driver is burning through $30 of gas, (twelve gallons), they’re probably covering over 250 miles. Whether they realize it or not, it’s costing them $125 in direct car costs before even accounting to the damage to their health or the risk of injury. Thus, the net profit might be as low as $50 for a big day on the road, or five bucks an hour.” More: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2017/11/22/mr-money-mustache-uber-driver/

Warsh is one of those things that people say in many places, but everyone thinks it's local. Kind of like adding a possessive 's' to the names of stores like 'Kroger's' and 'Meijer's.' Or calling fizzy drinks 'pop.' When I was a kid I remember being told only Clevelanders called it that when in reality it's a huge swath of the country.

Cleveland.com says they called him and he confirmed it. ;D ;D ;D

I don't even understand his point. Is he somehow equating his own relationships with sexual assault? Sounds like he just wants to brag that he's been with 50 women lol

Hopkins is one the few assets that businesses have to use, that the suburbs can't [easily] steal. I say they should go ahead and shamelessly profit from it. Because the city owns the airport, I would think the county and/or suburbs would have zero say in what the funds are spent on.

As a rider, I would say it's mainly a farrrr smoother ride....? Obviously for investors and homebuyers and the like it brings certainty etc.

Busy commuter train stations probably are best off having retail which serves commuter's needs - that is, fast food, essential goods, grocery, drugstore, maybe a Target. Less destination shopping. That's not to say that Tower City has that kind of transit traffic, I'm just saying in general. They could try to downsize the mall, I guess.

I hope it can at least be an issue in the governor's race, then.

Even if it ultimately failed, it could be a great way to get attention for the issue. Simultaneous ballot measures in the other big metros would be even better.

Just knitpicking, but why exactly do people attribute these software advances to "contactless" technology? Whether you swipe a card or tap it is irrelevant, everything they are talking about could be done with swiping.

In theory why would it be any different than for national elections? Lack of money to do that stuff, OK, I get that, but polling is polling.

Guy I know in real estate told me that similar markets have supported 2% of the regional population in the CBD and we are still less than 1%. That is apparently the rationale for why they keep building. We'll see what happens. Also anecdotally a friend of mine who has been renting downtown has been looking to buy a condo there but hasn't found one he likes yet so he signed on another year lease.

^Substitute "street" for "interstate," and yeah I think you would have found very similar concerns back then.

Yeah I didn't mean to characterize it as a right-wing website, as a whole I agree with your characterization. The city subreddits just always were a lot like, the same type of discussions you'd find on city-data or the cleveland.com or cincinnati.com comments. And the alt-right is growing on the website especially after the whole trump thing. A lot of nerdy young STEM types on reddit who unfortunately can be drawn in to that whole worldview. ^Yeah, it's easy for those kind of guys get sucked right in since they think about technical details all the time rather than thinking about people. And for those guys it also has to do with trouble with dating and relating to women. The alt right preys on that and convinces guys that feminism and liberals and cultural shifts are the reason they have a hard time getting dates. That can be the gateway into it.

Is it fair to say that "urban dirt biking" = "drugs and gangs and crime?" Look, I don't know any urban dirt bikers, but it seems to me there is a legitimate hobby that's burgeoning here. Maybe some crossover with that other stuff but that's inevitable in these neighborhoods. But it reminds me of the way skateboarding was treated 15 years ago. Some places built skate parks and others sent their cops to chase punk teenagers because they were skating on ADA ramps and railings.