archangel

A shift is definitely coming. I doubt there will be more than a token gain by 2020, and the City of Cleveland may still lose people...but the region will recover, so long as none of the anchor employers implode. Still needs better job growth to ensure it's a real trend, though. The population will definitely become better younger and better educated, but it's not a sure thing that the population will actually become larger, too. So many factors to consider - I'd love to see Cleveland's population trend get a workup from Nate Silver or another big data guy.

Great job and congrats on the house.

Sorry, I was unclear - the Ireland thing is bottom line focused. The move was probably lifestyle focused. If it benefits them financially, I don't know how. Employee satisfaction, maybe?

I get the resentment towards companies like Eaton that abandon downtown for other places, and for the tax maneuvering, but what do you want them to do? Eaton is run by a pretty bottom-line focused group of execs, which is hardly unusual, they never particularly benefited from being downtown, and the tax benefits are obvious. We can whine about it being unpatriotic to stash profits offshore, and the corporations can trot out lawyers and execs to complain about being complained about, and nothing changes - unless we reform the corporate tax code. It was an election issue, briefly, and has been forgotten. I had hoped it would be part of the fiscal cliff compromise, but it wasn't. It's mind-blowing that this hasn't happened. There are obvious, clear, benefits for all parties involved - it would have a real impact on companies doing this sort of thing. It is not cheap to do, it is very complicated, expensive, and troublesome, but when you can recoup that expense in just a few years, yeah, you're gonna do it. By the way, I've been to Eaton's new place - it's awesome. Nobody there is pining away for downtown or desperately wishing they'd somehow located in the Flats. They had extra room to throw up their own A Loft and a fitness center, everyone gets free parking, scenic grounds, etc, etc. I'm not defending Eaton for either decision and I'd prefer they'd have gone downtown with a fancy new HQ, but I have trouble imagining how they would be convinced to act differently.

Who greenlights stupid populist ideas like this? Who are the democratic strategists, and can they possibly be this bad? Or is there some exceptional Nate Silver math that states ideas like this will produce more votes than they will lose? This strikes me as a 'In Weird News...' type of headline that will be roundly mocked by Deadspin, ESPN, and others, which is not what you want as part of a gubernatorial campaign. In political campaigns, both sides have two narratives. Why Our Guy Is Good, and Why Your Guy Is Not Good. Here, and elsewhere, Ed Fitzgerald is writing his own counter-narrative for the Kasich campaign. I don't get it. Kasich, for all the things he's done to create opposition and resentment, has shown himself to be much better at politics - probably not a surprise given his experience. I increasingly get the sense that Ed Fitzgerald has something in common with Josh Mandel - he's been recruited by his party to run for an important office because he kinda-sorta fits the profile, and damn his shortcomings and whether he can actually win. He's the best they could find, so he gets the nod. And things like this make that blindingly clear.

Yes, they're an Irish company now that they've completed their merger with Cooper. That's what happens when a company reincorporates abroad for tax shelter reasons. It isn't limited to Cleveland and will continue happening, even if we do eventually overhaul the outdated tax code. Ireland and other locales, usually one or two per major region of the world, offer such an incredibly good deal that large international companies cannot pass it up.

LeBron won't come back, at least not this cycle. Maybe later, as a sentimental farewell tour for 2-3 years late in his career. If I'm wrong, awesome. I'll take LBJ back immediately. I like him. But he won't, so, bring on Wiggins.

Beating the Tigers is the best indication that the Indians have a chance. Divisional games matter more, and nobody else in the division matters more than Detroit. We're front-paged on ESPN right now, by the way, with a lovely pic of Asdrubal Cabrera prancing across the plate for the win: http://espn.go.com/mlb/

As much as I want Wiggins, I have to admit, all four teams that are still alive in the playoffs have a legit, real, top-caliber center, and that's what Embiid is. We won't get Love unless it's a sign-and-trade so there's an extension included. I don't think that's going to happen. We probably just draft Wiggins or Embiid and then go from there.

Simmons didn't trash Cleveland, he trashed the Cavs for being incompetent (fair) and the lottery for having the potential to produce absurd results (also fair). That said, TOO BAD. Go get Wiggins.

This was a fantastic set of pictures. Just awesome.

Every time I've voted in Cleveland, usually in the afternoon, the polling place has been dead and barely had anyone vote. I imagine there are busy stations somewhere, and I recall tons of people doing early voting downtown in 2012, but the non-Presidential elections are just ignored and highly subject to interest group dominance. Anyway, I'm not surprised it passed, I was never very enthusiastic about either option but I commend the opposition for drawing attention to the stupid subsidy system for increasingly expensive sports teams.

If nothing else, the Justice Center is functional, and the location makes sense because it's near the other courthouses. Unless there's a serious structural defect...well, other than the appearance. I'd actually be against blowing a lot of dollars on a new building just for the sake of a new building. If the functionality can be had for tens of millions less, do that, and build a new one in 10-15 years. Would want to see the specific cost comparison between reconfiguration and new construction - man, these are expensive.

There's a clothing store, next to Mitchell's, isn't there?

AT&T, eager to compete with Google Fiber, is considering rolling out its fiber network with 1 gigabit internet in 21 major metro areas, including Cleveland. Google is targeting a number of cities, but is currently not looking at Ohio. No guarantees of investment, but would be good to see local government encouraging this. http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/21/5636588/att-gigapower-gigabit-internet-service-exploring-100-cities-municipalities

Gottaplan, you can use imgur.com for free hosting. The gold standard, as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for the updates.

Both Uber and Lyft are operating in Cleveland now.

What Keith said. Plus, let Iowa Republican Senator Steve King explain it to you. Here's just a sampling from youtube when you search for steve king + immigration: no, it's not "what Keith said" or what Steve King said. It's what Obama promised to do and he's not doing. It's just an example of hypocrisy that doesn't seem to be subject to any accountability. I know this is a bit of a long article (and admittedly my interest in it was sparked because it profiled the situation in my hometown), but ultimately it's about what Hispanic leaders said and are saying about what is clearly an unfulfilled promise: "Janet Murguia, the president of the National Council of La Raza, the country’s largest Hispanic civil rights organization, joined a growing chorus of unions, religious groups and immigrant advocacy organizations that have labeled Mr. Obama the nation’s “deporter in chief,” and demanded that he make good on his promises to protect immigrant families from unfair removal policies. The pressure has prompted similar calls from leading congressional Democrats, including some of Mr. Obama’s closest allies, who are worried about, among other things, the impact deportations may have on Hispanic turnout in this year’s midterm elections." There is no accountability as regards federal immigration policy, legally, and politically, it's a short-term gamble. Obama takes it all on his shoulders because he's a lame duck President and the electorate is (probably?) unlikely to punish the entire Democratic party, trusting that the spotty/non-existent record and image of the GOP will push those voters to vote Dem anyway. The real risk is, as you quoted, that they won't vote at all. But if the GOP wants to seriously take advantage of this, well, why aren't they? As a disaffected former conservative, I've asked that question on numerous issues for years - oh, here's an opening, see how bad the Democrats are handling this? I remain unimpressed. There's no real winner in this issue, other than DHS/USCIS and other agencies that have gotten more federal funding to do all this enforcement.

Obama is playing tough guy on immigration because A) he can, and B) it gives him a better bargaining position to pass reform, not that the House will ever let him anyway. And you'd be surprised how many Obama voters don't give a flying whoop about deportations, and more importantly, how much flak he'd catch for being too lenient. So he goes all-out. Politics, pure and simple. I know some immigration lawyers, and they all say Obama's deportations are the worst they've seen, so I'd be interested to see the source you're referencing, Keith (I know you said not to ask, but... :) ) A lot of immigration policy is in the enforcement, because the federal government has a tremendous amount of leeway in how it interprets and enforces those laws - it's an exclusive power of the federal government with little judicial oversight. So I think it's a bit disingenous to say he's merely enforcing the law and leave it at that - there are plenty of technically legal enforcements of the law that can be lambasted in public for being unjust or unwise. Politics isn't a court of law. EDIT: I forgot to answer the original question. Republicans are demonized because they haven't made it a focus issue and because of tone-deaf ways of addressing the issue. There are plenty of them who would support reform if their constituents wouldn't go berserk and elect a tea party replacement if they did, and then there are some that are in left field believing that immigrants do nothing but steal jobs and commit crimes - not a ton of those, but they're very...visible. Obama wants to deny the extreme opposition their main focus, which is simply, "It's illegal, what is there to talk about?" So he 'merely' enforces the law and tries to change the conversation. It doesn't work because GOP half believes that reform is a bad idea and half is unwilling to give Obama/Dems a public image win before the midterm elections. It might happen in 2015, though - less for GOP to lose, especially if their chosen guy/gal for 2016 publicly supports it and it passes. But they'll probably wait until they've had their shot at retaking the Senate before they compromise. Like I said, people who work in immigration know that this administration has been incredibly draconian. And they'll still vote for Obama anyway. Politics.

Closing Huron East makes a lot of sense, actually. Delivery entrances are all on secondary streets nearby (I think?) and there's only a parking garage entrance to consider - and I think that one has an entrance on prospect, too. Interesting idea, but given that most of the buildings are still occupied, it's not as compelling a target for an MRN-like entity.

There's a lot of confidence in Brian Hoyer. I think he'll be passable, but the approach of building the entire team around him seems to be born of necessity and a best-player-available mindset. I think one of the top three QB prospects might be an upgrade on Hoyer, but maybe not immediately, and there's clearly a win-now mentality trickling down from Haslam. If it works, he'll be a genius, and Brian Hoyer might be the new Bernie Kosar, another QB with good ability, but not superstar ability, who proved a well-rounded team could win if they play smart. I'd draft Watkins or Clowney.

Hey - I'm a lawyer and I used to live here. Welcome to Cleveland and congrats on your job. OC is s a great place, especially for a single person in their 20s. It does get a bit loud on the weekends, so if that bothers you, you may want to look elsewhere. It's very safe, but I'd definitely pay for the gated parking - car damage seems to be a recurring theme in Ohio City. I never had a real safety issue the whole 2 years I lived there, even when going out and drinking. Very convenient. That neighborhood literally doubled in terms of bars/restaurants while I lived there, it was incredible to see happening. Traffic is no issue if you're going downtown. Five or six minutes. If you want to be ambitious, you could take the bus/rapid and avoid paying for parking, your firm might even subsidize your RTA card. Heading south to I-71 can be a pain during evening rush hour, but it's not bad. Management is great. Doug is a very good landlord - the best I've had. Very responsive and will go above and beyond. Good luck, feel free to PM me.

The Browns are rumored to be making a run at Tom Brady. No, it's not going to happen, but how often do I get to share a rumor like that? From: http://dawgpoundnation.com/

For god's sake, if anyone has interest in Jack, trade him.

TT and JV are statistically comparable but JV has not hit his ceiling, while TT is at least close to his - and TT is not a center, JV is, and we needed a center. TT has been ill-served by Mike Brown's scheme but he's not going to ever be a defensive centerpiece. JV could, and he's a true Center, which are increasingly rare. Until Grant was fired, I was never going to let that one go - I'd have gambled 10 times out of 10 on getting Jonas, and I'd do it again even knowing that TT would turn out significantly better than I expected. JV has played very well against veteran centers who are middle of the road type centers, like Robin Lopez, and he doesn't vanish against better guys like Brook Lopez and Demarcus Cousins - it takes a Roy Hibbert to shut down JV. It does not take that sort of talent to give TT a bad game. Again, Mike Brown has some fault there. As you can tell, I am a insane Valanciunas partisan and would even trade for him now if I could possibly acquire him. I believe he is championship caliber, not as a main contributor, but as supporting cast starter. If you gave me Irving, Deng, and Valanciunas, with a better coach...well, I want to believe. I know the drafts have been weak, but Grant started down a path by taking Thompson, and he's basically allowed himself to be guided the wrong way in every case since then, including with Waiters, who is a talented guy but a bad fit - and fit matters more than talent when you already have a star. I agree Irving was the absolute best pick to make and am strongly against trading him or letting him walk. He's a star and will continue to get better, this year not withstanding. But besides Irving and some developmental guys (Dellavedova, Bennett, Karasev) I would gut the roster to a man if I thought I could get a strong complement for Kyrie, and I'd trade Waiters, Clark, and Jack for less than they were worth. I would fire Mike Brown unless there's a dramatic turnaround by the end of the season and try and keep Luol Deng if I can, since we're now out of the LeBron-please-save-us sweepstakes.