MissinOhio

Youngstown has a noticeable Syrian and Lebanese population, too. They have opened up some spectacular restaurants in the area. I am all for welcoming in the refugees to NEO. I believe it was Dayton that had been recognized for its Turkish population and how they (immigrants) came in opening businesses and investing in the neighborhoods they settled in. Northern Ohio in particular has a decent sized Middle Eastern population. Hopefully we can get that message across to refugees and migrants that there is a place here for them.

The few times I am jealous of Detroit.... Wish we had some of those awesome high rises in Cleveland Why "few" times? Detroit is kicking Cleveland's butt in terms of development IMO. Their convention center just got a major renovation, their new arena district neighborhood is going full steam ahead, and they have had countless historic renovations of highrises that Cleveland could only dream of at this point. It's not just talk in Detroit like it is in Cleveland, things are being discussed and they are getting BUILT. Over the last ten years they have actually put money into their riverfront while Cleveland's lakefront discusses plans like they have for decades. Midtown is booming, and all up and down Woodward you see large investment in part thanks to the new M1 rail underconstruction. Detroit has a lot of problems, but Cleveland does too. I have been tired of watching Cleveland take years to figure out what they are going to do with big projects just for them to stall out. I have watched people here in Youngstown stop going to Cleveland and enjoy the Pittsburgh renaissance that has occurred in that city. I will be leaving NE Ohio in the beginning of 2016 and was very optimistic about Cleveland's future when I first moved back four years ago, but I have watched other cities make even more impressive comebacks, including Detroit. Being in cities like Milwaukee, St. Louis, and other Rust Belt cities you realize how much longer Cleveland can continue to neglect so many developments that would propel the city forward. Detroit is certainly coming back, and in a big way.

What I am liking about this park along the river is the talk of linking this with not only areas downtown, but Youngstown State and Millcreek Park (Riverside Gardens specifically).

One thing I will agree with you here is that US Bank Arena is a POS. With that said, I can actually say I have been to Cincinnati recently, but I can bet you haven't been to Cleveland. Just around Cleveland's practically brand new convention center are multiple hotels that overlook it, with two currently underconstruction right beside it. Not to mention countless others within walking distance and others underconstruction as well. You also can easily walk to entertainment areas like the Warehouse District and the Gateway District/East Fourth. I would say Cleveland is a bit more prepared to handle a convention over Cincinnati right now. So yes, believe it or not Cleveland... CLEVELAND, does pretty well at hosting events.

The scary thing about Ohio's job situation right now (and scarier that John Kasich is going to try and paint it as some sort of success story) is that while other states are seeing complete job recoveries from the recession and a growing workforce, Ohio is so far behind the pack and only getting further. Ohio lost almost 2,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate stayed at 5.2%: http://www.ohio.com/business/ohio-unemployment-rate-holds-steady-even-as-jobs-fall-1.609132 Look at the pathetic "recover" Ohio has made: http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST390000000000006?data_tool=XGtable I have been back in Ohio for about 3 years now, but it looks like I will be trying to find a job somewhere in another region of the country come December. So while Kasich announces his bid to run for president, it will not take much for people to dig up how bad Ohio's economy really is.

Sioux City has seen better days, as other smaller cities in Iowa have. But I was impressed with Des Moines and Iowa City, and Davenport and Cedar Rapids seemed to have made great progress since the floods of 2008. Des Moines is certainly one of the more underrated cities in its population range. Downtown Des Moines had a nice compact central area, but the parking lots on the southern edge of downtown were massive. East Village across the river seems to have a bit going for it, but is broken up by a lot of surface lots and didn't seem to have a main street where all the restaurants were located, instead spread out about the neighborhood. The city seems to be focusing on these surface lots and filling them in at a decent clip. Iowa offers more than some of the other central states, IMO.

That is one beautiful building. Buffered from the road with a surface parking lot on both sides, and those concrete panels should add a nice splash of color.

Any idea what level the elevator cores are currently at? Can't be much more to go.

I was actually going to say this (the roads). From my experience, Cleveland has the worst roads of any major city in the country. For a state that puts absolutely no money into its other forms of transportation, Ohio has horrible roads (wasn't a joy in Cincinnati, either). It is really interesting, too, when you visit cities like you did (Milwaukee, St. Louis) you realize just how far behind Ohio cities are in their turnarounds. Great set!

Got this email at work today from Heritage Ohio:

Well I will consider two things regarding Illinois: 1. Ohio has been growing faster than Illinois from the 2010 census up through 2014. 2. The state of Illinois is a financial mess, and judging by their current credit rating, things don't look to be getting better anytime soon. I also wouldn't put much into population growth when it comes to where companies are based. You have pretty powerful companies in states like Ohio or New York which are slower growing states, but they have still managed (for years) to stay ahead of more quickly growing states in terms of fortune 500 based companies. New York still beats Florida, and Ohio beats North Carolina. The fortune 500 list changes drastically year-over-year no matter how fast a state is growing. I would be interested in seeing all 50 states and where they rank for 2014. Here's an interesting chart: http://www.ceo.com/entrepreneurial_ceo/two-charts-showing-states-with-the-most-fortune-500-companies/

Glad that Mooney is staying in the city limits at its current campus. Last week the school started its $5 million renovation: http://www.vindy.com/news/2015/may/29/m-mooney-renovation-gets-underway/

Looks like another shooting and murder occurred in Cincinnati last night. Wonder what the murder count is at so far?

Where exactly on 118th will this be? I was looking at imagery and can't figure out where there is space to put this. FWIW, while looking at the imagery (I am getting the buildings/etc in 3D on Google Maps) this seems pretty recent. The amount of construction going on in this part of University Circle alone is crazy, let alone expanding out and looking at the rest of the city and the fresh dirt you see being moved around.

The Reds look like s***. I was looking forward to the series this weekend with the Indians, but I am not as optimistic as I once was.

CVS buys Omnicare: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-21/cvs-to-buy-omnicare-in-12-7-billion-deal-for-pharmacy-expansion-i9y39jub I am curious what this would mean for Cincinnati. I am not too familiar with these buyouts. Does this mean Cincinnati loses a fortune 500 company? Will jobs be lost? Maybe these are questions that can't be answered now, but I hope this doesn't result in a negative for downtown or the city.

I get Freshwater Cleveland emails at work every now and then. I caught one that talked about growing ridership, improvements to existing stations and how this is spurring growth in Uptown, as well as projects like Intesa. http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/features/RTA051315.aspx

SouthPark, Great Northern? LUXURY? What is your definition of "luxury"? There is nothing "luxury" about SP or GN! NOTHING! Where the hell did I say they were luxury? Move along...

SouthPark, Great Northern?

Well that was a big jump!

No.

I am working with Columbiana County's land bank and I knew about the Tanfastic Building and the Rosetti building coming down, but the Butler is new news, unfortunately. The Tanfastic Building was not meant to come down until October, and plans were just coming to fruition on figuring out how to fill in the missing tooth once the building was gone. We reached out to Heritage Ohio and Salem was just putting together grant work for their Main Street program. I met with the director of the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center based in Salem about a month ago, as well as the chair of the historical society, and there are plans to re-zone the area around Salem's business district to follow historical guidelines. This building was in really bad shape, and the Rosetti building had a weak west facing wall which is why it is coming down. The Butler I had last heard was in good shape and the chamber of commerce was looking to move in there. It is a shame to see these buildings come down as Salem has a nicely dense business district. There are some good organizations in place in the city for development, but it looks like it is too late to save this section of downtown.

I saw someone mentioned this over on City Data about St. Louis' MSA and their population decline. Of course, it's Wikipedia so I am not sure how accurate it is. Looks like Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus all posted growth. MSA change between 2010-2014 Columbus: 4.87% Cincinnati: 1.65% Cleveland: 0.63% http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas

A lot has been happening in downtown Youngstown in recent months. There are proposals to put an Ampitheater and add a 15-acre riverfront park between the South Avenue bridge and west of the Market Street bridge. The Amiptheater talk seems to be pushing this riverfront park proposal forward and the Ampitheater itself would be located on the southeast section of the Covelli Centre which has seen a very successful 2014. http://www.vindy.com/news/2015/apr/01/youngstown-panel-to-review-proposals-for/ George Guarnieri opened The 5th Floor Restaurant in the Commerce Building on April 2. It's a great space: http://businessjournaldaily.com/the-fifth-floor-restaurant-opens-april-2-in-commerce-building/ According to NYO's site, the Wick Tower has an August opening date when residents can start moving in. The Wells Building is also undergoing renovation where Strollo Architects will have their offices on the ground floor, and 12 apartments on the building's upper floors. The Wells Building is expected to wrap up construction in September. I am in the Phelps Building on Youngstown State's campus and I always catch articles of interest from the school's Jambar. It looks like they plan to resurface Wick Avenue from the Madison Avenue Expressway down to the Wick Avenue bridge. They also plan to resurface Lincoln Avenue through YSU's campus and redo the sidewalks along both streets while burying the utility lines. Looks like this work will not start until Spring 2016. I need to get updated on the Stambaugh Building's conversion to a DoubleTree hotel from Dominic Marchionda. I also enjoyed this article from Huntington, West Virginia which praised former Youngstown mayor Jay Williams for his work in helping Youngstown diversify its economy and helped build the foundations for the success that Youngstown is currently seeing. http://www.statejournal.com/story/28697460/federal-official-praises-huntington-development-plans

Just out of curiosity, how does a city market itself to out-of-towners who are already there? I understand the need for a marketing and coordination entity like Destination Cleveland but I've travelled a good deal and have never gotten the impression, even in the most "successful" cities, that anyone cared who I was or why I was there - even remotely, and I didn't expect them to. Our yearly murder count has hovered around 100 for the past couple years. As in all other cities of the western world, the per capita violent crime rate is a fraction of what it was when it peaked in the mid 90s and has steadily declined since. Market was the wrong word. I should have said showcase the city to the out-of-towners who otherwise wouldn't be visiting Cleveland. I can't tell you how many times I have met people who wouldn't have gone to Cleveland, but left having nothing but positive things to say about the city and had planned another visit. I took friends from Orlando up about two months ago and we walked past The 9 and they were amazing by the big city atmosphere. Their exact words were "we do not have anything like this in Florida" because there were people all over the sidewalks and waiting to cross the streets, traffic backed up on East 9th, a streetwall (is that a word?) of buildings up and down 9th and Euclid, and a range of architecture and activities. There's no doubt Cleveland is one of the most underrated cities in the country that can compete with the bigger markets, and I like what Destination Cleveland does, but I think they can do more. I just believe from what I have heard (and seen myself when I went to CSU) Cleveland needs to prepare better for big events that come and are coming to the city. I just wonder with the incident outside of the Wyndham, the group of people who were discussed in the Plain Dealer article, were they a group from out of town who witnessed this? It's just frustrating sometimes.