NEOBuckeye

Maybe there is hope yet for Polaris to become more dense and walkable overall.

The Dems are pretty fractured regionally around the state, compared to the GOP, so I'm placing a great deal of weight on candidates' standing within their respective regions as supported through media exposure. Whaley, as Dayton's mayor, tends to draw media coverage from Cincinnati, in addition to her home city, since Dayton and Cincinnati are fairly well-linked together. She's regularly featured in the Columbus press (Dispatch) as well. Beyond SW and Central Ohio, it's a different story, which is why I suggested she'll have to do some major outreach across the northern half of the state to boost her name recognition there and strengthen her hopes of being competitive for statewide office. There's no obvious leading candidate in the north. Betty Sutton as a Congresswoman represented the Akron area (OH-13) but she didn't get a great deal of exposure beyond it. Plus she's been out of elected office for a few years now, since being unseated by Tim Ryan. Outside of Akron and maybe Cleveland, she's virtually unknown anywhere else in the state. This is Renacci's predicament as well. Outside of the Akron area, and maybe the parts of the Cleveland and Canton areas his congressional district covers, no one else in the state really knows who he is. State Sen. Joe Schiavoni is the Dems' Senate Minority leader, and that has gotten him some additional exposure around the state beyond what he would have in the Mahoning Valley area, where his district is located. I doubt though if many people outside of the Youngstown/Mahoning Valley area could tell you much on who he is or what he does yet. Cordray remains by far the Dems' strongest potential gubernatorial candidate based on name recognition, since he was successfully elected to statewide office twice, and narrowly lost his third bid to Mike DeWine in 2010. Coleman would be second, if he were considering a run.

Things seem to be shaping up so far as I've predicted. -DeWine and Taylor have both recently made their declarations to run for governor, or at least have declared their intent to make them. DeWine will likely cruise out to an early lead in the polls on name recognition alone--he's very well-known across the state, even in Cleveland/NE Ohio largely thanks to his old friend, the late Gov. and Mayor, George Voinovich. DeWine will have to defend his long establishment career against attacks from Renacci, who will try to portray himself as an "outsider" with business experience. DeWine will also trade blows with Husted, and the occasional jab with Taylor. -While Taylor might have once wanted Kasich to campaign on her behalf, she may actually want to distance herself from him now, since his approval ratings have apparently been heading south with all of the time he has spent out of state on his unofficial 2020 POTUS campaign. Not to mention the growing perception among Ohioans that he is out of touch, if not tone deaf to the needs of their communities, while county coroners are calling in trailers to store the bodies of heroin OD victims. -An even bigger challenge for Taylor will be the fact that she has been a poor fundraiser throughout her political career, winning mostly on the relative strength and backing of the Ohio Republican Party vs. any of the Democratic opponents she has faced. But she's never been in a heated primary against experienced opponents within her own party like DeWine and Husted. Between this and trying to bring people up to speed on who she is and what she has been doing for them the past 6+ years as Lt. Gov under an increasingly aloof Kasich, she has her work cut out for her. -As for the Democrats, there's been nothing but crickets from Cordray's corner. I still wouldn't completely rule out an entry from him, even at the last minute if he gets booted from his position by Trump, but the longer he holds out, the less time he'll have to actively fundraise. That alone could put him at a significant disadvantage in a prospective General Election matchup with DeWine, presumably, or else another Republican opponent. It's pretty much now or never if he wants to have even odds of winning, since the Dems need all of the help and as much of a concerted effort that they can muster to even hold their own versus the Republicans these days. -Whaley seems to have a slight edge right now among the Dems in the race or who are considering jumping in, but she still lacks name recognition across the state, outside of SW Ohio. I anticipate that we'll be seeing her reach out to her fellow Democratic mayors in Akron, Cleveland, Canton, Youngstown, and Toledo for campaign support and to secure their endorsements over the coming weeks and months. -Nothing from Coleman either. After being out of office for a year and a half now, he seems to have grown well-accustomed to the private life he missed during his years as Mayor of Columbus. He's given no indication that he's even remotely interested in getting back into politics at this point, so I don't think we'll see him enter the race or even take on an active campaign role for a candidate. -Regardless, it's definitely a loss to the Ohio Dems that someone like Coleman, who has arguably been their most successful big city mayor in recent history, or Mark Mallory, a two-term directly elected former mayor of Cincinnati, has no interest in running for the state's top executive seat, or even a state line office like Attorney General or Secretary of State. Someone at the party's state headquarters should really be asking and investigating why that is because either of these men, or other Dems with successful, established track records as mayors of big cities, could be running competitive races at the state level, but for some reason aren't stepping up to do so.

^Agreed. Mayor Horrigan as well as Jason Segedy as the city's planning director have particularly done well in bringing a fresh perspective to Akron's governance that has been badly needed for years. We still have a long way to go, but the difference between the current administration and the previous one is that it is possible to see the way forward now and realistically envision what one or more constructive end outcomes could be for the city. Plusquellic and his admin weren't all bad by any means, but there is also such a thing as staying in the game too long. He really should have moved on about 10 years earlier than he did.

The more I think about it, the more I can see East End potentially being a keystone for the redevelopment of Akron's long-neglected inner east side area, including East Akron, Middlebury and Goodyear Heights (probably much less so Ellet and Akron's other east-side suburban communities like Tallmadge and Springfield). Granted though, it's going to take some far more substantial economic players than Summa Care and even Goodyear at this point for that to happen. Maybe some of Akron's newer home-grown companies will be able to develop to the point of taking on such roles?

RubberSoul[/member] -- I would love to see something constructive done with Blue Pond and the area immediately surrounding it. It was open to swimming and recreation in Goodyear Heights' early days, and my understanding is that Goodyear even maintained a small amusement park around it for employees and residents during a few years between WWI and WWII. It's been fenced off since Goodyear started to move out of the community development business and didn't want to assume all of the liabilities associated with recreation. Plus they had Wingfoot Lake out in Suffield Township. I know there is also some concern about chemicals being dumped into the pond over the years. If these could be cleaned up, it would be easy to see Summit Metro Parks taking it over and at least turning into some kind of nature preserve. I also think fixing up the lower part of Goodyear Blvd through this stretch is an eventuality. If East End eventually fuels Middlebury's rebirth to the west, there should also be the potential for a spillover effect back up Goodyear Blvd, which could further in turn support a renaissance in Goodyear Heights. I'm guessing at this point that we're probably somewhere between 20-30 years of this all playing out, but who knows? yanni_gogolak[/member] -- The charter law is stupid, IMHO. We are losing buildings like the old East High/Goodyear building with great potential for being remodeled into residences and similar uses now, all because state elected officials are falling over themselves to help the charter school lobbyists who give kickbacks to their campaigns. Given these conditions, of course APS will sooner demo it than let it go to a company that stands to benefit at the expense of the district. The real loser is the city, however, which loses a piece of its cultural and architectural heritage every time an old building that could be preserved and converted to a new and productive use, gets torn down instead.

yanni_gogolak[/member] -- I was thinking a bit further down E. Market, past East End and Innovation way. The fact that I-76 was expanded back in the 90s in such a way that it cut into the block on the one side of the street. Before I-76 was built out, East Market was once a thriving corridor in its own right, much as West Market still is today in Wallhaven and Fairlawn. I agree with you though as far as the potential for westward development. Linking East End to "Downtown" Middlebury--the convergence of Market, Main and Arlington streets--is key to reviving East Akron.

It would make better sense for the PD series to just focus on the Cleveland–Akron–Canton CSA and perhaps include a few additional outlying counties like Wayne and Ashland. Or better still, just work with the 18-member county footprint of Team NEO. Extending a hypothetical Western Reserve state boundary past Toledo just seems arbitrary and oblivious to most NE Ohioans' general concept of the region, not to mention that it probably has Toledoans also scratching their heads and wondering wtf? :wtf: A 51st state seems very far fetched, particularly in this polarized and highly partisan political climate. More palatable would be some sort of formal multi-county regional government, not unlike Minneapolis-St. Paul's Metropolitan Council, that recognizes the region's common economic history, identity, and its challenges and works to address them from a role and perspective better suited than that of our state and local governments. This I could actually see happening.

My take on the current declared (or presumed to soon be declared) candidates: On the Dems-- -Richard Cordray is by far the Dems' best chance for Governor with a past history of winning statewide races and statewide name recognition, but everything for him seems to hinge upon if and when Trump fires him from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since he apparently will not leave on his own, apparently preferring to fulfill his appointed duties. The longer he delays making a formal declaration, however, the more he will be at a fundraising disadvantage against opponents within his own party, as well as versus whichever Republican he faces in the General Election. -Connie Pillich has never been elected to statewide office but has served in the Ohio House. Outside of SW Ohio, she has little name recognition. She's likely the weakest of all current Democratic candidates and would get demolished in the general election only slightly less than Ed FitzGerald did. Possible Lt. Gov candidate. -Betty Sutton has never been elected to statewide office but has served in the Ohio House. Outside of NE Ohio, she has little name recognition, although she did serve a few terms in Congress. She could play up her Labor Union ties, but I don't see how much mileage that alone would get her. She fares somewhat better than Pillich in the general election, but still loses by a wide margin. Possible Lt. Gov candidate, also should perhaps consider running for Ohio AG or Secretary of State. -Joe Schiavoni is the Dems' Ohio Senate Minority Leader. He's in one of the Democrats' highest profile positions and has been somewhat vocal, but he doesn't seem to be well-established in Ohio politics yet and has limited statewide recognition. He also hasn't been elected to statewide office. Probably should focus on serving out his time in the Ohio Senate and then consider running for a state line office like Sec. of State or AG. -Nan Whaley, Dayton's Mayor and an established leader in the Montgomery County Democratic Party, she's essentially a City Council President rather than a city mayor in the traditional sense, based upon Dayton's government structure. Her strongest presence and name recognition is in the Dayton-Cincinnati area, but not much beyond it. She's never been elected to statewide office. She might be the second strongest candidate the Dems have to offer after Cordray, though that could be quite a gap to bridge. If Cordray doesn't officially enter the race, she's the most likely to become the Dems' nominee. If he does enter, she could become his running mate for Lt. Gov. On the GOP-- -Mike DeWine has the strongest statewide name recognition and established history. He's the current Ohio Attorney General and was formerly a Senator (losing to Sherrod Brown) as well as Lt. Gov (under Voinovich). He will be the candidate to beat in the Republican primary election, and it may very well be his race to lose in the general election since the Republicans seem to be as strong as the Democrats are weak when it comes to statewide politics. Cordray facing him would actually be a rematch of sorts dating back to when Cordray lost to DeWine for AG during the 2010 election. At 70, this is probably his last hurrah, win or lose. -Jon Husted, like DeWine, does have statewide recognition as current Secretary of State and former speaker of the Ohio House, though obviously not as long of a history. Some of his past controversies around voting access could come up as fodder to be used against him though, even in the GOP primaries by competitors within his own party. He's term-limited as Sec. of State, so he'll either end up being Ohio's next governor, or else will be returning to private life for a few years. Possible future Senate candidate perhaps. He's second in current strength behind DeWine, and there's a bit of a gap between the two of them. -Jim Renacci, currently a NE Ohio Congressman and former mayor of the Akron suburb of Wadsworth seems to be gambling on people wanting a "Trumpesque" businessman-governor here. His bigger challenge may simply be building statewide name recognition. This is his first statewide race, but few people know of him outside of NE Ohio. He could end up being a running mate for Lt. Gov, or perhaps running for State Auditor down the road if he loses in the primary. With more established name recognition and past experience at the state level, he'd probably be a stronger candidate. -As for Mary Taylor, being Lt. Governor isn't an assured stepping stone into the Governorship. Taylor hasn't exactly been much of a standout in the role, or in anything much else she's done politically from State Auditor to serving in the Ohio House. Everyone knows Kasich is governor, but most people couldn't tell you who the Lt. Governor is, or what he/she even does. Even if Kasich were to vacate office within the next six months to make way for her, she'd really have to make a big and sustained splash for people to see her as anything but a placeholder for a lame duck governor whose also been an absentee for the past year and a half. Granted, Kasich has kinda set the bar low for the next officeholder in that particular regard. Still though, I don't see how Taylor gets out of the primaries against more seasoned and higher profile opponents. I see her disappearing completely into private life after her term ends in 2019. Any Republican who wins the Primary though basically has at least a 2:1 advantage over the Democratic nominee, so the Republican primary result is a fairly strong indicator of who the next governor will be regardless of the general election. Possible Wild Card-- -Former Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman would also potentially be a strong statewide candidate for the Dems, and he could run on his successful tenure and legacy as the mayor of the state's one truly thriving city, but he seems to have expressed very little interest at this point in getting back into politics. He also might not too enamored with the prospect of having to help rebuild the state-level Democratic Party. If he does the race and leverages his legacy to generate support for his candidacy from residents throughout the metro, as well as the Central Ohio business community, he could be quite formidable, approaching, or perhaps even surpassing Cordray's strengths as a candidate. Most likely, he stays out of politics and spends his golden years in private life.

Agreed, assuming some developer doesn't come along and tear them down to build something else. It is a bit unfortunate though the way I-76 cuts into the E. Market corridor at Innovation Way. It tends to limit East End's potential to expand or at least influence further eastward development. I suspect that some of this will continue to happen anyway, but I think there will be more interest in redeveloping the section of Goodyear Blvd with the old parking lots for Goodyear employees, as well as the Case/Market intersection, and "Downtown" Middlebury around the intersection of Exchange, Market, and Arlington.

I suppose it may ultimately come down to whether a converted school building is viewed as logical extension of East End up the Market Street corridor. Given the successful conversion of the former Akron West High School building into a senior citizens' home on West Hill though, I would think it would be a waste to see the former Akron East High School building simply bite the dust. Heck, maybe they can even restore the old swimming pool in the basement!

I do like the progress that I see happening on Akron's east side, but it's still quite a ways from being Highland Square or Downtown. There's little reason yet to get out of your car and walk around down there, despite the presence of the arches, which look like someone pulled them straight out of Columbus's Short North district. At the very least, they need some storefront spaces accessible along East Market for shops and restaurants if they are truly aiming to create vibrancy like what High St. in Columbus has. I am also curious as to what the fate of the old Goodyear Middle School building will be. It was actually the original East High School before the current East High/CLC building was built on Brittain Road in the 1950s. It was built in the early 20s and definitely has some structural issues for parts of it being nearly 100 years old, but I wonder if it could be renovated and converted into more apartments and professional offices? Seems like it would be a waste to just tear it down and create more lot or showroom space for Ganley.

For Akron, apparently yes.

Cleveland isn't Detroit. It has been and still remains a far more dense and geographically compact city. I don't think downsizing the city and shutting-off services to neighborhoods makes remotely as much sense here as it does up there for where Detroit currently stands. Also, I guess I can't help but admire Mayor Dan Horrigan and Jason Segedy's approach in Akron, fighting like hell to reinvest in the whole city for the future, and not writing off any part of it, which is what Cleveland should also be doing. Is it overly ambitious for Akron? Probably? Will it fail? Maybe. But I do think there's something to be said for genuinely trying, even when the odds of success are not particularly favorable. Akron may still end up much better off for their efforts and vision over the long haul than if Horrigan and Segedy just didn't bother to give a damn and were content to let the city crumble to ruins. Why can't Cleveland give its all as well, particularly since it actually has the assets and resources to redevelop itself? It's only the will and vision part that's missing. As for regional approaches as solutions, people are for the most part still too narrowly focused in scope to see the benefits of them whether they live in the city or in the suburbs. It's as if Cleveland, or Beachwood, or Mentor, or Brunswick, or Avon Lake are going to be able to individually hold their own in competition for people and companies with Columbus, let alone Texas' massive sprawling cities, consolidated cities like Nashville and Indianapolis, or even just regionally aware places like Minneapolis-St. Paul that were at least able to put into place intraregional tax-sharing agreements. Sure they are. :roll: Keep doing what you've always done, and you'll get the same results that you've always gotten. It doesn't have to be an "us vs. them" city vs. suburb dichotomy, but as long as that goes on, Cleveland and its suburbs will continue to lose economic and population growth to other regions considerably less fractured and divided against themselves. Clevelanders in the city proper as well as in the burbs will continue to watch their kids lured off to CBUS--literally now by bus. I truly wish we could harness and perpetually use as region what we seemed to have for a few precious days after the Cavs won the NBA Championship last year, up until after the parade and rally in Cleveland. Regional unity and seeing ourselves as having a common interest is indeed possible as that rare instance proved. We just have to find ways to tap into it and build on it. Maybe that doesn't inevitably lead to government consolidation, but I also don't see how we get out of our rut without moving beyond perpetual vacillating between paying lip service to potential solutions, and denial that there is a need for substantial changes in how we view and govern ourselves in Cleveland and NE Ohio.

What's needed in response to the census news, and Cuyahoga County slipping behind Franklin County, is a comprehensive call to action for Cleveland and NEO's future. What that looks like can certainly be debated, but here are my recommendations: 1. Government Consolidation. The biggest elephant in the room, but the one that has the potential to yield the biggest gains both over the near term and longer term. Simply put, it's way past time to move beyond government fragmentation, political squabbling, and zero sum economic poaching between counties, municipalities, and townships in NE Ohio with the understanding that the region will either rise or sink as one. What this actually looks like in practice can be debated, but I do find it interesting that no other metropolitan region in the US has taken a crack at New York City's "Five Boroughs" Multi-County model of government. I honestly think we should look at instituting something similar to it here in NE Ohio's 18 or so counties. Perhaps the counties themselves could be redrawn and recast as administrative districts. At the very least, we could probably get away with having just four consolidated independent cities in the region--Cleveland, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown, or else perhaps "Four Boroughs" within a consolidated system of some sort. The short-term effect of consolidating Cleveland+NEO into one mega municipality would be obvious. A city of 390,000 people overnight becomes a city of 2-3 million, surging up the rankings into the top tier of US cities, potentially surpassing Philadelphia, Houston, and Chicago. And lest you think size doesn't matter, remember that Columbus long ago realized that it would be able to give itself considerable economic development edge and capacity over Cleveland in the future simply by pursuing a policy of aggressive annexation. Cleveland would be in a far better position today if it had pursued a similarly aggressive annexation policy before its suburbs incorporated. Longer-term, the benefit of thinking and acting regionally through a consolidated unit of government, sans so much costly and cumbersome fragmentation to deal with, could have considerable economic development benefits for the entire region, not the least of them being large-scale infrastructure and economic development projects, from commuter rail to targeted redevelopment zones. 2. University Investment. Let's face it, Cleveland's lack of a world-class public research university is one of the few key assets it lacks. But it is also one of the most essential. With a public university on par with the University of Cincinnati, University of Pittsburgh, or even Ohio State, Cleveland today would likely be reaping dividends from research with immediate implications for its economy, particularly with respect to medicine and technology. Not to mention having a world class public research university would put the city on the map internationally as a destination for foreign graduate students, many of whom would likely find their careers and a new home in Cleveland after graduating. No doubt this is happening somewhat already through Case Western, but for obvious reasons, public universities are able to provide considerably broader opportunities to a wider range of students. My suggestion would be for Cleveland to take a page from Pittsburgh's book back in the 1980s when it hit rock bottom with the collapse of steel manufacturing. Pittsburgh decided to heavily invest in its local universities, Pitt and Carnegie Mellon, viewing them as the engines that would propel Pittsburgh forward to better, brighter days. What if Cleveland had taken a similar approach towards Cleveland State and Case Western? We could only imagine what might have been today, two or three decades out from such efforts, but there's also no time like the present to start. Case can always benefit from greater support, while CSU might benefit most greatly and quickly at this point through renewed efforts to consolidate it with Akron and Kent, the synthesis of shared resources among the three campuses providing heft and leverage for expanding more deeply into research and the potential to elevate the consolidated system's profile, and in turn, Cleveland's. The biggest opposition to any such efforts is likely to come from Ohio State, however, which is wary of any potential challenges to its flagship status among other public universities. But if Cleveland and NEO truly want to be competitive with Columbus and with other established or emerging cities, its time we seriously focus on building up our own public research university. 3. Cleveland/NEO Advocacy and Grit. If it isn't obvious by now, Cleveland and NEO must be our own tireless advocates for our wants and needs for the metropolitan area and region in relation to the rest of the state and country. This is because a state capital that has outstripped us both in terms of population and economic growth, with no apparent end in sight, is not going to be constructively in touch with its founding purpose as the administrative seat of Ohio government the way a far more modestly-sized state capital (e.g. Harrisburg, New Albany, Springfield, IL, etc.) would generally be. Columbus, unlike Pittsburgh or Detroit, has never been a natural ally of Cleveland's. Other than being within the same state, the two cities actually have very little in common, whereas Detroit and Pittsburgh at least share similar struggles with Cleveland as post-industrial cities, and can relate through these struggles and various battles won and lost on the long, long, rocky road to recovery. Even if its expansive growth and redevelopment were borne out of the best of intentions for the state in general, Columbus has become an end unto itself. This will never work to the benefit of Cleveland, or the state's other major metropolitan regions that are potential competitors for Columbus as the state government apparatus also becomes increasingly insulated from the rest of the state by Columbus' growth and prosperity. Cleveland and NEO are going to have to scrap for whatever they can get, which may increasingly nurture a regional self-sufficiency and DIY approach to addressing its needs, while maximizing legal loopholes to do so. Just a few ideas for consideration. Thoughts, refinements, and further suggestions/reflections are welcomed and encouraged.

My guess is that the city and developers will begin to look towards reactivating the neglected East Market/Perkins-MLK corridor, which has the potential to become a mix of residential and commercial space (plus Summa and UA) if done properly. This area needs density in the worst way.

I always wondered if they'd ever find a tenant for that space. I expected an agency office or maybe a small law firm. Never thought it would be a brewery! I'm impressed. Too bad we lost 3 Point at the same time, though. It would be nice to see that section of downtown reach some kind of critical mass of vibrancy.

The Belden Village/Strip area is very much like the "Mini-Columbus" of NE Ohio in this regard. Many new concepts usually open there before they move further north into Akron and Cleveland if they are successful.

One more step on the long quest to clean up the messes made by the previous regime. Wonder what ever happened to the Olive Jar?

Why can't there be some kind of compromise that would re-route RTA at minimal cost to the agency and inconvenience to riders, keep Public Square completely off-limits to traffic, and in general, make everyone happy? This seems to be the most sensible thing to do. (But of course, this is Cleveland... :roll:) I honestly see both sides, though I'll admit I'm a bit partial to seeing the square remain closed. It just seems like this is something that should have been done from the get-go, rather than now as an afterthought in the wake of the successful RNC hosting, once the city realized just how much it could do with a traffic-free square. I also think it's too bad someone didn't have the foresight to built a subway tunnel under Public Square decades ago, much like the one Seattle has that serves both buses and trains. Between moving utilities and absurdly high cost though, I understand it would be a non-starter today.

Beautiful city in so many ways. I think I nearly ODed on the sheer amount of architecture, art and culture all over the place when I was out there for a visit earlier this year. And you can never run out of parks and water to see and relax in. It's all pricey as hell, too, though. Living in Seattle is definitely not for people just starting out in their careers, with or without a job prospect in hand. You're far better off finding your way there as a mid-career professional already established in your field. Visiting, on the other hand, is always worth it. :-)

Obviously, Kasich's plea fell on deaf ears with the Big 12 members, not unlike his vanity primary campaign outside of Ohio. He doesn't wield the political cachet or capital beyond this state that he has sought after. If he even wonders why, he might start by examining his own track record here. More to the point, UC is stuck about a half-notch below what the Big 12 and ACC are looking for, but remains about a notch and a half above the MAC schools. It clearly doesn't want to go back to the MAC, so it is stuck trying to position itself for a future power five conference opening, while also now having to manage a hefty financial gambit it made when it invested in renovated athletic facilities that didn't yield an immediate payoff as hoped. Not an enviable position by any means.

Ugh, I forgot all about the Rt. 8 bridge. Between the work on I-76/Rt. 224 through Barberton and Norton, and now the central interchange work, it's a bit rough using the expressway to get around town these days. Rt. 8 will be a total nightmare during rush hour when its bridge is also being rebuilt. It's times like this that I wish we had seen some kind of outerbelt built that would have provided an alternative route for traffic when so many key routes were under repairs at once.

Love the arches! But I also wonder if there is any sort of historical significance/precedent for them along that stretch of East Market? Or were they perhaps inspired by the stretch of High Street in Columbus's Short North district?

I wasn't thinking so much in terms of other roundabouts being installed around Downtown, but perhaps in other parts of the city, like maybe Kenmore Blvd or on North Main, Brown St or Brittain Rd--places where traffic lights aren't as much of a necessity anymore, but where a roundabout could still support ease of traffic flow.