Freiburg

Iceland has been booming as a tourist destination the past few years, so there is definitely demand. That said, Icelandair's business model is based on offering Reykjavik as a connecting point between the US and destinations in continental Europe, while offering passengers the opportunity/option to add in a short trip to Iceland during the stopover at no additional cost.

Icelandair is starting flights to Cleveland! Four days a week to Keflavik Airport beginning in May 2018. CLE finally gets its coveted route to Europe. For what it's worth, I think Icelandair is a much better "get" than WOW, which flies to Pittsburgh. Icelandair is a much more reliable operation with better inflight service (including business class and economy plus options) and more connecting options in Europe. Big win for CLE.

What historic context? The square had been renovated a number of times over its 200 year history. It's not the same as re-doing the Mall or Jackson Square. Both of those spaces are valued public gathering areas and provide a lot of benefit to the city. Public Square, in its old form, did not. And don't forget, the Mall in DC was completely overhauled in the early 20th century, so just because something has been a certain way for a long time does not mean there is intrinsic value in the status quo. Completely agree. The concrete and granite plazas that are being replaced date from the 1980s. Not sure what historic value those had.

Also announced this week, Southwest is starting a daily flight to St. Louis. I'd bet that will lead to United dropping their STL flights.

KeyBank is buying Buffalo-based First Niagara Bank, which will significantly expand its footprint in the Northeast and make it the 13th largest bank in the country. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/10/keycorp_buying_first_niagara_wi.html#incart_m-rpt-1

JetBlue announced today that it's increasing the number of daily flights between Boston and CLE. Great news given that the route has only been around for 2 or so months, and it bodes well for JetBlue's future in CLE. Wouldn't be surprised to see some new destinations from them fairly soon.

Lubrizol was bought by Berkshire Hathaway a few years ago. Cliffs is #560. Other Cleveland/Akron area companies in top 1000 are Aleris (#546), RPM (#589), Key (#592), Timken (#632), PolyOne (#638), Diebold (#743), Lincoln Electric (#792), Hyster-Yale Materials Handling (#805), Medical Mutual of Ohio (#879), Applied Industrial Technologies (#880), and TransDigm (#904).

Three years and counting. This must be one of the most egregious misallocations of resources in Cleveland's history. Over $120 million for this boondoggle. Meanwhile, the roads outside the building (and in neighborhoods across the city) are literally crumbling away, but we are meant to celebrate an increase of the road-resurfacing budget to $10 million per year. And yes, I realize that it's federal funds going towards this project, and it's not like the city could have decided to spent it on something else. Nevertheless, the juxtaposition is just maddening to me.

Boston is 2x daily, so three flights in total.

I still don't see how it's a "gated community." But what design changes would you suggest to make it less so and alleviate your concerns? Or is it simply that you don't think anything other than single-family style housing is appropriate for the area?

Honestly, I'm not trying to be snarky, but I don't really understand your criticisms. Is it that you think there's too much density for the area? That's an argument I could certainly understand, although I would tend to disagree. But the idea that this is some sort of inward facing bunker that doesn't interact with the street or the surrounding area just seems wrong to me. There are a bunch of Breakwater-fronting townhomes on the western side of the development. Then an apartment building in the center with entrances, balconies, etc. that front and, to my eye, seem to interact perfectly well with Breakwater. Unless I am looking at these plans completely wrong, it doesn't have its back to Breakwater. Then on the eastern side, potentially, a parking garage. Whether the parking garage is a good thing or a bad thing is an open question that will depend a lot on the execution. Right now we have no idea what they plan it to look like, so it's just too soon pass judgment. But theoretically, I'm all in favor of consolidating parking in a condensed area and getting rid of the need for more neighborhood killing surface parking. But ultimately, it's a city. Cities have buildings. Cities have density. And too much density isn't exactly one of Cleveland's most pressing problems.

Where are you getting this information about the area being walled off?

Two new routes announced today: jetBlue to Fort Lauderdale and Spirit to Boston.

FWIW, the only Kimpton I've been to is the Epic in Miami, and the name is quite appropriate. One of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed at. I'm not saying the Schofield is going to be quite at that level, but I do fully expect it will be a high-class operation.

Huh? Looks like the storefronts are basically right up to the sidewalk, with a bit of extra space for some outdoor seating. And the small overhang from the balcony above means there is somewhere for people to stand out from the elements while waiting to get in, waiting for a car/taxi while leaving, etc. Seems like good business for a city with our weather. Aesthetically, is it a 10/10? No. But I actually don't think it's ugly at all, and it's certainly a dramatic improvement from what's there now. And it gets us one small step closer down Detroit to Gordon Square.

London (Heathrow)

Those plans are a terrible idea. So is making outrageous and unhelpful comparisons to mass murder. Hyperbolic, ahistorical misuse of terms like ethnic cleansing is insulting to the actual victims of ethnic cleansing and, incidentally, a really good way to turn off those who might be persuaded to your position. What happened to Bosnian Muslims in the 1990s or Iraqi Yazidis and Christians today is ethnic cleansing. The potential relocation of a public transportation hub? Not so much, no matter what a bad idea it is and no matter how many of its proponents may have discriminatory motivations.

Exactly. For instance, there simply isn't enough demand from Cleveland-based passengers for several flights a day to somewhere like, say, Kansas City. With a hub, Cleveland could support 4 flights a day to KC because those flights were also carrying passengers connecting through Cleveland from Buffalo or Louisville or Richmond. Without those passengers from those other cities, the demand isn't there for the flights to KC. Why does that matter? Before, If I needed to go to KC for a business trip, I could fly out on the first flight in the morning, take care of my business during the day, and fly back to Cleveland that night. Now, we don't have any flights to KC, so I have to connect through another airport, which takes a lot more time. So, I have to leave the night before so that I'll be in KC in time for my meeting, and I won't get back home until, say, midnight instead of 9pm. I lose out on a big chunk of my personal time, and my company gets stuck with a bill for a hotel, more meals, etc. And that's the best-case scenario. A connection (i.e. two separate flights) means twice the chance of a flight delay or cancellation, which means even more time away from home and possibly an extra night stuck in the connection city. As someone who does have to travel frequently for work to smaller markets like KC, it's a big blow and makes business travel (already a drag to begin with) that much more difficult. It's also a blow for my company, which loses productivity from me and incurs higher expenses.

Maybe in the architecture, but not in the huge scale of it, the density or it being placed up to the sidewalks on almost all fronts. Many newer suburban apartment projects are large scale and have similar density. Look at those in cities like Westlake, Willoughby, etc. Also like its suburban counterparts, this project has large parking lots and on street right angle parking. Honestly this project would fit into any newer suburb. Honestly, I'm not sure what you're expecting here. A skyscraper? This development is adjacent to a residential neighborhood full of single family homes and townhouses. The plans suggest a rather dense development with a mix of townhomes and multifamily apartment buildings, built up close to the sidewalks, with much of the parking hidden behind buildings and off of the street. I've gotta say, I think this is a major win for the neighborhood and, except perhaps in terms of design, not at all suburban.

There have been for sale signs posted at that lot for at least the past few years. Sadly, I don't think this is an indication of anything exciting.

Actually, starting next month (once the de-hubbing is complete) 5 of 13 daily flights to O'Hare will be mainline. Houston will be 4 mainline and 1 E170, and Denver will be 2 mainline and 2 CRJ-700. But you're definitely right that the E145s are torture. Medium to long term, you'll see regional flying move from E145s to E170s and other larger regional jets because the E145s just don't make financial sense any more. Unfortunately, United will be behind the curve on making the switch because they are currently more dependent on the E145s than the other major carriers.

It's not just the bathrooms that are too small. Concourse C is so narrow that the pathways are constantly jammed with people waiting to board and with people who can't find a seat because the waiting areas are too small. I suppose this will be less of a problem with the United reductions, but still. The airport was mostly built in the 1960s, and it shows. Rather than wasting money on these small cosmetic improvements, I think the airport needs a long-term plan for a complete overhaul. Of course, money is always the issue...

Am I missing something? Here's from the article: "The project, designed by the leading American landscape architect James Corner, calls for routing automobile traffic counterclockwise around the square, and removing the two blocks of Ontario Street that run north-south through it. Superior Avenue, which runs east-west, would be narrowed in the square from 77 to 44 feet and would remain open to buses, but it could be closed on a regular basis to unify the square for concerts, performances, farmers markets and other events." So Ontario is closed and Superior is narrowed and bus only.

The Orlando flight will be year round, 4x per week. The Seattle flight is seasonal, 3x per week. They also announced that they are increasing service to Denver from 5x per week to 12x. I expect we'll be hearing a similar announcement from Southwest before too long. And it's a pretty safe bet the legacy carriers will be bulking up their schedules as well, with bigger planes, greater frequencies, and hopefully a new destination or two (AA/US to Phoenix?).

It's the schedule in June once the cuts are complete.