audidave

There's got to be billions to bring to the city in studio money by having a ready and waiting empty convention center in the middle of Cleveland. Certainly.. I can't see why Universal or MGM doesn't set up their HQs here to take advantage. Hope the Canadians don't find out because they might vacate Vancouver and swarm Cleve...

That seems like a great idea of South Euclid and Lyndhurst merging. That could be the Cuyahoga County testbed. Its barely perceptible except from the sign, when driving on Cedar, that you've crossed the border from one city to the other.

By the way there is a new building in the pics thats sort of changed the skyline of Akron a little bit. Its the new parking deck in the foreground! It looks different than other parking decks of this world because its the first one, at least in Ohio, that uses all LED lights. So its a green parking deck..

An odd habit/hobby? Nice pics. Since you're out and about can you get a pic of the library at night? I especially like the view looking north on Main st and you see "Library" almost floating above the road. I'm usually near lockview and driving when I see that at night. Its cool because you don't realize there's a minor direction change in N. Main and it looks it runs right into the library.

Hmm I should see if I can add Tom Subler's name to Wikipedia under curmudgeon and then add some of his quotes.

I hadn't seen that design. Thats pretty stunning compared to the bland, boxy, squat CBA building next door. I'm also kind of confused if its saying its an "addition". Would it be attached or perhaps they would attach it only via the skywalks? Personally, I'd love to see the addition morphed into the CBA pyramid. Otherwise everything around the CBA will have shimmering metal sails.

I happened to catch WEWS Channel 5 news tonight. I missed the lead in to the story but it sounded like various Cleveland councilmen went to Chicago to learn more about MMPI. They sounded very upbeat about the whole concept now. They had clips from Polensek and Sweeney. Polensek couldn't get over how busy the Chicago skyline still is with cranes. Sweeney was impressed with the MMPI business model. I wonder if either councilman had ever been to Chicago before. They both came away impressed.

Excellent video of the interview. Good for Hagan.

Just did a little research into Senator Patton comparing him to all the other Senators in the State of Ohio via the State Senators page. My 5 minute research of 32 senators, 1 is vacant, concluded that he has the least amount of education by far than any other Senator. How in the H#LL did he get to be Committee chairman as a first term Senator? His education background says "Attended CSU" His occupation says he's a biz consultant for a printer/copier repair company. It looks to me that every other Senator has at least a 4yr degree. Many, if not most, have more degrees or certifications beyond that. Why would people in Strongsville, where Patton is from, vote in someone so apparently inexperienced?

^Excellent points. The 3C becomes a silver bullet for what ails Ohio, the midwest, and the US. I think that the GOP realizes that they won't be able to put the genie back in the bottle once it gets out. Once a 3C is up and running then it will build from there to connect more and more cities as the efficiency of doing so magnifies the entirety of the line.

From reading the comments below the article it would appear not too many people are having much sympathy for FCE. I think I noticed only one comment in 30+ that thought they should still get the project. I don't think the PD dares put a poll out to see what the public feels, even an on-line one.

Not sure exactly what you're referring to. But there was a story on First Energy's new campus on the west side of Akron on channel 3 news last week talking about how they built a new building with LEED standards. Its primarily their IT operations based out of this building. But if its a "campus" one could guess that there would likely be other back office operations that First Energy might be moving over there. It was a nauseating piece because the dimwitted anchor kept saying it was the "First Energy's new headquarters" throughout. Here's accompanying write up alas the video link is gone: http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=108768 AKRON -- FirstEnergy is an energy company looking to save energy, and it's doing it through green construction. "FirstEnergy took a really bold step in terms of green construction in the region," says Michael Molinski, an architect for Vocon, a Cleveland-based firm that designed the building. "They have, with this building, put forth an example that other companies and institutions can look at say, 'Hey, they were able to do this, so we can, too.'" What FirstEnergy did was build its newest facility to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, a benchmark for green design and construction. As a result, the building uses 20 percent less energy than a building of similar size.

Interesting concepts from macro standpoint. I'm not totally buying the 45-54 rule as I think there are so many factors with developing countries, immigration, and the fact that they didn't stop spending money all of a sudden. Just because someone is 45-54 doesn't mean they didn't get divorced and start a new family. I know several people like that. I think it certainly can be seen as a marker from a general macro view. Other factors to consider are the internet's influence in speed of information delivery and sheer amount of people that information can be seen by. Also I feel is under-appreciated is the speed of technology introduction that result in cost decreases from the bottom line or enhancing top line growth from productivity enhancements. How about a positive thought for the recession: Urban sprawl has come to a standstill.

^ The Beacon... http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/40914317.html

Akron's pretty tough to photograph and get even a decent idea of. These photographs seemed to mainly be of what can be shot when standing in UA campus and a little bit of the canal area. There's a lot of new downtown construction that was missed in this series: Akron Art Museum(maybe there are enough pics of that?), the convention center, the new matching parking deck for the convention center, the stunningly renovated library, the 2 Summa office buildings one built 6 years ago and the other the refurbished old Akron Post Office just completed in the past 6 months, the brand new federal court building parking deck extension over Dart road, and the brand new transit center. Also whats not missing are the concrete tank bunkers that were scattered on Main St for sheltering the bus riders. Those were all finally demolished last week. There's a whole lot of new construction still going on at Northside Lofts with the townhouse phase being built. Further down Howard is the Elizabeth Park new housing going in. I need to get a better camera and just spend a day taking pics of all the unique buildings downtown. I'm not trying to take anything away from the series. Its definitely a positive fresh viewpoint.

Pretty interesting project. So, KJP you're thinking they would give Ravenna a stop and likely Macedonia or Hudson? On a theoretical basis, if the timing was right say between 7am and 8am in the morning going West out of Hudson/Macedonia and a returning train leaving Cleveland at 5:30-6:30pm back wouldn't that be considered a commuter train? I'm just thinking there are a lot of people that live in Medina, Summit, Stark, Portage counties that work in downtown Cleveland that might take advantage of a train to downtown from Northern Summit County. But would Amtrak or even RTA want that? That would give Metro pause since their Northcoast Express routes are typically full. They could lose some passengers that might be willing to drive to Macedonia to hop on a train.

^When I went to the UofA I recall parking a couple blocks over from the Jar and going to classes and it always was among the most uncomfortable of walks anywhere. Its stark and open so you're exposed to the wind, rain, snow, and heat. Still to this day I recall how annoyingly exposed that area is and I rarely if ever go to the Jar for any event. Placement of an arena downtown would likely bring many more fans since there's more to do immediately after a game and of course before the game. Unless you plan on working out or going to the nat, there's really nothing by the Jar.

So the retail world is running in brown-out mode. A solid slow down in purchasing then to stay cash positive in case any banks/auditors want to check company's books or perhaps just making it easier to make payroll..

I vaguely recall there's been a massing put together for what an Arena could look like on Main St. That was about 3-4 years ago. There has only been rumors, whispers, and small hints that there could be something going on behind the scenes. Part of it is just connecting the dots and understanding that there's a big high school gym on campus that can be quickly sold out or maxed out. Its not what is needed for a primary arena that should have multi-use. The focus of the city of Akron the past couple years has been keeping Goodyear and Bridgestone in the city. That has mainly succeeded. With the new transportation center on the edge of the city completed, they can refocus on final details of downtown vibrancy. The university has been focused on their projects with the football stadium and acquiring Quaker Square hotel among many others. That all said, there's still a lot on both city's and university's plates besides even getting to discuss an arena. Apparently Mack Rhoades will be the one taking the lead on this. With his success of putting the stadium together he's familiar now with most of the movers and shakers of the city. This will be another level or 3 of complexity over that deal though.

Highland Square/W. Akron isn't a bad idea. He didn't say anything that would negate that area. Its pretty walkable. You're close to many parks, Metro and National. Its about a 30 minute drive via 18 to Medina. There are several very nice, if not elite, grocery stores in the vicinity in West Point Market, Acme No.1, and Mustardseed Market. Good luck!

^Very mysterious but incredibly vague! Seeing as its coming from the PD, they probably have no ambition to dig deeper into the meaning of "improvements". That could mean slapping a coat of paint in the locker rooms to the JAR. Highly likely it doesn't.. I can't really fathom a way to significantly improve the JAR that one would need to plan for. Its a relatively modern high school basketball arena next to world class nat and football practice facilities. If Mack Rhoades can put together a new arena in downtown Akron maybe they can name this the Rhoades Arena. Good idea on multi-use.. That really is a must. I see it coming together with funds from UA, city, county, and Lebron. He can use it for his events. Tack on the fabled 2nd downtown hotel?

If Akron lands Payne,from Dayton, they probably better go ahead and get going on building an arena since they'll have 2 serious Bigs that any division I team would be envious of in 2011. Will it be called the King James arena? The LBJ?

Just because majority of apparel manufacturing is in Asia doesn't mean it all is. Also many of the automated systems that are built for apparel are made in the US or Europe. I was surprised to buy some high end under armor type shirts that were made in the US recently. I can totally see major retailers closing shop because the internet allows people to personalize their clothing

I should try to find the article today, but I don't have time. It basically talks about how many retail giants are not doing so well. Its expected that many of them go into bankruptcy ala Circuit City and drag on the already dire big box and mall scenes. This will be exacerbated by the commercial mortgage crisis. Hopefully with the stimulus package it will be a brief culling of big retail names.

I'll also agree with Dmerkow. I've not been following this thread since it doesn't sound like it would be very optimistic. I personally believe that recessions aren't bad. They can just be better planned and worked through. Expansions are a time for maximizing profit. Recessions are times of maximizing value and controlling costs. Otherwise, I think very few people have an idea how long this will last. The problem isn't so much that we're in a recession is that we're still in the middle of a banking/credit crisis. I personally feel Ohio is in better shape to handle a recession since if the dollar is falling in value the amount of goods that will be shipped out of Ohio will increase dramatically, which will take Ohio right out of a recession. Ohio has a lot of high value products that sell very well when the dollar's value is low. One other expectation as this wears on is that people will start coming back to Ohio from California and other states that are having it worse off. So people that had houses that were worth $500,000 now find themselves in a house worth $250,000 and sell and come to Ohio and find they can get into a much nicer home for $175,000