audidave

^Good article. Some shady references there though... :mrgreen:

Its official, Chicago will be less convoluted for freight trains: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-cn-railroad-close_02feb02,0,1665102.story Freight train traffic to shift in March in wake of rail merger CN's acquisition of EJ & E is completed after yearlong debate By Richard Wronski | Tribune reporter February 2, 2009 More freight trains will be rolling through suburbs lining the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway starting March 4 now that the line has been acquired by the Canadian National Railway, the Montreal-based railroad said Sunday. After more than a year of regulatory review, public hearings and contentious debate, the CN closed its $300 million deal to purchase the EJ&E and took over the line Sunday morning. CHOPPED

^Nice job KJP! Of the three, I like the Firelands route the best. The first one is obvious I suppose. The second one twists around way too much and just seems unlikely/expensive. The Firelands route adds bonus of trips to Cedar Point and gets people going through a part of Ohio most people rarely see. Not sure whether that is good or bad.. It also looks like it would be a faster route since its mainly steering clear of highways and city interference. I think a Hopkins link is crucial. An Oakwood(Dayton) resident could hop on the trolley with luggage to be dropped off at the train station to go to Hopkins to fly to France. Its not quite MTS 1 seat ride but a 2 seat ride from Dayton isn't bad..

I agree Dayton needs something more substantive than a couple of bleak landings with a skywalk to a parking garage. For reference for Clevelanders, imagine if CSU had built a transportation center back in the 70s, thats what this thing looks like.

That fancy drawing leaves a lot to the imagination of how that station would tie into the rest of the Transportation center's parking deck It would definitely help the Oregon District by placing it there and the little independent movie place on the same block as that parking garage. Its nice to see they're getting the details taken care of in Dayton.. I'm not sure how important a stop would be at the air force base though.. The air force is usually pretty self sufficient in moving their people around. However, I could see having a stop there for weekends only by the museum.

That kind of sucks then if we're now still 8 months away from the location announcement/re-build announcement for the 3-C station. Since I would imagine the main design plans will be complete for the Convention center with perhaps some guesses for how the NCTC might work. Hopefully they can keep the Mall D engineer/build plans in limbo until September since focus will be on Public Hall. Also with some local pressure maybe ORDC can expedite the decision.

So I'm a little confused on this. There was no mention in the announcement when they picked the mall site about a NCTC. If MMPI isn't going to push for this to happen, how do they expect it to come about? Maybe they have no leverage to say to the state of Ohio, ODot and Commerce that they want and need for this to be done in one big elaborate deal ala the Goodyear HQ complex in Akron. I was expecting some kind of link to this or at least hinted at that they want to pursue a transit center at the north end of the Mall. Making the CC a TOD is the most obvious thing. So theoretically someone getting on a train in downtown Pittsburgh coming from UPMC could be at his destination when he gets off in Cleveland at the convention center.

Fantabulicious!!! :-o This is the big domino of downtown Cleveland. Everything will start increasing in value surrounding the CC. This decision should affect the Port's decisions which should affect Wolstein's development. These development decisions will influence Stark's decision about how to proceed on Pesht.. Cuyahoga County can start again thinking of where to relocate their workers. I know of at least one company thats looking for more space to relocate in downtown Cleveland and this should push them to make a decision sooner rather than delay due to the general economy.

Scott Wolstein wants a Flats location.... Some nifty quotes by Scott as well... http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2009/01/developer_scott_wolstein_float.html The east bank of the Flats suddenly is getting attention as the third potential site for a medical mart and convention center. Developer Scott Wolstein quietly has been pitching 21 acres of lakefront land for a convention center and medical showplace. He says the plan would be cheaper than two leading alternatives and could revive his stalled Flats East Bank development. CHOPPED

Could it be that the pushers of the the TC CC magic box are waiting for a magician to come forward with a one size fits all design that will not cost millions in support towers and let the Commissioners forget that there might be ancillary web of road structures(paid for potentially by some other government body) that will need to be created to support this overhanging structure? I think for FC to get this, they will have to have the most vague of design plans and just plead ignorance as to the scope of the project to accomplish a finished CC.

I doubt that. This is a non-profit organization expanding internet access to throughout city core. This isn't a governmental agency that worries about stepping on telecom industry's free market toes.

Here's an update on this.. No wonder people have been calling asking what gives.. http://www.ohio.com/news/37696649.html City wireless corridor to start in months Free Internet service set for central Akron is highly anticipated, officials say By Katie Byard Beacon Journal staff writer Published on Friday, Jan 16, 2009 Free wireless Internet service could be available in the central part of Akron sometime this summer. Officials planning the much-anticipated Akron digital corridor — covering roughly 10 square miles — said Thursday there is a lot of anticipation around the project. ''Just in the last two weeks, we've gotten a dozen phone calls from residents asking us, 'When is it going to be available?' '' said James Nice, with the Knight Center of Digital Excellence, which is spearheading the effort. CHOPPED

^Incredibly well written article. Very thorough and logical conclusions. I expect Obama to at the very least resolve the Chicago bottleneck during his 4 years. Not sure how much more he'll push for beyond that for rail.

I would agree the time is ripe to develop a premier downtown Akron hotel. I suppose a Marriot or Crown Plaza flag would make the most sense and the only place that would work downtown is at the lock 3 property. However I did find this in the $940 Million Federal handout Akron request, not Billions as had been reported by others. http://www.usmayors.org/mainstreeteconomicrecovery/stimulussurveyparticipantsdata.asp?City=Akron&State=OH Akron OH CDBG Construction of a 100 to 110 room hotel next to the Akron/Summit Convention and Visitors Bureau to assist in attracting more conventions $14,000,000 to employ 25 people. So a pretty modest request for a new hotel...

I have no news on a hotel. However, there is a lot going on construction-wise on Howard/Main St in Akron. From the north at the bottom of Howard below St. Thomas Hospital is Cascade Village construction, just before Main St at the Northside Lofts are the new Townhomes being put up. I believe those are almost all sold out. Further into downtown are the new apartments and restaurants still being worked on at the Whitelaw building and such by the Civic theater and finally the new student apartments in the 4 story building on Exchange and Main with a new Brubakers bar. Add in to the mix that all the Metro buses will no longer be convening all together in the center of downtown on Main every hour after this Saturday with the move to the transit center. This equals a whole lot less chaos downtown. I do know of plans to utilize the Selle Generator facility better in the coming months with a new tenant. To me it would appear Akron's population downtown is rapidly increasing and office vacancy is rapidly decreasing. The puzzle is that Akron is so spread out its hard to justify downtown hotels when there are nice ones in West Akron(Hilton), Fairlawn, Cuy. Falls(Sheraton), CAK(Garden Hilton?), and many in Stow/Steels Corners area. There are plans for a new higher end hotel in the Goodyear project. The only way I can see a new hotel coming downtown is to be slightly linked with the Firestone R&D complex and a new arena downtown in which case a 8-15 story hotel might work quite well. With the banks not wanting to fund risky projects though, the only way this will happen in the next couple years is if the King of Akron wants to help bankroll it.

Well the other thing although it looks like its a white bread, sleepy mini city by its 95% white statistics, its actually quite diverse. No other city except for NYC has the diverseness of languages that is there. Its because of their missionary zeal to get all over the globe, people have come back from all those places to live in SLC. Many Mormons have traveled the world and truly understand travel and importance of transportation. I don't mean to say I think they're all that interesting but they are smart and very, very sober.

Interesting there is no caption with that picture above. I'm guessing those are vehicles from BIE- Business Interiors (Enterprise)? which is a block away or so. The Beacon had a nice article a couple years ago on the large collection of antique cars the owner of that business has and keeps in his parking decks. He supposedly offers tours of his facilities/vehicles to his preferred clientele.

My fave restaurant is Thai 9. Dub Pub has really good Irish food and beer. It gets a bit crowded and loud. A really funky bar/restaurant is the Trolley Stop. They often have indie bands playing there and have the best assortment of beer in the Oregon District. Most of the other bars are all about cheap macro beer and cheap drink specials. Just outside the Oregon District North a couple blocks is a sweet bar called Southern Belle Tavern or www.southernbelletavern.com . Its the best all around "Sports" bar in Dayton. Its a little more calm than the Oregon District bars with one of the best selections of beer in the city. Next door is the main indie music venue of Dayton the Canal Street Tavern.

Industrial expansion in the AK too... http://www.ohio.com/business/36152724.html Company retools attitude Ken-Tool of Akron makes changes to its building and way it does business to stay competitive, local By Jim Mackinnon Beacon Journal business writer Published on Monday, Dec 15, 2008 Alec Pendleton decided it was time to put a new roof over his head and those of his long-time employees. But the owner of Ken-Tool, a small tool maker that specializes in truck tire repair equipment, wasn't thinking so much of making changes to better keep rain, snow and other harsh weather outside. Instead, an ongoing expansion project and related renovations at the small, 87-year-old Akron manufacturer are aimed at helping the company perform better in an ever-more competitive world. Even with the recession that has hit manufacturers particularly hard, the $2 million project, which is a big deal for a company this size, looks to be money well spent, Pendleton said.

One company not in a pickle about where to expand to... Company Jammed For Space, Moving To Akron 12/16/2008 6:31:34 AM | Toni Cicone Some J.M. Smucker employees will be calling Akron home after the new year. The Akron Beacon Journal reports that the growing Orrville-based food company will temporarily relocate two divisions to Akron because it's running out of space at it's headquarters, which are based in Wayne County.

This sounds very promising from a new tenant at the Akron Incubator/Accelerator.. http://www.ohio.com/business/36123444.html The Midas touch Akron incubator tenant works on process to turn scrap into liquid gold: oil By Paula Schleis Beacon Journal business writer Published on Sunday, Dec 14, 2008 William Ullom describes turning scrap tires, plastic parts and dirty solvents into petroleum as if it's the simplest process in the world. And one day soon, it might well be. Ullom is managing partner of Vadose Research & Development, a new Akron Global Business Accelerator tenant that is commercializing a system to help companies turn their waste into liquid gold. CHOPPED

I've eaten there a couple times, the last being before the Black Keys show and it was quite bumping. Its advised to have reservations on Fri and Sat nights. You can always slip in early to sit at the long bar though.. The food is flavorful and it comes out of the kitchen really fast. Order to table can be as little as 5 minutes. The reasoning is they don't have to hit higher temps of cooking if there were meats involved. Another option is www.eatdrinkcrave.com if you're wanting a stylized high end atmosphere with gourmet food. Its a sweet website too.

One place to really get the Midwest away from being the Rust belt anymore is changing the whole infrastructure away from being able to rust at all and not deteriorate. Since there is a lot of talk lately out of Washington of increasing the spending on repairing the nations's infrastructure it would make sense to use the latest and greatest materials. Back a few years ago there was a big commotion out of UM for what their Engineering department came up with: ECC concrete or bendable concrete. This is able to bend and withstand a lot more punishment than regular concrete and it uses less material. Not too much has happened since 2005 in the US with this. However in Japan they are starting to use it more vigorously since its stupid not to start using it. Here's a PDF on the subject: http://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/_repository/2009/betterconcrete/pdf/VictorLi.pdf Another idea that is surely going to get bigger is plastic bridges. Together with the ECC concrete mentioned above engineering crews will be able to start putting bridges together in mere days. Here's one in Huron county: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081006/NEWS11/810060335. There's only so many bridges and concrete roads to resuscitate. Most the roads seem to be asphalt. Now there's a green way of laying new asphalt that isn't using fossil fuels as its main source and holds up better than with petroleum. Soybean oil is providing the sticky goo. Here's a very recent article on that from the Akron Beacon Journal as it is being applied to Akron streets and potholes. http://www.checkmatepublicaffairs.com/bioproductsarticle.php?storyid=1357 The new economy(recession economy) is all about doing more with less. All the above examples meet that criterion.

The demand is there. Its just a pain in the behind to get a slot at Reagan. Like they've said, they have been trying for 10 years. The market for CAK isn't South Akron and North Canton, its all of Northeast Ohio and probably even Northwest Ohio and Southeast Ohio and going into PA. If I live in Mentor, Mansfield, or Medina and I need to get to DC and Akron has the flight times I need, then I'll fly out of CAK. Its not going to be a whole lot of difference driving to CAK vs driving to CLE. Hopefully they can do so well, they'll want to upgrade the size of the jet.

Randall Park Mall could be the new "Park and Ride"...