MorningTheft

They've started work on the Lakewood Dewey's Pizza, on Detroit by the West End Tavern. They've got a plywood front thing going on. I can't wait for this to open.

Like everyone has said, Lakewood would match your needs almost perfectly. I'd also recommend the West Park neighborhood of Cleveland, specifically the areas north of Lorain Rd near Rocky River Dr. This neighborhood is just south of Lakewood and there are quite a few duplexes/houses for rent. It is a safe neighborhood, near I-90 (for getting to Westlake), I-71 (for getting to Cincy), and includes Kamm's Corners, which is a commercial district on Lorain Rd. Kamm's is nothing fancy, but it provides alot of neighborhood retail...grocery, drug store, restaurants, pubs.

I've heard that Vocon is hiring...they are in Midtown.

I also like the show, I'm not sure what its called, where the couple looks at a bunch of crappy houses that are way under their budget and the show has an architect show them what they can do to the house and still stay in their budget. Its kind of like House Hunters and Flip That House combined.

^I love the part in "My House is Worth What?" when the real estate agent is about to tell them how much its worth, and she says "By my calculations, your house is worth..." and then they do these goofy zoom ins on the couples worried faces, the real estate agent's serious face, back to the couple, cut to the Apprentice, back to the real estate agent. It kills me everytime.

A Cleveland couple that turned an old Ukrainian social hall into their home/studio was on Rezoned this week on HGTV. Their house was kinda cool, but not the best I've seen on there. They didn't say where it was, but it looked like Tremont or maybe Clark-Fulton area. They used the ballroom as their photography studio and then walked behind the curtain on the stage to their home which was the backstage area and the rest of the building. They said the building was used as a Puerto Rican dominos club after the Ukrainians left it. All of the intros to the other segments were filmed in Cleveland too...by the Rock Hall, North Coast Harbor and Lincoln Park. Does anyone else watch that show? I think its awesome. Half of the houses are old barns in Iowa or an old mill in rural New England, but the best ones are old warehouses or furniture stores in small downtowns that the people turn into just amazing 10,000 sq ft loft houses. Its on Weds night on HGTV HD...not sure if its same time for regular HGTV. I'm sure it runs other times during the week.

I've never heard of that. At both my company and my wife's, anyone who takes a business trip can expense airport parking.

I kind of agree. I think Vegas is losing its cool a little bit I still like going there, but at some point in the next 10 - 20 years, I could see it going back to its mid-90's low point. Remember, it wasn't that long ago the Vegas resorts were trying to become kid-friendly and attract families. Eventually, the shine will wear off a little, I think and it won't be the hip place for vacation anymore. Instead of getting the 21-30 crowd, it will be more of the 45-55 crowd. Maybe that won't change their economy too much, but I think the perception will change.

What do you mean when you say "mainstream"? I dont think they should add movies that I could normally see at Cinemark, but last year, I was really excited to see David Wain's The 10. I think those types of movies...not mainstream, but with recognizable actors/directors...would still fit the festival's purpose, but could grow the size of the festival. Movies that might normally play at Cedar Lee instead of Cinemark.

How does a state like Texas get by without an income tax? What do they use to make up that income? Higher Sales Tax? Or is there something else that they use? I guess the real questions is, if other states benefit so much from having no income tax or more economically friendly tax laws, who or what is keeping Ohio from changing our system? There has to be pros and cons to both systems...what pro is keeping us in our tax model (or what con is keeping us away from their tax model)? Is it just fear of politicians to change the system?

My father in law loves that place and often gets desserts and baked good from them. It is really good stuff. Great cakes. There is an Italian place next door (not sure if its owned by the same people or not) that is also very good. We got a tray of lasagna from there for a party...probably one of the best lasagnas I've ever had. Both are definitely worth a try.

I don't know how how it compares to Mi Pueblo's Torta, but my favorite sandwich in the cleveland area is the pork torta at El Tango Taqueria in Lakewood. I'm not really sure if it is even an authetic mexican torta or what, but it is freaking amazing. Its basically like a delicous pork stew on fantastic toasted bun. Hmm, maybe I'll stop there for lunch today.

Yeah, that chicken baguette is crazy, um, bad? The bannana pepper spread was, um, not? awesome. My friend got the Mac and Cheese that has figs in it, which was just amazing...whoops, I mean inedible.

This was mentioned on this thread a while ago, but on Dewey's Pizza website, they are listing the Lakewood location as coming soon, "Late Summer of '08". It appears to be going into the storefront west of the West End Tavern. I love Dewey's in Cleveland Hts, so I can't wait for them to open down the street from me.

^Yeah, Lakewood doesn't have one. There is the one on Clifton in Cleveland and the one in Rocky River just across the bridge on Detroit. ^^Five Guys is more like Fuddruckers than McD. There is one in Avon and at Southpark Mall.

My sources tell me that the party store on Detroit, across from Chipotle, has closed. It will soon be home to a Five Guys Burgers and a $tarbucks. Supposedly the Five Guys franchise owner wants to have outdoor seating and wants to somehow create a cut-in of his part of the storefront for a patio facing Detroit. Not sure how that will look.

Wow, that sounds fantastic. My friend and I were talking and we wondered if maybe they would expand it in the coming years. Like you said, they've sold out 400+ both years with no advertising. Maybe grow it into a nice regional festival. A summer fest would be awesome as well, since they would have a larger capacity at an outdoor venue. Of course, bigger doesn't always mean better, so I'll just try and remember to get tickets early next year.

Well, I tried to buy tickets to the Winter Warmer festival on Friday, but it was already sold out. Peabody or anyone else who went, how was it?

Well, on the west side of Cleveland, there is: Beer Engine Brew Kettle Bier Markt Tremont Tap House Melt

I don't see anything about it on RB's website. If I want to go, do I need to get tickets in advance, or can we just show up?

The upper floor "software" tenants is Key. Key is the only tenant in the building. We take floors 4, 5, 6 and 8. The other floors are empty.

It hasn't affected my decision yet (I've only lived in 2 places, grew up in Medina, currently live in Lakewood). But I would think long and hard before moving to the "snow belt" out in the far eastern suburbs. Obviously I've never lived there, but they always seems to get significantly more snow than the rest of NEO. As far as winter weather and road clearing, its definitely depends on the year, but there is usually no more than 5 days a year where your commute will be severly delayed by snow. It is usually when the snow hits in the early morning/afternoon hours and they can't clear it all before rush hour starts. This has been a pretty mild winter so far (knock on wood). There's only been one or two days that I had a bad commute. The worst year recently was, I think, 2004/5. There was a terrible snow/rain/ice storm in late december that just buried the whole area in a 2 foot layer of heavy, wet snow. It took me about 6 hours to shovel my driveway and I knocked the mirror off my car trying to get it unstuck. That was a bad week. As far as advice, just pay attention to the weather reports and plan ahead. If it looks like we're gonna get hit hard, wake up early so you can give yourself plenty of time to get to work. Driving in snow is a skill that can only be learned, so just be careful when driving.

Well, it looks like we won't have to wait too long for a concert club in the OC. The 2527 will soon be The Matinee Club From Scene: http://blogs.clevescene.com/cnotes/2008/01/indie_rockers_rejoice_the_mati.php

All shopping in Lakewood is basically on Madison and Detroit. There are lots of cute shops in the storefront along these streets, though nothing that really stands out. Now, bars and music, Lakewood has in abundance. There are lots and lots of bars in Lakewood. Almost all are either a college/sports bar, an Irish Pub or a dive bar. For a 26 year old, the most popular are McCarthy's, Pug Mahone's, Around the Corner, Harry Buffalo, WestEnd. They are all mostly college bars. Most of the live music in Lakewood are cover bands. The places that consistantly have bands are Put-In-Bay Bar, Around the Corner and McCarthy's (sometimes). Sullivan's is an authentic Irish pub that has lots of Celtic bands play there. There is also the Winchester, which is a concert club and Bela Dubby which is a coffee house/art gallery/bar that has different entertainment (comedy on monday, sometimes live music). Your best bet is to grab a Scene Magazine or a Free Times (free alternative papers) when you're in town and look through the bar ads. All the places I mentioned will have an ad. Oh, and I would second Melt and the Beer Engine. Both great places with really good food and amazing beer lists. They do get crowded though.

Hmm, I grew up on a farm in Medina...I was wondering where all those old dogs came from!