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Quaker Steak & Lube to rename "Suicide" sauce Posted by Harlan Spector March 17, 2008 20:45PM Categories: Top Story Quaker Steak & Lube, a motor-sports-themed restaurant chain, has agreed to rename its super-hot "Suicide" sauce after complaints that the name was insensitive to those who have been touched by suicide. More at http://blog.cleveland.com/plaindealer/2008/03/quaker_steak_lube_to_rename_su.html

Does Fox News have a New York bias?

just lovely... it must've rivaled Cincy back in the day

I don't know, I've always thought that Chicago is boring. The topography is bleak, the loop is just full of larger versions of everything in my local mall, and the city has lost a lot of identity in the last decade. I don't think they know what they're about anymore. Every time I go there it feels like they just settled for the "second city" motto. I don't get what you're saying, at all. If topography alone were such a big deal, tourists would be flocking to Altoona, PA. For years I've felt the positive energy when walking in the Loop. I just feel energized and optimistic when I'm there, and even when I've had a crappy day and I'm feeling down, stepping onto the street in the Loop picks me right up. The rumble of elevated trains, the large numbers of shoppers, workers and tourists on the sidewalks, the traffic of delivery trucks, buses and taxis, all combine to make the place vibrantly alive. For the most part, people are friendly, and they're helpful to visitors seeking directions. The people who live and work there are proud of their city and most wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Chicago has long been renowned for its architecture. While some of its trophies have been surpassed in size and spectacle by things being built in Asia and the Middle East recently, Chicago has a lot of significant landmarks and enough variety to be visually fascinating. Maybe you should consider anti-depressant meds? :wink: Actually, many people do visit Altoona, PA due to the fusion of topography and engineering genius known as the Horseshoe Curve.

fascinating stuff, mrnyc

I believe Norwalk suffered some devastating floods back in summer 2006. Nice pics.

great photos!

yeah, unified awnings are cool

This is bad news. Looks like National City made a strategic blunder by entering lucrative Florida at just the worst possible moment.

If you look at the charts, Akron has lost a much smaller proportion of its manufacturing base this decade than the rest of Ohio. Also, Metro Akron has eperienced "booming" growth in Professional and Business Services. Cleveland has lost jobs in this sector. The cynic in me wonders if (suburban) Akron is gaining at Cleveland's expense due to the spatial decentralization of this sector caused by suburban sprawl

Lakewood's population density is 10,208.5/sq mi, which is less dense than Hamtramck's 10,900/sq mi. But Hamtrack is only 22,000 people while Lakewood is 56,000. Lakewood is less dense than Philadelphia, however (10,882.8/sq mi). Philadelphia is west of New York and east of Chicago, so I assume it qualifies as "between". Lakewood very well may be the densest city over 50,000 between Philadelphia and Chicago. Unfortunately, I agree. I prefer Coventry.

I wonder if the Kentucky portion of Metro Cincinnati is a significant factor in Cincinnati's "low" foreclosure rate compared to the other Ohio metros. Kentucky ranks 41st for job growth from Dec. 2000 - Dec. 2007 at 1.5%, adding 26,800 jobs. KY's job total grew by 0.3% in 2007. Ohio ranks 49th for job growth in that period at -3.7%, losing 209,400 jobs. OH's job total declined by 0.3% in 2007. I'm actually suprised KY's growth has been so meager... by far the worst performance of any "southern" state besides hurricane-ravaged Louisiana. But while Kentucky's been pretty stagnant... Ohio's massive job losses are a whole 'nother ball game. I doubt KY has "weird foreclosure laws"... if anything... Ohio is the state that had "weird foreclosure laws", as pointed out by MayDay. The state government even struck down the City of Cleveland's anti-predatory lending initiative a few years ago (MayDay can probably elaborate on that). However, I do think Ohio's economy is a major culprit in the statewide foreclosure disaster as well. The hardest hit regions of the country have mostly been some of the "fastest growing" where demand and speculation caused housing prices to spiral out of control. However, two foreclosure hotspots do not fit this profile: Ohio and Michigan. These two states have suffered the worst job losses in the country, which has depressed income growth and results in a lot of people falling hopelessly behind on payments.

Thanks!

Exactly. The out-migration of the 80s already depressed population growth rates... skewing the population older and eliminating a large chunk of children that theoretically would've been born in Ohio (and just now entering the workforce). This drags down growth in "population-dependent" economic sectors (retail, construction, schoolteachers, etc.), further depressing job growth rates. The rather extreme job loss going on this decade leads me to believe that Ohio will face some difficult demographic trends in the future. While still positive, Ohio has one of the lowest rates of "natural increase" (births vs. deaths) in the nation, and this decade's job loss combined with declining fertility, could tip the scales towards a "natural decrease" in the near future... a phenomenon already experienced in some parts of Ohio, Western NY, Western PA and West Virginia. I have to admit I am shocked when comparing this decade's job growth to that of the 80s... and it worries me.

one other thing... check out the chart on page 7 of "7 year job growth" periods since 1940-47. Remember the 80s? That's remembered as a time of rather significant manufacturing decline, economic malaise and restructuring in Ohio (and the rest of the Rust Belt). And you can see the late 70s and early 80s were the 2nd worst period in recorded history (after post-Korean War) with several years of meager growth to mild decline. But look at what's happening in the past few years... it is much worse than the 80s... this is the type of economic decline that could have significant demographic implications for decades to come (on top of already poor demographic trends from the 80s malaise).

It is Forbes... so ingest with a few morsels of salt... but this does seem to have a bit more substance than their "best cities for singles", "best cities for speed-walking" and "best cities for gay penguins" lists. So good for Columbus. I'm sure with its higher education sector and high concentration of state and federal jobs, it's well positioned to generate that elusive "tech economy". Let's see if they have a completely different Top 10 when they do this list next year.

I don't know if I can agree with that since it says that Springfield MSA and Dayton MSA lost the most and third most respectively(-10% and-7.5%), and Akron had the highest growth at +4.1% Just for fun... let's compare Cincinnati-Dayton-Springfield and Cleveland-Akron-Canton... two relatively equivalent mega-regions (though neither encompasses the entirity of NE or SW Ohio). Cleveland-Akron-Canton 2000 job total: 1668.1 Net Jobs 2000-2007: -65.9 Growth Rate: -4.0 Cincinnati-Dayton-Springfield 2000 job total: 1531.0 Net Jobs 2000-2007: -18.3 Growth Rate: -1.2% So... it appears the NE megaregion (not including more "stand-alone" areas like Youngstown-Warren and Mansfield) fared worse overall than the SW megaregion... though both experienced overall job declines. btw, the Cincinnati Metro numbers include jobs in KY and IN... I wonder how growth in the non-OH portions of the metro (which are obviously not included in Ohio's totals) compare to the growth in the OH portion of Metro Cincy (Steubenville-Weirton is another multi-state metro... but who cares)

I think one of the most frightening things in that study is (and it's a national trend, just more extreme in Ohio): "Every industry that is capable of exporting and faces foreign imports or routine outsourcing lost jobs in Ohio over the past seven years. All new jobs are in domestic consumer services that rely on soaring levels of debt." -236,000 (almost a quarter!) manufacturing jobs +100,100 health care bureaucracy (don't produce anything) +24,500 bars and restaurants (don't produce anything) +12,500 leisure and hospitality (don't produce anything) +18,700 state and local government (don't produce anything) How long until this economic house of cards collapses (or is it already?)?

nice pics! MKE never fails to impress moreso than Toronto?

one from the wayback machine June 2005... a glorious summer for me... this was taken in Newport, Vermont on the shores of Lake Memphremagog (which is shared with Quebec). This was about a month and a half after I took my first photograph ever... on my first crappy little camera. I always regarded this photo as a beautiful accident. Newport is a very charming town.

Great lookin' town!

Thanks!

I would love to see the Browns in the Super Bowl!

The Market Path looks interesting... is that an organic grocer?

Agreed. Unions passed the threshold a long time ago when they extracted wages/benefits from companies that outstripped their productivity.