Evergrey

I think this "everybody beating everybody else" phenomenon in the Big East is proving that it is a terrible football conference. The AP puts a few new Big East teams in the Top 25 every week due to decent records... but they beat nobody but creampuffs and each other.

When I was living in Wooster, I met a few Northeast Ohio natives that said they became Steeler fans when Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore. I guess these people don't feel like the new Browns are "authentic"... and the Browns' pitiful performance since 1999 probably hasn't helped either. Also, the Steelers' 4 Super Bowls in the 70s and more recent success has forged a strong national fanbase. The Browns unfortunately haven't had much success. I'm actually happy to see the Browns doing well this year... Cleveland is a real football town that deserves something to root for...good luck.. this should be a good game.

Pittsburgh's KDKA did a segment on Pittsburgh Browns Backers http://kdka.com/video/[email protected]

very beautiful tour, mrnyc

Please stop with the personal attacks, KJP.

d'oh... can a moderator correct the spelling of Columbus in the title?

America's Most Stable Housing Markets Matt Woolsey, 10.01.07, 4:00 PM ET Nationwide, home prices are falling, sales are sluggish and the number of foreclosures is mounting. Ask any economist and you'll hear that things are bad, and likely to get worse. Unless you live in Seattle, where the market is slowing but fundamentals remain strong. More below: http://www.forbes.com/realestate/2007/10/01/property-stable-homes-forbeslife-cx_mw_1001realestate.html TOP 10 STABLE HOUSING MARKETS 1. Seattle, Wash. Median home price: $395,000 Annual price change from 2006: 8.9% Projected price change to 2008: 3.09% Seattle continually bucks national housing trends. Price appreciation in the Emerald City has been strong over the last six quarters. Besides a very low unsold housing inventory and a strong sales rate, there are very few non-conforming loans, which lessens the chance of widespread foreclosures and delinquencies. While the market is slowing, the strong lending situation and sales rate bode well for the market. 2. Pittsburgh, Pa. Median home price: $123,500 Annual price change from 2006: 2.7% Projected price change to 2008: 3.37% Pittsburgh's growth has been steady over the last year, and with low foreclosure projections based on the state of the local lending market, very affordable housing stock and relatively low inventory, it can overcome the fact that its sales rate is 30th out of the 40 markets measured. 3. Columbus, Ohio Median home price: $153,900 Annual price change from 2006: -1.2% Projected price change to 2008: 3.49% Columbus, like many other cities in Ohio, has witnessed a deteriorating subprime lending situation. While things aren't going to turn around instantly--projections list Columbus as the 17th worst market for delinquencies (out of 40)--the city's sales rate is picking up. Based on Moody's Economy.com calculations, next year Columbus should boast the eighth-fastest sales rate of the 40 markets examined. 4. Dallas, Texas Median home price: $156,500 Annual price change from 2006: 1.7% Projected price change to 2008: 5.45% Just a few years ago, a 5.45% price increase wasn't especially remarkable, but in today's climate that return looks pretty good. Dallas also benefits from strong job and population growth; an abundance of affordable housing stock makes the market very price-inelastic, helping to shield Dallas from the nationwide bust. 5. St. Louis, Mo. Median home price: $157,200 Annual price change from 2006: 2.7% Projected price change to 2008: 3.01% Because area returns have never been high, St. Louis's housing market generally flies underneath the national radar. Its strongest characteristic: a supply-and-demand dynamic slightly slanted toward the seller. Overexpansion has not hit St. Louis in the same way as other large markets, and its sales rate based on the number of households in the city is strong. 6. Cincinnati, Ohio Median home price: $146,200 Annual price change from 2006: -1.9% Projected price change to 2008: 2.65% That Cincinnati performed so well in our calculations is truly a sign of the times. The market has been feeling subprime fallout over the past year, but as it didn't grow much during the boom, it doesn't have too far to fall. Delinquency rates are expected to be in the middle of the pack nationally, but the signs for an accelerating sales rate suggest that the market's inventory problems might soon be resolved. 7. Atlanta, Ga. Median home price: $175,500 Annual price change from 2006: 0.9% Projected price change to 2008: 4.4% Affordable markets like Atlanta don't feel the extreme swings of higher-priced markets. The city's migration and job creation spikes have made Atlanta one of the fastest-growing cities in America. Its current problems are the result of a bloated inventory, especially condos in the beltway, but other fundamentals, including a fast sales rate and a low proportion of non-conforming mortgages, suggest it can burn off its supply glut. 8. San Antonio, Texas Median home price: $154,300 Annual price change from 2006: 6.6% Projected price change to 2008: 5.35% In rapidly growing San Antonio, housing supply and new construction is keeping up with demand; the sales rate next year is expected to be the sixth highest in the country on a per-capita basis. However, San Antonio has a subprime problem that will dampen the success most of the market has enjoyed. Only Detroit is expected to have a higher delinquency rate than San Antonio's 4.5%. 9. San Francisco, Calif. Median home price: $846,800 Annual price change from 2006: 7.6% Projected price change to 2008: 2.5% When it comes to the non-conforming loan market, San Francisco's biggest worry is the very high rate of jumbo loans--those priced over $417,000 and therefore not eligible for Fannie Mae securitization. That's because the median home price is more than double Freddie and Fannie's price limit. Housing prices continue to climb in San Fran, but affordability problems and lending problems in the jumbo market should put a drag on price growth. 10. Fort Worth, Texas Median home price: $156,500* Annual price change from 2006: 1.7%* Projected price change to 2008: 3.09% Fort Worth is often lumped in with Dallas, though the two cities tied together by a metro area perform a bit differently. Fort Worth's price-growth prospects aren't as strong as Dallas' despite similar sales rates and delinquency rates. The critical differences are in the arenas of job creation, where Dallas outpaces Forth Worth, and that Fort Worth's supply-and-demand dynamic isn't as slanted toward sellers as Dallas.' *National Association of Realtors considers Fort Worth a part of the Dallas Metro area, though for this study we considered them to be separate markets.

Are there any good video game development programs at Ohio universities? Here in Pittsburgh we have developed a significant homegrown video game cluster due to excellence in the field at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and Carnegie-Mellon University. Now a major British video game developer that has had 6 titles selling over 1 million copies is looking at us for a North American HQ (in the running with Quebec). Video game development jobs pay quite well (>$75k/year). If there are any universities in Ohio that have top-notch software and/or "electronic arts" (video game development is both technology and art), then the state should create some incentivies to grow and attract firms in the vicinity. If there really isn't any notable video game development programs... then I don't see how Ohio would become a significant center of innovation in the field.

My apologies. This post was designed for SkyscraperCity... where I rarely post pics... and I couldn't remember if any of these were posted here. Just think of it as a "Greatest Hits". But I guess it is a sort of compliment that you "remember" some of these shots lol Thanks everyone! Hopefully i can do some Ohio photography with my new camera one of these days.

Grubb & Ellis 3rd Quarter market reports for Greater Cleveland http://www.grubb-ellis.com/pdf/metro_off_mkttrnd/cleveland.pdf Downtown had a net absorption of about 75,000 sq. ft. during the 3rd Quarter and the CBD vacancy rate declined slightly to 20.2%.

City-Data is a Cheesecake-Factory-oriented forum inhabited exclusively by morons.

I hope we all can be as active, physically healthy and mentally sharp as Joe Paterno is at age 80.

Thanks mrnyc! My zoom is much more powerful than my previous camera. I don't think any of these pedestrians realized I was taking their picture with the possible exception of the dude in the red shirt... and I think that glance may have been coincidental. I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable... I'm not sure if most people would understand I'm just documenting the urban experience. I've really been focusing on people shots lately... it's a lot of fun to capture interesting urbanites. I've been busy with grad school... but hopefully I'll get to try out my new camera and skillz in some other cities in the near future.

How embarrassing it shall be when young Jim Tressel and his top-ranked Luckeyes fall to a Nittany Lion squad led by an octogenarian head coach.

Next week, Ohio State's dreams of an unblemished campaign will fade into black reality in the hostile confines of Happy Valley.

muhahahahaha! I really didn't expect this considering Pitt is going through it's most pathetic season in about 15 years... but it's a crazy year for college football. Maybe the Big East really does suck?

Here's a study on Cleveland's foreclosure epidemic http://acorn.org/fileadmin/Reports/OH_Cleveland.pdf Cincinnati: http://acorn.org/fileadmin/Reports/OH_Cincinnati.pdf Columbus: http://acorn.org/fileadmin/Reports/OH_Columbus.pdf Dayton: http://acorn.org/fileadmin/Reports/OH_Dayton.pdf Toledo: http://acorn.org/fileadmin/Reports/OH_Toledo.pdf Akron: http://acorn.org/fileadmin/Reports/OH_Akron.pdf

I took these photos with my new camera from April thru October 2007

The Browns have skyrocketed in all the "Power Rankings" on ESPN, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated and Yahoo! Sports!

Happy Birthday!

Employment Growth, Future Prospects, and Change at the Ohio Rural-Urban Interface This is a huge PDF report... but I thought some of you might be interested in it. Here is the link to the report: http://exurban.osu.edu/econgrowthchange07/econ_growth_change.pdf The report's main sections include: Trends in Ohio's Employment Growth, Shifting Geography of Ohio's Jobs, Moving Ohio Forward and Conclusions. http://exurban.osu.edu/econ_growth_change07.htm The OSU Exurban Program and the Swank Program on Rural-Urban Policy joined together again to report on growth and change in Ohio. (Access other Growth and Change reports here.) This report highlights recent and historical trends in Ohio's relative performance vis-à-vis other states in attracting and retaining population, enhancing quality of life, and providing economic opportunities. It is well known that Ohio has lagged the nation in most economic indicators. Why? and Why should we care? What about our neighboring Great Lake states? How does Ohio compare? The report is divided into three sections. First, is an overview of Ohio's historic employment situation to help us understand the underlying drivers of the economy. Second, we provide an overview of the geographical distribution of Ohio‟s jobs and how this distribution has evolved over time. Together, these two sections provide the needed context to describe ways to move rural Ohio forward, addressed in the third section. Third and finally, we discuss rural Ohio's employment situation. Policies should be based on reality, not myth. Yet, one of our chief findings is that many of the popular explanations for Ohio‟s struggles are not consistent with reality. We provide 10 possible recommendations to help enhance the livelihood and quality of life of Ohio's rural residents. These recommendations are divided into those that could be implemented at the state level and those can be done at the community level.

One major reason for this is that the City of Lexington comprises 64.1% of its MSA. The City of Youngstown only comprises 13.8% of its MSA. City boundaries are quite arbitrary and the nature of municipal governance varies vastly from one location to the next. MSA comparison is much more relevant. And in case anyone was wondering why these 9 cities were compared... they are the top 9 MSAs in the Fourth District of the Federal Reserve.

I don't see the Buckeyes being able to compete with the South Florida Bulls in a hypothetical National Championship matchup.

way to go, Brownies!