YABO713

Hey Everyone, I would ask that you all take the time to read this - I would really appreciate it. I am getting married on February 23rd. One of the groomsmen in my wedding is a dear friend from college - and I think he might be taking a one way trip to Cleveland to give himself a fresh start on life after the wedding. Here is his story: He was born in Connecticut, the son of a wealthy attorney - partner at Skadden Arps in New York - and stay at home mom. He attended Salisbury Prep School in CT, the most expensive high school in the country. He and I met at Hiram College, and instantly developed a friendship. He is bright, sincere, unassuming, polite, and a very loyal friend. His performance in the classroom was stellar. During our sophomore year, it was exposed that his father was having multiple affairs and had been cheating on his wife regularly. Instead of doing the normal thing, and filing for divorce and moving out, his father took advantage of his dual citizenship. He spent all of the money he had access to in New York and then moved to London (where he was born) and where he had sizable financial holdings the family was unaware of - leaving my friend and his mother penniless. Cam (my friend) dropped his classes at Hiram to help his mother financially - she then got a job in Dallas, TX that was a great opportunity, so she moved - Cam followed. Cam returned to Hiram for the beginning of our junior year, having provided his mom with a few thousand dollars to help her get on her feet in Dallas. About 6 weeks into the first semester, Cam received a call - his mother had passed out at work. After a trip to the doctor, several large tumors were found on Cam's mother's brain. Cam then once again withdrew from Hiram, packed up, and moved to Dallas to care for his mother. Cam's mom battled with cancer for three years, eventually losing that battle last January. Through most of the time, she was unable to walk or change herself - she was Cam's full time job, which once again caused him to withdraw from classes (where he was receiving straight A's) at UT Arlington. He made a couple visits up to Cleveland during that time, and each time I could tell her badly wanted to move here - I think the pretentious nature of the East Coast and Dallas always rubbed him the wrong way, and he felt the people here to be "authentic." When Cam's mom passed, he called his dad to help with funeral expenses (his dad is remarried in London to a 30 year old with 2 kids under the age of 5) - his dad refused. Cam spent the entirety of his savings on the funeral. As of yesterday, I spoke with Cam, due to financial circumstances, I will be paying for his trip up here, along with all necessities for the wedding. He has been essentially homeless now for the last 4.5 months. Spending most nights on couches of acquaintances, some nights in their cars, and a couple nights in hammocks. The point of telling you that is that I think he's determined to move here. However, I have nowhere for him to stay, I do not know of any jobs (that goes beyond end's meet) that are currently open, and I want to do whatever possible for him to get here, work, finish school, and go on to live the life that I know he's capable of. I honestly don't know anyone who has been dealt a worse hand in the last five years. He's a remarkably polished guy, considering the circumstances, which is probably due to his upbringing. He's a hard worker, he's loyal, and he's extremely intelligent - but I do not want him to come here if he's just going to fall into the same circumstances. So what I am asking is this: 1. Does anyone know of a feasible housing situation for him if he moves here? Hopefully something near public transport so he can get around. 2. Does anyone have any ideas for employment for him? I know very few of you know me personally, but I would certainly stick my neck out to vouch for his character, work ethic, and intelligence. I really appreciate any help you can offer. He's a close friend and I really believe he just deserves a chance, and that's all he needs.

I respectfully disagree, I think no retail will force this development to integrate more fully into downtown, as opposed to trying to make its own enclave.

^Nice! It will be fun to get a perspective from Eaton Building and One Cleveland Center as the stacks get higher

^Don't forget the mural of Lake Erie's favorite resident, the humpback whale

Yeah, I'm always a glass half full guy with any development in the city, but I don't get it.

Once again, we seem to be an outlier

Awesome narrative, thank you for sharing! It's insane how I couldn't tell you what I had for breakfast last Wednesday, but I can tell you the way my classroom smelled on 9/11. Not to derail this, but my father was in 2nd grade when JFK died, at St. Charles School in Parma (at the time the largest Catholic school in the country) and he still tells me about how the principal came on over the PA (So I guess they existed) and was not able to speak for the first 5-10 seconds as she had obviously been crying. He said he came home that afternoon to find out that he had passed, and my grandma, a first generation Catholic, Irish-American was crying on their living room couch and my grandfather (also first generation Irish-American) was angry beyond words.

I was thinking more along the lines of what Cincinnati did adjacent to Great American Ballpark - ground floor retail, apartments or offices above (no more than 5-6 floors) and perhaps a Browns museum as a satellite to the Pro Football Hall of Fame

I think the most likely replacement would be a new entertainment district block, with an emphasis on Browns games, concerts, and other events at FES.

Found a good place to put the JC - Honestly the only acceptable location imo.

@eastvillagedon Painesville was an incredibly diverse place in 1964. Rare for Northeast Ohio, especially then. Cool picture!

I couldn't disagree more, respectfully of course. I was in Boston a few months back, and the "Boston Spine" essentially has two ends wherein the taller buildings are located, which creates an illusion that their skyline is more prominent and voluminous than it actually is. I think capping the East side of Downtown with a prominent building will effectively extend the volume of our skyline from E. 17th all the way to the Federal Courthouse, which would make it easily the most expansive in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. ^The actual volume of the Spine versus the perceived volume from street level below

I'm not sure about this, @eastvillagedon.. while I tend to agree with you that the comparisons are hyperbolic, I actually know some people that will overdraw their account grocery shopping at Whole Foods instead of spending 25% less at Dave's or Giant Eagle. Food quality is highly important to many people my age (and as you point out, across generations as well). BUT I think we millenials really came of age with this nutrition revolution, and it shows in what we're willing to pay for food.

As a homeowner on an adjacent street, I'm not thrilled about the high school: a) because I think that was prime development space, b) because that WAS Max Hayes and they just built a new Max Hayes 2 miles away, and c) because it does not look like its really integrating well with the overall streetscape Ohio City and DS are trying to strive for along Detroit. But maybe I'll be wrong when I see the finished product.

Mehh, I don't know. Personally, I enjoy paying $12 for a 2"x2" taco.

Shipping off your biggest bat and best situational hitter.

Bingo

I’ve got a decent view of the crane from my new office, I’ll try to post one of these weekly. Hopefully it will start to peak through this Spring!

If we're going for USL, we don't need billionaire owners who could afford to lose on this venture. We'd need someone like the Wolsteins, Bernie Moreno, or a collection of prominent businessman, lawyers, etc. who would have more invested in the success and long term vision of the club.

For the most complex criminal cases, the defendant is typically being held there for the pendency of trial anyways.

Catch 22 is, many small law firms opened shop downtown, opting for more expensive rent for a small business, for the simple fact that they can walk to the JC. There will be strong opposition from these smaller practitioners.

Was just stuck in an elevator at the Justice Center for 15 minutes. There were about 14 people on the elevator with me. None of them smelled good. If they sell seats to the implosion, I'm buying a corporate box and getting popcorn and champagne for everyone.

A little throwback to warmer weather, and checking off some more of the parks trails and waterfalls this past summer and fall

I wouldn't say progressive as the key term - because our most progressive Council members aren't necessarily our most valuable. McCormick and Zone both have very bright futures and are ultimately assets for the city, but they're not our most progressive members. I'd say open minded and innovative - ONLY because of the ultra-liberal connotation progressive now carries with it (even if I don't agree with the word's current application lol)

^That's a great idea. The could link it up to parts of the Buckeye trail as well.