Jax

^ It would make sense, if not for logistical reasons for the emotional comfort of having some base of operations in the area.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1169804871140120.xml&coll=2

My visceral reaction to this is not good, despite the promise to keep, if not raise, the number of patrols for the area the same. This is probably irrational, but my gf works around Payne & e30th (sometimes late), and I've always been comforted by the fact that the 3rd district station is right around the corner.. Now.. thpt. http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1169803850140120.xml&coll=2

I thought I read somewhere else on here that Statler was mandated rental only for 15 years to encourage mixed-income usage. I'm assuming it would be the same rationale here, but I know next to nothing about this stuff. Interesting to hear Statler's only 80%.. I knew there were a lot of empty units here, but wow. The leasing agent was just let go last week to everyone's surprise. She was fantastic and I really don't think the low numbers were any fault of hers but instead the "hottness" of the WHD. Again.. just my guess. Anyway, I'm practically giddy over the news about this block.

There's probably a much better thread for this but I couldn't find it in my brief/lazy search.. Feel free to delete or move or whatever admin magic you can conjure.. http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070116/FREE/70116012/1039/newsletter01 Surfing for passengers By JAY MILLER 3:06 pm, January 16, 2007 There’s a new way to avoid the hand cramps that afflict snowy weather commuters after hours of tightly gripping a steering wheel. Ohio RideShare now is on the web. ........ For more information, log onto ohiorideshare.com or call 1-800-825-RIDE.

CPL has decent public internet computer terminals.. Just make sure Carl Monday isn't lurking in the stacks. Tower City used to, but that seemed ill-concenceived from the start.

It blows my mind there isn't a Chipotle downtown yet. Couple folks mentioned gyms -- Rezults in Tower City is the best IMO. I've also belonged to the CAC and the Colonial Marketplace Fit Works.. I tried the gym at One Cleveland a few times and was unimpressed (it does have a pool, though). CAC I left because even with the downtown residency discount it's still more expensive than it should be. I've since heard from other members they're going through an especially rough time and there are some real questions as to whether it's going to make it. Apparently they're pressuring members to pay additional fees above and beyond the quarterly food minimums and monthly enrollment fees just to keep afloat. Supposedly they stooped so low as to keep the majority of money raised at a charity benefit for one of the workers that suffered a stroke (although that was the prior owners and was somewhat remedied when they were busted after the books were opened).

Reminds me of a quaint youth hostel or something.. err..if it was in europe.

The Bell Event Center is very cool.. A good friend had her wedding & reception there a couple years ago and it struck me and several other fellow Clevelanders as mucho classy.. I vaguely remember barely resisting the urge to ring some giant bells or gongs or something that were about. When I contacted her to ask the name of the place she also mentioned she thinks Old St. George is becoming another Urban Outfitters I think.

^^ Thanks! The website was great but supposedly wasn't transfered over during the sale of the building recently to the new owners (according to one of the building managers when I asked about it last week during the holiday bash). It wasn't clear to me if it was an act of omission or commission, but either way is pretty lame.. I agree it should be condos, and I think it probably will go that way whenever the grace period is over that I think I read about on here somewhere.. 15 years rental only for guaranteed development funds of some sort? I don't remember exactly.

You might want to check out the Statler Arms -- (216) 696-6800. I've been here over a year and am really happy with it. Located at East 12th and Euclid it's only a 10 min walk to Public Square & Tower City. Although I don't think it has any "loft style" apartments, they do have furnished suites that can be rented for shorter terms like what you're looking for. It's got a nice classic hotel-like atmosphere (if that's your thing), a restaurant in the lobby (although it's not open every evening), an attached garage, 24x7 security and is very quiet. And no, I am not employed by the building :-D

^wow, and I thought this was a snarky bunch :-D The gizmodo folks are just straight up jaded reading those comment!

As I'm writing this I'm watching a couple DCA guys touch up the E12th & Euclid's traffic light signal box and a couple trash cans with brown paint.. Which is really nice and much appreciated! However they didn't even give them a cursory wash and are simply painting over splotches of mud that are plainly visible from over a hundred feet away.. I'm no Van Gogh, but isn't that a painting no no?

Marketplace Morning Report segment I referred to above -- http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/12/07/AM200612071.html

Well.. You'll just have to trust me that I'm not just saying this to be a dick, BUT I think most audiophiles would argue that mp3s, no matter what you listen to them on, are basically unbearable due to the lossy compression scheme. The really high end digital media devices are geared more towards FLAC or other lossless formats. I'm not sure if AAC is lossless or not, but it is markedly better quality than mp3. Also, either this morning or yesterday morning NPR's Marketplace Morning report had an interesting segment on the iPod. An analyst basically said it's true iPods are not necessarily the best, but with 80% market share they're definitely perceived as the "coolest".. I'll post the link if I can find it later. *EDIT: I see I basically just restated everything you just said C-Dawg Njaim.. I guess that's what I get for not rechecking the thread before I hit post.

Yeah, that really pisses me off too.. Sometimes if you call up your provider and get the right CSR they'll give you the code to unlock your phone after your contract is up. Or, if you're on a GSM network you can purchase unlocked phones online. I got my (unlocked) Motorola SLVR from Amazon.com and it works great. After I figured out how to change the default language to English from German that is.

Here's yet another article about it -- http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/03/kevin-rose-confirms-iphone/ I especially like their prototype mock-up picture.. While I respect Apple for their clean design and superior user interfaces, I think there's a big difference between this and when they introduced the iPod.. For one, the mp3 market was still relatively young when they came along and *everything* absolutely sucked (some would argue they still all do). The cell phone market however is quite mature and drag-down, esophagus-punching, fingernail-pulling, eyeball-poking, back-stabbing competitive. That being said, I am really looking forward to seeing their product.

Has anyone heard anything more about the CitiStat program implemented by the CPD this year? The last whisper of it I can find is here -- http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/115372986777640.xml&coll=2

^ Sign on the window says December 7th I think.. They're still working like mad. A couple guys were jackhammering out the old grating in the sidewalk to replace with shiny new grates. Plus as pope mentioned they're currently installing exterior signage.. Here are a couple horrible pictures from my crappy camera phone --

I like that idea. I've called the police before when witnessing particularly aggressive pan handlers and they took it seriously and responded promptly.. (216) 621-1234 is the 3rd district's non-emergency line.

I hear what you're saying regarding it being a privately funded enterprise wimwar.. But the fact that they are working on public space I think necessitates a more open forum. Plus, like you say, it's just good practice. Just my opinion. Oh another thought -- as an update to the website, it'd be great if they could add a simple webform where people could report particularly dirty areas that need attention.. Not that they need to respond to *every* solicitation, but some simple tracking of requests would yield obvious hotspots that need more attention.

They *absolutely* need more transparency.. A friend and I have tried on multiple occasions to learn more information other than the occasional snippet in the paper / Crains and failed miserably. Didn't they just essentially "fire" all their volunteers recently? I'd like to know the rationale behind that for example. At the very least they should invest in more cool toys like this one --

I may be walking into a hornet's nest here, but speaking of Gap -- the Tower City National City Bank has a 30% off coupon on the table just inside their lobby that applies to their already on-sale items as well.. I got a $50 vneck for $20 yesterday. Even if you don't like the clothes you could pick up some decent cheap underwear or a hat or something. Good through Sunday.

Ah, thanks.. I had visions of people's silhouette's being permanently seared into the pavement a la The Day After.

I think the reflection is really cool.. Am I making this up or do I remember something about one of Gehry's buildings needing to be sand-blasted because the solar reflections were like cooking people walking on the sidewalk below?