jamiec

""Frankly, what we need are businesses, business development that creates jobs that has high income potential so that we'll have more customers for retail in the future," said Fingerhut." What a novel thought. Too bad the politicians don't know this yet. Wait a sec....

Cycling is a pretty common sight in my opinion, especially with the bike messengers flying all over downtown. Just today I saw a brave soul withstanding the cold. Things to keep in mind about cycling in downtown: For the most part, it's all about vehicular cycling. You have to be willing to ride with traffic that isn't used to cyclists. There aren't many bike lanes, and people aren't always watching. There are bike lanes going west into Ohio City and I believe Lakewood is aiming to create some bike lanes, as well. Anywhere you're going to find a bike trail is going to be pretty safe...They are all in the suburbs in metroparks! =) Cycling in Lakewood is very common. There are a lot of commuters, casual exercise folks and hardcore roadies here. I plan on getting a beater next summer to commute to food/shopping, etc.

^ ALL I knows is comparin' New Yahk to anyplace else...fogettaboutit! That's my crappy Internet NYC accent. But, as an obnoxious kid from Long Island told these Irish tourists on the Staten Island Ferry: "New York. It's the best city in the world!! Also, don't you love Guinness?"

Booyah! More bookstores, whoopie!

I'm not sure where we stand on this discussion, but I'd have to say Columbus right now is very "accessible." I mean by that, Columbus has some really nice Web sites and programs...The "Experience Columbus" site and the living downtown site and Retro Metro and Metro-Rentals....Plus Columbus Alive is a good little "unbiased" way to attract young people. Columbus might be a little less "known" but I think the brand is building slowly but surely! Bring on those streetcars! And build up density downtown.

Looks like a long shot for Issue three http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_openers/archives/2006_11.html#201180 A new Plain Dealer poll suggests that a proposed minimum wage hike will be overwhelmingly approved when Ohioans go to the polls next week, but a plan to open slots parlors around the state seems doomed. Seventy-one percent of those polled this week say they plan to vote for the minimum wage hike, while only 24 percent oppose it. Only 34 percent of those questioned say they intend to vote for Issue 3, which gambling interests have spent millions promoting, while 57 percent oppose it. The poll also has good news for anti-smoking advocates. Issue 5, which would ban smoking in nearly all public places, is ahead 53-38, while Issue 4, the less restrictive rival plan than would also overturn local no-smoking laws, trails 59-32. More on the statewide ballot issues -- and the race for U.S. Senate -- in tomorrow's Plain Dealer. The poll, conducted for The Plain Dealer by Mason-Dixon, involved interviews with 625 respondents over three days this week and has a 4 percent margin of error. --Ed. Reposting the new poll. Personally, I think this is a good thing as it gets this red herring off our back. Gambling wasn't going to fix Cleveland. Now lets focus on stuff that will!

Cleveland was at the epicenter of the last recession. It's nice to see it's recovering well from that time. The amount of bad press/negative views Cleveland gets, it's amazing that $4.5 billion gets spent there. But Cleveland also had the most incredible PR campaign ever in the 90s... with the whole "Cleveland Rocks" thing and the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame and the Flats (which everyone outside of Cleveland still thinks exists) and Drew Carrey. At least from my experience... Cleveland had a rather positive perception amongst the general population (much more so than Pittsburgh or Cincinnati). And though Columbus is now approaching Cleveland's metro in population... Cleveland has always been perceived as offering more of a "big-city" experience with its theaters, museums and other attractions... which is why I'm suprised it doesn't compete with Columbus concerning tourist dollars. You'd need to do a comprehensive clip report to see if Cleveland does in fact get far more "good" publicity than Columbus and Cincinnati. I have no idea, although I suppose if we assumed that is true, we might be able to attribute it to the size of the area, the history, the sports, etc. Of course, if we assume anything, well, you know the saying :) I sat in on a meeting on marketing Cleveland recently, and they have done a few studies and found that people in other parts of the country have basically no knowledge of Cleveland. They know it exists, of course, but outside of that, they don't have a positive or negative impression. Overall, the negativity comes more from the people who live here than outsiders. That's interesting! When you see good stories about Cleveland, you often see them on the "rediscover Cleveland" angle. For Columbus, it seems like the stories are "discover Columbus." So, you have two cities at two different points with two different backgrounds. Cleveland's massive PR/marketing successes in the 1990s are impressive. But then the campaign stopped! You can't expect a big marketing campaign to last 10 years! Can you imagine if Nike all of the sudden just stopped advertising/marketing? You either have to boost your marketing spending or at least maintain it in order to raise awareness of a brand. Cleveland just dumped the whole thing. There are too many cities out there fighting for the same dollars.

Looks like a long shot for Issue three http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_openers/archives/2006_11.html#201180 A new Plain Dealer poll suggests that a proposed minimum wage hike will be overwhelmingly approved when Ohioans go to the polls next week, but a plan to open slots parlors around the state seems doomed. Seventy-one percent of those polled this week say they plan to vote for the minimum wage hike, while only 24 percent oppose it. Only 34 percent of those questioned say they intend to vote for Issue 3, which gambling interests have spent millions promoting, while 57 percent oppose it. The poll also has good news for anti-smoking advocates. Issue 5, which would ban smoking in nearly all public places, is ahead 53-38, while Issue 4, the less restrictive rival plan than would also overturn local no-smoking laws, trails 59-32. More on the statewide ballot issues -- and the race for U.S. Senate -- in tomorrow's Plain Dealer. The poll, conducted for The Plain Dealer by Mason-Dixon, involved interviews with 625 respondents over three days this week and has a 4 percent margin of error. --Ed.

Does Primedia or whatever it's called now have other pubs in NEO? I wonder if NEO might be able to gain workers if NYC-based mags were to be moved here. I obviously don't know anything but am just throwing that out there :) It seems like they'd be able to save a little money with a workforce in Cleveland rather than NYC.

Well, you have to remember, I'm a kid from the Akron suburbs, and I don't know the Cleveland bigwigs ;) In my 'hood, it was all about the O'Neils, lol

I was at Crocker Park this evening (I was in the neighborhood, whaddya gonna do ;) and I saw the RTA bus shelters are much nice/well-designed there. It sort of ticked me off that downtown gets stuck with those hideous brown things. Why can't we get the nice shelters along all the routes? At least make the shelters nice in high visibility areas.

Too bad!! Can't say I'm surprised, though :) I didn't realize Sam Miller was a Forest City person. When I heard that, I knew this story was far-fetched.

^^ They could use those red-light cameras. That's what I'm always freaked about. I think there is one on 71 near Columbus cuz it flashes when you drive by.

Yeah, but he's the Motor City Madman, so he's got Detroit roots. None of those guys live in Detroit proper. Kid Rock is from Romeo, Michigan, which is in Macomb County.

Nope, Jack White did in fact live in Mexicantown: http://www.motorcityrocks.com/mex.htm I like how Detroit has a musician for nearly any interest...Jack White, Eminem, Kid Rock, The Nuge!

No worries. I am skeptical of this thing moving here, too. I don't think most companies move to where the VC are located. But what do I know.... It'd be neat if it did. This seems like a good idea what they've got going on.

Maybe he has plans for creating a technology mecca along the Euclid Corridor! Or maybe not :) Oh, Cleveland. A city like Charlie Brown.

Saw this on a blog: http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/621 Rumour has it that Cleveland may soon be adding a search engine to its list of downtown Cleveland businesses. Cleveland investor Sam Miller is reported to be buying Congoo.com with an investment of upwards of $200 million, which would be a nice boost to the dwindling Cleveland economy. Congoo is a specialized search engine that allows users to search the web, as well as search premium and subscription information from over 300 sources. Congoo has a partnership with Google to provide web search results, and partnerships with a number of publishers such as the Financial Times, Institutional Investor, Boston Globe, and many others to provide searchable content for the premium and subscription search function. Rafael Cosentino, VP Business Development, at Congoo told the Cleveland Leader "We cannot comment on any exisiting talks with potential investors until such relationships have been formalized and made public." We'll keep you posted as this story develops.

Oh, Pope, I stopped reading your comments days ago.

I boycott reading the rest of this. Henry Gomez, come back when you write something that doesn't make me feel icky!

Yeah, what I mean is, if casinos get approved, where will it go downtown? And where will the convention center go? It seems like it would all be near the Tower City area, right? Or what?

Where is a convention center going to go if they are going to have casinos? Will they get rid of the mall and turn Tower City into slots? That wouldn't make sense because of the transit station. Half of me thinks gambling is asinine and another half of me thinks "What if....!" Only time will tell how I vote. I may be seduced.

All that sweats gotta go someplace. It's degrading the road surface!

Hey, I used to be a journalist!!! Of course, if I wrote this story, I probably would make a mistake, too, especially if I weren't visiting this forum. I took a statistics class when I was in college, and the professor ripped into us journalism majors because of all the faulty studies journalists write about. That always stuck with me. I hardly pay attention to the bogus studies and "X may cause Y" stories. That's sad. Also, to stay on topic a bit, I saw that Boston got its population bumped, too. That story pointed out something important, though. When the population of Boston "shrunk," people said it was because people were fleeing expensive housing prices. Reporters wrote stories as if this was a proven trend when it I guess it's not so proven!

On Crocker Park's 2nd anniversary, progress and more plans When Bob Stark unveiled Crocker Park in Westlake two years ago this month, some had doubts it would be anything more than another shopping center, let alone the mixed-use lifestyle center the developer had promised. ....A look at Stark's latest efforts reveals an emphasis not on upscale shopping but on: -- Upscale housing. Coral Co. of Beachwood has begun construction on Westhampton, which will include 116 for-sale homes ranging in price from $290,000 to more than $700,000. -- Upscale hotels. For more than a year Stark has been talking about a "boutique-style" hotel he originally expected to open in the summer. Delays have pushed back construction to 2007, but Stark is not discouraged. "Actually, I'd like to be able to build two," the developer said. -- Arts and entertainment. Stark aggressively pitched, but ultimately failed, to lure the Beck Center for the Arts away from nearby Lakewood. The effort is emblematic of his pursuit of more community-oriented services, such as a Central Park-style gathering area with chess garden. -- Health and wellness. Construction has begun on a Gold's Gym, expected to open next spring. The 46,520-square-foot location will include a pool, elevated track, and basketball, racquetball and squash courts as well as more than 150 cardio machines and a women-only fitness area. In the past, "we've just settled for mediocre fitness facilities," Stark bragged. Stark said he's also in negotiations with the Cleveland Clinic to open a $75 million suburban campus on the property. It would be just as much a coup as snagging the Beck Center, but a Clinic spokeswoman would not confirm Crocker Park as a possible destination for an expanded, West Side family health center. The Clinic has a facility nearby on Clemens Road. -- Education. Another potential recruit is Cuyahoga Community College, which is interested in opening an adult-learning branch at Crocker Park. Tri-C spokesman Michael Devlin said the college is "in very serious discussions with Bob Stark," but trying to determine funding. Gross! I can't believe he even put Crocker Park and Central Park in the same sentence. And I only lived in NYC for three months, but I thought Washington Square Park was the chess mecca.