jamiec

Yeck, knock it all down! Those things are hideous. Even if they were still active, they'd look horrible. Does that whole area have to be "adult" oriented? If they are going for the cheesy Atlantic City look, why don't they have gaming arcades on the boardwalk with pizza/hotdog/hamburger places and a ferris wheel and other family-friendly/carnival-like things? Make it like an ocean boardwalk where everybody mixes -- families, teens with guitars, dancers, adults going to bars - don't program it. If you make it so people want to come, that'll all take care of itself. Put the cops all over the place just to make everyone feel safe. It seems to me if it's just a big strip of bars with nothing else to do, it's going to keep imploding. I'd be more interested in going there just to walk around on a Friday or Saturday night if there were all sorts of people. I have no interest in going into a pit of seedy bars -- and I'm 24 years old. No thanks Las Vegas... How about Cleveland's Coney Island instead? That's more my speed, at least. Would it be possible to use that area as a staging area for a big sailboat race? I used to live in Michigan, and there they had the Port Huron to Mackinac Island sailboat race where thousands and thousands of people came to this small town during one weekend to see the race start and to see several hundred boats along a similar river setup. It was a huge attraction. I know Chicago does a race to Mackinac, too. It attracts boat people from all over the Great Lakes. Just some thoughts.

I just can't believe they commisioned a "study."

CLEVELAND -- You may not be aware of a certain flag, flying above Cleveland City Hall on Flag Day. At City Hall, some different colors are slowly changing the political game in Cleveland as the gay pride flag is flying over city hall. Just like it has periodically over the last four years. But at the bus stop just across from the city offices, it's been hiding in plain sight from downtown workers. On the week of gay pride events in Cleveland, the flag just may symbolize a growing political acceptance of the alternative lifestyle. http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=53588 ------------------------------ "But at the bus stop just across from the city offices, it's been hiding in plain sight from downtown workers." LMAO. Those poor downtown workers. Can you imagine if they had to work in San Fran or Provincetown?

Funny, every city I'd want to live in is at the bottom of this list.

Yeah, I think it's Scene trying to be "funny," I think.

Columbus is a great city, but I lived in a city last year that was voted by these folks an "All American City," too, and that place was horrible. I'd much rather be in Columbus.

Oh god, I hope they at least turn some ambient lights on that thing. Those designs are boring as hell.

If I had a family with children and all that, I'd be more inclined to live perhaps in a neighborhood like Ohio City or Tremont rather than a downtown condo, loft or whatever. I like the urban environment well enough, but I like the idea of having my own house in a traditional residential neighborhood. Historically, none of downtown Cleveland was designed to have a lot of full-time residents, right? So we'd be sort of changing history with all this new residential...That's a cool idea, to me. You have to rework the wheel, especially here where the wheel has a flat and the rim is bent. But, anyway, per families, it'd be neat though if downtown Cleveland got built up so much they needed to put schools down there.

Good luck, Columbus! I, for one, think real street cars are an awesome idea. That city needs some rail!

i think he's talking about replacing the surface lot with a park. That area could be a great plaza where people could gather before and after ballgames. I'd like to see some restaurant space with residential or office above that faced the plaza on the eastern and western sides of the surface lot. The restaurants could spill out onto the plaza with cafe seating. As for the park at E.9th and Huron/Prospect. Its a nice little park that improves the patch of concrete. Unfortunately, the County is going to disassemble the park when they begin their project and use the space as a staging area. It should return to its current state after construction, but one never knows. Damn it! It better return. I love that little squarish/concrete park!

I bet nearly every place does. In rural Michigan where I lived for a year, WalMart was moving from a massive building to an even bigger, ginormous building down the road, leaving the old one vacant. I think there should be laws against this sort of thing. It's stupid and hurts all communities.

I saw this at work! I was super stoked, and I couldn't wait to get out and read what you all are saying. The weird thing about this to me is, I recently read articles from a within the last year that acted like downtown was doomed. And now we have good news (I'll take it!). But, which is it?

I thought we were trashing Miami in this thread? Anyway, what's wrong with a neighborhood nightlife scene? When I go to New York, there isn't one place I go for everything. I head to the West Village, East Village, the LES, Williamsburg in Brooklyn. All of those include taking a subway to get there. Closer in distance, the same commute time. No biggie. I like different flavors. Same thing in Boston. I head to Central Square in Cambridge to go to TT the Bear's or up north of Boston University to go to Paradise. Anyway, in Cleveland, Tremont, the Warehouse District, etc. aren't really competing in my mind because they are catering to different people. IE, the artsy types aren't going to go bump and grind to X-Tina, unless they do so ironically. And anyone who says Clevelanders beat their chests about nightlife "especially since getting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" is a crackhead (or crazy person;). Seriously. I grew up here, and not once have I ever heard anyone say "DAMN! It's so much fun here! We're the best!" At the same time, since getting my driver's license, I haven't said "there's nothing to do!" either. I like Columbus. I think it's a cool enough city. Not really geared toward my interests, but that's OK. Ann Arbor is way smaller, but I think that city is more my style. Columbus to me is more of a modern, Western-style city in the Midwest. Nothing wrong with that. Anyway, back to Miami, I was under the impression, perhaps because of that Will Smith song from when I was like 6, that Miami was cool. My friend who lives in Florida has told me that Miami is a hellhole and Tampa is much nicer.

Dang, are you serious?! That would have been awesome.

That is a really great point. I agree, X.

During this Heat/Pistons series, these "journalists" keep touting Dwayne Wade like he's the next Michael Jordan and they'd MUCH rather have him than LeBron. That really gets me. LeBron doesn't have a Shaq on his team, and the Heat's role players seem to kick in more offense than the Cavs. Seems like a retarded statement, anyway. If LeBron played on the Heat, they'd be unstoppable.

Well, we have the Downtown Cleveland Alliance bike patrol downtown. They started making their rounds in April, and I think are on the streets 18 hours a day. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) I think that bike patrol is a good thing, but it seems to me you need the actual police to crack down on drug dealers and that sort of thing.

Oh snap, I take that route to get to my office in the morning! I haven't seen any dealing yet, but I'm usually driving before 8 am.

I'm confused. Do you want him to win just because or do you want him to win to scare gay people from Columbus? Here's a funny Blackwell-related story. My parents are firm Republicans, but they are voting for Strickland this fall because in their town, one of the local Republican bosses fought the city through the courts to put a massive, practically billboard-sized "Blackwell for Governor" sign in his front yard. I guess before the city ordinance said you could only put up the normal-sized signs. Anyway, this seemed symbolic of the group's governing style, and I was happy that it's going to come back to bite them, at least a little bit.

Yeah, I'd expect an undercover to be in an area where drug purchases would be expected to happen. I wouldn't consider Public Square to be one of those places because, while it is the center of the city, who really goes there? What's there to do? I agree with the increased foot patrols. I never see cops on foot. I don't understand why cities don't more closely mimic NYC's police tactics. They completely saturate a troublesome neighborhood with police until things calm down. I don't get why we can't bring crime in line like they have. They just have better tactics - they are more aggressive. Sidenote: Washington Sq. Park in NYC is so obviously a NARC center. There is a giant NYPD trailer permanently parked in it. Anyone buying drugs there is probably not from NYC.

Woah, that's cool! Columbus seems to have the buzz going. I hope it infects Cleveland :)

Hahaha. When I lived in NYC a few years back, I noticed the cops there don't play around. They are good at fighting crime. Our cities should be taking notes.

\ I don't know if I agree with this. How does better integrating neighborhoods drive down murders? Legalizing drugs is just a source of income for people who would commit murder in the hood. There is a philosophy and way of life there among certain people that wouldn't die if you made it legal to purchase narcotics. Murder is a very stark crime statistic, but it doesn't tell the real story. I feel sorry for the innocent regular folks who live in "bad" neighborhoods where crime is rampanent. Just because you aren't getting killed doesn't mean life is good. Interesting stuff. I looked up the crime stats, and Columbus is safer than Cleveland but not anywhere near as safe as New York City, statistically.

Both of the cars I've driven have been Hondas. I'm supporting Ohioans without even knowing it, I guess. Awesome! I was thinking of going to another brand next time, but maybe not!

I agree with you guys about having to keep a high-end retail center more obviously secure and calm than places like Tower City have become. It would be a big task to undertake, and a bit of a gamble, but I think by eliminating the "safe" stores that would be obviously profitable (Aeropostale, Old Navy, American Eagle) and limiting their tenants to mid- to upper-level shopping only, they'd be able to create a more enticing environmnet to wealthier shoppers. While it may be a risk to not include some of these cash cows, and be kind of rude to the average Joe, taking a bit of an elitist attitude may be just what it needs. Ala Moana's lowest-end stores are Abercrombie and Gap and it successfully stays afloat with places like Dior, Escada, and Gucci. And I'm glad to see that people realise there is an untapped market of wealthy shoppers looking for an outlet for all that cash burning a hole in their Vuitton wallets. A place like Cleveland should have more than just a Pucci or Missoni <i>counter</i> at Saks, there should be boutiques just like other major cities. You know, I don't know if sticking a Pucci boutique there (I'm not even familiar with them:) is any more risky than putting an Aeropostale there. The one thing I fear with all of these development ideas is they'll go with the same old junk. The only way to sustain demand after the novelty has worn off is to offer stuff you can't get anywhere else. Anyway, just to be clear, when I say you would need to secure the shopping area, I don't mean imposing a police state where non-wealthy people are not allowed. I think if you offer an experience with certain products, you'll attract people who like it and drive away people who aren't interested. IE., a high-school version of me wouldn't be caught dead in a shopping center full of expensive clothing stores and stuff like that. It would be a big bore.