jamiec

^ IMHO, you have to hit the pavement to see the good places.

Very good! This is exciting!

^^ Just to play devil's advocate: What if putting the med mart/convention center over near University Circle would be better?

^ I get it. When I was little growing up in Cuyahoga Falls, I used to ride my bike to this one spot in a neighborhood right on the edge of the Cuyahoga Valley, and I could see the Akron skyline in the distance, and it used to just get me so excited. Skylines have always been so interesting to me, just imagining the excitement that goes on on the streets and such.

Obviously you need to recoup parking deck costs, but how much do cities get from those stupid meters on the street, such as in Cleveland Heights and Lakewood?

Yeah, I don't feel like I can formulate an educated opinion on this topic anymore. All I want is for them to do what is best for the city. Hopefully Fred Nance will be able to figure it all out because I don't trust our dopey commissioners anymore.

YAY!

^ I don't you think you have to worry about crazed jocks. Cleveland Plays people are more into having fun and meeting new people. The hardcore people play in different leagues -- typically all-male leagues. Yikes, those are intense!

That lobby is quite fetching. It could be rebuilt, could it not? It's not like punching a hole in a Van Gogh.

Personally, I think that puts an undue burden on businesses. You shouldn't have to accommodate people that weren't taught or are ignoring social conventions, like threatening people, insulting them, swearing. How am I supposed to run a business if I have people walking around scaring everyone off? I'd like to see this ballsy move by Tower City emulated in the suburbs, too. This is a problem everywhere. Sure, a Bay Village kid isn't liable to scare you physically, but what about when they run around the library swearing and being rude. Kick their ass out! When I was younger growing up in the suburbs, we also had hang outs where we were eventually banned, like the parking lot across the street where kids would smoke, trade drugs, fight; parking decks near the downtown, private stores. I got lumped in with the "bad kids," who of course were a very small number, but how is everyone else supposed to know? I know it was hard, but I eventually made it through those dark years when us kids could only enter Dairy Mart in groups of two.

Well, we were there at 2 p.m. for a late lunch. The crowd was pretty scant, but the place is awesome and affordable.

Went to Bar Cento today. That place rocks! Will go back over and over and over.

^ Interesting.

Is Velocity on Clifton still open? I've passed several times during dinner hours this week, and the place has been dark.

That's amazing. You know what. There are companies doing some amazing things. I met with a small tech company in NEO this week that is forecasting two straight years of 100% growth! They draw on talent from all over the world to do what they do. It's really awesome. Companies like this should be the story.

That's not what I said. I'm said I like Flint's addition because they did something interesting using their limited resources. I'm not saying it's the most impressive building on the planet, and it surely won't be on par with anything going up in University Circle, but it is a substantial improvement on what existed before and I think it fits the situation better than the CIA addition. That's putting words in my mouth. I see mimicking Cleveland's industrial past as an easy excuse for architects to get "blue collar" and create designs that are hideous high-brow odes to the past. But, honestly, I'm not usually impressed with many architect's opinions on how to merge old and new. Just take PD's critic Litt's view that the CIA addition has "humor." He doesn't explain what that means because it is meaningless art-critic gobblydeegook. In the end, it's just not my cup of tea, and we can agree to disagree.

The building personally doesn't do anything for me. I understand that because it's an art school, emphasis should be inward, but to me that's no reason to create something that is boring and just plain blah. It's an intellectual rationalization of some sort of personal architectural principle, like David Foster Wallace writing a paragraph that last pages and pages because he can. This may be "high art," but when you have to get your MFA in creative writing (or be an architect) to appreciate it, what's the point? To me, music, visual arts, architecture should inspire some sort of emotion. And I'm sick of Cleveland's homage to its industrial days. Enough of that sh!t. Give me something beautiful to lift my spirits for the future. Grit and realism is great, but there is something important to be said about uplifting the spirit. I'm not saying buildings need to be ornate or cheesy or anything like that. The addition to MoMa in NYC, to me, is fantastic, and I love everything about it. I also love the Flint Institute of Arts because they needed more space but had no money yet wanted to change the way people felt about their institution. I would argue that these buildings are not all that complex and still turn attention inward, but outward still convey strong emotions. MoMA And to the Michiganders in the audience, here is Flint's museum of art, which completed an addition several years ago. The addition is very modest compared to what we are doing, but I love it. This is how it used to look...

I don't, but I try to donate my money and time to established charities. When I lived in NYC, I had a bunch of money left over on my food plan, so my friend and I raided the student store and took bags down to the Salvation Army. The lady who worked there couldn't have been more appreciative, and we weren't even doing anything that impressive.

I <3 Marc's! You can come out of there spending $15 for what would have cost $25 elsewhere. This is a big deal for people on extremely tight budgets...like me!

The article says it's going to be retail that will cater to commuter customers. What does he mean by that?

Better there than Independence, the Troy, Michigan of Ohio!

Wal-Mart is going green, mostly for the cost efficiencies http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2006-09-24-wal-mart-cover-usat_x.htm

The rest of us have to get by on our good looks alone. It's not easy! Just curious about Dollar Bank... Are they expanding with this space in the Galleria and this?

I wanted to go, but my sister was in town and then my mom wanted me to come home for dinner. I will make it to one of these!!

Interesting... Maybe you are coming across as sexually murky for some reason. I've never been mistaken for being gay -- not regularly to my knowledge at least -- and my primary interests are reading, writing, art, cooking, music and even fashion and design to a lesser degree. I'd rather watch a documentary than go to a Browns game. At first I was thinking you should be "more clearly" straight, but as I thought about it more, my thought is just do your thing. If a girl or guy mistakes you for being gay, just be positive and use it as a chance to try to meet some girls. "Oh, you know what, I'm not gay. I'm actually looking to meet some pretty girls like you around here. Have you seen any?" Let me know if that works. hahaha