GCrites

I used to call the 281-8211 all the time when I was little. Mom's not good with the internet and high speed internet isn't in the cards down at the farm. No smartphone for her either. She's into the weather radio. 30 percent of the U.S. doesn't have high speed internet available. City folk forget this.

I'd be surprised if the Wolfe Family was vehemently opposed to streetcars or rail. The 2007-08 streetcar effort got pretty far along before the 2008 Great Recession stopped it. Plus, the Dispatch Printing Company has a 10 percent ownership stake in Nationwide Realty Investors - the developer of the downtown Arena District. And they've supported other downtown development interests. Which is what I meant by "when the local business community sees this as being "good for business", we'll see streetcars in Columbus". I think if COTA's new downtown CBUS circulator route - which closely follows the 2008 proposed streetcar route connecting the Short North-Downtown-German Village/Brewery District - is a success, we might start seeing some Dispatch editorials praising it. And then maybe some editorials talking about the benefits of streetcars vs. buses for economic development return. If that happens, the political leadership will find a way to make streetcars happen. The Dispatch was vehemently opposed to intercity passenger rail in 2010 and editorialized against it. I don't think they care one way or another about streetcars or light rail. I suppose that I was making the assumption that 3C opposition meant light rail/streetcar opposition. Nonetheless, the changing political landscape of Columbus doesn't necessarily mean that the paper's owners like it. See: The Dispatch buying the left-leaning Other Paper and shutting it down; also buying Columbus Monthly in the deal and removing anything political or that would reveal semi-secrets of how the city really works and filling it with restaurants and home improvement info.

Yeah. The family doesn't want any more Democrats in the city. Rail transit makes Ds show up and keeps them from leaving.

I remember kids in school chugging their milk as fast as possible so that they'd be allowed to buy pop.

The cast of characters who have their hand in decision making is much larger in Cincinnati.

People figured out that they could buy a motorcycle (well, not a Harley) for a lot cheaper than a convertible. Convertibles basically suck for daily use so they're a lot better as second cars. Bikes are easier to stash and when they break down from disuse it's usually something simple -- unlike a car.

I guess I got lucky. Every college friend wedding I've gone to was in Columbus, Portsmouth or Cincinnati.

You are all about that cat today.

To me college needs to be more than net surfing, Netflix streaming and video games. That's all you can do in those controlled environments. Sitting out on the porch with a beer as girls stroll by then come up and smoke a J with you doesn't happen if you're all locked up.

The old houses and apartments don't have the Supermax security level.

No but it's a contributing factor.

Being poor can be very, very boring in this country. We don't have the daily free outdoor entertainment that you see in Europe. In the U.S. you're pretty much stuck in front of a TV if you're not spending money.

I knew several boys when I was that age hanging around the trailer park who would have loved to do something similar but couldn't find enough other people to do it with them. They would get so happy any time an adult became angry.

Get these kids WoW accounts like their suburban counterparts have.

For streetscaping they have to be the kind where the roots go straight down into the ground rather than out like most trees do so that they don't ruin the sidewalk in 2 years.

Look at the advertisers Geritol, Polident, Grecian Formula, Viagra That's who listens Bedsides the personal care items and prescription drugs most of ads are aimed at people with poor critical thinking skills.

Signs are very, very important. Word of mouth and internet help a lot, but if casual customers don't know you're there you're out. We had a location where we were almost all word of mouth and internet with few stroll-ins and it was maddening. Every visit was "planned out" and the customers were all experts that only wanted highly unusual items. Word of mouth without anything else works for auto mechanics, handymen and insurance salesmen but not storefronts. Signs and trees can coexist if the sightlines are right.

Is that considered Art Deco? Famous motocross racer Brock Sellards is also from New Phila.

People from the outside think that just because you see a lot of split-levels and ranches within the City of Columbus that the people who live in them are suburban-minded individuals. That's not really true. Most people who live within the city limits identify with the city (except when their kids are in one of the fringe zones where you live in the City but are served by a suburban school district). Suburban-minded individuals here despise Columbus City Schools and will not send their kids to one -- they take a crappy suburban school full of hillbilles over a highly ranked city one such as the ones in Clintonville and NW Columbus. I think your third paragraph is the biggest issue. People are constantly leaving Columbus. Rather than stay and fight for transit people bolt for "real cities" as they call them that already have rail transit. Their job opens up and somebody from a city or area with no jobs takes over their position. That person is happy just to have a job and doesn't mind the lack of transit. Or that person uses their job in Columbus as a stepping stone to move to a city with rail transit and other urban amenities. And little in the way of advocacy and guidance seen in Cincinnati. Mayor Coleman has a lot on his plate and can't do it alone. And City Council is so distracted by the schools mess and being berated by the public over the school system that they don't seem to be interested in advocating for specific capital projects. And they'd have a hard time explaining how rail transit could help the public schools by keeping educated parents and future parents from bolting to other cities. Cincinnati doesn't have the bolting problem as bad. Once a Cincinnatian, always a Cincinnatian. Cincinnati's problem is their explosive suburban dwellers that think the city "lost" and doesn't deserve anything positive.

FWIW, it is true that one thing that the suburbanites have traded off is a much higher chance of dying in a car crash over getting punched in the face by a stranger.

Anybody participating in the game of knockout should be punished as an adult. These kids are making us look like suckers. Half of them probably think that you aren't allowed to fight back if you are over 18. Worst part is you don't have to worry much about suburban teens since so many of them are in constant structured activity or they're staring at a screen every waking second. Whereas it's still not so much like that in the cities. Well, you do have to worry about suburban teens smashing mom's giant SUV into you.

That's talk radio "one man's anecdotal observation is somehow scientific" logic.

I wonder if the attackers knew who he is. Teens are really exploiting their licenses to kill. Crime is way, way down yet it seems what crime does exist is much more likely to be the work of teens than in the past.

Now Mac's is like the Watergate Hotel.

I didn't mind interleague play when it was like 4 games a year per team.