Old AmrapinVA

Fair enough, KJP and MTS. I guess I'm being a little impatient on the project. :)

MLS is a joke anyway. Good riddance, I say.

Forget my last post.....I saw that they are talking about an 2009 expansion team.

Will Cleveland get an MLS team with the stadium at least? Or is this some weird attempt to lure one away from another city?

Well the EB project is heavily tied to the eminent domain issue. We wont get anything concrete until the East Bank ownership mess is straightened out. As for Stark, we've had this "announcement" for quite some time. It's just at what point does thing start seem like a good idea gone south? I'm not saying it's even close to being there yet, and I've got alot of faith in Stark, but every year this idea remains just that --an idea-- people will start to get skeptical about this ever seeing the light of day. I just hope it never gets that far.

I think you're right. Between the Avenue, Stonebridge Phase V and even the conversion of the Park Building on PS, more and more projects are moving out of the idea stage into the actual construction phase. Wolstein seems hell bent on getting his project done....I think Stark knows that he needs to stop talking about an 'idea' and start giving people actual dates on some action or he may lose some credibility on Pesht. I disagree. Why rush it, then get caught in the typical cleveland mentaility of "he promised this and we've got nothing!" Since there are so many "partners" involved, he has to rally the troupes and with such a visable, high stakes project, i'd be accurate and on point rather than rush some (potential) timeline out to the media for them to throw it back in his face later. How long should everyone wait? 2008? 2009? 2010? 2011? Wolstein is trying to move forward, and other projects are being built. I find setting a few dates...instead of saying "I have an idea and someday I'll build it" would be a nice change of pace. If the media throws it back in his face, so what? He's a grown up, right? Let's face it, there's a LONG history in Cleveland of developers promising the world and putting it on hold forever. I like Stark alot, I'd hate for him to join that group of "coulda', woulda', shoulda'" builders of d'town projects.

I should rephrase what I said. I shouldn't have used the word "massive" because that implies families. I mean instead of having d'town populations that grow at say 500 or 1K every two years..they grow at 2 or 3K a year. Mostly younger professionals living in condos, apartments, rehabed townhomes etc. The more of those folks attracted to an area, the less poweful a parents association becomes. As for your paradox...DC is a prime example. The population of Arlington, Alexandria and DC...the "inner core" of the DC metro...has shrunk over the past 30 years even though there is a building boom due to Metro stations. Meanwhile the suburban crap in the area has grown two fold since '70 and is where the vast majority of the population growth is. The idea of bringing young professionals to the center of the city has actually helped speed up sprawl everywhere else. That's why I find it amusing that people think DC metro is a subway/commuter rail oriented city like NYC. It's more automobile centric than any city in Ohio. DC is second to NYC in traffic...and it's metro is 1/5 the size. 'Nuff said. At some point this lunacy has to stop.

Kingfish, I think it's a great idea. And all three C's aren't in the position of a place like Arlington. So resistance is not that futile at this point. But if any one of the three really start seeing massive residential population increases in their central core, the general attitude of a neighborhood can change fast. Just a warning. :)

I can cite one problem you'll run into. Arlington, VA is city that is skews very young. It's also very developed but also is declining in population. The city received funds this year to redevelop and expand a park on the far south side of the city. The park was orginally a regular park with a playground, open field, etc. The redesign would have made it primarily a dog park and shrunk the playground area. The parents in the area got upset and tried to fight it. They pretty much lost....although the county built a safety fence and seperate enterance into the park. This has been going on with parks there for the last few years. Pretty much wash, rinse and repeat. Parents groups complain, but typically lose. This is the problem with being a parent in a developed urban area...your say will be muted out by those younger, single people they are trying to attract. Of course if you attract too many young, single people your population declines and the city will have too few amenities for families, which is what isalready happening to Arlington and Alexandria and places like San Francisco. The not so shocking result is that your residental tax base shrinks. It's a true chicken and the egg thing. Good luck to you...but you have an uphill battle for sure.

^^ I saw this on the news this morning. Good news. Consolidation is still a posibility though...I wouldn't be surprised now if CAL tells UAL to get lost and UAL makes a run at DAL. As for flying non-stop to Germany from the Midwest...it's not all that rare. Detroit, Minneapolis, Chicago and Denver all have non-stop service. St. Louis had it before AMR swallowed up TWA as well.

I think you're right. Between the Avenue, Stonebridge Phase V and even the conversion of the Park Building on PS, more and more projects are moving out of the idea stage into the actual construction phase. Wolstein seems hell bent on getting his project done....I think Stark knows that he needs to stop talking about an 'idea' and start giving people actual dates on some action or he may lose some credibility on Pesht.

1: $2.85 2: $73.50 3: $1.60 4: $1.85

From the PD "the sky is falling department": A merger's impact on Hopkins If Continental, United join, experts say airport could lose flights, hub Friday, December 15, 2006 Susan Vinella Plain Dealer Reporter A merger of Continental and United Airlines could reduce the number of flights out of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and, perhaps, eliminate Continental's hub all together, several airline experts say. "The hub would be gone," predicts Michael Boyd, president of The Boyd Group, an airport consulting firm in Denver. "A merger always represents less, not more." A hub is an airport that serves as a central connecting point for an airline and is important to a city because it offers more flights to more destinations, especially nonstop and international flights. Continental and United have reportedly begun preliminary talks on a merger, sparking speculation about what it would mean for the airline industry and hub cities. Not all airline experts agree with Boyd's gloomy outlook for Cleveland. Some say a merger could benefit the city because Chicago O'Hare International Airport, a hub for United, is more costly to operate from than Hopkins. Also, there is no room for growth in Chicago, while there is in Cleveland. "One question would be how much more could O'Hare absorb," said Gary Dellapa, former airport director at Miami International Airport and an aviation professor at Kent State University. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: [email protected], 216-999-5010 http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/116617584072570.xml&coll=2 Just like the Delta-US Air POSSIBLE merger, trying to predict an outcome of something that may not happen is rather silly. We won't have the slightest clue about the status of CLE until some sort of business plan is laid out. That is at a minimum, one year away, if this even happens at all. There are alot of angles the PD could have taken at this merger business...it's not surprising that they took the most negative one.

From Wiki, a CAL history from derugulation to '95: First bankruptcy In 1978, the Airline Deregulation Act was passed by Congress, creating problems that spurred many airline mergers. After considering a merger with Frontier Airlines, Continental was acquired by Texas International based in Houston in 1982 where the headquarters subsequently moved. The merger gave Continental its current hub at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and its routes to Mexico; it also gave Continental a new CEO, former Texas International chief Frank Lorenzo. In 1983 Continental filed to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code: much of the airline was liquidated and the company was rebranded as a low-cost carrier. Continental was also forced to abandon its hub in Los Angeles although it maintained its South Pacific routes. In 1985, Continental made its first rebound by starting flights from Newark and Houston to London. The company emerged from bankruptcy in 1986. Just one year later Lorenzo decided to purchase People Express and its hub at Newark, making Continental the third-largest airline in the U.S. (Ironically, People Express's founder and CEO, Don Burr, had originally resigned from his position at Texas International under Lorenzo to found the airline.) 1987 saw the creation of the OnePass frequent flyer program, and in 1988 Continental made its first partnership ever, with SAS. [edit] Second bankruptcy Continental filed for bankruptcy again in 1990, shortly after unveiling a new white and blue livery. There were a number of circumstances behind the second bankruptcy: Lorenzo left Continental to dedicate himself full time to Eastern Air Lines, and fuel prices had risen because of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the resulting Gulf War. People Express had also been highly leveraged at the time of its merger with Continental, having purchased Frontier Airlines just two years before. In 1993 Air Canada, along with Air Partners and Texas Pacific Group, aided Continental in coming out of chapter 11 once again by investing $450 million dollars in the airline. Under the leadership of Gordon Bethune Continental subsequently ordered new Boeing aircraft - converting to an all-Boeing fleet - and scaled down their expensive Denver hub until it was closed entirely in 1995. Bethune chronicled his experiences in the book From Worst to First. United employees and even their managers hated Lorenzo for being the union-busting guy he was. Again, it's old history, but there are plenty of old farts working at UAL. :)

That last paragraph tells why this merger, if it ever attempted, will probably fail. While the hubs and route structures work well between the two, the two companies corporate mentalites mesh about as well as oil and water. UAL will never give up the reigns to CAL. Many senior folks at United still consider CAL along the same lines as they did the Eastern many years ago, as the enemy. Then there was the "screw CAL" campaign by many UAL pilots back in the early 90's. There is too much bad blood between these two. It would be like if Lerner decided to buy the Steelers and merge them with the Browns. Then again, never say never. :)

DAL-US Scare isn't over. It's contingent on termination the DAL's pilots pension plan. Which is real posibility considering how BK courts have ruled on airlines in the recent past. Don't forget, back in '00 the US Scare-United merger was called off more than a few times for fear of DOJ reprisals only for them them to attempt to partner back up again. It wasn't until the post-9/11 market conditions played out that US Scare-United decided to part seperate ways. Also if it were truly over, CAL-UAL wouldn't be talking. As for a second hub, Frontier is flying out of CAK...doubt they'll switch aiports and then expand at CLE. Alaska is a bit of a stretch...but ya never know. JetBlue would mean flights to JFK and BOS or IAD. That's about it. :)

I'm not going to link the 373 related articles on the Continental-United merger in Google, but it is safe to say they are in preliminary talks. Beyond what this means for the CLE hub, this could be a real disaster for the aviation industry. If CAL-UAL is run out of Chicago along with a new DAL-USAir airline run by US Scare managment in Phoenix, God help anyone trying to fly. And don't EVER, EVER check your bag. :)

Beautiful shots. Bowling and Parma, whoda thunk?. ;)

Damn....500,000 sq. ft. Isn't that around the size of the old Ameritrust building that is going to get leveled on 9th and Euclid?

Why, because most likely YellowCab or AmeriCab will have the resources to win a fair bidding process. Why is that bad? Because both of those companies have drivers that have refused to take people to Parma. I can't judge Ace, because I've never used them. Now if either of these companies become the exclusive carrier from Hopkins, do you think their service is going to improve? And if these companies drivers are refusing rides to Parma can you imagine what a visitor to Cleveland has to go through to get a cab to go to a hotel on Bagley Rd? If Ace is doing the same thing...then I don't feel bad about this new system. If Ace isn't acting this way...then we are screwing business travelers/visitors all in order for lazy cabbies at larger companies to keep their jobs. All in the name of "fairness". Just a thought.

I stumbled on this on Yahoo!: Kosar says he's interested in Miami job

Getting thread back on track. Steelers - Browns round 2: In Pittsburgh, on Thursday Night. The Brownies get their asses kicked by the Bengals, then turn around and pull of one the best comebacks of the NFL season against the Chiefs. Anyone have any idea which team is going to show up? On paper, the Steelers should win this game, but then again 'on paper' the Browns should have laid another egg last week. Any thoughts?

The Council once again does a good job pissing off the people trying to run the airport and the major airline who supplies 70 percent of the flights too and from the airport (CAL was a supporter of the new plan), all to keep the jobs of people who refuse to their job in the first place. Great job, Cleveland!! :)

Picture of a Skybus jet on this link. Is sure is....uh....orange. :) http://media.www.harbus.org/media/storage/paper343/news/2006/12/04/News/Airlines.The.Most.Profitable.Industry.In.The.World.yes.You.Read.Correctly-2518127.shtml?sourcedomain=www.harbus.org&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com

The more I read it the more I see your point KJP. Mucho apolgizo to the administrators.