coneflower

That is one of the worst places for a drive-thru I can think of in our entire region. I think the local coffee shops can stand up to competition from Starbucks but that feature to me would be very dumb and bad for the neighborhood.

I actually tend to agree with this as someone who can't follow what all the leagues are. MLS is the top men's league but it's still lesser than what is in Europe, right? The Monsters get good attendance even though they are minor league. It's not like there is any other way to see high-level soccer in our region. I am not sure how the $50M stadium is being paid, but if we're using public money I would like to see more public usage of it. Can it host college and high school games without degrading the field too much?

My beef is more with the large non-profits vs. the small ones. They are the only ones with any ability to drive regional strategy and herd the cats. I think the fact that we have so many jurisdictions is used as a crutch. Is it harder to get things done than a place like Columbus? Sure, I can buy that. But that is the reality we live in, so how do we deal with that? Whatever the approach has been is not working.

I think putting Dolan in charge of Team NEO is interesting because it concedes economic development in Ohio is political. Having a Republican with statewide reputation in that seat is going to open doors that our local Democratic leaders can’t. Will that lead to positive outcomes, I have no idea. The article points out regional dysfunction that it seems from my outside perspective is more about local fiefdoms in the non-profit world and business community vs. fights between cities/suburbs. The Haslams want to go to Brook Park. It wasn’t the city that lured them. The Haslams are big fish in our business community’s small pond, which has led the GCP to sit on their hands. They can’t lead the region because they are too beholden to their members’ interests, which might not align with where our region needs to go to grow. I post this all the time but I don’t think our region has a clear POV in terms of: What are our actual strengths and what are realistic growth goals? Who does what? Non-profits, business community, government all need more clear roles and responsibilities What are we missing and where can we improve? How do we do that? understanding that regional growth means not everyone in tbe region can win all the time. We need to be confident that a smart plan will lead to benefits for everyone. This is just my two cents.

This Carin’s oped from Toby Cosgrove is a piece of work. He argues that to compete with places like Nashville to get young people to move here, we need a domed stadium and entertainment complex in Brook Park. But the current location on the lake is no good because it’s underutilized and something else would be better there. I guess no one on the Haslam’s team who helped him write this letter took a second to consider this logic makes no sense. Also, do we really want to listen to development views from the guy credited with inventing the “Medical Mart”? https://www.crainscleveland.com/commentary/letter-new-browns-stadium-generational-opportunity

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/02/13/super-bowl-buzz-points-to-the-desert-again-for-29/ This article says the NFL is leaning toward going back to Las Vegas instead of Nashville in 2029 even though they will have a brand new stadium. The league wants to keep the Super Bowl in "tier 1" cities Los Angeles and Las Vegas as much as possible. Nashville will likely get one (maybe 2030) thanks to the town's reputation for being an entertainment center and party destination, although the article points out the city is on the small side. This doesn't really bode well for Cleveland, it seems to me.

This is behind a paywall but the cliff notes version is that Bibb and members of council are not happy with our local business leaders (GCP, TeamNEO) for not backing them up on the football stadium or making Cleveland a priority when it comes to economic development. They are optimistic about Matt Dolan at the helm for TeamNEO, though. I understand their POVs as it is their job fight for their constituents but I think the better question is what is the regional growth strategy and is it working? It doesn't seem like other areas are growing and Cleveland isn't. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/02/mayor-council-slam-business-leaders-for-failing-cleveland-in-browns-stadium-battle.html

Plus it's only $2B because there is a friggin dome NFL stadium in the middle! This guy is getting high on his supply if he thinks we really believe this wannabe Pinecrest project is going to lead to economic development in this region. Hey, Dewine and state lawmakers, go to Washington and tell Elon to release the hundreds of millions in government funding to health, science, etc. that power countless jobs here already. Jimmyland is a giant parasite that I am feeling even more confident that in a year's time will be even more clear we cannot afford.

This is shaping up to go down like it did in Virginia where it wasn't clear Ted Leonsis' new arena development near DCA was dead until the assembly finally voted on it. We probably won't know what's up with this until June and at that point who knows what the economy/state budget will look like. It seems like the state Republicans are primed to roll over for the Haslams but you never know what could happen when it comes up to vote and maybe the economy isn't looking very good and federal funding is disappearing.

I also think it’s unlikely we get a Super Bowl. The lack of hotel rooms especially super high end to me is the ultimate dealbreaker. We are not built to host stuff like that and we don’t have to feel bad about it. Las Vegas, for example, was built for that express purpose. Plenty of people love visiting but they don’t want to live there. I personally think this Brook Park stadium is dead unless the Haslams want to spend more of their own money. But I doubt they do.

All he needed to say is “we hope they stay based in Cleveland…” Clearly shows how little the state government will advocate for us. Donors and party first, everybody else last.

I must admit, I don’t understand what the difference is between Team NEO, Fund for our Economic Future, Greater Cleveland Partnership and JobsOhio. Has anyone seen an explainer that describes what these groups do and how they work together?

Don't forget that doubling the tax on gaming companies is no sure thing, either. You can bet that the industry will fight a hike like that and they probably have more money than Jimmy, cumulatively.

It's interesting this came out today when Dewine announces his budget proposal and possible funding for the stadium. It's hard for the Haslams to be any less despised by fans now. Only thing left for them to do is move the team out of the area altogether.

I had to drive back and forth from the east side of the county to Brook Park multiple times today. On the drive between 271 and 480 and I saw at least 3 accidents and the weather was great and I was almost run off the road at least once. I’m convinced 480 is the worst highway to drive on in Northeast Ohio and I avoid it at all costs. Folks east of the city may go to this development for a football game but there is no way it can draw people away from any of the existing mixed use shopping developments that already exist.

I'm confused by this the development corporation bought the City Goods business/brand but they don't own the buildings or land? Since they shut down City Goods, they are taking a total loss on their investment? Maybe I'm misunderstanding? https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2025/01/city-goods-in-clevelands-ohio-city-closing-permanently-at-the-end-of-this-month.html

Just announced that next month Goncalves is taking part in a City Club event with Baiju Shah, President & CEO, Greater Cleveland Partnership. Who knows what the future holds but that is somewhat comforting, signaling perhaps the understanding that Cleveland needs a little love? Let's hope. https://www.cityclub.org/forums/2025/02/21/man-of-steel-a-conversation-with-cleveland-cliffs-ceo-lourenco-goncalves

This is such a silly thing to say. There is local retail all over the city that draws shoppers — books, home goods, clothing, antiques, etc. As a suburbanite, I can tell you driving into Cleveland to go to a store is just as easy as driving anywhere else. I shopped at these hangars and I saw others do so too, but a bunch of mini stores may not have been a great format. I also think a challenge is lack of curation that you might get in one store where someone is deciding what all fits. I’m not sure what else you could do with those things. They are neat but the way the neighborhood is building up I wonder if they make sense still?

The thing that is frustrating is that you have to think if someone offered to move a bunch of jobs to Cleveland, they'd get huge tax breaks, super cheap real estate, cheaper workers... You'd think this would entice at least a few companies. Now I'm feeling really mopey. I still have a lot of working to do before I retire and I don't want to have to move to keep advancing!

Wow. Cost of living in Chicago is 26% higher (according to bankrate.com). I feel for these folks. The company is cutting jobs or the people it's keeping are going to be way underpaid compared local market. If you make the move, you have to start looking for a new job right away to be compensated fairly. I'm not real impressed with these local non-profits.

That’s a lot of jobs. Also, are they giving those Moen folks more money to compensate for the higher cost of living in IL? I’m guessing they expect a lot of people not to move, which means it’s a layoff too. We need more business/job creation that is locally grown. I honestly try not to think about AI causing mass layoffs because I don’t know what happens then. There are lots of people nationwide struggling to find work. 😩

yeah upon further reading this announcement sounds like smoke and mirrors.

Open AI says it’s going to spend $500B over 4 years on AI infrastructure with a new company it created in partnership with other big tech companies. I assume this is mostly giant data centers. They are looking around the country for locations and I’m sure they are looking at Ohio. This would seem to present the same land challenges we have discussed related to Intel but I hope our Econ development folks are in the mix, if it makes sense. I’m also not sure how much economic benefit data centers create outside construction. https://openai.com/index/announcing-the-stargate-project/

Many of her tour dates were in outdoor NFL stadiums including Pittsburgh and Cincy. In Nashville she performed in the pouring rain and as I understand it that was hugely memorable for the Swifties. To the point above about county support, people are still super pissed about increased property taxes, especially in Cuyahoga which has the highest rates. This is the worst time to be asking taxpayers for money. I don’t think voters are going to push Ronayne. I don’t know what would happen if the team threaten to leave altogether but I sense that would be a disaster. And after last night, I doubt Columbus wants our pitiful team.

Most interesting part of this story, to me: