8ShadesofGray

I was coming from Detroit Shoreway and carrying mac and cheese at 9 p.m. ... wasn't feeling the bike :-)

^ I drove by last night ... it was dark, but I did see that the brick work was going up on bottom of the eastern townhome. Last week, I saw some work being done on the Rockwell side of the western townhomes. It seems to be shaping up pretty quickly.

I haven't heard that specifically, but Sex and the City does a pretty detailed story on what it means when someone you're dating uses "best" in cards - that it indicates a distance and an unwillingness to be emotionally vulnerable with someone. My roommate and I laugh pretty frequently about lines like "Best is the worst" and "He might as well sign 'Not Love'" and "Richard continues to send his best" to this day.

So there's a chance (I say chance because I don't want to jinx an amazing opportunity) that I may be going on a 10-day trip to Istanbul in the next 6 to 9 months. I had been planning on saving up for an eastern Asia backpacking trip for next year, but since someone's footing my airfare to Europe already, I thought it would be an opportunity to backpack through eastern Europe instead. I've done some reading, looked at the requisite pictures, etc. and have a tentative itinerary, but I'd love some feedback from people who've done some traveling in eastern Europe before (what their impressions were, what I shouldn't bypass, etc.). Also, for anyone who's been, should I purchase airfare/train passes before I go or while I'm there? I've heard it's cheaper to make those arrangements from inside Europe, but I get nervous about not planning ahead a little. So here's the (very) tentative itinerary. I'm probably only going to have 7 or 8 days after Istanbul, so while I'd like to see Prague and Vienna, I'm not sure that's feasible. The plan would be to fly from Istanbul to Budapest and then stay a couple days each in Budapest, Brasov, Bucharest and Plovdiv, traveling by train, before returning to Istanbul to return to the U.S. Any thoughts?

That's awesome! UrbanOhio love!

From the PD: JumpStart's founder says it needs more state money Posted by Mary Vanac (Cleveland) Plain Dealer September 21, 2007 05:11AM Ray Leach is on a mission. The serial entrepreneur who helped launch JumpStart Inc. three years ago hopes to persuade the state to increase support to his Northeast Ohio venture developer. Failing that, JumpStart could get sidetracked just as its novel development model is getting the notice of venture capitalists. By sometime next year, "we will either scale back our current programming or we will change what we do - both of which we do not want to do because what we are doing is working," Leach said ... ... More at http://blog.cleveland.com/pdworld/2007/09/jumpstarts_founder_says_it_nee.html

I still think this was an excessive use of force. I still think this was an infringement of his speech, as it seems that a trigger comment (whether about sex or secret societies or whatever) got him ejected, rather than the simple fact that he ran over. Perhaps most disturbingly to me is that some of the media coverage (and perhaps some of the forumers) are arguing that it was justifiable because this student had a history of being a prankster and obviously wanted the media attention. First, I think we get into very murky grey water when we try to determine what someone's internal motivation is. Second, it's my understanding that the Supreme Court has only given one instance when motive reduces rights to freedom of speech ... commercial speech. Unless his primary purpose was selling a product or service for which he receives some sort of financial gain, motive shouldn't enter into the discussion. And even commercial speech still has some limited protections. When Justice Holmes talked about the "marketplace of ideas", I don't think he meant the "marketplace of ideas, except when someone is an obvious camera hog" or the "marketplace of non-annoying ideas".

Or perhaps it's a way to signal to Forest City, "Yours is the only site we're seriously considering ... don't sweat it", while also having being able to say two years from now, "Hey, look back at the newspaper ... I advocated Prospect and E. 9th". Hypothetically, if the Commissioners were to choose to forego the new County Administration Center, would they need to seek reapproval for a new site plan before demolishing Breuer? Or does the permit to demolish stand regardless of use (e.g. clearing the site to make the parcel more palatable for private development)?

While it's definitely a comment on greenspace, I think it's more a comment on our overreliance on automobiles. Hopefully, this kind of visually alarming display causes at least a few people to stop and think about how different our city would be if a) as you mentioned, people started utilizing the underused greenspaces downtown and b) people chose to leave the automobiles at home and go without and regain the surface parking lots, streetside parking, etc. needed to support them.

Agreed. But a lack of bias in their coverage means not only ensuring that individual reporters avoid a bias in their reporting but that the overall selection of news reflects an impartiality. I don't want either sensationally negative stories or moon-eyed fluff pieces. What I do want, however, is media that doesn't headline with a 200-point font sensational poverty-linked headline, followed by 23 crime stories, followed by a fluff piece about a family that's nursing baby kittens back to health (this is another weird thing for me that I've only noticed since living in Cleveland ... almost every newscast has a fluffy feel-good human interest story ... and a full 95% of them feature some pet-related story ... yay for animals, but c'mon ... isn't anything else going on?). For me, it would be nice to see stories about the work being done at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in conjunction with the military on reducing equipment-related injuries (taking place because the museum purportedly has the largest collection of skeletons in the world); how the Cleveland Colectivo has brought together young professionals who are directly donating funds and time into grassroots projects; how high school students have led a Youth Committee at the East Side Organizing Project to try to better understand the foreclosure crisis and how they can play a part in addressing the issue; or how senior citizens are donating their time as tutors at the Intergenerational School, ensuring that all students have daily one-on-one reading lessons. These are the types of actions that take place in Cleveland CONSTANTLY but are lost amid slanted coverage of crime and poverty. For me, here's what I would expect from our local media: 1. A commitment to ensuring that reporters (including editorial staff) have a full range of information about the community at their finger tips and that their coverage is grounded in factual content (e.g. reviewing the fact that crime rates are dropping in the city of Cleveland before launching month-long crusades to save Cleveland from its downward spiral into crime). 2. Carefully reviewing content to ensure that unfounded opinions do not find their way into news stories (e.g. Not allowing phrases like "Whether the Cleveland market will bear this project remains to be seen", without corresponding data to confirm why a particular development project MIGHT fail, to find their way into stories about Pesht, The Avenue, etc.). 3. Balancing editorial content to avoid one solitary opinion of local civic affairs, whether that opinion is overly positive or overly pessimistic. While individual columnists should be free to speak their mind regarding local affairs, choosing to publish only the opinions of a largely exurban, largely pessimistic and sometimes ill-informed editorial writing staff seems a poor strategy (e.g. In light of recent surveys that showed a desire among readers for more positive editorial content, hire a columnist who is young, lives in the city and who can articulate the positive aspects of the community). 4. Have an organization-wide strategy for addressing biases in coverage. This should include strategies that address not only biased opinions about the community but also how coverage can adversely impact readers' perceptions of city dwellers, low-income individuals, racial and ethnic minorities and youth. Countless research studies have shown that media's unintentional stereotyping (e.g. through overcoverage of crime stories) has greatly influenced social views of these groups.

^ See your point; I guess I just can't imagine a student going 45 secs. asking a very detailed question about the underfunding of American educational systems would have received the same treatment. It seemed like they chose to remove him right after his comments became a pointed criticism of Kerry not contesting the election. That to me indicates that the content of his speech might have been at least as large a reason for his ejection as was the length of his speech. After seeing the Daily Show video, it appears to be even more excessive a use of force to me. He certainly did struggle, no question about it. But he was also being escorted out by FOUR law enforcement officials. It also appears he might have been face down and being placed into cuffs when he was tasered ... which again indicates to me that they tasered him because he was speaking out and creating a scene for the police officers and for Kerry more than because there was a chance they wouldn't be able to subdue him (since, for all intensive purposes, they had).

A delightful game that allegedly originated in Cincy some 40 years ago: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corntoss. Catch an example of East Side cornhole (though not Cuyahoga County, I'm afraid) this Saturday at the 1st Annual Cuyahoga Falls Cornhole Tournament :laugh:: 1st Annual Cuyahoga Falls Cornhole Tournament Sept 22nd 1PM 2164 Front St. Cuyahoga Falls, Oh 44221 $20 per team by Sept 15th $500 1st Place, $300 2nd, $200 3rd, 330-928-6446 or popohio.com

^ I'm up for that if anyone else is. Where can we get some sod? :-)

I have to agree with KOOW here. Without doubt, this guy was annoying ... but that's why I'm not equipped with a taser; a whole lotta people would be getting shocked. We empower police, on the other hand, with such weapons with the expectation that their training will lead them to cool and dispassionate service, resorting to the use of weapons only when absolutely necessary. To me, the response from the police did not seem commensurate with any threat he might have posed to the audience or to the officers. And while the university is arguably a semi-private forum, they have specifically chosen to provide a venue in which students and others had an opportunity to ask questions of an elected official. When they provide such a forum, they should uphold the rights of individuals to express what they want. And in this circumstance, I can't help but think that not only was he removed because he was creating a disturbance but that he was also saying things that might be embarrassing to Kerry and therefore to university officials. Barring him inciting a riot, using threatening language, etc., it seems like a more appropriate action would be to shut off his mike. And even if you're going to forceably remove him, unless he's posing a very real danger to the officers, I don't know that struggling by itself warrants shocking someone ... I'm inclined to believe that two officers could get a WASP-y little twerp out of a building even if he was struggling.

No, I don't, I'm afraid.

Cleveland not only had a Bridge War but also a Fence War, the fight over whether Public Square should be a fenced off central park or a transportation thoroughfare. We pick some funny things to launch wars over! Here's background on the Bridge War from our friend Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flats): Cleveland's early development and population growth was slow until the arrival of the Ohio and Erie Canal, which brought a trade route from the Ohio River and other southern Ohio cities. It also brought a heavily Irish immigrant workforce to help construct the canal who took residence on the West Bank of the Flats and neighboring Ohio City. As Cleveland was developing, so too was Ohio City, whose prosperity was fueled by the West Side Market. Food taken from farms grown in Medina County via US 42 was being sold at the Market to residents of both Ohio City and Cleveland, and was quickly being seen as a threat to Cleveland's development. To thwart this threat, Cleveland destroyed their half of a floating bridge at Main Street which was jointly owned by Cleveland and Ohio City and the only mode of traveling between the two cities. Cleveland then constructed a new bridge further downstream which connected then Cleveland Mayor John W. Willey and developer/friend Jas Clark's "Willeyville" and "Cleveland Centre" developments along the newly constructed Columbus Road. With the Main Street bridge unusable commercial produce traffic had no choice but to use the new Columbus Road to sell their produce at the new Central Market, bypassing the West Side Market altogether. Infuriated Ohio City residents using the rallying cry of "two bridges or none" marched on the new Columbus Road bridge with guns, axes, and other tools in an effort to destroy the bridge. They were met by a mob of Cleveland residents ready to fight and the ensuing "Bridge War" was put down by county sheriff's officers. While the courts made Cleveland reconstruct their half of the Main Street Bridge, the damage had been done to Ohio City. It would soon be the first area to be annexed by Cleveland as its growth continued.

^ Yep, honestly. It was a pretty involved process to select a name. Luckily, the group has simplified the name a little in its logo, calling it just The QuARTer ... it's a nice logo (although in full disclosure, I was involved a little bit in the design concept :wink:)

We're trying to get enough people from Urban Ohio to commit. We're looking at doing it the second week of October. If you're interested in participating, please let us know on the Make Friends with Feagler Rally thread (http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=14092.0).

The smiley emoticon ( :-) ) turns 25 today: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/smiley/.

From the Free Times: Chatter THE SMOKE CLEARS Volume 15, Issue 20 Published September 19th, 2007 Cuyahoga Arts and Culture - ministers of the cigarette tax for the arts - recently announced public meeting dates during which the pool of eligible applicants for public funding in the agency's operating support program will be graded to see if they get any money. Largest among the organizations was the Cleveland Orchestra, with an annual budget of $41 million, followed closely by the Cleveland Museum of Art and Playhouse Square. Smallest to meet all the requirements was the West Side's Joyful Noise Music School, with a budget just under $25,000. Slightly over one-third of the organizations had budgets smaller than $200,000 ... ... More at http://www.freetimes.com/stories/15/20/taxi-taxi

Any news on this?

Inspired by MrNYC's posting of 17th century Manhattan over present-day Manhattan (http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=14108.0;topicseen), I thought I'd give the MapMixer a try for Cleveland. http://maps.yahoo.com/mapmixer?lid=3cf7d014&pg=view This is the first accurate map of Cleveland on record; Ohio City was just speculative development and would not be incorporated for another year, and Tremont was just a glimmer in the founders' eyes. Check out how detailed the street grid already was with less than 10,000 residents! And our little oxbow river apparently wandered quite a bit before they walled it off. I apologize in advance that the map is not aligned properly ... it was really difficult! It looks like I ended up about an eighth of an inch too far west. At any rate, if you find it distracting, you can visit the original map at http://www.csuohio.edu/CUT/Merchant.htm.

^ Interestingly, East Cleveland is listed among the cities that didn't respond with data ... I wonder if those are just the numbers from stories the PD covered in 2004.

^ I was referring less to Carrie's $40,000 worth of shoes (by her own estimate, mind you) and more about the fact that it's seen as "experimenting". Have we become such a suburban nation that it's actually unusual enough for someone to choose to live in an urban setting that it warrants being called experimentation? I also thought it was rather funny that all of the shows he used as examples of pop culture steering young people toward cities have been off the air for a number of years (Friends and SATC only since 2004, but Seinfeld since 1998!) ... are we sure those crazy kids aren't moving to the city because they're watching the Mary Tyler Show or Fame?

^ Those are definitely helpful as a point of comparison, although I think it's important to make a couple of notes. First, it is certainly not unusual to have higher crime rates in central cities than in surrounding suburbs; if someone is interested in urban living, they almost by default have to be willing to live with at least slightly higher crime rates, no matter what American metropolitan area they're in. Second, the numbers from the PD report can be a little misleading because the suburbs have much smaller populations than does the city of Cleveland. A better measure of how safe a neighborhood is, and one available through Census information, is crimes per 100,000 population. As an example, take a look at larceny/theft in 2004. With 13,080 larceny/thefts in Cleveland in 2004, 779 in Lakewood and a scant 237 in Solon, Cleveland looks far more dangerous. But if you look at rates per 100,000 residents, the crime rates are much closer together. In Cleveland, there were 2,585 larceny/theft cases in 2004 for every 100,000 residents in the city; in Lakewood, the rate was 1,375, and in Solon, it was 1,087. So the likelihood that you will be a victim of larceny or theft in Cleveland, at least as of 2004 is a little more than twice the likelihood that you'll be a victim in Solon, a far suburb that has a reputation for being both safe and upper-class. With a rate of 3,342 larceny/thefts per 100,000 residents in Cuyahoga Heights, you would actually be more likely to be a victim there than in Cleveland. Safety also varies significantly from neighborhood to neighborhood. The theft/larceny rate in Old Brooklyn was 1,482 in 2004, nearly the same as it was in Lakewood; meanwhile, with a rate of 5,632 in Ohio City, you would be substantially more likely to be a victim of theft there. You can get a lot more detailed information regarding crime statistics and other indicators (population trends, housing values, educational outcomes, etc.) for neighborhoods and cities at http://neocando.case.edu/cando/index.jsp.