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Thanks...I figured so.

So if I make a round trip to Chicago, I assume that I'm counted as 2 passengers. Would that be correct? If so, it looks like their average one-way ticket is going for $14.17 (assuming that their $0.50 booking fee is not counted as "ticket sales")

I found the Rookwood Exchange apartment renderings on their site interestering...hadn't seen those before

Blah. Just replacing urban blight with suburban blight.

Those look like some really cool t-shirts. Some very nice designs. I also like my t-shirt from Old Navy... :-)

I don't shop at Wal-Mart and only very rarely shop at Meijer. I probably should go check out these Wal-Marts because I have never been to a Wal-Mart that I would consider superior in store quality to Meijer. I don't ever consider big box store shopping a pleasant experience, but for me Wal-Mart is about as bad as it gets (based on my last visits there a few years back). Also, Meijer seems to be upgrading their product line. Last time they were there they had Kenneth Cole Reaction products, which surprised me. They seem to get getting more Target-like home decor items as well.

So true. There is a bit of governmental cooperation going on, but not enough to make a real impact in the way you are referring to, Jeff... http://www.mvrpc.org/rc/multiAgency.php

Alright, I'm a little behind responding here, but I've been to the Piatt Castles before when I was in elementary school, and went to Ohio Caverns for the rest of the day. I'm sure I didn't enjoy the castles then as much as I would today. I need to get back up there and take the tour. This past winter I took a couple pics of the castles, but they were closed for the season...

Apparently he stops in at Wright State every now and then...his Mom is the director of the Bolinga Black Cultural Resources Center there, I believe.

It's nice to see some Akron pics! Looks good.

I actually ate at a Waffle & Steak in Indiana...it is actually a Waffle House, but they couldn't name them that in Indiana because of some naming dispute or something like that in Indiana

Nice job Jeff. This is an area that I often pass through on Warren or Main, but never have taken the time to really explore. It seems like a lot has really been lost in the neighborhood--so many empty lots.

Thanks for the info. Now that it has been mentioned, it is obvious in the Google satellite photo that it was a golf course. I wonder when DP&L took it over and when they built their HQ there. I don't know if DP&L even still has an office downtown on Courthouse Square. Did the downtown location used to serve as their true headquarters?

Right off Woodman Drive, just north of 35 (not sure if it is Dayton or Riverside) there is a gated and heavily wooded property with a sign for "MacGregor Park." Does anyone have any information on this place? I believe it now serves as DP&L's headquarters, but was wondering what the story behind it is. I read somewhere that it may have been owned by NCR. Anyone have any idea? http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=39.752997,-84.122411&spn=0.003687,0.007317&t=k&om=0

While I'm not saying that Mayor McLin is taking the city and downtown in a positive direction, I truly question whether anyone would be much more successful. If we want to attract better leaders to the mayor's job, we really need to look at the structure of the position itself. With a city manager form of government, the city manager is the one with all the power. The mayor is just a first among equals on the city commission and really nothing more than a figurehead. Granted, the city commission hires and fires the city manager, but the city manager is ultimately the one running the city. Rhine McLin means well, but IMHO is severely limited by her poor communication skills. Whenever I've talked with her when I've seen her around town, she has been much more articulate and seemed to have the right idea. She truly seems to love Dayton and have its best interest at heart. However, that does no good if it is not portrayed on a daily basis, especially in the media. As long as she fails to effectively communicate, she will fail to be an effective leader. I certainly find Dr. Schuster's contributions to downtown highly commendable, but I don't think that automatically makes him a vocal advocate of downtown. In fact, when is the last time time we have heard from Dr. Schuster other than when he donated his money? If he were such an advocate for downtown, wouldn't we have heard from him before now? Donating money is fantastic, but being an effective agent for change requires doing more than that. I don't think Dayton's answer is Rhine McLin. Nor do I think it is Dr. Schuster.

How so? He donated lots of money to the performing arts center that bears his name and he chose to live downtown--both of which I admire, but not something that most people are in a financial position to do. What else has he done?

Dr. Schuster makes some interesting points, but I didn't find anything really profound here.... I realize that I am obviously not in the majority on this issue, but I really fail to see any parking problem in downtown Dayton. Anytime I am downtown I never have a problem finding a parking spot either on the street, a surface lot, or parking garage. I think as has been said before, it is more of a walking problem than a parking problem. And along with that, I think people have the perception that downtown is unsafe (unfounded IMHO) and therefore don't feel save walking from parking to their final destination. I think much of downtown's "parking problem" could be fixed by continued police presence and their crackdown on crime downtown. Of course regionalism came up. Something that everyone always brings up, but no one wants to take the lead on. If people are really serious about this, then let's really start having serious discussions about this--including our elected officials, who are usually pretty quiet on the issue but necessary to get the process going. I agree with Dr. Schuster on the issue of a stronger Downtown Dayton Partnership and Dayton Chamber of Commerce. With Maureen Pero stepping down, this is a perfect opportunity to reassess the DDP and its direction. It will be really interesting, though, to see who they hire to replace Pero. It was also interesting to see Dr. Schuster mention the Chamber of Commerce. It doesn't seem like the chamber has been active or vocal on any of the downtown issues. Is the problem really needing to tear down older building to be replaced by new ones? I'm sure there are some that this is obviously true for, but doesn't it really come down to an issue of being located downtown. For whatever reasons, some business leaders are unhappy with the downtown environment and want to move to the suburbs. If the problem were as simple as tearing down and building new, I think that would be easy to take care of. I think the problem is much deeper than that. For example, didn't they try to get Woolpert to locate to new building in Tech Town, yet they still chose the suburbs. Let's hide the homeless better? I understand his point in regard to perception and I also realize that it is unrealistic to think that we will be able to eliminate homelessness, but I think we have to do better than just hiding them. I guess out of sight, out of mind...but really, is that any sort of solution? Umm no. It blows me away that someone with his education and medical credentials would suggest hiding the homeless as a solution. David Esrati has been pushing for a broader definition of downtown for awhile on his blog (and I assume even before that). In regard specifically to the Downtown Dayton Partnership, how are they supposed to do that? When the property owners in the central business district voted a special tax on themselves to pay for the DDP, is it fair for the DDP to go spend that money on other areas such as Webster Station, the Oregon District, and the UD/MVH area? If I were paying the tax downtown, that would upset me. Especially when the Oregon District businesses voted not to join the DDP. Maybe with new leadership taking over at the Downtown Dayton Parternship, we can get a stronger leader who will be able to convince there other area businesses to join, but until then, I'm not sure how much the DDP can do. In regard to the city or whoever else, I don't see what the big deal is in what they consider downtown. The city has to provide services to the entire city, not just downtown. So really, what is the big deal if the city considers UD a part of "downtown" or not? I respect Dr. Schuster and the committments he has made to downtown, but I really dont find he added much to the discussion.

Northern Cincinnati is becoming quite the hot spot for home decor megastores... Old Time Pottery, Garden Ridge, Frontgate Outlet, and Ikea. Guess it's not really all that surprising though, given all the growth north.

Thayer Road construction begins this fall Lima News, 8/30/06 The replacement and widening of Thayer Road, needed with Procter & Gamble’s new distribution center, will begin this fall and be finished in two phases. The first phase, with an estimated $613,000 cost, will begin in October and be finished by December, county Engineer Timothy Piper said Tuesday. That section will run from the railroad tracks south to Reservoir Road and include the intersection with Reservoir Road, Piper said. Everything but the top finishing course should be complete this year, Piper said. In phase one, peaks and valleys in the road will be removed to increase sight distance and the road will be widened two feet on both sides. The second phase will run north from the railroad tracks to state Route 81 and be constructed in the spring.

This all sounds pretty good. Seems like such a better investment of economic development dollars than just throwing incentives at companies. Hopefully these companies will continue to grow and play a bigger and bigger role in the local economy.

^Actually didn't Cincinnati really beat Newport with the Center of Cincinnati project? :-)

Actually I don't think Pepsico owns them any longer. I think they were spun off into Yum Brands Inc., which also owns Long John Silver's and A&W Restaurants.

^ Correct. While on vacation in Gulf Shores, AL we headed over to Pascagoula, MS so we could cross Mississippi off the list of states we still need to visit. We passed through Mobile and I wanted to stop for a little bit but was very much overruled. Sounds like I didn't miss much. You're up Monte!

Here you go...

Melbourne, Australia?