jonmoxon

I'm sure you haven't; I just get the sense in your posts that anyone who comes on here and infers that the heights or shaker square area might be lacking in any department, say access to the highway, is immediately put on the defensive. I know you don't mean any harm, you just seem kind of hyper-sensitive and really biased when it comes to this topic. We all live where we live for a reason. Usually a bunch of reasons. And we like to talk up where we've chosen to live to others. We all do it. Look, I spent 4 years at JCU and another year in the heights after that. I know the east side really well. I've lived in Tremont/Lakewood for the past 4 years and I've gotten to know the west side really well. Like a lot of the forumers on here, I take pride in my knowledge of the city and area and took a little offense when you challenged me on it. I've lived on both sides of town and feel I can offer an unbiased view. I'm offering "my 2 cents" from my experience. I'm just trying to be honest with the lady. That's all. We all want the same thing, more bodies in the Cleve. :-D

I lived in Cleveland Hts (Cedar-Lee) after college, and I had to commute to Richfield and then N. Olmsted. Dude, the trip down Lee to 480 took as long as it did to get from 480 to Richfield. The stoplights are endless. Fairmount to 271 would be shorter for her, but it's still a lot of stop and go until you hit the highway. Let me also add that I enjoyed living there and that's not the reason I moved, though it was a small inconvenience. Lakewood is right on I-90. I would bet you can make it to Solon from the 'wood almost as fast as you could from the heights. It's pretty much all highway. The heights are great (commute-wise) if you work in the UC area or downtown, but for all the things that the heights has going for it, easy highway access ain't it. I know, I did it. If the price of gas is your biggest factor (and it should be right up there) then she's better off (I'm cringing as I type this) finding a place near her place of employment in the solon/271/422 area, ughh; OR finding a sweet city pad and getting a little 4-banger or hybrid for the commute. MTS, as much as we all love the city and our urban enclaves, not EVERY 'hood has EVERYthing going for it. That's just reality, dude.

Another good book on this topic is "The Empty Tank" by Jeff Leggett, a former geologist for BP and now an alternative energy investor and greenpeace member.

BuckeyeB, I'm right there with you man. Time to focus on paying off debt and get some cash invested (alternative energy, railroads, precious metals, etc.) A really good book on this is by Stephen Leeb "The Coming Economic Collapse". Some sound investment advice regarding the peak oil crisis to come. KJP, while I agree totally with you about the vulnerability of our easy-credit society, the Chinese and U.S. are connected at the hip on this. Any financial crisis here means we will be buying a lot less from the Chinese Army sweatshops, er, I mean , well that's exactly what I mean. The Chinese, for all their robust economic growth, have a lot of internal issues that are far from being resolved (massive poverty in the nation's interior, pollution, resource shortages, basic human rights). Any prolonged recession/crisis here resulting in fewer goods being bought from them would be disastrous there. Any slowdown in growth there and they're looking at some serious unemployment #'s. Look what rising gas prices have done to Wal-mart's sales recently. Wal-mart is China's #1 trading partner. That's just a taste. It's too bad the Chinese are just starting to get their economy modernized at the tail-end of the oil era. I shudder to think what could happen there in the aftermath of peak oil. They're more screwed than we are.

rkvam, you never mentioned where you were coming from, did you? That would give us a little more insight into what kind of neighborhood or scene you might like. Some of my single lady friends from college lived/live in Tremont, Lakewood, downtown (warehouse district) Cleveland Hts, and Rocky River. I'm a guy, so I've never really given much thought to safety when picking a place to live. If I had a sister, I wouldn't hesitate to reccommend any of the above places to live for her. Downtown would be the most expensive, Cleveland Hts would be the longest commute (believe me on that one) there's no quick way to get to the highway from there. Tremont is a great neighborhood and has easy access to the highway while being close to downtown. Lakewood is great for a single college grad (my town) and isn't a bad drive from solon. Probably the widest variety of housing and prices as well. Good luck with the search!

Hey tbone, congrats on the find! That's a cool neighborhood and I know you'll really enjoy it. My buddy who lived there got married and now has a house in the south hills area of Cleveland but we often find ourselves reminiscing about his old pad on w. 6th. I crashed many a night on his couch after a hard night of pounding brews down there. Ah, the good old days. :-D

Um, I think a lot of people are missing the crucial point here: as an adherent to the "Hubbert's -peak" dogma, as the world supply of oil peaks, not only does it become increasingly expensive; the supply of it necessarily decreases as well. Supply shortages, anyone? I don't care if you're prepared to pay $20/gal for gas; prices will be irrelevant if the gas pumps in your area are dry. (Think OPEC oil embargoes of the 70's) Now, I think we're years away from shortages, (U.S. troops in the Middle East are there for that reason) but peak oil is here and we're seeing the effects right now. Myself, I've cut unneccessary trips out of my routine and plan on buying a mini cooper instead of the full-size pickup I'd been wanting for a long time. And I'm a carpenter. I'm trying to educate everyone in my life about peak oil and what they can do to minimize the pain. I'm still amazed at how many people I consider to be educated, bright people have either never heard of this topic or refuse to believe it. And for the last time, ethanol is not the answer!! *As for cash-only gas stations, dude, you nailed it. Wow, instant pain. I'm not sure our economy could take that kind of hit.

MTS, are you referring to the Erie St. cemetery component of the "Gray's Green" project? I think you threw some people with "Erie redevelopment area".

The unit my buddy lived in was at 1284 w. 6th. I don't know if its available or not. His landlord was the homeowner of the townhouse above him and he never raised the rent in the 5 years he was there, though I'm sure it's been jacked up for the next guy.

I sometimes see those Tremont apts. advertised in the Free Times and Scene Magazine classifieds. You could check those out online if you're interested. I was renting in Tremont (the Chelsea on 14th and 490) at the time and was looking to buy. I couldn't find anything in Tremont in my price range at the time. I found a nice little house in Lakewood that I was able to buy with my brother. I still hang out in Tremont a lot. Good luck with your search!

Regarding my intial post, the commissioner's quote should've been attributed to "rhymes with shimora". I'm sure no one's surprised. Like I said, while I'm not a fan of the Breuer Tower architecturally and support the project there; the process surrounding this from the get-go has been incredibly shady. This has not been handled well at all.

I've got my fingers crossed.

The only solution(for the most part) for suburbanites, in my opinion, is to vacate suburbia. Pretty radical thought, huh? It's inevitable. How far into the future this happens is anyone's guess. However, if a large chunk of suburbia/exurbia would wake up to this reality and put their homes on the market in an attempt to get closer to work/into the city/etc., who would buy them?? What would that do to an already declining home market across the country? Most people's wealth is tied up in their homes. This is really the crux of Jim Kunstler's views regarding peak oil & suburbia. These "cul de sac-ers" who don't grasp what is going on and just hope this all goes away are going to be incredibly screwed. I would be trying to get out now.

It's interesting that Stark is looking to make his "announcement" this week, before he heads off to Vegas for the Retail/Developers Convention there. You'd think he would wait to come back from that and then share the "big news", right? Along with the HQ move downtown, and the rumblings from the Port Authority, this is all intriguing as hell. I can't wait to see what he's got to say. If this is what we all think it is, this could be one of the biggest announcements in recent Cleveland history.

My source on the Port Authority board has said that if the commissioners can't get everyone on board for the Breuer site, they will look to give Cleveland the bird and build in the burbs somewhere. They (the commissioners) were quoted as saying that the new admin bldg "doesn't have to be in Cleveland". Speaking for myself, I believe the Breuer Tower is ugly as all hell, and the opportunity to refurbish and bring back to life the former Ameritrust Rotunda alone makes this project worth it. That being said, I am still taken aback at how much this is going to cost us; but saving the Breuer Tower at the expense of pushing the county's admin building to the burbs is not worth it to me.

Concerning Tremont, there a lot of the "English Style" garden apartments available in the newer townhomes that are located along w.7, w.6, literary road area. These units are in essence the basements of these townhomes. My best friend lived in one for 5 years and their actually quite nice for a single person. For the most part they are 1br, w/ an in-suite w/d. You gotta park on the street, but I believe he was paying $500/mo. It is a very walkable area, with some killer views of downtown. Some nice looking ladies, too. I'm a big Tremont fan,(used to live there) tho I live in Lakewood now.

^I love that. Awesome.

^That's good stuff, KJP. Europe is so much better equipped to deal with this because they have been dealing with higher gas/oil prices for decades and have neccessarily adjusted their living arrangements accordingly. We can learn a lot from them, but I believe it's going to be a rocky transition if/when we commit to it. A lot of people here are going to feel the pain.

^^^gildone, you're right on. What the Saudi's are saying is simply a smokescreen. If they were to come clean with what their production numbers really are, they would be looking at a world of hurt at home. There is compelling evidence that Saudi production of LSC peaked 2 years ago; they have not been able to increase production despite an all-out attempt to do so. Mexico is in the same boat, only their production has been crashing by about 15% a year for the last couple years....and they are our largest source of imported oil, followed by Saudi Arabia. Without factoring in hurricane season and Iranian shenanigans, I can see gas going north of $4 (I'll say $4.29) at some point this summer/early fall. Yes, "demand destruction" will ultimately occur at a certain price point, bringing prices back down somewhat, but $3 gas is here to stay. The underlying problem, in my opinion, is that the American public just does not grasp the enormity and consequences of what is happening. "Happy motoring utopia" has no future and cannot be saved. The sooner people realize the truth of the matter and pressure the government to act accordingly (investing in inter-city rail, intracity light-rail, and alternative renewable energy sources;and stop subsidizing suburban development, to name a few) the better chance we'll have of making it through this. The enormity of the situation facing this nation over the next decade or so cannot be understated. This should be the #1 most important issue in the '08 election, but everyone will sidestep it.

^^^ Thank you, Paul. That's exactly what I was getting at. :clap:

^^^Correct me if I'm wrong, MTS, but why is the Port looking to vacate their current location in the first place? Isn't this location (the port) part of Stark's plan? In my humble opinion, if Burke is to be used for anything other than an airport, I would think the PA working with the city could get this done; even if it means utilizing the waterfront section of this land as the port and leaving the airport as is. There is a lot of vacant land(fill) to the north and east of the airport proper. The bottom line is that the Port is looking to make their land available for development, and sooner rather than later. That's encouraging.

Ok fellow urbanites, chew on this: Last night a member of the Port Authority told our group that A) the ferry service/terminal to Canada is picking up serious steam from the Canadian side and they want Cleveland as the U.S. terminal. The Canadians felt that "Cleveland was the best location for this on the lake." .....And the reason I'm posting this on the Pesht thread; B) The PA is not focusing on this "port island" scheme any longer; they have their eyes on Burke. They have come to the conclusion that the port island will be too expensive and not a timely, realistic option for them. This PA member gave stats on Burke's financial performance (not good) to the city and flight activity. Only about 3,000 of Burke's 86,000 flights were commercial, revenue-generating activity. The rest were training and recreational. The Burke site offers quick access to the highway, access to rail, and plenty of room for potential container/intermodal operations. The ferry terminal and staging area would be located there as well. The PA's relocation to Burke is much more realistic than the port island and could happen in a matter of years, not decades. I believe the implications of this plan regarding Pesht are obvious. This is going to happen. :-D Pretty good stuff, huh?

^^^That makes sense. One can hope, though. **I was in Detroit last week for a night and caught last friday's Detroit News; in it was Dan Gilbert's announcement that he was going to consolidate Quicken's HQ in downtown Detroit. The interesting part of the announcement, however, was his statement that he wasn't coming down there by himself; the deal was contingent on him bringing other companies downtown with him. It was going to be a "package deal". I had to read it again. What if Peter Lewis were to do something like that? What other suburban hq's would be viable candidates to come downtown? Hyland Software? Moen? DDR? Who else?

I love the move downtown. "Putting your money where your mouth is", I think this dude is going to at least get the ball rolling in the WHD, if not leave a huge footprint himself. Now, how 'bout Scott Wolstein bringing DDR downtown (into his own project?) **KJP, has Wolstein ever mentioned anything like this? Has he been asked? I would think DDR would bring a sizable office presence downtown. Also, how will the Port's interest in attracting container cargo affect their plans to move west of the river? Will that alter Stark's plan in any way?

KJP, I couldn't help but smile when I saw your rendition of a post-peak oil downtown. I have often imagined/visualized the same scenario; not being as computer-literate as you, I traced over a copy of downtown complete with my idea of what a fully developed Burke (and Scranton peninsula) might look like 20-30 years from now (After downtown's existing vacant parcels have been built out, of course). On the same topic, Gavster and I agree that the RTA's "bus rapid transit" is going to look awfully short-sighted and ill-conceived in the near future. Light rail! Light rail! Light rail! The rest of 2007 is going to be awfully interesting; I believe the American public is going to get their first real taste of what "peak-oil" means and the economic consequences of it. Our "happy motoring utopia" (kunstler) is in for a huge wake-up call.