Confiteordeo

^I was going by actual Census counts, not their "pull a number out of a hat" estimates.

Just fwiw, Summit County is fifth. Hamilton is before Montgomery.

Ohio state flower: the orange barrel. Ohio state motto: "Be prepared to stop."

Thanks for the clarification.

But I thought that MLS wants soccer-only stadia for its franchises. Would that preclude college/high school use? Or does it only mean that they don't want a professional team from another sport using the stadium?

Would MLS allow that?

Maybe to visit for a few days, but not to live in. Except for the east side, where all of the old money lives in their preserved historic homes, most of the city suffers from pretty crushing poverty. The job market isn't that hot, the cost of living is very high, and Rhode Island is facing its biggest budget deficit ever this year.

If it looks at all like the rendering, and they land a café, I think it might look really nice. I think a small fountain might be a nice addition- it would be something kind of unique for the area, and provide ambiance for the café. It seems like something you'd find in Paris.

I wasn't sure where to put this. Since the funding for these developments appears to be Frank's answer to the "credit crunch," I thought I'd post it here, but it could probably go in "Random Cleveland Developments" or "Mayor Jackson and development in Cleveland." Please move this if appropriate. From http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1201599335271000.xml&coll=2 Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson proposes $60 million for improvements Tuesday, January 29, 2008 Henry J. Gomez Plain Dealer Reporter Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson wants to spend $60 million this year on improvements that range from recreation for the Collinwood neighborhood to curbs and sidewalks for downtown development. Also on the agenda: $1.5 million to launch a nonemergency complaint hot line for residents, $6 million to demolish vacant homes and more than $10 million for a new accounting system.

No need to apologize- I think that many people in the Cleveland area truly believe that things are worse here than anywhere else, and the (inter)national media coverage sure doesn't help. In my opinion, the media latched on to the crisis in Slavic Village and proceeded to dub Cleveland the "epicenter" of the foreclosure problem because Cleveland is an easy target. We do have a foreclosure problem. We also have a poverty problem, and I'm sure that doesn't help matters. But worst of all, we have an inferiority complex- and that's what the media eats up. Cleveland's the playground crybaby, and at the first sign of economic weakness, the media bully comes around and socks us in the gut because he knows that we're going to cry the hardest and the longest. Hopefully, that will change. Despite our problems, the City is turning around on so many levels, and eventually, even Joe Strongsville will realize it. It'll take time, but it will happen. The important thing is that we young, engaged people keep telling ourselves this, the best part of your post:

Yes, it's bad, but no, it isn't the hardest-hit area. Although 44105 (Slavic Village) has the most foreclosure filings among all zip codes in the country, the metro area is seventh in filings per total number of households. California is being hit very, very hard (it has 5 of the top 10 metros for foreclosures, including 3 ahead of Cleveland,) as are cities like Denver and Atlanta. Also, the Cleveland metro is one of about six that are supposed to have appreciating housing stock in the next five years, and in fact, it's number one on that list. Things are bad here, and it will probably take a while to recover, but don't forget that there are places (especially in CA, NV, and FL) that are just as bad, and that there's an important (and kind of scary) difference between Cleveland and the Western/Southern cities on the list- those other metros have a greater percentage of their foreclosures in the suburbs (where the wealth supposedly lives.)

If you find anything out, please post it here. I (and many others, I'm sure,) would be interested in letter writing and/or calling.

I made the mistake of sitting in the front, although I'm not sure the back would have been much better. I felt seasick throughout the whole thing.

Ya, I was expressing my disbelief with them, not with you! :-) Actually, I think they're pretty clustered on the west side. Very generally, it looks like the two main areas are around W. 130 between 71 and 480 in Puritas-Longmeade, and around the triangle formed by Clark, Lorain, and W. 25 in southern Detroit-Shoreway and OC (I wonder if it's any coincidence that there are also all of those train tracks and 90 running through that area?) On the east side, they do seem a little more scattered, but there seem to be some pockets as well: southern St. Clair-Superior, around Eddy Rd. in Forest Hills, along Union Ave. from Kinsman to Mt. Pleasant. I wish there were an updated version of the map available. It would be interesting to see how well those patterns hold.

147? That can't be right- we were at 128 a little over a week ago, and we haven't had 19 since then. 134 sounds more accurate. Cuyahoga County might have 147, but not Cleveland proper. mrnyc- this is the cleveland.com map of homicides in the county, but it's not totally up to date. http://www.cleveland.com/pdgraphics/interactive/homicide_map/

I think I see what you're saying- aren't they on the market before they've been pre-sold? I'd like to hear from someone who knows what they're talking about, too. Like I said, that was just my uneducated speculation.

You perceive insults too readily. What I was saying is that since most people around the country don't recognize the Cincinnati skyline, to them, it could be anywhere. The same is true for the Cleveland skyline, and I would venture for most American skylines with the possible exceptions of New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, St. Louis, and Seattle (cities with nationally known, highly iconic buildings.) I wasn't calling Cincinnati an "Anytown, USA." Don't put words in my mouth.

Keeping in mind that I'm not an economist either, I would think that Stark and Wolstein will try to pre-sell many of their units, so they wouldn't really be "on the market." It seems logical that prices would be depressed if the market were flooded with unpurchased, empty units, but if most of the units are sold, would it have the same impact?

Oops, I meant that as a response to j3shafer. I'll insert the quote. As for the show, I would agree about there being a possible local connection.

I would guess that they used Cincinnati's skyline because it's dense and attractive, but it's not well-recognized, so it gives a generic Anytown U.S.A. vibe to the ad. I think it isn't so much connecting to "mid-America" per se, but more like connecting to all of America outside of New York City.

Yes, but constantly bemoaning it without coming up with any solutions doesn't do any good for anyone, either.

^ Me neither. In fact, I thought they had made statements a couple of months back about how they were committed to Akron.

Hi, TB1000, and welcome to UrbanOhio and to Cleveland! You might be interested in looking at the relocation guide that KJP put together. I suggested that it be stickied to make it easier to find, but I guess no one agreed. http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=14228.0

Can we re-name this "Metro Cleveland ranks at bottom in 'walkable' places?" The study was about metro areas, not the cities themselves. Not to mention when New York City ranks below Pittsburgh...

It's still better than "Funkytown." (gag!)