MuRrAy HiLL

Although he is no longer running, interesting article from San Fran: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/23/EDM2UJSB9.DTL

http://www.reuters.com/article/tnBasicIndustries-SP/idUSWNAS703320080122

http://www.ohio.com/news/ap?articleID=354261&c=y

What a smack down in Cleveland tonight! From Washington: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/23/AR2008012303511_pf.html

A few places to put this story.. http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/01/stark_fires_off_email_criticiz.html FrqntFlyr beat me to it on the Stark thread. .....So Ernst and Young "for sure" to Wolstein then...

Man that's frustrating. So new ownership may be the only way to change...I wonder the price tag for that change? A private large sum donation to give the website to different owners would do wonders for the public opinion of this city!

More influence worldwide for the Cleveland Clinic: http://www.pharmalive.com/News/index.cfm?articleid=507504&categoryid=63

I'm going to start this thread negatively--After having ths pent up for a while; here's why I dislike what these websites do for their respective cities: 1) The Negativity. I would consider cleveland.com and cincinnati.com major sources for local and out-of-town people's news and perspective on the cities. I have to admit, there have been a few headlines and user comments from cleveland.com that I have let get to me. If someone like me can get bothered who would kill for this city (But I would do it outside the city limits to not raise the homicides), I wonder how this site make the average person/suburbanite feel?? 2) The "comments" section on cleveland.com...................... 3) The News Aspect. In its own nature, news is generally negative in order to sell anyway. Personally, I would have no problem going to the pd of enquirer websites to keep up with news. Check out toronto.com for a kick-ass city website that is made for the people in the city (as well as visitors) and has an immensely positive feel. News is a few clicks away for those who want it (toronto star). Here's their mission statement http://www.toronto.com/article/500725. 4) Now I apologize if anyone here works for either site, but I would say the search function and general layout need improvement. My biggest complaint is that events listing are sporadic and sometimes wrong, and places are hard to find (and with occasional inaccurate information). 5) Stay out of the suburbs. Let PostivelyCleveland and the GCCVB handle that. MY SUGGESTIONS: Phase out the news stories: 1) Eliminate the ability for comments. 2) Create a separate tab along the top to link to news/the newspaper sites if desired. Once news is no longer the primary goal, it will be easy to focus on what else needs improved on the site. (More on local events, editorials, restaurants, sports, neighborhoods, history, attractions, etc) NOTE: I could not find a Columbus that compares to Cleveland or Cincinnati. The best I could find was www.experiencecolumbus.com/ (the tourist site) and downtowncolumbus.com/

Updated Avenue Blog: http://www.avenuedistrict.blogspot.com/ E.12 -- "Zaremba, Inc. and Panzica Construction are expecting to top off the mixed-use structure later this month, with occupancy scheduled to begin in fall 2008."

EDIT: I may have overstepped on what this topic was about--I took it as "open" public space downtown. my expert opinion: Like: 1) The "Reading Garden," I believe it's called, between the two library buildings (Summertime): Reasons: Quaint fountains and chirping birds, people reading, people-watching at lunchtime, between two atrractive buildings and a view of the Arcade--quite pleasant. 2) Public Square (minus homeless dining on Sundays): Reasons: Too many obvious to say. Don't like: 1) Willard Park: Reasons: Wtf? What purpose does it have anyway? ( I hope I'm not being too ignorant here...) Couldn't we build residental/mixed-use along the street and leave the "park" behind the buildings? It would much better link up with the E.9 bridge and lakefront. 2) Federal Building Plaza: Reasons: Just thinking I'm not going to like it...especially since the Mall and Willard Park are so close. 3) Parking lots on W.3 and W.6 ... Indifferent: 1) "Avenue District" Park (official name unknown): Reasons: Currently nothing special...but does have potential and hopefully will be done right if redone. 2) The Malls: Reasons: Now I love the area, but there definitely something missing, and my best guess is people. If there were residental towers/buildings lining the west side (north of key tower and knocking down and relcoating the other stuff), and the new convention center and medical mart where the main train terminal was supposed to go, The Mall would be a true site to see. 3) Erie St. Cemetery: Reasons: Definitely nothing in fault of itself....but the surrounding area sucks. Stark's 2080 plan could be a good start though.

Here's to put my pictures in better perspective for everyone. The bottom right are the old dormitories (what is being torn down). As you can see, it is being replaced with a parking garage and open field for now. EDIT: And expanded emergency room! (most important probably...)

My apologizes on the quality--taken hurriedly and with a cell phone The demolition has begun...

As of about 4:00 today, the main brick laying of the sidewalks infront of HOB seems to be complete. Also the old 6-7 story gutted building that looks like it belongs in Baghdad (about across from Gallucci;s...E 60 ish) appears to be getting ready fot a facade. Anyone know anything about this?

Hmm...a company still in the suburbs with marginal reviews: http://insurance.freeadvice.com/reviews/17/

Here's a repost from when the week that will live in infamy occurred: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/28/business/NA-FIN-US-Israel-Business-Connection.php

Holy Sh!t! Damn 70's... still takes 30-50 years to recover. If this continues with daily work, I too will find myself checking the "progress" everyday (man, not another thing on my mind...)

Closer to "not-even close"...but you can get to Jimmy Johns and Teresa's Pizza no problem now. Anyone know the timeline for the sidewalk completion between Public Square and E. 6th??

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/01/greenhouse_experiment_to_use_l.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greenhouse experiment to use liquid crystal windows Posted by Peter Krouse January 08, 2008 22:41PM Categories: Breaking News GREEN INC. A monthly look at companies embracing sustainability The Cleveland Botanical Garden and Kent State University's Liquid Crystal Institute hope to create a smart greenhouse, one that manipulates sunlight to grow plants faster and with less energy. project grew out of a discussion Natalie Ronayne had with her boss nearly two years ago when Ronayne was still the garden's chief operating officer. She's now executive director of the University Circle institution, which includes the 18,000-square-foot Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse. The concern, Ronayne recalled, was how the garden could further reduce its large energy bill. That led them to a fuel cell advocate in town who then pointed the way to the Liquid Crystal Institute. ...

Nikole where will you be working? And I assume the kids will be starting school immediately?

I'm glad people are starting to step up to sh!t like this VIDEO: http://www.wkyc.com/video/player.aspx?aid=51773&bw=

Why do you say considered "not desirable?" This place is a gem.

StarTrek coming to town!? Wow!

This happened at Case a couple years ago too..

no response on Cleveland.com or Cincinnati.com being primarily news? Maybe naming this toronto.com doesn't get enough attention..

I was enjoying reading about LeBron conquering Canada when I came across the city site for Toronto -- www.toronto.com It compares more to http://www.positivelycleveland.com/ and http://www.cincyusa.com/ than our own Cleveland.com and Cincinnati.com (is there a Columbus equivalent??), since there is no news reel. (the Toronto Star has its own website that takes care of that--but so does the PD and Enquirer??). What makes it really different from the first two sites is a majority of the content is geared towards those who live in and around the city (although PositivelyCleveland seems to be decently local friendly as well). Besides being easy to follow and aesthetically pleasing, the lack of bombarding news stories really helps the overall site--probably since news tends to be more negative in its own nature. (for example, tough to sell Cleveland to tourists and its own residents when stuff like “teens get shot” or “not walkable” is on the homepage for a majority of time). Not saying either c.com’s should get rid of the news, but I think both sites do a poor job of promoting the cities themselves (both to the residents and prospective out-of-towners). But I do kinda wish the PD and Enquirer stayed within their own site and maybe the two c.com's only posting occasional positive stories. Comments?