Cleburger

I'm sure there's others, but these came to mind pretty quickly as being capable of hosting a team with minimal investment. Football - LA, San Antonio Baseball - Montreal, Vancouver Basketball - Newark, Columbus, Seattle + Kansas City to the basketball list.

+1 Like any good team owner, they would just choose to select another city who is willing to maintain the stadium for them. Like it or not, this is the modern sports business.

here is one story http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/04/uber_launches_its_app-driven_t.html I've been so crazy busy have not been reading mainstream media. I have seen dozens of Lift ads in my Facebook feed. I guess Uber is not reaching me!

Wow where was the press on Uber? I never saw a peep. And I never look for Uber when I'm home because I have my car! Great news!

Largely cash business so i'm sure most cabbies wouldn't want to divulge too much info. With Lift in town (and hopefully Uber someday) maybe they will be forced to compete in the digital world, including credit cards and GPS tracking.

Actually, cops working the games are often not off-duty, and never under the table. If the venue contracts with the City then cops are asked to volunteer for the assignment outside of their regular hours and are paid OT. The City then turns around and charges a flat rate for each cop over and above the OT rate for a command rank. Same goes for firefighters at the games. Those guys are generally from the Fire Prevention Bureau and I know for a fact the City charges the venue over and above the OT rate for a Fire Captain. The City takes that money and puts it into its general fund, even though the OT pay for those officers comes out of the police or fire departments' budgets. It's a neat trick to increase the general fund while still maintaining complaints about OT levels in the Divisions of Police and Fire. Point being, the City actually makes money by having its emergency responders to work these games and the administration gets political talking points to use against these same personnel who the too many citizens are all too eager to dislike If the venue does not contract with the City, 9/10 the contract is with a private security company, such as Tenable, and the cops are considered off-duty and paid through that contractor. It's not 'under the table' Correct for the cops and firefighters working the events themselves, including traffic detail. I misspoke when I said "under the table". The ones working bars, parking lot parties, etc for private events are not always above the table.

I always thought your moniker was a nod to the collectivist workers holidays, or a celebration of the "we!" ;) Perhaps it is actually the distress signal? But your point is taken. I use the term meaning our collective city, but agree WE should probably stop using it. ;)

I travel for a living and can tell you 100% without a trace of doubt the stereotypes are alive and well. Funny too the amount of people who ask about the Flats and if it's still kicking. Sorry...no we bulldozed that and let it sit vacant for 10 years.....

Not sure how you got to the $185 million there on the facility fee projection? To me it looks more like $102 million. Suffice to say, I don't think any financial expert would dispute the fact that the sin tax is a must more reliable means of funding. We have years of population decline and stagnation, but yet people still drink and smoke. And those that do quit smoking probably make up for it elsewhere. I'd make this a much safer bet than relying on attendance.

But if the teams moved away some day and venues were closed, lots of overtime would be lost....

Also a lot of cops are working under the table for games and events. They don't want to lose that money either, as for most of them it's a path to a decent middle-class existence.

I think you all are placing too much stock in the exterior. I think Marriott, Hilton and Kimpton would think the opposite--Westin is a formidable competitor located outside the doors of the Convention Center and will attract lots of guests who will probably never consider the St Clair Ave facade in their booking choice. Well, yeah, Westin is a good brand and it's in an ideal location. It will surely be very competitive against the Marriott, Hilton, etc, but that doesn't mean it's not ugly. As it stands, the building looks unfinished. Sure, it's an improvement over the monstrosity it used to be, but it's still quite ugly. The exposed garage, those ugly guardrails, and the way the small portion of glass facade - it looks shoddy and unfinished. It's an improvement, but that doesn't mean it's good. Well sure its ugly. I was just responding to the comment about Marriott and Kimpton somehow being relieved it was ugly. Maybe there is some personal satisfaction there, but I don't think it will change the business.

I think you all are placing too much stock in the exterior. I think Marriott, Hilton and Kimpton would think the opposite--Westin is a formidable competitor located outside the doors of the Convention Center and will attract lots of guests who will probably never consider the St Clair Ave facade in their booking choice.

Saying we pass your facility fee tax idea and the Indians attendance drops to 3,000 per game, who is going to pay the upkeep? There goes the City of Cleveland general fund.

There seems to be plenty of Pro-7 advertising to counter any no voices. I for one will vote for it--I just don't believe the alternative methods of funding proposed will stand up to the long-term test of time.

I highly doubt you'll be able see any portion of the field. The stands on the south side of the stadium will block the view. If we added another 15-20 floors of apartments/condos on top they might have a chance... ;)

Anyone who doubted my assertion that ultra-high end condos/apts on top of the new convention center hotel would not be marketable--take note!

Perhaps I am misquoting that stat--it could be 2/3 of the cranes in the USA. Your point about Toronto would be quite valid, followed closely by Vancouver. None the less, this entire area has been constructed in the last 8 years: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Uptowndallasskyline.jpg My point was things are moving a bit slower in Cleveland's economy. And that is a stat that even Texans can back up.

Busy day today at BKL! I counted no less than a dozen bizjets at the Million Air hangar, including a lovely G5. Maybe this should be cross-posted in the Cleveland Browns thread ;) ;)

I know the outcome isn't funny, but just reading this reminds me of Monty Python "The Meaning Of Life." Where are the "People's Front of Judeah?"

You've obviously never lived in Lakewood. You could call about a teenage kid breaking your window with a baseball and three cruisers would be there within 4 minutes. Of all the issues in Lakewood, police response is not one of them! An undercover agent? I doubt it. I think in this case Lakewood caught wind of the gang moving down Detroit from Now Thats Class as the calls were coming in from bystanders. By they time they crossed into Lakewood and formed up at the Foundry, Lakewood PD were in full tactical response mode. As I mentioned upthread, the Boston "toughs" were probably thinking it would be like Boston there in Cleveland. Had they stayed on the Cleveland side of the line, it may very well have ended up that way (although Lakewood might have responded to help out CPD).

Maybe I'm just getting lousy layovers, but I think the restrooms in Cleveland are some of the best. Definitely a notch above Detroit, San Diego and Midway. I was just talking about this with someone the other day! I had a layover at LAX a couple of weeks ago and the bathrooms looked like a third world country while in comparison the stalls in the bathrooms in concourse C at CLE are like a hotel room. Props to Hopkins for being one of the cleanest airports I've ever been to. Maybe it's a different story in concourses A&B? On all three concourses they are just way too small. Obviously the design of an airport built 50 years ago. Try getting in and out of one of the ones on C on a busy morning with everyone tangling their carryon luggage. I just think they need to expand them to give more maneuvering room. In terms of cleanliness, I'd put Hopkins in the middle of the field, not to bad, but also not as good as they could be.

I'm sure those Boston "thugs" were not expecting the Lakewood OH Police response time in their planning. Knowing Lakewood they probably had about 10 cars there within 2 minutes of the first call.

I personally don't see that much wrong with the ticketing lobby and arrivals hall. Definitely not $20 million worth. If anything they should use the money to continue improvements on Concourses A&B, including a new Customs FIS and larger and better restrooms.

You don't. But in Boston, it apparently happens every night (if you believe Hollywood or my many friends who hail from there....).