Cleburger

The services at hopkins are centrally located between all concourses, what are you talking about?? I disagree considering AT THAT TIME each concourse had it's own security. A person connecting would have had to clear security to make a connection. It didn't make sense and today, as a uber user of the airport, it still makes no sense. The C councouses first few gates are not close to the main terminal. It's a LONG WALK between concourses! So you would actually walk further to get to A then the current set up. And once again MTS, we are talking about travelers changing flights on Continental. So where is the retail located in relation to the Continental passengers making connections. I'm sure there are a couple making connections to different carriers, but my guess that is in the single digits per day at CLE. All I'm saying is give it time: the retail lessees at CLE will be beating on the city for new deals because they are seeing little traffic at their stores, other than local hubbers that are unlikely to purchase big ticket items other than a newspaper and bottle of water.

LOL D is NO farther and is in fact alot closer than if I am catching a continental flight out of one the far end gates at Terminal C in Newark; or, as I frquently have flights departing from E in ATL, even with the shuttle train D is still alot closer. Granted, there should have been a direct link from the ticketing area but I chalk that up to doing the Project on the cheap. I know it seems like an inconvenience but getting to D is still easier that some gates at a lot of airports I'm not talking distance of walking--I'm talking retail traffic. Trust me--I know D concourse is not as bad as many CLE hubbers make it out to be! Think about CLT or EWR or PHL or DTW. The main retail is between concourses of a hub airline where many people are making connections. In CLE they are off to the side (between A/B/C rather than between C and D, and will not be seen by many of the Continental travelers who walk from one gate to their next without passing the retail area.

Yes Sorry MD--I was just speaking on behalf of the casual and business traveller consumer, not a major airline running their operation. The airport as it stands makes no sense to a retailer paying a lot of money for a lease. If you think of the other major hubs, the retail is focused between the concourses of the major carrier--not off to the side. I agree the D concourse made sense for Continental--but not for the city who leases the spaces. In retrospect they could have refitted the A to deal with RJ's and offered special deals to the other carriers to rearrange the space between the A and the also under-utilized B concourses. Give Continental a deal on the A concourse and I'm sure they would have forgone on paying for their own D. As stated above, doesn't matter now and we have to deal with what we've been given....and I am glad we have Continental sticking around CLE.

sorry but if continental or any other airline does not want to lease space, the city cannot make them lease more. Secondly, how can the city tell Continental (or any other airline) how to manage their fleet or operations? Obviously, Contental (at this moment) doesn't have enough traffic to lease more gate space. I was implying that D Concourse should not have been built. Woulda coulda shoulda--we have to live with it now. Just an opinion....

The change is definitely welcomed--but as for many things run by our city I believe it was poorly executed. There should have been a larger overall plan to incorporate Continental into the existing A concourse and spread the traffic out through the entire structure. I wonder how long before the tenants are singing the "my lease is too high" blues due to lack of traffic in our new mall area? I give it until 2011 tops.... :wink:

Too bad the vast majority of casual travellers changing planes between Continental's C and D concourses will never see this area unless they are on a mind-numbing severe delay. The types of delays that do not make for happy shoppers.

"You'd have to kill someone at that job to get fired...." Now pump the brakes! (pun intended) At RTA your union will defend you and fight to reinstate you even with a fatality. I'm mainly anti-union because of short-sighted policies like these and become more-so with every year that passes.

If you include the lighting and set pieces above most trade show booths the ceiling height of 30' is a good target.

I appreciate the history of NYC as a gateway, but don't understand why it would matter for people transacting business between the Midwest/south and Europe. Which might be why there are several non-coastal US cities with direct European flights. I know that doesn't mean the economics are there for Cleveland to be one of them, but it also means NYC does not, in fact, suck up all the international travel. Don't read too much into it, I was just generalizing about the volume of traffic into the NY area airports from Europe vs other later-comers like Cleveland and Pittsburgh vying for their share of the pie. It's probably not unrealistic to remember that there are business and leisure travelers from Europe riding back via American carriers (more so now thanks to open-skies). I know from years of business in Europe that most people there looking for a holiday in the States head for New York (and many to Orlando-Disney) before they even consider any other vacation destinations. I'm sure our American carriers are acutely aware of this.

NY has not always been our gateway. We've previously had non stop service to europe. Not everyone wants to fly in and out of NEWARK or a NYC Airport. Businesses in Cleveland need non stop TATL service. We need to be able to compete globally and with to very large, high profile events coming here that showcase people from all over the world, we need non stop international service. The city and continental must get that INS/Customs situation in order NOW. In regard to your ONE situation, that could happen at any airport. ::) Sorry I should have been more specific. By "our" gateway to Europe I meant all of us, as in US citizens, world business people, immigrants, New York Harbor, Ellis Island and on we go back in history... I didn't mean Cleveland. I am very aware of Cleveland's flights and acutally was a customer on the LGW flight numerous times (didn't like the long hours on a cramped 757, but direct to home is good).

New York has always been our gateway to Europe. While everything stated here does make some economic sense on paper for CAL, people still want to fly in and out of New York for reasons reaching beyond the ones stated above. Most Europeans I deal with would never consider Cleveland because their business and leisure travels are all on either coast, making NYC the obvious choice for their inbound flights to the US. The customs at CLE is sketchy at best--I once had to wait 1.5 hours for the agents TO ARRIVE on an inbound from LGW because our flight was late and the border patrol sent the agents home.... :roll:

Took the Red Line to the game yesterday and I have to continue to ask, why are the new fare card machines set up for a 4 year old's stature. I am 6'4" and literally have to kneel on the ground to see the screen. I can see the compliance issues for disabled individuals, but c'mon RTA. One machine at average adult height and one for the disabled should be fine....

I took the Red Line down to the game yesterday so got the birds eye view coming over top of the collapse site--scary!

One of the many projects that our mayor and city leadership have been having trouble securing stimulus funding for. I saw this riverbank project in the initial wish list earlier this year. How is it that the GOP congressional delegations fight these sorts of handouts in front of television cameras, but when it comes time for the money to actually be distributed they have their hands out sending all the money to their rural districts? I think if you look up hypocrisy in the dictionary....

I could have told MMPI the place needed MAJOR work and saved us all the money....but that's not how life works in the public sector....

Agreed on the fare machines. I've taken the red line to the airport a few times and it's amazing how counter-intuitive they are. The increments when purchasing a fare are ridiculous--and why does it default to the senior/disabled fare? And is it me, or are the machines designed for 3' tall midgets? I have to literally sit on my knees to see the screens. I'm not sure I should worry anyway--I've never been approached to actually prove I paid my fare anyway. C'est la Cleveland.

Sorry my bad--by implying you had access to resear The research in my office. I do this for a living. ;) If you do research for a living, then you know the results of statistical research are different depending on who conducts the polling. Media outlets buy their research many times based on who has the better numbers. I never said that I did research for a living. Don't make assumptions ;) I'm well aware how stats are compiled. Sorry my bad--by indicating you had research in your office it implied that you were somehow professionally involved with market research. I stand corrected. Now how about spatulas or deep fryers? ;)

Thanks KJP. I keep checking that Recovery.gov site and no updates really in recent weeks. Certainly none of the "big ticket" projects like the innerbelt bridge, the collapsing riverbank or the west shoreway. It's all small time loans, grants etc, which while helps, does not make drastic impacts on Cleveland that we'd all like to see.

Sorry to keep returning to the subject: 10 months since this post--any updates on the stimulus wish list? It just grinds my gears that I see SR 2 currently being COMPLETELY rebuilt and widened out in Lake County and we have trouble here in Cleveland getting the funding to fast-track rebuilding of the busiest bridge crossing in the state.....

The research in my office. I do this for a living. ;) If you do research for a living, then you know the results of statistical research are different depending on who conducts the polling. Media outlets buy their research many times based on who has the better numbers.

I'm guessing that any venue would probably be booked by Belkin/Live Nation anyway--this is the arrangement in other regional casinos like Niagara Falls. So they will deliver acts that don't fit in House of Blues and try to spread the wealth.

Not only tourism, but still has a fairly thriving convention business (by post-911 standards), putting it in the top 5 nationally.

Sorry for taking this off-topic, but Cleburger, since this seems to be your "thing", why don't you take a look at this website for a detailed list of ARRA projects in Cleveland. Also, notice how dark the green in Cuyahoga County is compared to the rest of the state. I don't think we here in Northeast Ohio have much room to complain. http://www.recovery.org/for_businesses.aspx?gloc=Ohio*OH&mloc=OH And if you're more of a visual learner, the official Recovery.gov website has a pretty map you can zoom in and look at each project at street-level, with some astoundingly informative info available about each recepient: http://www.recovery.gov/transparency/pages/home.aspx?State=OH Thanks brtshrcegr you're a great help! :roll: Speaking of "visual learners," if you go in and look at the "dark green" Cuyahoga County, you'll see only 12 of the 82 projects mentioned have actually been awarded, with the others in various stages of proposal, bidding, etc. As we've all learned from ODOT over the past couple years, the government can say it's coming, but it can also taketh away. I'm not being negative--just want to know what others have found. Also want to encourage others to stay in contact with their elected representatives to make sure we get our cut.

Finally a project funded by the Stimulus! I've been waiting to see some of our share of the pie spent within the City of Cleveland. While the chutes on the Waterfront Line are hardly glamorous, we'll take what we can get!

Apparently you havent been to a casino. the hard rock, palms, planet hollywood cater to the 20 something who want a cool hotel to chill at. It matters not where the casino goes, it's the hotel brand attached. Apparently you haven't been to a casino in Detroit, Windsor, Niagara Falls or Evansville, any of which would be a closer comparison to the casino that would be built here than any of the examples you mentioned. And to answer your statement, I have been to all of those places. If it were just Las Vegas locals and not the LA in-crowd, the casinos there would be populated with overweight middle-to-senior midwesterners, just like our casino in Cleveland.