KJP

Post your letters here. It will give others some ideas on what to say and may inspire a few more folks to write. As for me, I have lots of meetings and presentations coming up in the next few weeks on the Lorain-Cleveland regional rail proposal. Even Vermilion officials are showing an interest. I'm also working on a visible, outspoken business person to take up this cause and possibly lead a public-private campaign for it. We'll see what happens!

I never believe anything demographia puts out. Demographia is run by Wendell Cox, an anti-urban, anti-transit, pro-highway-only idiot who once advocated for double-decking all of Atlanta's highways to "relieve" traffic congestion. The latter was a report funded by the Highway Users Alliance. The people who believe him are Cox Suckers. Do a Google search on his name sometime -- just be sure to have a puke bucket handy.

The Business Journal of Milwaukee - May 29, 2006 http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2006/05/29/story1.html Milwaukee, Madison to collaborate 'M2' would link cities' economies The Business Journal of Milwaukee - May 26, 2006 by Pete Millard After decades of mutual disinterest -- or perhaps disdain -- for each city's problems, the mayors in Milwaukee and Madison have decided it's time to work together for the common good of the state's two largest cities. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Madison's Dave Cieslewicz have begun discussions on how to promote the economic well-being of both cities. They would collaborate on legislative initiatives that benefit both cities -- high- speed rail linking the two, development of the biotechnology industry and even partnering with Chicago on its possible bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The collaborative effort, called M2, was revealed last week at a Madison forum sponsored by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. "We have to think regionally to succeed," said Barrett, who says he understands Madison because of his time in the city as a University of Wisconsin-Madison student and eight years in the state Legislature. Cieslewicz, who grew up in West Allis and attended UW-Milwaukee before transferring to UW-Madison, appreciates the challenges Barrett faces and will work to bridge the cultural gulf between the cities. "Our biggest obstacle may be building an understanding among constituents about the value of working together," said Cieslewicz. Cieslewicz may be the first Madison mayor to master sheepshead, a card game that is an institution in Milwaukee. Historically speaking, Milwaukee and Madison have little in common. Milwaukee is home to big business and a blue-collar population. Madison's reason for being is based on government and university services. Better communication The purpose of the M2 collaborative effort is to improve communication and the exchange of ideas among the educational, business and cultural leaders and organizations in the cities, said Cieslewicz. The mayors have not established who will lead the organization, how it will be structured and financed, or when it will begin functioning. Barrett and Cieslewicz are working with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley on the high-speed rail project and the Olympic bid. They acknowledge that Chicago's exploration of the 2016 Olympics is a long shot, but note that Milwaukee and Madison boast sporting venues that could aid the pitch. On the other hand, leaders in all three cities understand the need for high- speed rail, and mustering support for such a bid is long overdue, said Barrett. Representatives of the three cities will lobby in Washington, D.C., for federal funding to help build the rail line. The Chicago-to-Milwaukee, Madison and Minneapolis rail corridor has the potential to be the second-busiest in the nation behind New York City-Boston. "Improving our connections to Chicago is the cities' common bond," said Barrett. In the future, Barrett said the M2 collaborative could work on expanding the biotech business base in the two cities. Milwaukee is planning to build a biotech business park near the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs grounds south of Miller Park. That development could benefit from UW-Madison researchers and Madison biotech companies looking to expand production. Existing ties Most business executives and academic leaders in Milwaukee and Madison already work together on some legislative or educational issues, said Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. Building on the existing cooperative framework will not be difficult, he said. The M2 collaborative will not damage the effectiveness of the M7 cooperative project that has seven southeast Wisconsin counties pooling resources to promote regional economic development, he said. "The Madison-Milwaukee arrangement is a natural extension of M7," said Sheehy, one of the leaders of the Milwaukee initiative. UW-Madison and its Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation are forming partnerships with Milwaukee-area research groups at UW-Milwaukee and the Medical College of Wisconsin. If Barrett and Cieslewicz are looking for companies that can serve as case studies for the Milwaukee-Madison collaborative, Pat Ryan is willing to volunteer the Milwaukee-based law firm Quarles & Brady. "We have offices in both cities and share resources and expertise daily," said Ryan, managing partner of Quarles & Brady. Milwaukee's Godfrey & Kahn law firm merged in 2000 with the Madison firm LaFollette Sinykin. Like other law firms in Milwaukee and Madison, Godfrey & Kahn has clients who are investing in businesses in both cities, said Rick Bliss, Godfrey & Kahn's managing partner. "The basis for cooperation already exists," he said. Send us your comments More Latest News

Nice pics. Glad to see people here are noticing the neutron-bomb effect. One thing I noticed in the late 80s and early 90s is that the city and a number of downtown businesses would sponsor big and small events at city parks (Party in the Park, Riverfest, etc.). Some of these could be less-than-daily small events, and might even be a small revenue generator for the city (such as a permit fee for a large gathering -- can pay for police/service department overtime and so on). Even infrequent events will help raise the profile of these parks among downtown office workers and area residents who otherwise won't venture outside of their "comfort zones." Get folks out of their routines.

characterful Good word, B12! You should get credit when they add that to Webster's.

Nice pics. Welcome aboard! I especially like the view down on the Goodtime III. Looks like a little lighter turnout this year for the tour. They need to publicize it better. I received no press release at Sun from the county engineers.

^ I like the subtle lighting. Very nice.

Kent State University 36,600 Students on 8 campuses 2nd largest public university in Ohio 25,000 Students at the main campus 3rd largest OH public university main campus This is 2004 data from: http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:NomqdlrwbVEJ:www.kent.edu/rpie/upload/AIR%2520Annual%2520Conference.ppt+Kent+State,+enrollment+main+campus&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4

^ Got to protect the stupid from themselves and others.

Unfortunately, I saw an AP article on the electrical outage that began with "Amtrak, the financially maligned passenger railroad, suffered another major blow today...." I didn't need to read any more than that.

^ Awesome.

He's right (and I'm never going to hear the end of it from him -- go on big guy, rag on me like an ex-girlfriend!). There's always some poster who comes up with the latest "tell me why I should feel good about my city" and, dammit, I always bite. ColDayMan reminds me I need to do a search on previous posts of this sort and post the link whenever a new one comes up. Thanks for helping me see the error of my ways, o' wise and perceptive one...

I don't think a letter from a Clevelander would go over too well in Columbus, except perhaps to say that you in Columbus are where Cleveland was 30-40 years ago. Isolate the urban poor from job growth in the outer areas and see what the result is -- a brush fire that chases the outward push of development and devastates older neighborhoods in their wake. One of my favorite smart-growth, anti-sprawl slogans is: "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell."

If gas prices goes through the roof, as many oil industry observers suspect they will, most of these exurban areas won't be worth the pavement they're built on just a few short years from now. We need the farmland and we need it close by to reduce transportation costs. This is some of the best farmland in the world. And consider how much driving these land use patterns require for the most basic of tasks. Also, how many of these homeowners have better than a 2:1 equity to debt ratio? How many are at a 1:1 ratio?? Most of these folks are financially locking themselves into a lifestyle they probably can't afford now, and certainly won't in the future. I suspect that this era of hyper sprawl will be known for years to come as the time when Americans simply lost their minds.

Nice pics. Seems you have a thing for pigeons? Here's my favorite (looking east on Huron, correct?)

While Chicago and Toronto are better, Cleveland is definitely one of the most enjoyable North American cities to play in during the summer time.

NASA Glenn - the only NASA facility in the northern half of the nation (only one north of the Mason-Dixon line, but I don't know how many know where or what that line is!); Rail transit - the only city in Ohio to have an electrically powered rail transit system and the only one between Buffalo/Pittsburgh and Chicago/St. Louis axis. Cleveland Metroparks - I don't where the metroparks system ranks nationally in size and quality, but I suspect it's right up there. Playhouse Square - second-largest theater district (measured by number of seats) in the U.S., trailing only NYC's Broadway. Cuyahoga Valley National Park - the most-visited national park in the United States, and the only one that links two large population centers of at least a half-million people. Golf courses - Greater Cleveland ranks highly in the nation in number of golf courses, with the Big Met golf course ranking as one of, if not the most patronized in the U.S. University Circle - you already included this, but UC has the greatest concentration of cultural and educational institutions in the U.S. I'm sure I'm missing a few more, but these are things we tend to take for granted and shouldn't.

Maybe Tony George can tell the judge or jury to "blow him" as he allegedly told the PA in a negotiations session recently. Isabella Basile is the relative of late mobster Carmen Basile, I'm told by someone who once worked for Tony George. ______________ http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/114871867012310.xml&coll=2 Port files 2 more eminent domain suits Saturday, May 27, 2006 Sarah Hollander Plain Dealer Reporter Two more eminent domain cases were filed against Flats property owners Friday, bringing the week's total to four. The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority filed suit in Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court against Tony George, who owns an Old River Road building with relatives, and Isabella Basile, who owns the Beach Club building across the street. The port is working on behalf of developer Scott Wolstein, who wants to build a residential and retail project on the east bank of the Flats with government support. ........

http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=319 A Personal Peak Oil Discovery Process, Part I A retired nuclear physicist traces his discovery of peak oil theory. By John Rawlins May. 26, 2006 Special Report: Peak Oil (Ed. Note: This is Part I of a two-part series. Part I chronicles the process by which John Rawlins discovered the scale and extent of the coming peak oil crisis. Part II will detail the steps he has taken to prepare for a world of diminishing oil resources.) I recall reading a Scientific American article in 1998 about world oil supply, titled The End of Cheap Oil [ http://dieoff.org/page140.htm ]. Colin Campbell and Jean Laherrère predicted that the world oil extraction rate would increase until around 2005-2010, then peak and quickly enter decline, with decline rates of a few percent per year. That seemed interesting but not all that worrying to a 58 year old semi-retired nuclear physicist teaching astronomy and physics in a community college in northwest Washington state. I posted their graphs on my office door and occasionally discussed the topic with students, but I didn't really get it. Just having less gasoline for transportation seemed the least of our worries.

While the number of runways, their approximate lengths and alignments are what Hopkins officials have considered (along with the general location of a new midfield terminal), the rail/transit/people mover routes are my additions. I also made a guess as to how the access road might look. For the most part, I would route the rail line southwest from airport, running across country on a new alignment. The line to Toledo would curve away first, closer to Olmsted Falls than the older parts of Berea (though still in recently annexed land by Berea) and follow the NS main from there. The line to Columbus would continue southwest cross-country to a point a few hundred feet south of where the CSX line crosses the Ohio Turnpike. The line would follow CSX into Columbus. About six to seven miles of new right of way would need to be constructed.

I didn't see this until now, posted at Green City Blue Lake (I would like to have attended this): Start: May 24 2006 - 6:30pm End: May 24 2006 - 8:30pm Shaker Heights is breaking ground on the 150-unit Lofts of Avalon Station - built right at the RTA Blue Line rail station (near Lee and Van Aken). The $60 million project includes a green roof over its parking deck. See this latest addition to the area's transit-oriented developments. Call 440-343-1701 for more information. Or visit the developer's website at: http://www.avalonlofts.com/home.php

The parking lot on Public Square will remain depsite what Stark does, sorry to say. Stark's nemesis, Dick Jacobs, owns the Public Square lot so don't expect any development partnerships ala Stark-Asher, Stark-Carney or the still-sought Stark-Cameron partnership.

Fuel accounts for about 22 percent of Continental's operating expense, compared with about 24 percent for Northwest and 27 percent for American. Just for comparison's sake, energy expenses (including electricity costs for powering trains in the Northeast) represent about 5 percent of Amtrak's operating costs.

2 Hour Event To Kick Off A Summer Of Street Life In Downtown Cleveland E. 4th Street To Shut Down Thursday June 1st, 5:30 – 8:00 pm For Public Celebration Cleveland, OH – In an effort to rally Greater Cleveland around the thrill of downtown’s Street Beats concert series, Sparx in the City and E. 4th Street Neighborhood have combined forces with Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer’s BRAIN GAIN to host a one-night block party that’s FREE and open to the public. On Thursday, June 1st from 5:30 – 8:00 pm, E. 4th Street (between Prospect and Euclid Avenues) will be open only to foot traffic so that crowds can enjoy live entertainment, a cash beer bar and affordable food samplings from E. 4th Street eateries. Area restaurants, including Flannery’s, House of Blues and Pickwick & Frolic, will have satellite food stations outside of their front doors, selling samples of their menu items to passersby. Live music and dance will take place on the open street by select groups from Northeast Ohio, including the head-turning 2% Milk. This duo of turntable musicians, DJ Doc and Ryan Lott, create ambient beats while artist Stacy Chech paints on large canvases with her bare hands and feet. The blend of funky sounds with live colorful painting is a stimulating, 3-way improvisation. Other acts placed along the sidewalks include the SAFMOD Percussion Unit, 216 Beatriders break dancers, Morrisondance performers with masks by Scott Radke, one-man band Hal Walker, and stilt dancers Aaron Bonk, Xan Underhill, Hope Schulz, Zoe Schulz and Aaron Rapljenovic. June 1st represents the first of 28 Street Beats concerts that Sparx in the City has planned for the entire summer. Half the shows will take place on Thursdays from 5:30 – 7:30 pm on E. 4th Street or at W. 6th & St. Clair in the Warehouse District. The other half will take place on Fridays from 12 – 2 pm at Star Plaza in the Theater District or in front of Tower City at Public Square. All shows will move to nearby indoor locations in the event of rain. An entire summer schedule is attached here and can be found at www.cleveland.com/sparx. Sparx in the City is a downtown marketing initiative designed to stimulate commerce and street life in Cleveland by way of showcasing the talents of regional artists. It operates under the auspices of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, through a network of over 50 corporate, organizational, governmental, association and media partnerships. Now in its fourth year, Sparx in the City’s marketing services also include the management of Ohio’s largest art walk in September --The Sparx Gallery Hop, as well as the development of Cleveland’s first-ever guide of Cleveland Galleries. Featuring full listings and maps of over 100 galleries, studios, art walks and festivals that exist across 11 art districts in Cleveland, the second issue of Cleveland Galleries will be unveiled at this event on June 1st, thanks to the publisher, Cleveland Magazine. Sparx in the City is presented by National City and receives additional support from The Cuyahoga County Commissioners, The Cleveland Foundation, Dominion, The George Gund Foundation, The Downtown Cleveland Alliance, Marc’s, The John P. Murphy Foundation, Forest City Enterprises, Medical Mutual, The Cleveland Theater District, FirstEnergy, The Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland and The Wolpert Foundation. Media sponsors include 107.3 The Wave, WKYC-TV3, Cleveland Magazine, Cleveland.com, and The Plain Dealer. - 30 -

I held my tongue after the first Sun article was published on this project. But I can't hold it any longer (see article below). I don't care for the tone of these articles, as they come across as juvenile, confrontational and mis-informed. This has as much to with Kurdziel's editor Mary Jane Skala, who asks new job applicants what their favorite music and colors are, writes columns that almost always stray from our mission of "News That's Really Close to Home" and other things that irritate the hell out of me. Here's another reason why: _________________ http://www.cleveland.com/sun/sunpress/index.ssf?/base/features-0/1148575671253890.xml&coll=3 Van Aken/Warrensville vision to be unveiled Thursday, May 25, 2006 By Karen Kurdziel The Sun Press SHAKER HEIGHTS _ This week developer Bob Stark is in Las Vegas promoting his plans for Cleveland's Warehouse District at an International Council of Shopping Centers meeting. Next week he'll be here telling officials and residents how to revitalize the 60-acre Van Aken/Warrensville Center commercial district...