TMH

Today in the Plain Dealer there is an article about the battle between local hospitals and the IRS regarding their non-profit tax exempt status and how Rep. Tubbs Jones has gotten into the discussion. http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1197020351287340.xml&coll=2 As usual there is this unrelated, one-sentence paragraph: "The region's economy has struggled and Cleveland is ranked as one of America's poorest cities." Now it is a real stretch to say this has anything to do with the topic discussed in the article. It appears that an editor decided to insert this paragraph as a last minute edit to the original article. I am furious that the PD continues to bombard us with negative propaganda. I wrote the author of the article regarding my concern, but I doubt it will have any impact. Is there anything we can do to stop the PD from continually infecting the region with its negativity? Many people (like my parents) get much of their information from the PD and they are always talking doom and gloom about Greater Cleveland. I can't blame them when they only get there information from the local media.

People make mistakes. I love Wonder Bar. The people are friendly and the food is good, for a bar.

I was confused by the #3 Public Transportation portion. Is the author aware that the RTA was rated the best transit system in NORTH AMERICA? It is always amazing to me how misconceptions are developed and perpetuated. The students at CASE are some of the brightest in the word. Do we have any hope in the general population not falling into the same traps?

I think the idea that people in the region are our "worst enemies" is accurate. Although I usually hear positive comments about Cleveland when outside the region, I still hear many negative comments. I think much of this stems from the fact that when someone from a Cleveland suburb (which is most people in the greater Cleveland area) visits someone in another city, they probably relay exaggerated negative information about Cleveland to those people. I get a lot of this when I am in Seattle. How can you criticize the people in Seattle about negative stereotypes when they are only repeating what they heard from "Clevelanders". On the other hand, when people from other cities visit Cleveland, they are almost shocked at how great it is! Mike Hargrove said it best when he said, "The Cleveland stereotype will probably never change in my lifetime, but I do not care, I love living in Cleveland!"

I had the same reaction when I read the article. I only scan Cleveland.com in the morning to get the main topics. When I first moved here about 11 years ago, I used to read the paper religiously. Now I can't stand to read the paper. It is almost comical. The problem is that people in my parents generation get a large part of their news from the paper. As a result, they are terrified that my wife and I live in downtown Cleveland. The envision that we have to dodge bullets every night! The paper is worse than a joke. It is harmful to the region.

Wasn't Mayor Jane Campbell the one responsible for bringing Steelyards Commons to Cleveland? Didn't city council do everything they could to try and kill the project? Wasn't Frank Jackson president of city council at the time? I like Frank Jackson, but this situation seems odd.

I was particularly upset with the Plain Dealer this weekend. Here it is Labour Day weekend. A time for outdoor picnics with the family. The last weekend of summer. A fun time. What are the major stories in the PD? On Saturday they lead with a headline of "Researchers study why water at Lake Erie beaches is so dirty". Boy that makes me want to enjoy out greatest natural asset Lake Erie. The article at first implies that all beaches on Lake Erie are unsafe. After a while it turns out that only two beaches are under concern and the reason is that the findings are unclear. That same article could have been written about how clean the Lake Erie beaches have become. Beaches like Mentor Headlands and Geneva State Park went the entire season without a single advisory. According to USAToday, the Great Lakes are in the middle when ranking the nations beaches. The dirtiest beaches are along the Gulf Coast, but none of this is mentioned in the PD. Instead, the casual reader is instilled with the sense that swimming in Lake Erie is dangerous to your health, when in reality it is cleaner than most public pools and certainly most hotel pools. On Sunday, the PD starts a series "A daily struggle with crime, fear. Worn down by violence, determined residents fight to save city." Boy, this definitely gets me into the holiday spirit. The article quickly states that "Against a backdrop of violence, drug dealers, prostitutes and gangs, residents from east to west are united in desperation." This is news? This had to be printed now? And believe it or not, this is only the first in a series of articles to be printed in the PD. On Labour Day weekend other big city newspapers are printing stories about their version of the Cleveland Airshow, Taste of Cleveland, Baseball, beautiful weather, and the time to enjoy the last days of summer. The PD is scaring the local residents into believing all the negative propaganda about their home town Cleveland. I am not paranoid, but at times I wonder what their agenda is?

After the Indians game Sunday (Unfortunately they lost to Chicago) my wife and I went to a downtown restaurant for a drink. We ended up talking to a couple from Buffalo, NY who had also gone to the game. They were very impressed with downtown Cleveland. Their comment was "We parked the car three days ago and there is so much to do downtown that we have not needed to use it yet." My comment was "Everyone from out-of-town loves downtown Cleveland. It is the people in the suburbs that seem to hate it!" :?

I also wrote a letter to Connie the day I read her editorial. To her credit, she did respond. Here is my e-mail followed by her e-mail. When you read her reply below you may notice that she calls the situation "awful". I never said that and it illustrates her bias, because she would never tolerate the panhandling in her neighbor hood. We tolerate it as part of urban living, but recognize that putting change in their cups is no solution. My e-mail: Ms Connie Schultz, My wife and I live in the Grand Arcade building downtown. Every day the same people are sitting on the curb begging for money. They spend the day passing a bottle in a paper bag. Guess where they get the money for the bottle. If you get here early enough, you will see them get off the bus and walk to their stations. Your image of "homeless" is not appropriate for 90% of the beggars downtown. We all want to help, but please learn more about the real situation before you begin preaching to everyone. You have too much influence to be so irresponsible in your advise. If these same people were sitting in your front yard all hours of the day and night, you would probably call the police! Her reply: You're right. That's awful -- for all involved. I would hate seeing that every day outside my home. But, clearly, those people camping out in front of your building have issues with addiction and mental illness. They need help, and they're not getting it. What I most object to is the notion that we should just pretend they do not exist. That won't change their lives, but it will change us as fellow human beings. I don't feel it is irresponsible to insist that we are better than that. What time do they get off the bus? I am interested in checking this out. Thanks for taking the time to write. Connie Schultz

Why aren't people as outraged when our federal taxes are raised by Congress? I don't remember an opportunity to vote on any tax increases proposed by Congress! This county tax increase is in the grand tradition of taxes in the US. If people don't like it, then vote the commissioners out next time. Personally, this is one of the few tax increases I support.

I live in downtown Cleveland and I have a PhD. I am a partner in a consulting company of two (my business partner and me). Because my partner takes care of the paper work and lives in Texas, we are technically based in Texas. I mention this because there are probably many people in similar situations who are going totally uncounted in all of these surveys. I have never been contacted in any survey regarding anything? Who does these surveys and why should we have any faith in these statistics? That question also applies to the census data. How can the city of Cleveland be continually losing population when all of the new apartment and condo buildings in downtown Cleveland are continually filling up? I see the new homes , apartments, etc. throughout the city, especially Downtown, Tremont, Ohio City, Little Italy, University Circle, etc. Every year I read that Cleveland leads the county in housing construction. What is going on with these stats?

I agree. I seldom listen to WTAM, but I was returning from a business trip in Columbus and was listening to them on the car radio. I heard a fireman talk about how great Cleveland was 25 years ago (when Cleveland was a national joke). His neighborhood has deteriorated since then (although he has only lived there for 5 years). Everyone listening hears that the neighborhoods in Cleveland are going down the drain. Of course no one challenges this statement on WTAM. In the last 25 years Tremont, Ohio City, Downtown, University Circle, Little Italy, Detroit, etc., have not improved from the 70s and 80s!! Why does everyone here always think that things were better in the past? The truth is that Cleveland is better now than it has been in probably 50 years. Come to think of it, hasn't Cleveland been dying for over 50 years. How can that be? Shouldn't it have died by now? The truth is that people confuse nostalgia with reality. They tend to focus on the current negative issues and forget the negatives from the past. They also tend to ignore the current positives.

I do not understand the way some people think. I won't say they are ignorant, but their way of thinking makes no sense to me. I have heard people on the radio today talking about how bad the Medical Mart idea is and they are using the Gateway Project and New Browns Stadium as the examples of failed promises. Imagine if we had not built the new Browns Stadium, Jacobs Field, and The Q. First, there would be no Cleveland Browns. That was a stipulation for keeping the team. The Indians (if they did not move to Charlotte or someplace else) would be playing in that old run down stadium from the 1930s. The CAVS would be playing in Richfield, so the Indians would be the only game in town. There would be no Jacobs Field (which is one of the most beautiful parks in the country) or Q and in their place would be an abandoned Central Market building, old abandoned office buildings, old abandoned tenement housing, and a completely derelict portion of downtown. There would be no Winking Lizard, Flannerys, Paninis, East 4th, Radison Hotel, Marriott Residence Inn Hotel, new condos, etc. How could this possibly have been a better future for Downtown Cleveland. We would watch Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee, Seattle, Denver, etc. build new ball parks, and we would be saying to each other, "Why can't Cleveland do something like that? Why are we always the last to improve?" Anyone who says Cleveland did no benefit from the Gateway Project and the New Browns Stadium is living in a strange world. True we are not where we want to be, but we would be much more behind without these projects. I guess people don't realize that sometimes you have to be daring, creative, and spend some money just to keep up with other cities, let alone surpass them. People forget that other cities are continually improving too, and for us to catch up we need to build on or strengths. The Medical Mart is certainly one of those projects. It is daring, creative, and will cost us some money to build, but it will identify to the country, the prominent position Cleveland has in the health care industry. An industry which is only going to grow in the future given the aging of the American population. How can we get people to understand this?

I forgot to mention in the last post that I live in Cleveland and I am in Seattle on Business.

urban manna, You have outlined a summary of the development in the Gateway area that I have thought about for some time. How can people say that the Gateway project did not produce the economic development that it promised??!!! I totally agree with your summary. Can anyone imagine what that entire area of downtown Cleveland would be like today? Does anyone remember the abandoned buildings, slum dwellings, etc. Without Jacobs Field and the Q, downtown Cleveland would be ??? I think the bigger issue regarding the Medical Mart and other projects, is that we have become a region that is not willing to take chances on ideas. As I write this I am currently in Seattle, WA and this is an area that is willing to take chances. Believe me, there are plenty of nay sayers, but they are usually over ruled, and creative projects go forward. A city like Seattle may be successful on only 50% of their development plans, but that puts them way ahead of cities that make no attempt at success.

cle2032, Thank you for starting this discussion. It is important to have dreams so when opportunities arise, we have suggestions. I am so tired of the constant negative thoughts about anything that might be creative or progressive. Without dreaming about "what if", we find ourselves continually falling into the constant trap about how creative ideas won't work.

Welcome to the Cleveland area. My wife and I moved here from Chicago (10 years ago? Has it really been that long?) and we love it. We currently live downtown and are very happy with the plethora of nightclubs, restaurants, theaters, etc. When we first moved to Cleveland we still had two young children and decided to move to Cleveland Heights. That is a great city! It provided us with a blend of urban life style with decent schools, beautiful homes at reasonable prices, a mix of people (artistic, intellectual, mostly liberal and we tend to be more conservative, and very interesting). I strongly reccomend looking into Cleveland Heights if the commute time is acceptable. Given that you have no children at this time. I also recommend that you look into living downtown. My wife and I go to Detroit frequently for Indians games vs. Tigers and my wife enjoys the casinos. Without being negative, I think downtown Cleveland offers a more complete lifestyle than what you might currently find in Downtown Detroit (although the Tigers are playing great baseball!). Although Detroit is improving rapidly, Downtown Cleveland has affordable residences, many conveniences within walking distance (dry cleaners, grocery stores, clothing stores, downtown shopping mall, markets, libraries, different fitness places, outdoor concert areas, parks). I will stop. It is obvious that my wife and I love living in downtown Cleveland. Welcome to the area.

I have long thought that NEO or perhaps the entire northern part of the state should become the 51st state. We have so little in common with Columbus and southern Ohio. We are much more like an east coast city, than other cities in Ohio. The tax money that is drained from this area to fuel the Columbus economy is staggering. I occasionally work in Columbus as a consultant, and I can say first hand that they do not understand Cleveland, not do they care to. They are afraid of the Cleveland area because it is too urban and continue to impose development plans, etc. as if they were planning for Columbus and it's suburban environment. A good example is the current planning for the inner belt bridge. How do others in NEO feel about this? If there is support for this idea, how would we go about doing this?

Just so you are clear about downtown Cleveland, there are several areas that provide apartments or condos. Others may want to add to this list, but I would recommend looking in the Warehouse District (That is where my wife and I live so I am definitely partial to this area.), East 4th, Gateway, and Playhouse Square including Reserve Square. I would recommend renting before buying so you can find the area you most enjoy. Welcome to Cleveland. You are going to love it!! :wave: