Oldmanladyluck

^Unless Cleveland's economy makes a magical turnaround and actually begins to create jobs again.

Local officials need to see this, glad it's at the top of Cleveland.com... Franklin County overtakes Cuyahoga as Ohio's largest county, though not quite officially yet By Rich Exner, cleveland.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on April 21, 2016 at 6:01 PM, updated April 21, 2016 at 9:06 PM CLEVELAND, Ohio - Franklin County has likely overtaken Cuyahoga as the most populated county in Ohio, but official word will have to wait another year. New estimates released Thursday by the Census Bureau showed Cuyahoga County holding a narrow lead over Franklin - 1,255,921 to 1,251,722. But those estimates are for July 1, 2015. More at: http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2016/04/franklin_county_overtakes_cuya.html#incart_m-rpt-1

I don't know what to make of the numbers from the BLS anymore. March's preliminary employment numbers are the highest they've been since 2008 (post crash), and the March labor force numbers are now the highest since 2011. I've been concerned with these numbers because obviously with job growth comes population growth, and I think we all want to see the region prosper again. I'm hoping the region will be at the very least able to break even by the next census and that perhaps this will be the last decade of stagnation that Clevelanders will see.

^That's right on the E.C. boarder across the street from the solar panels; there's an existing two-story building there already. Good news for this part of Euclid Ave.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Cleveland's labor force is at it's lowest point since 1990. What is making the numbers fall off a cliff? Year Period labor force employment unemployment unemployment rate 1990 Jan 1019784 968960 50824 5.0 2016 Jan 1012693 963449 49244 4.9

I've been inside some of those units- they're ok but may need some updating.

$10 million is a joke for the amount of devastation which has occurred in E.C. over the last 40 years. The city still has well over 1000 houses and apartment buildings which need to be demolished (at about $10,000 per demo for a regular house, that's your $10 million right there alone). The article doesn't mention any of that money going towards demos which are needed and necessary. Great idea, for sure. But that's still a huge burden for Cleveland to take on without more funds to go specifically towards demos. The market will not magically come back just because E.C. is annexed- it will only begin to come back once the the majority of the remaining vacant structures are cleared.

Jobs, jobs, jobs. Jobs are the reason why many moved to Cleveland in the first place. Jobs which one could get with little education and nice pay. Those jobs are gone. Businesses have not been able to replicate that success for a large part of the population here. Want us to grow? We need to create jobs here.

^The city has torn down over 7,000 properties since the Housing Crisis, so prices are bound to start to raise again due to the glut of supply being alleviated. Having said that, the city still has about 8,000 more to go before the entire glut of housing is eliminated. It may not take the entire 8,000 being demoed, however, for investors to begin to rehab what's left. Having said that- we all know that this recovery is very uneven within the city. Some neighborhoods will not "come back" at all in our lifetimes unless there is a YUGE amount of job growth in the city. Neighborhoods around University Circle have a decent chance in the short term of rebounding- especially the areas with large homes along E. 105th (if you've never been, take a ride down a street like Pierpont off of E. 105th- you'd be amazed at the housing stock that's left though it's not in the best condition). Union Miles, Mt Pleasant, Harvard- these areas probably won't recover until more of the areas are cleared of vacancies. Jobs were why these neighborhoods began to grow, and are part of the reason why these neighborhoods have declined.

^Agreed. I argued that while seeing the plan for the "Green-Ribbon" for the first time around 2007 while at CSU. Why CSU chose Euclid instead of Chester if they just HAD to install a Green-Ribbon still confuses me as Chester was already largely anti-urban due to the parking lots which stretched along the college's footprint. Fast-forwarding to today, what's crazy is that Chester's street-wall has become more urban in regards to street frontage while Euclid's has arguably become less. I would say though that having the Green-Ribbon wouldn't seem as bad with a larger student population, a better interaction with the sidewalk (why have grass if the students are not drawn to it- what's missing is places where students would naturally want to come and sit- not just having grass with sidewalks) and more programming. The lot next to Urban Affairs would be packed on days where the college would plan events on warm weather days. But those days didn't happen much back then, and I don't think they happen much now either.

We're still a long ways away from regaining the number of jobs lost from the last recession, not to mention the jobs lost in the recession in 2001. The numbers don't lie- this region has been struggling for a very long time. I don't know why it takes a report from this group to highlight what many have known for a while when it comes to jobs in this region. That isn't to say that high-paying jobs haven't been created in the region- by all means they have. However, there is a large section of the population which has been left out and continues to struggle. I hate the statistics as well, but they're real. The question should be- what is this region going to do about it? Will it take another census showing a declining population for the entire region to wake leaders up, or will it take new leaders to get things moving in the right direction?

This is exactly why I feel so disgusted by their success and our failure over time, for lack of any other term. And agreed 100% that there's a lot we could learn from them. Being a "Cold-Weather City" doesn't apply there when it comes to their growth, and neither should it apply here. Urban issues including zoning, immigration, public-transit use, etc. are all issues which differ drastically between Cleveland and Toronto. I can't front- I like Toronto as a city. I just wish that their success could be replicated here.

^Ugh... that article makes me sick. The amount of success that Toronto has is unbelievable. Development: City planning reports 45,913 residential units have been built or are in some stage of the pipeline as of December of 2015. That's while we tout the 400 units brought online last year in downtown Cleveland. Along with the amount of jobs that have been created there... unbelievable.

Euclid Square Mall (Church Square Mall now). close to I-271, 90, and Route 2. Two freeway exits (E. 260th and Babbit Rd). A little over a mile from the lake. Very visible from the freeway heading both east and west.

And the second... Cleveland won't recover recession job losses until 2018: Columbus and Cincinnati have rebounded By Olivera Perkins, The Plain Dealer Email the author | Follow on Twitter on February 04, 2016 at 8:05 AM, updated February 04, 2016 at 8:39 AM CLEVELAND, Ohio – Greater Cleveland won't recover all its recession-era job losses for nearly two more years, according to a recent analysis. Both Columbus and Cincinnati already have regained the jobs each metro area lost, says the United States Conference of Mayors' report, which is based on Labor Department and other government data. The three metro areas, each with more than 1 million jobs, represent Ohio's largest labor markets. Though the Cleveland area lags its large metro counterparts in recovering jobs, it will bounce back before some other areas in the state. For example, the Dayton and Toledo areas aren't projected to recover their lost jobs until after 2021. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/02/cleveland_wont_recover_recessi_1.html#incart_river_home

Two stories highlighting something we've known here for a while. This is the first... Cleveland in Top 10 of least competitive metros for job growth (interactive map) By Olivera Perkins, The Plain Dealer Email the author | Follow on Twitter on February 04, 2016 at 7:00 AM, updated February 04, 2016 at 8:36 AM CLEVELAND, Ohio – Greater Cleveland ranks among the Top 10 Least Competitive Metros for job growth, according to an analysis released Thursday. The analysis by Economic Modeling Specialists Intl., or Emsi, a CareerBuilder company, ranked the 150 most populous metro areas based on job growth between 2014 and 2015. "Each metro's actual job growth was then compared to what would have been expected for that metro based on national job growth trends during that same time period," stated a press release about the analysis. "The difference between the two measurements is the competitive effect, i.e., how much the metro is exceeding, matching or falling behind national job growth trends because of something unique to that metro's regional economy." http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/02/cleveland_in_top_10_of_least_c.html#incart_river_home_pop This is especially frustrating as we watch sections of the city rot away with no population to replace what's lost, in a region which is continuing to sprawl without growth. Cuyahoga County will no longer be the largest County population wise in the state by the next census, and it's largest cities continue to lose population. I don't know what other wake-up calls this region needs in order to get it together.

^The old Huntington, which is off the table. This is definitely EXCITING- I'm really hoping the city's administration is paying attention.

So... As proposed, this will be the first income tax increase since the early 80's. The Mayor's administration states that this is needed in order to close a budget gap. If there is no tax increase, city workers will be cut and city services will decline (with some services already paltry, at best, sometimes even depending on location). Concurrently, the State Income Tax cuts have been felt in municipalities statewide, and the taxes formerly given to cities from the State will not come back under the Kasich administration (and you can forget about any help for anything this year since he's running for President). Cleveland's proposed income tax hike vs. Gov. John Kasich's tax cuts: By the numbers By Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on February 02, 2016 at 8:00 AM, updated February 02, 2016 at 10:58 AM COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. John Kasich has gradually cut taxes for individuals and businesses since taking office, but personal income tax savings could be canceled out by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's proposal to increase the city income tax. Jackson said the city has lost an accumulated $111 million since 2011, when Kasich took office, from cuts in the local government fund, estate tax, tangible personal property tax and commercial activity tax. Jackson wants to make up for that loss and offer residents better services by increasing the city income tax from 2 to 2.5 percent. http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/02/clevelands_proposed_income_tax.html#incart_m-rpt-1

I think we all would have hoped for more office space development in U.Circle- but I'll agree that as of right now, this is what the market calls for. The good news is that when the other potential developments are built that interest in the adjacent areas will grow (there's still plenty to do and plenty of vacant land and historic housing in Hough, Glenville, Fairfax and E. Cleveland within minutes of U.Circle). I wonder why U.Circle wasn't able to land a big-name tenant (Google) for this location? What more needs to happen before the area will be able to do so? Is it a mix of both higher densities of people with advanced degrees along with growing office space, or some other factor? I'm not too disappointed by what Intensa became since not too long ago there wasn't much development going on in U.Circle. I think it took Peter B. Lewis not giving money out in order for the institutions to work together and truly create a neighborhood instead of working apart from each other. 10 years later, U.Circle has come a long way.

Hey guys- check out this letter from some organized residents I've been working with in the neighborhood fighting against a proposed zoning change at W. 73rd and Herman, north of Detroit. The zoning change would allow for an industrial building to become a drug rehab facility. Hello, On October 14th, 2015 the property located at 1345 West 73rd Street transferred title to LIRC Inc. If you are unfamiliar with the exact layout of the neighborhood, this property directly abuts Our Lady Mount Carmel's rear soccer field. The new owners of this property intend to open Lean In Recovery Center, a drug and alcohol “sober living community”. They intend the new for-profit, live-in facility to serve 30 men, who have been sober 30-90 days. The owners of LIRC Inc. seek four zoning variances in order to open the “sober living community”. While the specific variances may seem trivial, if they are not granted, the facility will not be able to open. The hearing has been continued to April 18th, at 9:30 AM before the Board of Zoning Appeals at City Hall, room 514. For a multitude of reasons, we believe 1345 West 73rd Street becoming a drug and alcohol recovery center for men is neither appropriate, nor the best use of the valuable land in our neighborhood. After reading LIRC’s answers to our neighborhood’s questions, we have taken issue with a number of professional features of the recovery center, not the least of which being LIRC’s for-profit nature and the complete lack of medical staff on-site. If you would like a copy of these questions and answers, please don’t hesitate to email us. There are two important components that can help us prevent Lean In Recovery Center from opening. First, we must show the BZA that a recovery center is not a legal use of this land. Without any doubt, LIRC will be represented by counsel at the Board of Zoning Appeals hearing in April. We have discussed this case with the attorneys at Ott & Associates, and intend to hire them as our legal counsel. Unfortunately, the neighborhood has no official fund for this, so we need to raise the funds necessary to stop this facility from ever opening its doors. We greatly appreciate any financial assistance you can give. Our GoFundMe is: https://www.gofundme.com/w73legaldefense Second, we need to show the BZA, that the community, under no uncertain circumstances, opposes the opening of this recovery center at 1345 West 73rd. To do this, we need as many people attending the Board of Zoning Appeals hearing as possible. We do not question the nature of these business owners’ intentions, nor do we deny the national need for proper chemical dependency treatment and recovery facilities. However, this is not an appropriate location. We are determined to prevent this facility from opening next to Our Lady Mount Carmel School, and we hope that you will join us. Please feel free to contact either of us at the information provided below for more information or ways that you can help. [email protected] [email protected]

^^If there is a market to rebuild, I don't see why not if the row houses are not historic or hold some type of special local history. In Cleveland, we're left many times with urban prairies since there is no market to rebuild in many of the hard hit areas.

When Cleveland Clinic pulled out they at gave the city $15-$20 million or so, if memory serves me correctly. That offset the blow, but that money is obviously gone at this point. E.C. has no other major employers within it's borders, and has only 4,000 of it's citizens employed out of the entire 16,500. Without merging, I just don't see how the city could survive. And without GE, as you said it makes a merger less enticing. This could prove to be a major issue affecting more than just E.C. and Cleveland. And in a presidential year (if GE exits this year), I wonder if any help would come from the State at all.

^If that happens, we can kiss E.C. goodbye. I don't think the city can absorb that much of an impact on income taxes.

LOL well there goes the season, if that's true. Serious question- how reliable is Yahoo Sports with breaking sports news? Any chance this could NOT be true?

My contribution- from last week... With the restoration of this and the 925, my vote is for this being one of the most awesome corners in the Midwest.