shs96

Consumption vs. Investment. Basically if you won't be somewhere for more than 3 years, it's likely not worth buying.

Power and greed is killing us. Unions with too much power and greed and killing us just as corporations with too much power and greed are killing us. Good unions are good for the economy, just as good corporations are good for the economy. And vice versa. That's what kills anything...when people get too big for their britches and want more. Think of any society, corporation, anything. Want more and want it too fast and you're f-ed. Unions were, at one point, one of the best things that happened to the American worker. Then they (some of them anyway) got too powerful, said screw the higher function/integrity of the business and started getting greedy. Take an example that has nothing to do with the overall economy: baseball. Ther refusal by the union to allow drug testing has tainted the game/image of the game from the mid 90's to now. Once either side - union or management - starts looking out for their own interests way more than the interest of the business you are actually in, then that's what kills "us".

Well, picture aside, Las Olas is one of the more pedestrian areas of town in Ft Lauderdale. Lots of art galleries, restaurants, hotels, etc. And it doesn't hurt that there are some ridiculous houses along the intercostal right in that area.

I am not saying you should enjoy poverty and inequality. You should however, enjoy life regardless of your background or material possessions. So at some point, yes, if you don't like your lot in life you need to take accountability for it. The safety in schools and opportunity to receive a good education is entirely left up to the people within that community, IMO. So if something is going on within your neighborhood or school system that isn't right, that is no one else's fault but the people causing the problems. Consider these comments from Jim Brown on a recent article about some comments he made about Tiger Woods: (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=4301802) "We are the least-respected culture of any in this country," Brown said of African-Americans. "One of the reasons is that we allow ourselves to feed on each other. Black kids kill black kids. We allow neighborhoods to run down. Black fathers are not at home. Education suffers. There's a dilemma, and if we don't do something about the violence, if we don't get some self-esteem, then we're going to have a war zone in every community in this country. That's the type of personal accountability I think the inner city community needs to have, and more importantly it's the type of accountability Jim Brown - a well regarded activist for the inner city - thinks it needs to have. I have a hard time believing that if a community of people, regardless of race or religion, share common values and morals that constitute a civil society that they would be at all unhappy regardless of how big their house is or how nice of a car they drive. And I am more than willing to bet once the community starts showing those values to the rest of society, the personal wealth would come. But, like you said, that is just my belief.

I'm with sir2gees on this. The point isn't "good jobs or money". Whether you have a decent job or any money at all does not preclude you from being a member of a civil society. This is about how you conduct yourself as a member of society. Whether your education is taking you to the places you want to go or if you still encounter ingnorant people in life should not be relevant to whether or not you are a functioning member of a civil society.

Bussing needs to end. The entirity of the Cleveland School System won't be fixed at once. But if you could lure families into neighborhoods knowing the people of that neighborhood - and that neighborhood only - will constitute the school system, it could be a start. Chip away at the school systems one neighborhood at a time. West Park, for example, has decent elemetery and middle schools because, well, West Park is a good neighborhood and and the K-6/8 schools are made up of kids in the neighborhood. But as soon as those kids get to high school, private school it is. And if you've ever rode the red line from Tower City to the west side during school hours, you know why.

Jobs. All about jobs. I lived in Dallas, TX for 5.5 years immediately following college. I was friends with a high volume of people from Ohio. After 4 years of living there, I was ready to come home. It took me another year and a half to find a job where I could make that happen. Most all of the Ohio-ex pats I knew wanted to come back, Ohio just didn't have opportunity for them. I agree their is a percetion problem among locals, but at the end of the day people are sheep. We need better leaders both locally in Cleveland and at the state level in Columbus to lead them in the right direction.

I also had a friend live in Crittendon in pretty much that exact floorplan KJP shows. He liked it and had enough room for a small love seat, tv stand, bed, and shelving unit.

In the city of Cleveland limits? Too many criminals. Period. Like someone said upthread...this is a society. We all need to live to the same level of standard that is dictated to the society (i.e., law). The high level problem with Cleveland is the too many of the people living in it acting like knuckleheads. There are no problems if people don't commit crimes. Ultimately the decision to commit a crime is left to the individual. Everyone is born with the same moral compass...I don't really care what injustices might have happened to you in your upbringing...everyone has problems...what defines you is how you handle them. Stop commiting crimes and crime like this isn't a problem.

Pretty exciting...I watched a documentary on the Brooklyn Dodgers last night...reminded me some of what happened with League Park/Cleveland. That could be a good anchor for that neighborhood.

Those arguments are pretty easy to defeat. The fact the you think that illustrates the point (I think) 327 is trying to make. While you might think those points are easy to refute, you are not the one in need of convincing. You're talking about a lot more than simply winning a logical argument; you're trying to change a culture and behavior...it ain't that easy.

Wow...that's really horrible. To be a University attempting to build a reputable school/campus and tell people that no one lives in the city. I don't know if I'm more stunned or mad by that. I went to graduate school at CSU and had some professors I really enjoyed, but there was a lot of work to be done in the administrative/guidence/billing areas. Hopefully this guy will make a difference...although he could have started by living downtown....

^ I agree. Knock down all of these dilapdated homes you see in many parts of town and make it a park - or just simply leave it as available, empty land ready for future development. Then hopefully a developer sees an opportunity and instead of something new being developed in Avon, Medina, or Bainbridge, you see parts the city of Cleveland restored.

I read the few first paragraphs of that and skimmed the rest. Does anyone agree with the problems listed? That's public square is not friendly to pedestrians? That the quadrants are disconnected from each other? Personally, I think the main problem has more to do with you can't enjoy public square without being bothered. Someone invariably asks you for a bus ticket, money, or wants you to sign a petition. If the intent of public square is to have a public space which people can enjoy during the day, you don't want to be harassed while trying to enjoy it.

I have gone a good ways down the Cuyahoga in a power boat, so I imagine you can make a good canoe trip out of it. I know the St. Ignatius crew team rows in the river all the time, and there is at least one large, regional meet there every year.

Michael Cartellone - drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Solon High graduate.

^I saw them unloading the tour bus early this morning...kind of interesting to watch. Wally Pisorn, owner of Cleveland's Harbor Inn, plans a block party to mark 40 years in business by Michael Heaton / Plain Dealer Reporter Wednesday June 10, 2009, 12:00 PM MINISTER OF CULTURE Friday, June 12 and Saturday, June 13, your presence is requested on the west bank of the Flats as we celebrate 40 years of the Harbor Inn, aka Wally World. Wally is Wally Pisorn, aka King of the Flats and the King of Slovenia. The $10 admission includes two free beers. It's going to be a bingo-bango block party. .... Robert De Niro is the bar's most famous patron. He drank there every night while shooting "The Deer Hunter." He returned to Cleveland a couple of years ago to take his mom to the Cleveland Clinic. De Niro returned to the Harbor Inn to see Wally. Everybody comes back to see Wally. Now it's your turn. Full Article: http://www.cleveland.com/ministerofculture/index.ssf/2009/06/wally_pisorn_owner_of_the_harb.html

you don't think they ponied up the money to sponsor the fireworks for no specific reason, did you?

This is outstanding. This exactly what I was hoping would happen. Having a convenience / market like Constantino's will make the gateway neighborhood immensely more liveable, and more of well... a neighborhood. I would wait to actually see it before we get too excited about a convienence store (which would be great). K&D doesn't always follow through. There was supposed to be a convienence store, coffee shop, restaurant and bar in the retail space attached to Stonebridge Plaza...didn't quite work out that way...

Yeah, wow - I've never even seen this thread... Don't forget OAR at nautica tomorrow night and many local bands at the Harbor Inn block party all weekend! www.wallyworld.us

I agree with some of the main points of the posts so far, however in my experience of living out of state (5.5 years in Dallas, TX) and travelling out of state, most of the people I met from Ohio living elsewhere had fond opinions/memories of Ohio. Most people would get excited when I would tell them I was from Cleveland and we'd end up talking about things we enjoyed about Ohio...and frequently discuss how we'd like to go back (which I did 3 years ago). I realize there may not be many famous national cheerleaders for Ohio, but in terms of general public ex-pats I don't think the perception is poor. Honestly, it wasn't until I moved back to Ohio that I encountered the pessimistic attitude from Ohioans.

To me, that was just another example of people making poor choices and blaming "the system". or at least the author is blaming the system. I have an idea - don't go to a private, expensive law school if you can't afford it. Perhaps go to a less expensive, in state public law school. Or get a job and go part time. Or don't go. Any are better than going into loads of debt. I just finished graduate school. I couldn't afford to go full time on my own and I didn't want to take on any debt. So I looked into tuition assistance from work. They offered 10k per year. Now, I could have gone to Case which is probably the best regarded program locally, but 10k wasn't going to cover the cost of even part time tuition. Same with John Carroll or BW. So I chose Cleveland St...and got my education for free. The lesson - be smart with the choices you make and take accountability for your life and life decisions.

Huh? You mean I'd have to pay more to purchase a Prius in Manhattan than Hoboken? If people in Manhattan needed cars, they'd buy them. The fact is, they don't. The same is true in Chicago and Washington, DC, to name a few. Per capita automobile ownership in these cities has hardly increased in 100 years. If you mean "cost prohibitive" in the sense that they'd have to pay close to the real cost of owning and operating a car, my point exactly. The price of real estate is the price of real estate whether you put a parking space on it or a brownstone. Given that I can walk or use public transportation to get most everywhere that I need to go, why would I spend my money on a parking space? It is only cost prohibitive relative to the lower cost of doing everything else. My point is if owning a car was more conveinent in Manhattan, people would own them. Its not more convienent due to the cost (of real estate as you mentioned) and availability of other options. But it's not accurate to say "if people in Manhattan needed cars, they'd buy them" because the truth is "if it was more convienent for people in Manhattan to own cars, they'd buy them." There is a difference. In NE Ohio, its more conveinent for the masses to own a car. Obviously, current transportation spending makes it biased towards owning a car being more convienent. But the answer to "preference" is, and always will be the path of least resistance when it comes to transportation.

People don't prefer any single mode of transportation. they prefer convienence. How can I get from point A to point B the best for me? Manhattan residents don't own cars because its cost prohibitive, not because they don't actually want a car. I love public transit as much as the enxt person, but unless I had to I would not give up my car. I would love to use my car less, which I think is the general point everyone in trying to get at - we need more transportation options to meet the demands of what people want, which quite simply is convienence.

surprised no one has mention NC - outer banks, Duck, etc. Very cheap, you can drive, lots to do, and in the middle of the summer, not quite as nuts in terms of the heat...compared to Florida/Mexico/Carribean, etc. Personally, I wouldn't touch that part of the country that time of year...humid, hot, regular afternoon thunderstorms (my wife is from Ft. Lauderdale - not an exaggeration). Cruises are great, BTW, you can get a little bit of everything and can make the trip however you want it - busy, relaxing - up to you!