shs96

Took my in-laws (from and live in South Florida) to Lolita on Sunday. They, of course, absolutely loved it!

I have a windowless bedroom. I am really indifferent towards it, although I do enjoy it being darker in my room at night. Natural light in your bedroom would be nice....but for for show than practicality. How often are your blinds drawn in your bedroom? While I have enjoyed sleeping with windows cracked in past bedrooms, I am not sure that would be applicable downtown anyway and you can a fan replicate the cool air circulation.

Niagara Falls - there's a nice park where you can walk along the river leading into the falls and walk over onto Goat Island for a cool overview of the falls (on the US side)...plus Seneca Casino is right there!

Welcome...I went to CSU, part time, for graduate school so my perspective may be a little different but I would say downtown is effectively part of campus life, especially around playhouse square and businesses along E 9th. And like 8shades said, with the health line (and e-line trolley) getting to E4th, public square or the warehouse district is pretty easy and there are plenty of places to grab lunch, coffee, or sit and read. Parking is a non-issue; CSU has a lot of commuters and with the Wolstein Center and Playhouse Sqaure right there, there are plenty of garages/lots. Commuting to CSU during morning rush hour on 90 might get backed up, but if you don't have early morning classes, I don't think it will be a problem.

The problem is not the bridge itself. The problem is the bridge is the only option for getting into town from the west side. Pick any other city in the US, pull it up on Google Maps, and you'll see highways running right through them. The difference is there are options. Multiple subway lines, street cars - things that don't use roads. It's not just you and your car (bus or cab) trying to get to the same place as everyone else. Eliminating the bridge isn't going to solve the problem. There needs to be a more exhaustive rail system heading west (extending due west) and south. Even if you knock out the innerbelt bridge and construct a more exhaustive 490/77/90 interchange, nothing is really going to change...there are other parts of the flats/tremont that are struggling to be developed (FEB anyone) that have nothing to do with the bridge. The vision for the entire infrastructure needs to be changed, which I have a hard time seeing ODOT ever getting there in its current state.

Yes - my work computer blocks all media files. I see lots of squares with X's in them throughout urban ohio, or just blank spaces if they are embedded you tube clips.

Talk about the perfect game to be at...14 runs in the 2nd inning, people leaving in the 3rd inning...it was great. By the 5th with the stadium cleared out, it seemed there were a lot of Indians fans comprising of the remaining population so it was great to be in the concourse, etc, giving random people wearing Indians gear high fives. Stadium, I thought, was really nice - well planned out, easy to get around. I guess my only criticism is we were basically at the right field foul pole in the lower bowl just under the overhang. you couldn't see the center field scoreboard and the public address announcer was tough to hear...maybe the speakers in our section of the overhang didn't work. But other than that, good place to watch a game...but they better figure out how to contain the wind in the stadium or move the fences back...routine fly balls were getting out. Funny how the dimensions between the old park and the new one are exactly the same...I heard the wind blows in off the river directly into right/right center giving the ball an extra boost.

That was awesome...and off to a good start today too! (5-3 mid 5th) I'm flying out to NYC tonight and going to the game tomorrow...I can't wait!

Thank you. If he's that drunk, his clear beer pee isn't going to be any worse than having a flight attendent spill a coke on you...or worse hot coffee. Guy's in jail (as he should be) and I doubt you sat there taking his full blown pee for 30 seconds. "Still suffering emotionally" is a bit much.

Scott Lewis will get the staff rolling today...I have a good feeling. He'll end up having a year like Carmona did in 07...please...

There are some channels broadcast in HD if you have an HD tuner...major networks and some random others like TNT. We only have the HD box in our living room, but we can pick up HD channels in our bedroom where we have a TV with an HD tuner hooked up to basic cable. Time Warner is miserable though. I was at my friends house this weekend. He has Cox and they get nearly double the amount of HD channels. I would switch if I could, but Time Warner is the only game in town where I live and satellite dish is not allowed in my building.

I'm not sure where you get that idea. It's generally the exact opposite. Mid-level suppliers feeding your typical drug dealer have money - they aren't living in a distressed urban area; they are living in a suburb. I'm a bit surprised that you don't think anyone, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or how they made their money, immediately moves out of the ghetto into some swanky subdivision as soon as they have any kind of money (see Bone Thugs N Harmony's house in Barrington, Aurora, OH). There is a middle man with connections to the distressed urban area that supplies both the street corner drug dealer in the hood and the out of my garage drug dealer in the suburb. By no means is the urban area the point of entry. Next time there is a large drug bust in Cleveland take note of where the "leader" lives. It ain't the corner of Kinsman and 74th. Or see this story from this past winter. http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/12/thomas_g_longo_disgraced_lawye.html He was the point of entry - he wasn't in a distressed urban area.

Here's the solution: have the bus drivers and people walking on the streets pay a little more attention. and if you're a bus driver and hit a pedestrian that didn't just fling themselves into traffic, then you lose your job and face criminal charges. problem solved. i would think there is already enough incentive for a pedestrian to pay more attention to avoid getting hit by a bus...

Agreed - I was listening to a lengthy interview with Steve Kerr at the start of the season when Boston started 25-2 (or whatever) and people were talking about them making a run at the Bulls best record. Kerr basically said "talk to me in March" because the season is so long its hard to get up for each and every game...you lose incentive. They looked disinterested last night, like they just needed to show up to win. If I had an online account or knew someone in Vegas, I'd bet a large amount of money the Cavs embarass the Wizards next week at home. - one of thoese games where LeBron doesn't play the 4th quarter. And I bet they come out strong tonight in a big game against the Magic.

Yes - Plaza building

So I was playing with the settings on this camera I have (obviously by the previsouly deleted pictures) and I was testing it out on our condo...so thought I would share...

deleted - pictures too big

I agree. Maybe people are quieter about it in the suburbs, but that is b/c they have too. If they make any noise, there will be upheavel. When I was in high school, we had neighbors who we suspected were part of the Russian Mafia. We didn't know anything for sure, just suspicions. And believe me, my mother gave them the same evil eye MTS describes. Eventually their house was raided and our suspicions confirmed. The difference is the "threat" comes from the people obeying the law rather than breaking the law. In poor, urban settings the eveil eye comes from the drug dealer. In suburban settings, the evil eye comes from the law abiding citizen. Both are saying "make too much noise and I'll get you". What happens in the inner city when a drug deal goes bad? They hold a candle light vigil. What happens in the suburbs when a drug deal goes bad? People get arrested, curfews for minors are implemented, and police start harrassing people for hanging around food courts for longer than 5 minutes after they are done eating.

Who is driving 16 mph on 480 but 25 mph on Carnegie? Have you ever driven 480 at rush hour? Luckily, I don't have to take any freeways to work, but on occasion I've been coming from somewhere else and had to take 480. 16 mph average would be pretty good at 7:30 in the morning. Carnegie moves better at rush hour than 480. Yes, daily. From my condo to my office is 11 miles taking the most direct route (taking 8/422, aka Kinsman/Chagrin). Taking Carnegie/Fairmount/Green is 13 miles. Taking 77/480 is 18 miles. 77/480 is faster 90% of the time - basically when there is an accident it's bad and I take back roads. In fact, when I'm slow at work and don't want to get there bright and early I do 1 of 2 things - take the RTA (50-60 minutes) or take Carnegie/Fairmount/Green (35-40 minutes). Kinsman is such a beat down road its not worth taking. Plus there are portions where there is only a center line but people drive as if it's a 4 lane road. I tried taking every route possible for 2 years when I was in grad school at CSU b/c I had limited time to get from work to class in the evening...freeway was the most reliable. In the morning, 77 South is as fast as you want to go. 480 East is the speed limit typically until Broadway when it slows down to about 40 (I rarely shift out of 5th gear). On the way home, it's about the same but in reverse due to the lane ending heading west at Broadway.

Here's how it works. FBI spends lots of time and lots of dollars investigating all of this. Upon not finding enough to actually charge anybody with anything, they raid the County Offices in a very public fashion, start handing out subpeonas like candy at a parade, and leak stories to the media (which is why you only heard of this starting in August of 2008 - it's been going on for much longer than that). This is done as they hope someone, anyone, starts talking and giving them information they have yet to find - cracking under public scrutiny. They need to justify spending all this time and money on this investigation, they've hit a wall, and now they are resorting to alternative tactics. So you'll keep seeing these headlines until either someone talks or they give up. They aren't going to find anything they wouldn't have already found. I mean, there aren't many more places or people to look at.

Who is driving 16 mph on 480 but 25 mph on Carnegie?

I definately think it would help. The city clearly picks up when teams make deep playoff runs; I can't imagine what it would be like if a team actually won it all. The city would feel like it won something when it's never won anything before. I'm not sure how you measure that, but it would definately help in the short term (i.e., next season or two)...not sure how long it would last though.

I spent some time on Saturday at a friend's house who has Cox. Their HD offerings were significantly better than TW...probably in the neighborhood of 25-30 more channels, including some that you would think are pretty standard like CNN, FX, and USA. I've called multiple times to ask why and I never even get an answer, outside of "we review our channel offerings in markets regularly and add them as demand dictates".

Like anything else, I suppose it's all about your perspective...consider: Cleveland was still known as the comeback city, which gave us a certain feeling of pride and other intangibles that's been lacking during the 2000s. I don't know, I saw a lot of pride, for example, during St Patrick's Day...I don't think Urban Ohio existed in 1999 where people collectively discuss their pride in the city... The Cleveland Browns Stadium was being built, which really built up a lot of excitement about their coming return in 1999. And in 2009 the stadium is built and despite 10 years of crappy teams, there is still an excitment each football Sunday that is unlike any other event in downtown. The Cavs are the best they have ever been yet sports talk shows in town still spend a lot of time this spring talking about the Browns. The Indians were awesome and we were still selling out games like crazy. And in 2007 we were 1 game away from the WS and the town was going nuts. Last year they showed a strong push in the 2nd half and I don't know about you, but I tried to get tickets for opening day but they sold out before I could get them. The Flats, though past its peak, were still amazing and a massive tourist attraction. The flats were far from "amazing" and drawing massive crowds during the end of the 90's. The Warehouse District has picked up much of the slack. Eaton and National City were still around and no one (at least lay person) thought downtown would be losing them. Still seems pretty busy during business hours downtown to me... Tower City was rocking! It was, but Cleveland St is expanding, E 4th didn't exist, and we've doubled the # of residents living downtown. Not to mention Euclid Ave is starting to take shape, and Ohio City and Tremont have experience a resurgance. Shawn Kemp was playing on the Cavs and had a pretty big fan base. OMG. Shawn Kemp cranked out 4 more illigetimate kids and packed on 40 lbs during his disaster of a career withthe Cavs. He was on 60 minutes regarding a story about NBA players having way too many illigitimate kids. Now we have LeBron on 60 minutes for being perhaps the best basketball player ever. Those hideous blue and white jerseys vs. the ones now...the Cavs are hands down infinately better now than they were then. Hector Marinaro and the Cleveland Crunch were the predominant NPSL player and team in the 90s! And now we have the Lake Erie Monsters and, when the league returns, the Cleveland Gladiators. There's a lot you could go back and forth about, but much has changed in 10 years. To focus on the things that were good then and not discuss the positive additions that have come since doesn't seems to make a case for both sides.

nice pics...and, if I recall, the Cavs put a beating on the Hawks that day too! It was a good day to be downtown...