tedolph

Better get on board. It's lonely being a Libertarian. Look, every public/private sector joint venture is a boondogle. If there weren't benefits external to the market system so as to justify the public investment, private industry would just raise the capital and do it themselves. The only real issue with these things is just how much is the public going to lose? Sometimes the external benefits flow to the public, sometimes to the polotician's cronies, sometimes it is a mix. Unfortunatley, you can't sell stuff to the taxpayers that way-they can't handle the truth. TEdolph

Yes, that would be awesome but Cleveland does not have the density to justify the cost for a subway. New subway tunnels are rarely built in the U.S. I think a line such as this would have to be above ground and somehow follow one of these routes: 1. Follow the same route as the Red Line until West Blvd and then branch out down the rail corridor through Lakewood. 2. Use the Detroit-Superior bridge and then run along the Shoreway out to the railroad corridor along the lake. The line would then turn on the railroad corridor that goes through Lakewood. 3. Like number 2, except the line out of downtown would use the Waterfront Line route but would instead head west out of downtown using the lakefront rail corridor. I like number 2 since it could provide for extra stops at 25th & Detroit and by Battery Park. Number 1 could not provide any extra stations east of West Blvd and number 3 could not provide the stop at 25th & Detroit. Isn't there already a significant (abandoned) subway tunnel under Detroit that hooks up with the D-S bridge lower deck? tedolph

I really fear that the worst is yet to come. If interest rates ever go up we are fininshed. Tedolph

Just what we need. More houses. We have a three year glut of supply right now. What are people supposed to do, live in two houses? Maybe we should have taken all the TARP money, given it to the 14 million illegal aliens and forced them to buy forclosed homes. I think it would have penciled out just about right. When are people going to wake up and understand that Keynseian economics is non-sense. tedolph

I Sounds like it's an oasis in a state with an 11% unemployment rate. And now you see the relevancy of the post. It is possible to have prosperity with even a relatively high rate of unemployment. Prospertity at least gives the underclass a chance to escape economically. The Left would prefer that if some have to be miserable, that we all be miserable (Ohio, Michigan) and have no hope, rather than at least somebody having a chance to prosper. Tedolph

Just returned from a trip to Greenville, SC. Home to BMW and not far from a new Boeing plant. Prosperity everywhere I looked. In downtown, everything is either new or renovated. Not one closed store front. Lots of Yankees there too. Tedolph

Very interesting and well done thread. Thank you. Tedolph

No, you are not. Others can, because they haven't had a history of dragging some sort of beef with Jackson into every thread that they post on. That's what I thought. Just thought I should ask first. Thank you. Tedoph

Am I allowed to say anything about this?

As a former Clevelander, not knowing much about your town it is astounding to me that this assest has not been used, and worse that it has been desecrated! TEdolph

I am going to break my self imposed ban to say that KJP's inner belt plan was/is brilliant. It would have done more positive things to transform downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods than just about any other infrastructure plan I can think of. The city's (and yes Mayor's Office) refusal to fight for the city is evidence of the permanent and systemic malaise that effects Cleveland. This should have been a no brainer. Now, go ahead and ban me permanently for bringing up the Mayor.

I wonder if maybe that is the way out. Could he somehow take the $400,000,000.00 to fix the "freight infrastructure" and then sell leases to "private" companies to run the passenger service with "tax credits" to the operator for prividing a public service, etc., etc.? Then he could say he imposed a "market solution" and saved the tax payers from a "direct subisdy" blah, blah, blah.

I am neither Republican nor Democrat and Palin would be a disaster at the national level. This election is a counter-revolution to the Pelosi/Reid uber left power grab to push through unpopular legislation durring a "historic moment" when the Democrats controled the House, Senate and Executive branch. They violated the public trust the first chance they got and the public will not forget it and will not give the Democrats that kind of power for a long time to come. Unfortunatley, it also opens up the door for a Palin, or someone even worse. In the end, this isn't good for anybody and we have the Democrats to blame for it.

No, I don't and I really don't think that is relevant. What I do think is relevant and what I would think he would care about is $400,000,000.00 of federal dollars. There must be some politically acceptable way he can back out of hiw campaign promise. KJP?

KJP, this is a tough break. Any way for Kasich to back out of this?

At the risk of getting suspended again, I will say that I think something fishy is going on at ODOT: CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Top engineers within the Ohio Department of Transportation debated whether a bid to build the Inner Belt Bridge met the state's design requirements, weeks before the multimillion-dollar contract was awarded. Thomas Hyland, deputy construction project manager, and Timothy Keller, an administrator in ODOT's Office of Structural Engineering, were among those who questioned the bridge design by Walsh Construction of Chicago and HNTB of Ohio Inc., a Plain Dealer review of depositions filed recently in the Ohio Court of Claims in Columbus found. http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/11/odot_engineers_questioned_winn.html

Here is the newsflash though, there is not going to be a revolution ever. There is no way in 4 years anybody could get everything done they want to do and make apocolyptic changes to a huge entity like a state government, especially in a horrible economic climate. Make a laundry list of goals for yourself to accomplish in 4 years, and at the end tally up if you were able to accomplish them all. Make sure to put lofty goals like, "I have -$10 in the bank now, and I want to have $1,000,000 in four years. We have become a country of attention deficit, schizophrenic, instant gratification idiots. No party will EVER get anything done as long as people only vote from news pundit talking points, and sound bites. Until people examine the issues and facts, and vote more thoughtfully we will be stuck in this back and forth war of the parties and nothing will change. Not for Ohio, or the US. Kasich is horrible though no matter what party you are Problem is Stricland didn't get any of it done. He over promised and under delivered. That is death in politics, business, relationships, anything really. He was Taft Light.

Strickland failed to deliver. After Taft, we were going to have a Democratic revolution. School funding was going to get fixed, mass transportation was going to be adequately funded, ODOT was going to be put on a short leash, etc. etc. None of that happened, and don't make excuses as to why Strickland couldn't do those things, he promised he would. Kasich may be worse but you just can't make a bunch of pie in the sky campaign promises that you have no hope of achieving and then think people won't take out their vengeance on you four years later. Ask "read my lips no new taxes" Bush senior (or Obama for that matter).

If I were you I would put on a little show for Kasich

EC, nothing can be done with Public Square in it's crrent (and since the 80's) incarnation. It is too chopped up. Too much traffic to cross. Too many busses laying over. It just too intimidating to pedestrians and has to get fixed. I urge you to look at some of the pastoral pictures from the 1920's before the TT went up. It was like a Victorian wonderland.

The countryside in that part of Ohio is really pretty. I miss it.

Would someone please find the drawing that shows below grade access to TT from inside Public Square? I think that most of that work is already done. The only significan expense would be burrying Superior in a covered trench. This would also make PS an extension of the Tower City mall.

No, I meant tunnel.

I've said it before, bury Superior, close ontario, make the traffic go round and round, put two pedestrian ramps under the SW and NE corners of the square going up into a 4 acre park. Done.

Sorry I have not. I am sitting here in Seattle. Is a larger picture available?