tedolph

Punishment as retribution is largely irrelevant to preventing crime. I believe that the criminal mind is fundamentally different from yours and mine. The main objective of the penal system should be to identify sociopaths as soon as possible and within the bounds of the State and Federal Constitutions incarcerate those people for as long as possible (humanely), hopefully with three violent strikes requiring a life without parole sentance. Anything less and we are just kidding ourselves about our ability to rehabilitate these people. This comes from many sources, most recently a person who has been working in the criminal/social services sector for close to 20 years. She says the recidivism rate even with significant and expensive treatment exceeds 90% and that there is no statistical difference in recidivism between those who go into these programs and those who don't.

Bizarre. It looks like aliens tried to replicate Shaker Heights and Beachwood. I can't imagine anyone wanting to buy those homes in that neighborhood.

They are both killing us. Stocks, derivatives, finacial instruments are a manipulated market. The average person has no business being involved in those markets. If that had been the case over the last 20 years, the losses would have been much smaller and primarily limited to the super rich. The problem was ordinary people got greedy too.

Like I said before we need lots (e.g. 10,000) low skill light manufacturing jobs for these people but our Mayor doesn't get it. He is going after high Tech jobs from France for a handful of Chemical Engineers.

"The city has been declining in population for years. The inner-ring suburbs have been declining in population for years. We're a stagnate region, and have been for a while. How do we address this?" Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. And not just any kind of jobs. We need jobs for the chronically unemployed. That is unfortunately semiskilled light manufacturing which the unions have killed. Also, it doesn't help having a pro poverty, anti-business mayor. A good economy and a low unemployment rate for the underclass will solve pretty much everything: crime, single parent families, schools, tax base, retail, etc.

what are the odds Cleveland could lure Continental's headquarters from Texas?

I can't tell you how many many times I sat on those steps as a student in the 70's ad 80's . I could not imagine something like that happening then. Rose colored glasses?

Again, can't plumbing be re-engineered? Are they in storage?

I thought that the Hanna Fountains were great. Can't we bring those back? Are they in storage somewhere?

Hey BBC. I graduated with degrees in engineering and law in the mid 8os. The only job I could get in Cleveland at that time was as a file clerk in a law firm. I was recruited by a west coast law firm and all they wanted to know was i) would I move and ii) could I fog a mirror. I took the job. Four years later the same Cleveland firm that I was a file clerk at asked me if I would move back and offered me a full time job. It was all about the economy. I was the same person with the same degrees, grades, etc.

There you go again, showing off with your zoom lens and fancy compositions. Don't you ever get tired of being a good photograper?

Note the conjunction between the word " cruel" and the word" unusual". Both conditions have to be met for a punishment to be unconstitutional. Lethal injection clearly is not. I an opposed to capital punishment but not or constitutions grounds.

KJP, any estimate as to how much it would cost to implement your simple plan if it was done on the cheap?

Just switched all my accounts from BOA to key here in Seattle!

KJP, your proposal is accepted. Please send forwarding address so I can send you your $100,000.00 consulting fee.

Question for KJP: I know that the Detroit Superior bridge has stations already built into it. Does the Hope Memorial bridge have any station infrastructure built in? It is my understanding that the Detroit Superior bridge was a one time a working subway but the Loraine Carnegie bridge never was. Also, would there be much problem getting from the track level of the Cleveland Union Station onto the lower deck of the DS bridge? I know that the current waterfront line comes very close. Thanks in advance.

Out from Terminal Tower, under Detroit Superior bridge, left on to W 25th, left onto lower deck of Hope Memorial bridge and back to TT. All of the right of way is in place, much of the infrastructure is, shouldn't be too hard. Mayor Poverty will not be interested. Surprisingly, RTA has been supportive of Trollyville and was instrumental in bringing the collection downtown. If a Foundation would lead the way it could happen.

The reality is that corporate income tax never made economic sense. It simply gets pushed on to the consumer anyway. A corporation is not really a "person" even though the law does so for some purposes (e.g. court jurisdiction). Corporate income taxation should occur at the dividend, capital gain stage or VAT. State income tax "give aways" simply acknowledge that economic reality.

Not to get into a detailed discussion of bike lanes v. bike paths v. every road is a bike path debate I have a few observations as a fair weather commuter, recreational cyclist and one time ride leader for the largest bicycle club in the USA. It is demonstrably true that mixed bike paths (pedestrian and cyclist) are statistically and anecdotally far more dangerous for an experienced cyclist than is the open road. Even a high speed road is acceptably safe if the right hand lane or if necessary shoulder is wide enough. I have concluded that a regular street with a reasonably wide right side (and maybe a "sharrow") is the safest place to ride, even safer than a bike lane if and only if the cyclist has and uses a rear view mirror. I have concluded after leading many road rides, commuted, etc. that the use of a rear view mirror is the single most important contributing factor to avoiding bike/car incidents. By being able to track traffic behind you with constant scanning it is possible to anticipate what the traffic behind you is going to or wants to do. Without this information it is impossible to blend into traffic seamlessly which is what cars want you to do-be seamless. This simple item along with good route selection to avoid problem areas (there are always alternative routes to avoid them) makes every cyclist a better and more courteous cyclist. No one places enough emphasis on this. You wouldn't dive a car in traffic without a rear view mirror, why wold you ride a bike in traffic without one? Also, it needs to be on your glasses/helmet, not the bike so that you can scan the area behind you without turning the bike or shifting your body around on the bike. Don't tell me you can twist your head over your shoulder or peak under your arm. The vast majority of typical road cyclists can't do this without swerving at least a little and swerving, even a little is one thing that makes cyclists unpredictable to cars. We really can all get along and using a rear view mirror would help a lot. :angel:

Six things that I think some of which could be done in some form for less than $10,000,000.00 each: i) complete the Emerald Necklace through Gates Mills with conservation easements (fantastic bicycle route); ii) bring the CVSR into Terminal Tower with stops at Steelyard Commons, Brandywine Ski Resort, and at an aerial tram to the Zoo; iii) bring the towpath trial up to Terminal Tower and on to Wiskey Island park; iv) put 10 refurbished Vesta windmills on the breakwall and sell the power through Muny light to a mini-mill or to RTA; v) subsidize an REI/LL Bean destination store on the back side of the Terminal Tower Avenue to sell hiking boots to all the new Towpath Trail users, canoes to paddlers on the rejuvinated Cuyahoga river, etc.; and vi) run the Trollyville collection from Terminal Tower, under the Detroit-Superior bridge, up onto W. 25th as a street car past the W. Side Market, left under the Hope Memorial bridge and back into Terminal Tower (I think all of this right of way still exists- KJP will correct me if I am wrong!). Presto, world class city. Oh, employ as many poor people as possible doing the above.

Ignoring the Malthusian nonsense about U.S. population growth, the highlighted bullet points sound like Soviet era 5-year planning propaganda.

A long time ago I had a marketing idea based on the where is waldo concept. In a series of different advertisements a picture of an activity (scuba diving lake Eire wrecks, skiing, hang gliding at Edgewater, cycling the Emerald necklace, etc.) with a voice over describing the scene ("Its a good day for scuba, surface water temp in the 80's, good visibility and a pristine wreck at 40 feet, etc.") followed by the question, ("Miami?, the Carribean?, Mediterranean Sea?") followed by "guess again" with a picture of the Cleveland summer skyline from the lake. You can imagine what the one for skiing would be like, "another blue sky day, 28 Deg., fresh powder and 350 skiable acres within one hour of downtown, 120 inches per year of snowfall at the higher elevations, "Denver?, Seattle? Vail? guess again" with a winter picture of the Cleveland skyline again from the lake. Do cycling the Emerald Necklace in the spring and hiking the 40,000 acres of contiguous parkland in the fall. Other themes could be dinning/culture, sports, etc. Collectively I think it would have impact to show that there are exciting and somewhat unique things to all year round. Not all cities can say that. What do you all think?

My bone fides: I attended CWRU from 1977-1984. I lived off of 115th for more than three years. I can tell you anecdotally that CWRU graduate students that I knew living in the area at that time considered the E. 120th red line station to be far more dangerous than the Cedar Road station. I personally know two students who were mugged at that E. 120th station (one with a gun). I vaguely remember crime statistics confirming that anecdotal information. Take that for what it is worth. I also don't like the proposed new station design and would prefer using the existing stairwell with a more "old world" design for this neighborhood.

The reason Ohio history, particularly as it applies to Native American history is not popular is because it is wrong. If the true history was told (or at least if the debate were presented) the story would be more fascinating than the best Raiders of the Lost Ark movie. Fort Ancient built by Indians with deer shoulder blades? Come on! How about Phoenician or Mauritanian military engineers fleeing from Roman oppression. Squaw Rock carved in the 1800's? How about carved 4000 years ago by copper miners traveling up the Black River when the water tables were different and Niagara Falls could be circumvented? Is the snake (sun) swallowing the egg (Venus) serpent mound theme the remnant of an ancient post ice age world wide sun worshiping cult? The local tribes said they had no idea who built it when the first white settlers arrived. Why are there other identical mounds/art work found in prehistoric Europe? Were these people wiped out by a mass migration of Asians during a climatic minimum in 1200 AD? Before you conclude that I am crazy think about Kennewick Man or read Barry Fell's "America B.C." or Ancient American magazine and you will see how amazing Ohio (and other midwest) history might be. If we at least presented the debate at our historical sites, you wouldn't be able to keep the 10 old boys away with a stick. Go to the Amour Court in the Cleveland Art museum on a Saturday to see what I mean.

Very insightful discussion. 327 is correct, the problem is to a degree physiological. Suburbanites value safety (or perceived safety) above all and to the exclusion of all. To the extent these fears are real we need to ask ourselves, why are we unwilling to permanently incarcerate criminal sociopaths. This would eliminate the need for safety to trump urban design. We did this in the 40's and into the 50's. Thereafter, we let these psychopaths run loose on our grid style streets. I grew up in Maple Heights (a grid based inner ring suburb) on Clare Avenue with stores we walked to on Warrensville Center Rd. in the 50's. It was great!