Its Walnut Wednesday in Cleveland! Every week from spring to fall, the food trucks descend here -- as do hungry downtown office workers, construction workers, residents, and visitors.

 

The street straight ahead is Walnut, and the park is Perk Park (formerly Chester Commons) which was completely rebuilt a few years ago after some highly publicized crimes occurring in the heavy underbrush. Now the park is a popular hangout for all the new residents and workers in the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Live music, people and puppy pooper bags -- all essential ingredients for a successful urban park!

 

I spy four apartment buildings (including one nearly finished in its conversion from offices) and potentially a fifth -- the Huntington.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting Perk Park on Walnut Wednesday! See you next Wednesday.

Nice pics. What did you eat?

Was Wok and Roll there? Just had them for the first time last weekend during the Asian Festival. Super Yummy.

Impressive, I'll have to check this out the next time I'm available.  Perk Park looks quite, er, perky... btw, the "Pick up Poop" sign is an instant classic.

Funny, I cut through here on my way to the Forum lunch meet (meat?). We must have just missed each other.

 

Definitely a great event, and I was really happy to see the park being utilized as well as it is. So much better now than that concrete mess that was there before.

Nice pics. What did you eat?

Was Wok and Roll there? Just had them for the first time last weekend during the Asian Festival. Super Yummy.

 

Gyro. Can't remember the name of the food truck.

 

Funny, I cut through here on my way to the Forum lunch meet (meat?). We must have just missed each other.

 

Definitely a great event, and I was really happy to see the park being utilized as well as it is. So much better now than that concrete mess that was there before.

 

And I totally forgot about the UO lunch meet!  :oops:

I was at the Indians game getting a sunburn and watching our boys beat Detroit! Hopefully I'll make it next time!

wow its great to see people enjoying the nice weather and park upgrades around there.

May 28 is going to be an interesting Walnut Wednesday - I'll be very curious to see how the film crews in the area deal with the huge crowds...All day Tuesday, May 27, hired security guards restricted access to Perk Park and the intersection of Chester/E12 for the filming of a movie.  Am I out of line being irritated that I can't walk across a public park because a Hollywood movie is being filmed?

 

May 28 is going to be an interesting Walnut Wednesday - I'll be very curious to see how the film crews in the area deal with the huge crowds...All day Tuesday, May 27, hired security guards restricted access to Perk Park and the intersection of Chester/E12 for the filming of a movie.  Am I out of line being irritated that I can't walk across a public park because a Hollywood movie is being filmed?

 

That area will be open tomorrow. They were only scheduled to film there today.

^What movie is filming?  And one shouldn't be irritated that the park is blocked off for one day. Think of the money the production is bringing to the local economy, not to mention the positive word of mouth Cleveland has been getting as a location to shoot.

^'Criminal Activities' starring John Travolta. I was walking around Perk Park around noon (cutting through, not just the perimeter) and wasn't stopped by anyone; maybe it was just a temporary closure?

Don't you mean Cruminadele Actividazeem?

^What movie is filming?  And one shouldn't be irritated that the park is blocked off for one day. Think of the money the production is bringing to the local economy, not to mention the positive word of mouth Cleveland has been getting as a location to shoot.

 

This meme needs to be put to bed.

 

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3326

 

"Like a Hollywood fantasy, claims that tax subsidies for film and TV productions — which nearly every state has adopted in recent years — are cost-effective tools of job and income creation are more fiction than fact. In the harsh light of reality, film subsidies offer little bang for the buck."

 

http://www.csg.org/pubs/capitolideas/enews/issue72_3.aspx

 

“We have seen the peak in 2010,” he said of the prevalence of tax assistance for moviemakers.  “First, the evidence suggests (tax incentives) do not produce sought-after effects; second, they have been deemed a lower priority by policymakers, who are trying to allocate scarce resources in a time of fiscal stress; and third, they must be extremely generous given the fierce competition among states for production industry business.”

^Did I say anything about tax subsidies?  No, I didn't. The fact is, whether your politics agree or not, that shoot is here spending money on hotels, restaurants, etc, generating economic activity. And just to clarify, I work in the film industry and I can tell you that the subsidies do work for the films and the locations where those films shoot.  You can cherry pic your stats to support your opinion about an industry I doubt you know much about, but ask any city if they would rather the movie went somewhere else, and the answer is no.

Obviously you did not read the links which cite studies on the net impacts of state and local economies.

 

And it's not political in nature either.  Also, it's not my opinion, it's the informed opinion of relevant studies that I have no stake in.

 

 

“Studies should account for how the tax credit is financed,” Tannenwald said, because “the revenue forgone via film tax credits has to be made up elsewhere, either in tax increases or spending cuts. Both depress the economy and cut off the incentive’s stimulus effect .”

 

Of the stimulus that remains, Tannenwald said, good assessments “distinguish between the benefits that accrue to residents and nonresidents.”  That’s because, “more than almost any other incentive, film tax incentives create benefits for nonresidents.”

 

Results of a 2009 study commissioned by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue echo this claim. Among other findings, the report found 84 percent all compensation paid to individuals employed in Massachusetts-based productions between 2006 and 2008 flowed to out-of-state workers. Only 16 percent accrued to Massachusetts residents. "

 

^There is no "obviously". I did read them and they go to my point that they are cherry picked because there are also studies saying the very opposite: that they do provide a good ROI. This helpful link provides a look at the differing reports stating different results and how the methodology used allows different results.

 

http://createquity.com/2014/01/the-bottom-line-on-film-tax-credits.html

 

I'm in the camp that incentives work because I've seen it firsthand.  Those "informed opinions of relevant studies" are only informed or relevant depending on who you ask.

Folks, there's a place for this discussion - this thread isn't it. Thanks!