The Observation Deck

In todays addition under the title "Our Agenda for Northeast Ohio" the Plain Dealer Editorial Board lists "Accelerate the demolition in Cleveland and its inner suburbs to create green space" as a top priority.

Good Grief.

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index. ... heast.html

The deliberate policy of destruction as been apparent to me for some time now. I'm not surprised to have confirmation of that policy. I am very surprised that they have finally admitted that in public. Their willingness to finally admit that "destruction" has always been their policy borders on hubris. They must be confident that no one and nothing stands in their way.

Think about it. The PD and our "regional" leadership publicly calls for "accelerated destruction" of Lakewood and no one has anything to say about it.

Does our Mayor support that policy?

Does our City Council?

If so, what's in it for the City?

Or is the better question: What's in it for them?

The silence is loud and clear.

Perhaps it's time to have the discussion: What is the Cabal?

I don't know whether "disappointing" or "farce" best describes the PD's so-called agenda. For the most part not only does it not help Lakewood, it helps others at Lakewood's expense.

One item, the notion of demolotion to create green space perpetuates the population and revenue loss we have suffered. Green space has a friendly ring, however makes permanent that loss of people and tax base. Lakewood needs to replace once viable properties with new construction that restores the lost population and tax base. It can be done here as it has been done in other older urban communities. We all know empty nesters who are former Lakewoodites that have gone to the plastic slab construction of Avon because they could not get what they needed in Lakewood. These are folks that would have stayed here, with incomes, that pay their taxes, and put low demand on city services. We need to keep them just as much as we attract youth to keep Lakewood afloat for all.

Unfortunately, the PD editorial board does not seem to get this. Inrterstingly, none list in what cummunity they reside.

The Federal Reserve has some bad news for Cuyahoga County:

http://www.clevelandfed.org/research/co ... 011-25.cfm

This information is available to the public. If our local leadership is unaware of this report why are they unaware of it? If they are aware of it why are their budgets assuming property values (and property taxes) will not see a significant decline?

If they did see this report why are they still handing out raises?

Edward Favre wrote:One item, the notion of demolotion to create green space perpetuates the population and revenue loss we have suffered. Green space has a friendly ring, however makes permanent that loss of people and tax base. Lakewood needs to replace once viable properties with new construction that restores the lost population and tax base.

Well said. How do we get there?

When the casino campaign was in full swing the supporters of the casino promised $18 million or so per year for economic development in Cuyahoga County. Ed Fitzgerald has promised all of it to downtown developers. $180 million over the next 10 years devoted to sucking the life out of Lakewood, Fairview, Parma etc.

Where is the debate, the discussion, the questions and the concern? Who are these developers and who decided to give them the $180 million? Ed Fitztgerald? What will those downtown property owners give in return?

Is this what they mean by regionalization? We give them money and they spend it in any manner they choose without discusion, debate or planning? I don't mind being shot but I object to being forced to pay for the bullets.

One of the items mentioned in the article was more concerts at Voinovich Park in Downtown Cleveland. Really? I mean REALLY? I don't know whether to laugh or cry so I'll just laugh so hard and so long I'll laugh till I cry.

I need a better poof reader. "edition"

Bill Call wrote:I need a better poof reader.

Now that's comedy.

Brian Pedaci wrote:

Bill Call wrote:I need a better poof reader.

Now that's comedy.

Even though this is a serious subject I intend to have some fun with it.

Under the bi-line "Rebrand and Revitalize Cleveland":

"Bring people to the water's edge with programming at Voinovich Park and North Coast Harbor"

Soo... NOACA spends billions to widen freeways to open up farm land to new development, Cuyahoga County spends millions to build a new freeway innerchange in Lorain County, Tri-C locates its new buildings in Medina and Lorain County

All to:

Encourage people to leave town which is

BAD

for the City of Cleveland so the solution is to

have more concerts at Voinovich Park so people who now live and work in Medina County and attend college at the new Tri-C campus in Brunswick can drive downtown to

ENJOY

Concerts at Voinovich Park paid for by the residents of Cuyahoga County
so Cleveland will be

REVITALIZED

Did I miss something?

Where is it written that regaining population is the answer.

It seems to me that much of Lakewood's housing is crowded and cramped. If the typical Lakewood house was destroyed by fire, do you think it would be replicated, or would the owner take the insurance money and build where he had a bit more land? That has been the pattern in Cleveland where Lakewood type houses have decayed, and been replaced with houses on bigger lots. Drive down Carnegie and see what I mean.

It seems to me that a likely alternative would be large apartments, perhaps a platinum coast, but increased population would bring with it increased demand for services, and since politicians seem unable to provide services efficiently, that would likely worsen our financial situation.

Perhaps if they used the word rebuild instead of demolish we would be more open to looking at the possibilities.

it is to drive up real estate sales in Avon and Medina.

Any other city they would be promoting green space AROUND in the inner ring. Any other city would be celebrating and promoting the density of the inner ring.... and here, we have just the opposite. I just don't get it.

Will Brown wrote:Perhaps if they used the word rebuild instead of demolish we would be more open to looking at the possibilities.

A subtle but important point.

Housing can become obsolete. Apartments that lack air conditioning, adequate parking or modern kitchens and baths have decreasing appeal. If population is stagnant or declining while the supply of housing is increasing older housing becomes obsolete even faster.

The biggest beef I have with Fitzgeralds downtown centric plan is its focus on housing. There seems to be a almost religious belief among the gliterati that having taxpayer subsidized apartments downtown will make Cleveland more prosperous and a more desireable business location.

HINT: There is no evidence that more downtown housing adds any economic value to Cuyhoga County.

I recently had a short email conversation with a PD reporter about downtown plans, homeless resettlement and Tri-C's new buildings in Medina and Lorain County. I discovered that when I write about preserving the urban core I mean something entirely different than the PD. When I think of the urban core I think of a center of jobs and economic activity easily accessible to the nearby suburbs. When the PD talks about the urban core they mean 10,000 taxpayer subisidized apartments populated by people who use to live in the inner suburbs.

I guess the theory is that having spent billions to encourage business to move to Medina County we need to spend billions more to encourage people to move to downtown Cleveland so they can commute to their jobs in Medina County.

In one response the reporter stated that Tri-C is locating its buildings outside of the County to" be closer to its customers". I found that strange. I mean, aren't Tri-C's customers the people of Cuyahoga County?

The taxpayers of Medina County and Lorain County contribute nothing to Tri-C. If the people who run Tri-C think their customers are the residents of Lorain and Medina County then who are we? Suckers? The Fatted Calf? The Sugar Daddy?

And if it's important to encourage people to live downtown then why are Cuyahoga County Taxpayer funded institutions using Cuyahoga County tax dollars to relocate further and further from Downtown Cleveland?

There is more here than meets the eye. Perhaps the answer can be found in County property records; records that will show who owns the property that will benefit from the hundreds of millions of dollars to be spent on taxpayer subsidized apartments.

Don't look for the PD to search for the answer. The PD sat by silently for decades when the County was ruled by a corrupt elite. The PD only became interested in County corruption when they discovered stories about County corruption could be used as a vehicle for Regionalization. Now that they have Regionalization they won't let new stories about corruption disrupt their plans.

Bill Call wrote:

Will Brown wrote:Perhaps if they used the word rebuild instead of demolish we would be more open to looking at the possibilities.

A subtle but important point.

Housing can become obsolete. Apartments that lack air conditioning, adequate parking or modern kitchens and baths have decreasing appeal. If population is stagnant or declining while the supply of housing is increasing older housing becomes obsolete even faster.

The biggest beef I have with Fitzgeralds downtown centric plan is its focus on housing. There seems to be a almost religious belief among the gliterati that having taxpayer subsidized apartments downtown will make Cleveland more prosperous and a more desireable business location.

HINT: There is no evidence that more downtown housing adds any economic value to Cuyhoga County.

Bill

As outlined in "The Slaughter Of Cities" not because developers are bad, but because they
need to buy low sell high. They slowly migrated to the burbs and out rings and finally
the out counties. But property for pennies on the dollar.

In their wake they leave broken cities, where there is property they could at one time not
make large profits on, falling into disrepair, through a variety of reasons, including, crime,
empty lots, broken cities, color, etc.. Then the cities in an effort to save their asses
become sluts for the developers. To show any upside cities like Cleveland willing to give
20, 25, even 30 year tax abatements. Which is basically a FREE HOME.

And the cycle starts over again. This is one of my complaints about the Lakewood Artist
idea. Property has to be damn cheap for artists to move in. In the Collinwood Arts District
you can get a double for $10,000, many of them, many many of them. You can get a storefront
for next to nothing with a lease. Were our civic leaders putting this forward in any form
of complete understanding to just how much you have to destroy the value of community
to get to their point? I doubt it. It sound cool, and fun.

There are many cities that have been able to stop the cycle, and build up from where they
are at now. I personally do not believe you have to destroy to create, or for that matter
live and survive. BUT if you buy into the County Plan, CLE+, Team Neo, you have to be
willing to take one for the team, with hope that their completely underwhelming view for
the area, and the county, and this city, will provide nothing to you except a nice warm
fuzzy feeling as you take one for the team.

They laugh and say, we must all work together and not compete for each other's business
or residents, OK stop the government incentives to move out of Lakewood. Stop loading
Lakewood with indigents who cannot pay into the system. Tell me how you will stop the
hemorrhaging in Lakewood now, now how the Emerald City will be here in 30 years.

FWIW


.

Valerie Molinski wrote:Any other city they would be promoting green space AROUND in the inner ring. Any other city would be celebrating and promoting the density of the inner ring.... and here, we have just the opposite. I just don't get it.

Nothing they are doing makes any sense.

The Edgewater Park area of Cleveland along Lake and Clifton use to be a stable, economically energetic neighborhood. It's now declining at an accelerating rate. The City of Cleveland has chosen to limit City services and ignore infrastructure in that area so to accelerate the decline. The City needs the money to subsidize Tremont and downtown housing.

Here is a project for any undergrad students in urban studies who are out there:

Graph the air traffic of Cleveland Hopkins and Akron Canton Airports. At what point do the two lines intersect? At what point in the future does Cleveland Hopkins become as small as Akron Canton is today?

Think it won't happen? More and more people are living closer and closer to the new economic center of gravity in Medina County. What airport will they choose to use?
Will bulk buying toilet paper reverse the trend?

Do we really need two airports? Why not just one big, regional airport? Wouldn't that be more efficient?

What is the region anyway? Is it just Cuyahoga County or is it the area from Sandusky to Youngstown from Cleveland to Akron? If a company moves from Cleveland to Medina why should we care? Why should we care if downtown is full or empty? Aren't we just one big happy family?

Jim O'Bryan wrote:They laugh and say, we must all work together and not compete for each other's businessor residents, OK stop the government incentives to move out of Lakewood. Stop loading Lakewood with indigents who cannot pay into the system. Tell me how you will stop the hemorrhaging in Lakewood now, now how the Emerald City will be here in 30 years.

An excellent point. How about a non-poaching initiative between Cities? We agree not to forceably relocate Lakewoods homeless to Cleveland and Cleveland agrees not to forceably relocate their homeless to Lakewood.

One of the ideas floated by the PD was to "DEMAND that cities share services" Who is doing the demanding and by what authority? Share what services? Garbage collection? Police protection? Merge fire departments? Bulk buy toilet paper?

The only study on shared services that I am aware of is the study on shared fire departments that determined that the merged departments would save nothing. If there are shared services that make sense I'm open to the idea but please show me the study.

Another idea was to "ENCOURAGE" non profits to merge. Another interesting choice of words. You DEMAND elected officals and home ruled cites do what you want but you ENCOURAGE non profits think about sharing overhead. I think this one was just thrown in as a throw away.

All the predictions I've seen on the 2020 census have Cuyahoga County and Northeast Ohio losing population. That is reason enough to question a downtown development plan based on the creation of 10,000 new housing units.

Instead, how about a plan to bring 100,000 jobs to Cuyahoga County? Bring the jobs and the population and housing will take care of itself.

In an area with a declining or stagnant population 10,000 new government subsidized housing units do nothing but spend millions of dollars moving people from one side of town to another.

One of the ideas:

"Resolve the problems within Cleveland's Water Department and preserve a prime example of practical regionalism"

Translation: How can we convince the people to embrace regionalization when our current regional institutions like the Cleveland Water Department are so incompetent they can't even track customer billings and so inefficient that they charge more for water than Avon Lake's water department?

I'm still puzzled by Fitzgerald's support of downtown housing subsidies as an economic development tool. In North Dakota they concentrated on job creation and now they have a housing shortage:

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/25/140784004 ... rth-dakota

It seems to me that if you concentrate on job creation housing will take care of itself.

State Chemical in Cleveland is moving from Cleveland to the Eastern suburbs. The owner lives out that way and they got a bargain on a new building.

Would government subsidized apartments have kept State Chemical in Cleveland? How about concerts at Voinovich Park? How about a redesigned public square? How about more subsidies for the West Side Market? The Plain Dealer thinks so.

Hey Plain Dealer!!! What ever happened to those 80,000 Gateway jobs?