Until we get an in person report from Jeff S., here's a way to get a brief taste of how the conference began. Since this is a Drupal site, the more all of us learn the better.

At Realneo we have celebrated the legislative passing of the Hauser Amendment. 

The 2009 U.S. Figure Skating Competition takes place in Cleveland this week. This is THE premier national skating event.

Here we go… If you were wondering about how federal stimulus dollars might be spent in Ohio, this should give you some idea. Gov.

The other day Phillip Morris (online PD)
was bemoaning the lack of leadership in Cleveland. I think on the same day I ran across some tidbit that intimated that Chris Ronayne might run for mayor of Cleveland next time around. I thought to myself, “Well, here we go with more of the same.”

Clearly University Circle wheels are squeaking and the PD has agreed to be an unquestioning amplifier. A couple weeks ago there was a spate of articles/editorials and then readers were  given a break, but now the pd is  back at it…”We got to have it- that Opportunity Corridor- we just gotta."  After all, “important people” want it.

If Ohio can’t make the move on its own, perhaps the federal government will force the issue.  Senator Bingaman (D-NM) is trying again (after an unsuccessful attempt in Jun ’05) to require a national renewable portfolio standard. The proposed RPS would require that 15% of the country’s electricity come from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources by 2020.  Read more

check this out...

We have PUCO helping 1st Energy charge us more if we want to support green e

This is the title of a children’s book that spent some time in our house.  I believe the afflicted robin of the title died of pesticide poisoning.  I thought of him the other night when my friend Susan mentioned she had seen three dead robins in the past week.  That comment made me recall that I had watched a robin feebly hopping in a busy intersection and not at all removing himself from danger.  As we stood on the corner, in the snow, another person waiting to cross Lee entered our conversation; she too had seen dead robins – two – recently.  Now perhaps we all saw the same three robins….but  it is still weird, something is up.  Sleuth Susan went home and discovered that many robins have been stretched to the breaking point by the recent high/low extreme weather we’ve been having. Read more

Read a summary of Martha Schwartz’s lecture-Landscapes of Awareness- at the Harvard School of Design http://archinect.com/features/article.php?id=54068_0_23_0_M.

Our city is not expanding, but if we let ODOT have its way, well-preserved old structures that tell our history and provide character will be swept aside for more rivers of concrete. What are we doing? Check out Carol A Poh’s letter (with author’s permission) to ODOT’s Section 106 committee. (NRHP = National Registry of Historic Places) Both the Broadway Mills building and the Marathon Station next to it have been recommended eligible, which is why they are not discussed in Carol’s letter, but that does not mean they will be saved.  Instead, as was suggested in the PD, Clevelanders may be reminded of their former presence by a plaque or some other fitting???? marker.

We are heading for bland at highway speed!

Following is Carol’s letter:

Thank you Norm for beginning the practice of locating your photo banners for the readership.  We have been enjoying great panoramic views, but depending on where we live, some of us had no idea where to go to personally enjoy the view.  Let's make a catalogue of these Cleveland banners.

    Given the recent court decision on eminent domain and the upcoming decisions on how to define "blight", CSU professor Tom Bier's testimony on the issues is important reading.  Go to http://www.greaterohio.org/policy/policy.html and click on "testimony".  And while you're there do some other reading.  Clearly the state's policies encourage sprawl.  Sprawl is not good for our air, our land, or our water.  We need a coup in Columbus.

 A while back this issue came up on Realneo. Over at Bytes from Lev, he has a good explanation of what is at stake:

http://blog.case.edu/lsg8/2006/05/28/why_netneutrality_matters_to_cleveland_and_the_nation

On Thursday April 13 Ed Hauser, with support from the Gilotta family, made a presentation before the Cleveland Landmarks Commission, nominating the old Broadway Mills building, now homebase to Gilotta Fuels, for landmark status.  Hauser nominated both the building, built in 1894, and the remaining portion of the old central viaduct at the building’s base.  Motivated by a communication from ODOT, sent at 5:33p.m. on the evening before the hearing, a majority of  Landmark Commission members voted to table the nomination until ODOT could make a presentation at the Commission’s next meeting. That’s right, the Commission that is supposed to protect Cleveland’s landmarks decided not to even begin consideration of potential landmark status because of ODOT’s request.

As we launch multimillion dollar building projects around Cleveland, from the Art Museum to MOCA, to a reworked freeway and “signature bridge”, to new developments in the Flats, Cleveland might learn something about sustainable development by checking out the award winners of the first construction competition held by The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction

    so here are the steps I went through to post a picture....if there's a short cut please let me know
1.log on
2.create content
3.personal blog, or image
4. title etc.
5. when you get to the "body" block you have to type in enough to allow the thing to post and you must position your cursor where you want the photo to show up
6. At the bottom of the blog entry page go down to "file attachment" and "browse"

   

Norm, this is exasperating. Once I figure out step by step directions for posting pictures, I will put those on line and you can put them on that "how to" page we were talking about.

Is there any organization in Cleveland that would be the equivalent of the Cultural Trust in Pittsburgh?  I note that one project of Pittsburgh’s Cultural Trust is to “create a residential riverfront neighborhood that is integrated with the Allegheny riverbank. The main goal is to create a place so animated by restaurants, a park, public art and shopping areas that locals and out-of-town visitors will consider it a must-see destination.” To this end the Trust has selected four architectural planning/development teams from around the US and beyond to submit plans. I happened to recognize the name of the Dutch architectural firm, MVRDV, that is the proposal designer for Team B.

    Down in Columbus our Ohio Senate is considering, today, a bill (SB265) that would prevent our state from enacting stronger air pollution health standards than are required by the federal government. Passage of this bill would not be good for our health.  Consider the fact that a recent study reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that the levels of ground level ozone presently considered safe by the EPA are in fact too high.  The authors of the study found that breathing ozone at these currently permissable levels can increase the risk of premature death. 

    At the last Cleveland Next meeting, Guhan Venkatu, an economic analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, made a presentation .  He has kindly let us post his power point with the usual sort of proviso...the views espressed are his and "not necessarily those of the FRBC, the board of governors of the FR or its staff".

Since we have spent a lot of time, on this site and at roundtable discussions sponsored by Realneo, discussing the region's strengths and weaknesses, I thought readers might be interested in Mr. Venkatu's experiments comparing Cleveland's economy with that of the nation and also with the rest of Ohio. Perhaps we can suggest some other parameters to be considered.

 
    At the meeting ODOT held on 2/21/06 at the Myers University Club to discuss the Midtown trench and its on and off ramps, I noticed one behavior that struck me as emblematic of ODOT’s relationship with the public.  I know that people speaking at meetings or calling in to talk shows  will begin with thanking the “sponsor”,  so to speak, but at Tuesday’s meeting the majority of audience members who lined up to comment or ask questions began with drawn out thank- you’s to the various members of ODOT for coming to Cleveland, for having the meeting etc. etc.  My classes in “social relations” were years ago, but it seems to me that the typical audience behavior at Myers suggested people who viewed themselves as supplicants, placating the authorities first in the hopes that whatever they wanted to ask or state might at least be allowed utterance.  Now I am not naïve, and I know ODOT is in the power position here, but ultimately the taxpayers can bring about change in the balance of this relationship by letting their elected officials know that the people who make the final decisions are not really listening to the public but rather just allowing them to “vent”.