If it means anything, while I don't comment much, I have always been a fan of your writing, and deeply care about the issues you care about-transportation, and urban living issues generally. I also really enjoy your personal posts, they help keep me connected to Cleveland, or other cities I've lived in, like Columbus.
And for this post, I don't know if you remember this or were around at the time, but Scene used to have a roundup of Cleveland news stories, but always referred to Cleveland as Bucharest. The business community, politicians and the local media used to overlap so much that it was like an eastern bloc city with central decision-making. Decisions would be celebrated in the media, whether or not they were popular or good for the city.
It seems like we have the first mayor in decades who cares about people who live in the city rather than trying to get suburbanites to come downtown and spend money. It's probably too late to make a difference, but I hope it gets better.
FWIW it seems like Columbus is on the precipice of big changes but it is still yet to be seen how things will go. There are a lot of urbanist friendly initiatives underway (BRT ballot measure this fall, major zoning code changes, a major bike plan being developed) however nothing is set in stone. The next year or so will determine a lot about where the city will go.
As a Columbusite I personally have no where else to compare the city to in a real way because though I travel for work I’ve never really lived anywhere else. I feel like the environment here has led to my own personal business success, as well as that of my husband but it’s hard to say if things would have been different somewhere else.
FWIW I was feeling all warm and fuzzy about Columbus then I ate at Old Bag of Nails 🤮 in Hilliard last night and 😒. People in this city liking that restaurant so much is inexplicable. It is so bland and basic 😭
If it means anything, while I don't comment much, I have always been a fan of your writing, and deeply care about the issues you care about-transportation, and urban living issues generally. I also really enjoy your personal posts, they help keep me connected to Cleveland, or other cities I've lived in, like Columbus.
And for this post, I don't know if you remember this or were around at the time, but Scene used to have a roundup of Cleveland news stories, but always referred to Cleveland as Bucharest. The business community, politicians and the local media used to overlap so much that it was like an eastern bloc city with central decision-making. Decisions would be celebrated in the media, whether or not they were popular or good for the city.
It seems like we have the first mayor in decades who cares about people who live in the city rather than trying to get suburbanites to come downtown and spend money. It's probably too late to make a difference, but I hope it gets better.
Re: your writing, I personally enjoy your perspective and would love to see more!
FWIW it seems like Columbus is on the precipice of big changes but it is still yet to be seen how things will go. There are a lot of urbanist friendly initiatives underway (BRT ballot measure this fall, major zoning code changes, a major bike plan being developed) however nothing is set in stone. The next year or so will determine a lot about where the city will go.
As a Columbusite I personally have no where else to compare the city to in a real way because though I travel for work I’ve never really lived anywhere else. I feel like the environment here has led to my own personal business success, as well as that of my husband but it’s hard to say if things would have been different somewhere else.
FWIW I was feeling all warm and fuzzy about Columbus then I ate at Old Bag of Nails 🤮 in Hilliard last night and 😒. People in this city liking that restaurant so much is inexplicable. It is so bland and basic 😭