Four years ago, I wrote a blog about Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) as the gateway to Northeast Ohio. If... lsg8 http://blog.case.edu/lsg8/ lev.gonick@case.edu

As if the last few rounds of fare hikes and service cuts haven’t already crushed RTA and its riders, the proposed round of service cuts for next April will be absolutely devastating.

It’s not just that some routes are being eliminated or cutback and frequency again reduced. If you look at the anticipated service changes, one key component is that several routes that currently serve as direct links to downtown will become feeder routes for rapid stations. This might be more acceptable in a world in which Cleveland had excellent rapid transit coverage with very frequent headways, but we don’t. This means that what is, for many, a one-seat ride downtown will become a two-seat ride, even during rush-hour. Further, because of the way our rail-system was developed more than a half-century ago, we have a single rapid station serving the entire downtown area (the proposed cuts will finally kill the Waterfront line). If you need to get to CSU?.. Or the Warehouse District?.. Tack on another bus ride or a nice walk.

Both service cuts and rate hikes have been detrimental to RTA’s ridership, and it’s a big reason why we got into this death spiral in the first place. Remember, in fact, that the original “fuel surcharge” was spun by RTA as a temporary solution to high fuel prices, according to this PD article from October, 2008:

RTA officials call the increases a fuel surcharge, imposed because of the rising cost of diesel. These higher fares are expected to continue until September 2009. The surcharge could be eliminated if the cost of diesel drops below $3 a gallon or if additional state money is provided. However, it could go up if fuel costs keep rising.

Diesel prices have been under $3 per gallon since about mid-November 2008.

Every quote from Joe Calabrese seems to emphasis the fact that the agency’s hands are tied, and that cuts and hikes are the only possible means of balancing the budget. We shouldn’t accept this at face value.

Last week I asked why RTA can’t move to a tiered system of fare pricing. Columbus, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and numerous other agencies across the country already use it. Do we have anyone who can put together a fancy financing deal to buy the agency some time, like they’re doing in Chicago? A year or two might be enough time to divert some of the expected casino windfall over to transit service. Even if we can eventually establish a better source of funding or pry some cash from the statehouse, re-expanding service will be difficult to justify because ridership will experience another negative shock and many will ask why we ought to provide funding for a service that nobody uses anymore (many are already asking this question).

If you never use RTA and you’re still reading, you might be thinking, who cares?.. why should I care? Consider these two facts: first, strong cities have strong transit systems. Even under-the-radar cities like Dallas and Houston are fast on pace to have more comprehensive and useful transit service than Cleveland. And second, think about cities you’d like to visit; when you’re there, it’s likely you’ll use public transit to get around. Ed made a great point along these lines on a recent trip to Barcelona. Transit service doesn’t directly impact every person in Cleveland, but it is an integral part of any city.
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The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at the Mandel School for Applied Social Science at Case Western Reserve... lsg8 http://blog.case.edu/lsg8/ lev.gonick@case.edu

It is November in Cleveland. Already.A few short weeks ago the world was brilliant with the blazing hues of maple, ash, and oak trees, transforming the shady side-streets of quiet city neighborhoods into festive pathways of scarlet, gold, and orange. The sky was blue and the air was crisp. The excitement of a new school year and a fresh start held forth the promise that anything was possible.And now it is November.The dark nights come early, and the timid mornings begin late. I look up at the skeletal branches of trees, then down to the brown leaves blowing across the gray asphalt. Gray has become the predominate color of the city; gray streets, gray buildings, gray sky, gray moods. The first quarter report cards have been sent home, and students who couldn't make the grade have been sent packing. The honeymoon of a new beginning is over, reality made her entrance, and the long haul has begun.It has been a mad rush kind of school year for me thus far. In typical CMSD style, my student rosters continue to change, with two new boys added to my eleventh period class just this week. I have a full schedule teaching 6 periods a day, with one brand new course; a digital photography class. After serving more than twenty years in the district, I was not surprised by the fact I would be teaching a class for which the school has no textbooks or equipment. So, for this first year, each student must bring in their own camera, and I stay a jump or two ahead of the kids, designing the projects and curriculum as the class progresses. This elective course is an experimental pilot, and I feel pretty good about the outcomes so far. We've been able to schedule several speakers and a couple of field trips. The staff from the educational non-profit, Facing History and Ourselves, has been extremely helpful in working with us to connect art with social justice issues, history, and photo journalism. The theme we decided on for the school year is "Finding Our Voices; Telling Our Stories". The class is currently working on Life Magazine style photo-essays dealing with neighborhood landmarks and community. I would like to find a public space, or neighborhood gallery, to exhibit the work in the spring. If anyone has a suggestion, please, please, let me know. Contributing to my manic schedule this year are a couple of new responsibilities. I applied for, and was admitted to, the district's new PAR (Peer Assistance and Review) program. Two young teachers, from other buildings in the district, have been assigned as my "mentees". For a semester I will serve as their advisor. My task is to help them with the challenges that face so many teachers when they are beginning their careers. I get to spend time in their classrooms, listening, observing, and answering questions. Together we will talk, set goals, plan, and try new strategies. I wish there was a program like this around when I was a rookie. All of my lessons were learned the hard way. The PAR program is a collaborative effort between the district administration and the Teachers Union to address the issues of teacher quality, retention, and professional development. It is relatively new to Cleveland, and is only being implemented in a few other school districts nationwide. I will share my thoughts on the effectiveness of the program (with respect to confidentiality ) in future posts.

Rochester: City turns to greening, right-sizing strategy to battle vacancy

Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon’s project, “Measuring the Economic Impact of Greenspace” and gtech: “To transition environmental liabilities into community based economic development opportunities”

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In Part I, I told you about the emergence of the first killer app of open fabrication (formerly known as open source digital fabrication).

In Part II, I showed you that it works.

Now, Part III – Cliché Time

The train has left the station. It’s Game On!

Though leaves are falling and that Arctic wind is close…things just get hotter and hotter…

Now, a mere three months removed from Part II, not only am I using my open source 3d printers to print 3d objects, I’m also manufacturing parts to improve these machines and I’m shipping these parts all over the world.

And, there is a good article (with a silly title) and accompanying video on the WSJ homepage today about the resurgence of Making. (If you watch the video intro carefully you’ll even see MakerGear whiz by) From first print to WSJ cameo in three months…it’s happening, happening fast and happening everywhere. Well, except for Cleveland…

Where have all the makers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the makers gone
Long time ago…

Maybe we can start to change this at Cleveland Startup Weekend. I have one more ticket to the event and I’d like to take a local maker. Let’s spark a local resurgence…tap into this wave of innovative energy…Surfs Up, Dude.

Let me know if you want to Hang Five at #SWCLE.

Press play to hear the Hawaii Five-0 theme.

Rick
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Looking forward to Startup Weekend Cleveland Nov. 20-22. It is going to be a fun-can-do-action-packed event. Get your tixs: http://cleveland.startupweekend.org/tickets

Can’t make the whole event? Buy a Sunday Night Demo Ticket for only $20 and join us Sunday evening around 5pm for drinks and final presentations.
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100 day countdown for new national broadband policy framework – what’s it mean to Cleveland and AnyTown, USA? The sand... lsg8 http://blog.case.edu/lsg8/ lev.gonick@case.edu #broadband

Evidently the New County Politics is going to to require the same old iron stomach. As opponents of Issue 6 before the election, Democrats FitzGerald, Rokakis and Jones have no business running for executive, said Parma Heights Mayor Martin Zanotti, who was a leading advocate of the reform measure. “It would be the ultimate hypocrisy to have [...] 0

Somehow this has escaped the Plain Dealer’s notice, but the immediate impact of our new County Charter will be an annual payroll increase of something like $700,000 for the new array of elected and appointed officials. The new Charter, to take effect in 2011, replaces the three County Commissioners with an elected County Executive and eleven [...] 0

You can access the new channel here.

Here’s a glimpse of the Strategic Doing workshop we held at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls on June 10, 2009.

Strategic Doing is a disciplined process that enables loosely joined networks to do complex thinking together quickly. This complex thinking is critical to civic innovation.

Strategic Doing in South Central Idaho from Ed Morrison on Vimeo.

and
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Senator Sherrod Brown Joins Blue Green Alliance to Release Clean Energy Manufacturing Recommendations
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Research from Purdue’s Department of Child Development and Family Studies just released. In the paper, the authors provide a detailed description of how problem gambling impacts families…

[T]he negative financial consequences of problem gambling can occur quickly and can result in extensive financial consequences for other people. The financial damage that a problem gambler can cause in minutes would typically take a substance abuser weeks or even years to create the same financial damage to a family. Hence, the consequences of gambling can be abrupt and devastating…

Although there is limited research on the impact of parental problem gambling on children, the current research findings indicate that children’s lives are profoundly impacted by a parent’s problem gambling behaviors (Darbyshire, Oster, & Carrig, 2001a; Franklin & Thorns, 1989; Jacobs et al., 1989; Lesieur & Rothschild, 1989; Lorenz, 1987).

Summary here: Families Suffer From Problem Gambling

A 2005 study from the University of Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions notes that proximity to casions matters…

Individuals who live within 10 miles of a casino or in a disadvantaged neighborhood are more likely to experience problem gambling, according to new research from the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions (RIA).

Study Ties Risk Of Problem Gambling With Proximity To Casinos

As Robert Goodman writes in The Luck Business:

To move away from the culture of chance and toward policies that promote genuine economic development will mean going beyond the hype of magic bullet cures and focusing instead on incremental, long-term policies. We should seek to better understand and correct the economic circumstances that have forced state and local governments to consider gambling in the first place. This process will require patience, careful analysis, and honest discussion among leaders and their constituents. The reward will be not only the protection of our economy, but a shift from the pathologies of hope to the creation of real hope.

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A major competitive opportunity has been staring Cleveland in the face for at least five years, and no one at the Greater Cleveland Partnership seems to get it.

The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage

Instead, I wonder, how much time and money the GCP has spent over the past five years trying to get a casino in Cleveland?

Now that Cleveland has its casino, I’m sure we will see the Cleveland economy soar right along with Detroit, Louisiana and Mississippi (all of which went all in for casinos as an economic development strategy).
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Q. What city not far from Cleveland has all of the following: A county governed since 1984 by a home rule charter, with an elected County CEO, an Assistant CEO responsible for economic development, and a fifteen-member county legislative branch elected by district? An established downtown casino industry? A downtown waterfront free of industrial and port uses, with [...] 2