The City of Cleveland and the Practice of Sustainability

Did you know that the City of Cleveland has a Sustainability Department now? As of 2005. The City's website lays out a mission statement. It includes things like developing green building and high performance standards for City built and operated buildings; clean fuels for their car fleets; and they claim to be working on incentives to encourage private developers to focus on sustainability as well. I still believe we are better off with tax abatements for the neighborhoods most in need AND developments that meet transportation and sustainability needs. Just my humble opinion. (photo from City of Cleveland website, depicts wind turbine at the Science Center) Peace Out - 3C

Most Literate Cities Rankings Based on Connecticut Study

Central Connecticut State University did a study on the Most Literate Cities in the United States. Here was the criterion:

1. Booksellers
2. Educational Attainment
3. Internet Resources
4. Library Resources
5. Newspaper Circulation
6. Periodical Publications

These categories were weighed against total populations of cities. First, here is where major Ohio cities ranked:

Cincinnati was ranked 7th
Cleveland was ranked 14th
Columbus was ranked 15th
Toledo was ranked 32nd

Number One was Seattle; Number two was Minneapolis. Boston (with all those fine Universities) was ranked 11th; that surprised me, I expected it to be higher. The same with New York City (ranked 42). Did population affect this?

When you read the details of rankings based solely on 'Internet related issues' - these things were considered:
1. number of library Internet connections
2. Number of commercial and public wireless Internet access points per capita (hmm, maybe this plays into the percieved need The City of Cleveland is trying to fill by providing the wireless access free to the entire City)
3. Number of Internet book orders per capita (does this mean books ordered from Amazon.com or people who READ the books on line?)
4. Percentage of adult population that has read a newspaper on line (only once? or subscribes?)
Here are top ten rankings for the Internet Categories:

1. San Jose, CA


2. Boston, MA


3. Seattle, WA


4. Raleigh, NC


5. Atlanta, GA


6. Oakland, CA


7. Denver, CO


8. Austin, TX


9. San Fransisco, CA


10. Miami, FL

Here are the sources used for the study data:

American Booksellers Assn

Audit Bureau of Circulations

Bay Area Center for Voting Research

Intel Corporation

MediaFinder.com (they search magazine and periodical directories)

Nat'l Ctr For Educational Stats (Public Library statistics)

Scarborough Research USA

US Census Bureau

The Yellow Pages (the Yellow Pages???)

I was almost more interested in where the data came from than the results. And Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo were not rated last :-) Peace Out 3C

The Ohio Hub Plan Economic Impact Study Is Yielding Potential Good News For Our Economy

I want to thank Ed, who consistently provides excellent information for us on The Ohio Hub Plan. The Econ Study is predicting even better news than before, additional train routes, more jobs, permanent and 'initiative building' related, and a cost that seems more than manageable, especially since the results are jobs jobs and more jobs.

The Impact Study press releases will be more detailed and are not ready for prime time yet but soon. In the meantime, please do read the following to find out the snippets of information we already know: Economic Impact is Positive. Peace Out - 3C

** I don't believe in duplicating content and I have two blogs so please check out the link above you will be excited about the news, I think.

High Technology Scorecard for Northeast Ohio: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?

It depends on what measure you use, like anything else related to economics. What got me interested in this story was a news story (television) focused on Keithley Instruments- a computer chip company based here. They interviewed executives with Keithley who said 60% of their venture capital in last year came from out of state --- and they were adamant about the fact that this meant venture capitalists were keen on Northeast Ohio and her ability to grow the high tech sector. Okay, that makes sense to me.

The second part of the story comes from Crains Cleveland Business news, saying that a CSU study showed the glass half empty for the first half of this decade: National high tech growth fell 8% while in Northeast Ohio the figure was 13%. BUT (now back to the glass half full!) salaries in our high tech companies rose 6.5%. And in this article they say they expect continued growth in the industry. Peace Out - 3C

Congressional Bill HR1300 Knocks It Out of the Park!

I want to give a shout out to Ed for his comment on my last post - he referenced HR1300 which energizes me, even at 12:15am. A wealth of information on energy policy recommendations. This next section made me want to cheer out loud:

SEC. 410. CONGRESSIONAL ALTERNATIVE FUEL USE IN VEHICLES.

(a) Findings- The Congress finds that--

(1) Members of Congress should follow their own example of setting forth legislation that encourages the use of alternatively fueled vehicles; (yes, how important is this! do you think Ford can start making hybrid Lincoln Town Cars for them :-)

(2) in 2005, the total cost of automobile leases for Members of Congress surpassed $1,000,000, ( save American taxpayers money? Novel idea!) and a collective switch to alternative fuel vehicles, hybrid vehicles, or vehicles powered by biofuels could potentially save American taxpayers thousands of dollars annually; and

(3) the General Services Administration has already purchased over 68,000 alternative fueled vehicles for the use of Federal customers, more than any other organization in the United States. (Now that is what I'm talking about! Are you cheering yet?)

Okay, so if you go to The Library of Congress website here and where it says 'enter search' change it from 'word' to 'bill' and type in HR1300 - you can read the entire bill. As Ed mentioned, Title V talks about transit issues. It won't be boring, I swear you just might be cheering! Now, how am I going to sleep! - Peace Out - 3C

Third Annual Ohio Rail/Transit Summit March 7th In Columbus

Sometimes one thought leads to another and that is what happened to get me to this post. First, All Aboard Ohio is having their Third Annual Ohio Rail/Transit Summit in Columbus tomorrow. It's a morning chock full of information, judging from the agenda, and an afternoon of lobbying for The Ohio Hub Plan ! If you can attend, it's still not too late to sign up (you can even do it on the website through paypal). If you have followed the news (or just stopped at a gas station today), you know prices are on their way up again. We need improved public transportation and we need the Ohio Hub Initiative.

While I was on All Aboard Ohio's website, I noticed their link to Better World Club. Thus my 'second thought' for this post. Remember the Un Cola (7Up)? Well, Better World touts itself as the auto club to join, as opposed to that triple A one lol. They donate 1% of their revenue (yearly? monthly?) to support of environmental causes. They provide gas purchase discounts and check this out, discounts on purchases of hybrid cars? Okay, I'm signing up for their regular email newsletter called Kicking Asphalt. I can't resist.

How can you not get excited about transportation issues. Peace Out - 3C - The Transportation Geek

Train Song Medley

Free Wireless Internet Connection to Be Provided by City of Cleveland

I think it's great, free wireless. As a matter of fact, a company is doing just that now for the city of San Francisco. All individuals will have to do is supply the router. The story is here.

Makes me think we might actually be on the cutting edge if we are getting it during the same year as a large California city :-) Peace Out - 3C

April 7, 2007 Update:

Read these links to see the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Weblog and the Sun News report by Ken Prendergast that Mayor Jackson's plan to provide the free wireless service City-wide was approved by the Public Utilities Commission and a Council Committee. So far there have not been any 'down sides' noted in putting this plan into action, and the provider who wins the bid to do this is not going to be franchised with the City of Cleveland. Check it out.