From today's Blah:
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080810/NEWS16/332263...
Nice dreams, but with the gang we've got at the helm, it'll never happen. That's because to make this happen, somebody's gotta put Toledo before their own personal issues, and that's just not in the cards.
From the story "Toledo officials have not succeeded in revitalizing downtown, but they commissioned many studies on the topic."
What a riot!! How many topics could that cover if we just took out two words and left a blank to fill in, a la - 'Toledo officials have not succeeded in _________________, but they commissioned many studies on the topic.
More - A lack of coordination
Despite the lofty expectations outlined in the Toledo 20/20 Comprehensive Plan, a full-fledged vision for the city in the year 2020 compiled eight years ago, Mr. Ujvagi said a lack of coordination seems to be tripping up progress.
“The pieces just aren’t fitting together,” he said. “You look at City Council and the county commissioners and the infighting that continues to occur. There doesn’t seem to be a mechanism to come to a consensus.”
Yet another study — the 2004 Economic Development and Innovation Plan paid for by the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority — confirmed Mr. Ujvagi’s view about lack of downtown progress.
The study concluded there was a “lack of economic development planning and priority setting” and there were “many agencies but unclear roles.” The latter assessment, the plan determined, resulted in “inefficiency and underperformance” for Toledo.
Ya THINK???
“[Cities] should have streamlined procedures for development they decide they do want,” said Jonathan Levine, chairman of the University of Michigan’s urban planning school. “Anything the city can do, they do for developers because it costs them when there are delays.”
To encourage growth, many developers argue they must receive assistance from the city. This help can come first in the form of building codes.
But in THIS city, the mayoron thinks he needs to be part in every iota of a business plan, and it's HIS decisions that need to be catered to, developers be damned. Shit - If I were of a mind to buy a building a put a business in a downtown area, Toledo's the LAST place I'd look at - Who wants an idiot mayoron with a success ratio of 0:Umpteen telling you what YOU need to do!
All in all, it's a good article. Until Carty and a majority of puppet council are gone (in this city, "at large" = bought and paid for), it will never happen.
A Casino would really boost downtown Toledo. But, because Toledo is full of so many zealous religious fanatics, it will never happen. Port Side would be a great place to have a Casino.
Could you just imagine the fun the local politicos would have legislating and taxing a casino? I am sure they could come up with some dandy rules about union contractors, quotas on whom had to be hired and on and on and on. Then would come the way to squeeze every last cent from the casino owners. Oh what fun. I cannot imagine anyone wanting to put up with all that crap.
For one reason: It has windows.
Successful casinos go to great lenghts to remove all natural light from their casino floors because it reminds gamblers of the time. That's also the reason clocks are absent in casinos. They want you to lose track of time and continue to gamble.
That's why Portside's greatest asset, its sweeping vistas of the Maumee River, makes it unsuitable for use as a casino. To block most of the light, it would require blocking most of the windows. At that point, it would make more sense to demolish the building and build a more energy efficient casino building. Portside was a dumb idea from the beginning and if we're lucky it will die an early death at the hands of a wrecking ball.
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"Show me a man who lives alone and has a perpetually dirty kitchen, and
five times out of nine I'll show you an exceptional man." -Charles
Bukowski
I haven't decided whether I'd be for or against a casino, but I wouldn't worry about unions squeezing the casinos too awfully much...
With the ties to organized crime that have traditionally been associated with both unions AND casinos, I'm sure between them, they'd be able to hammer out an equitable agreement...
http://www.businessknowhow.com/growth/soprano.htm
Remember this Toledo Blabe editorial chastizing the Free Masons for moving out of Downtown?
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070619/OPINION02/706...
Read the editorial and notice THIS STATEMENT MADE BY THE BLADE.
"Many Toledoans will recall that the Masons left their downtown temple at Michigan and Adams streets and opened a new Masonic complex in 1969 on Heatherdowns Boulevard, a complex that included a theater initially known as the Masonic Auditorium.
It was a move opposed by this newspaper as far back as 1965, when we lamented what amounted to a selfish sabotage of community efforts to rejuvenate downtown Toledo."
In other words, the local "leadership" has been trying to "rejuvenate" downtown SINCE 1965.
After 43 years of failed attempts to "rejuvenate" downtown Toledo, it's time to admit defeat and shoot that horse.
If the politicos who have been in charge of Toledo for 43 years have failed and failed and failed for 43 years to "rejuvenate" the city, and if the good voters of Toledo keep voting in the same people who have failed and failed and failed for 43 years, how can you expect a different result than the one you already have?