I totally agree... we have two homes with sidewalks to shovel, but you bet we do it. I even throw our one shovel into the back of our car and drive over to house #2 to get it done. 

At one house have our neighbors, a father and son, who walk the sidewalks every morning at 6 am on their way home from work. At the other it is a later middle aged lady who walks everyday to take care of her elderly parents down the street. I would feel terrible guilt if anything happened to them - they fell, or they were hit by a car walking in the street.

I mean - how hard is it???

Social equity - the Dale Carnegie stuff is great - my father had that book. I'll be the first to say I could use a good reading... but then, some people just BEG for it, don't they???

Cowboy

While I can appreciate your walk through Tremont and your noteable mental survey, please allow me to address your contentions.

1.  PRAISE AND HONEST APPRECIATION -  I believe that I personally would use the word "praiseworthy" - it is commendable that the many business owners took over, purchased property and opened establishments in this community.  However, the key words here are "business owners." 

2.  INDIRECT ATTENTION TO MISTAKES - The issues we have been dealing with for so many years are not just forgetting to take out the garbage or not sweeping in front of the door.  These business owners are breaking laws. 

3.  OUR (MY) OWN MISTAKES - I have no problem with owning my mistakes

4.  ASK QUESTIONS - NOT GIVING ORDERS - We've been asking the same question time and time again - "Why are the high-end business owners allowed to continually skirt the system and get away with being non-compliant and not having to abide by the "Code" the same as the residents in this community?

5.  SAVE FACE - The only thing being ask of these business owners is to respect the rights and quality of life issues of the reisdents (elderly, poor, long-time residents). 

6.  PRAISE EVERY IMPROVEMENT - I don't consider loud noise, blocking intersections, late night whoopin' it up interruptions of working people, elderly, students or others an improvement.  You could build the most beautiful building in the world - but if you destroy or hinder the rights of others - nobody cares about the building.

7.  FINE REPUTATION TO LIVE UP TO - It is not the resident's place to pump up their egos.  Most of these business owners moved into this community for one reason - and that was to make money.  It's up to them to build their reputation and earn the approval of the community.  Many residents have lived in this community for forty, fifty, sixty and some a lot longer.  

8.  FAULTS EASY TO CORRECT - There have been numerous meetings scheduled and all of the business owners have been invited (in writing) to attend - so that we could openly and honestly discuss some of the prevailing concerns.  So far, we've had only one business owners attend.  That would be Tree House owner Tom Leneghan.  Tom has also been the only one who has attempted to help rectify the parking situation.  Owners of Dante's even signed a Good Neighbor Agreement which was incorporated into the variance Resolution, dated May 26, 2009, wherein they agreed to fulfill certain obligations - to date, they have not complied. 

9.  HAPPY ABOUT DOING WHAT WE SUGGEST - We've been suggesting, suggesting and suggesting - and the only thing they have been happy about is continually not obtaining the proper permits, blasting the music too loud, valets blocking the streets to the point that people cannot even get in to the corner store, get to their destination without being held up, having their residential streets over packed with valeted vehicles, patrons continually puking, urinating and getting it on right in front of your window as well as throwing their trash out for the poor old people to have to clean up.  There is absolutly no respect - these idiots don't realize that people have children and the children should not have to hide in the house to avoid such behaviour.

At a meeting last Wednesday, at the Jefferson Library, a group which included the Councilman, Commander Sulzer, Inspector from Building and Housing, Staff from TWDC, Attorney from the City's Law Department, one resident stated that he looked out his window by 806 and observed a young woman (drunk) exit 806 and strattle an orange cone in his driveway and begin humping up and down. 

THE RESPECT, PRAISE AND APPRECIATION GOES BOTH WAYS.  I would bet any amount of money that if it was your home, your family or you that was in need of emergency services that could save your life, you would not want the streets to be blocked and you would want those services as soon as possible. 

Believe it or not, most of the business owners do not live in Tremont and when they go the the Zoning Board, not only do they make promises under oath that they don't keep, but they ask for variances that the Suburbs won't even allow on the table for discussion - let alone allow them to do. 

The treatment by code enforcers that are brow beating residential homeowners, dragging them into court, condemning their properties while totally turning a blind eye to the degree of non-conformance in the business community borderlines on discrimination.

The only way they consider us good neighbors - is if we look the other way.  You thank someone for doing something nice for you - not for doing something to benefit themselves. 

If you live surrounded by abandoned houses do you still need to shovel?

The law of the streets in East Cleveland (and most of Cleveland, it seems) is when it snows people will walk, ride bicycles, push baby strollers, etc., in the street, even on Euclid Avenue in a snowstorm... even if the sidewalk is cleared... even if it is sunny for two days and most sidewalks are dry... you should see when the schools let out around here... do not  try to drive down Terrace past Kirk and Shaw around 3... it is a pedestrian byway, at that time, filled with kids.

And going up and down the Superior Hill... pedestrians often take up more room than cars, and this is six lanes... and I suppose Lakeview Cemetery should shovel the whole way there (may we ticket by the foot of shoveled sidewalk, as they would bring in a mint).

People in cars need to be very careful of people in the streets in the winter in the city... share the road with EVERYONE... or, perhaps, stay on freeways.

Bigger problem - irresponsible businesses and poor police performance in University Circle - our $ billion Euclid Avenue was not designed to accommodate delivery trucks so they just stop and park on Euclid wherever and whenever they want... UPS.. beer deliveries... people waiting for people... and one of the busiest roads in America goes to single-lane... and the cars back up for blocks. There are lots of government and authority workers in University Circle and they don't seem to do anything about this problem - ticket all the beer trucks (LaRose was the offender blocking Euclid in front of the gas station across from the University Circle Police Station at 10:45 AM, today)... and ticket UPS... they were blocking a lane in each direction directly across from each other at Euclid and Mayfield at 1 PM today... that will bring in revenue from people who deserve to be ticketed!

Disrupt IT

Snow removal can be a thankless task at times.  Consider the neighbors that get out and shovel their walkways and driveway aprons only to have the city plow trucks come along two or three days later and pile the snow up against the driveway.  Does the city snow removal crew not realize that they are pushing snow back in front of driveways that people just shoveled?  There has to be a better way for the city to manage the snow removal on residential streets. 

are you out of your mind???????

you actually think tHAt will induce them to "be a good neighbor"????

wOw. you have a LOT to learn. Tremont business owners, by and large (there aRE a few exceptions) have a snide, crass opinion of the residents - UNless the resident drives a fancy pants car and has the potential to dump green at their establishment...

Is tHAt where you were going with the snow shoveling issue???

WOW.

you are out of touch with reality....

I just responded because it was preferable to responding to the blog entry with the picture of a dog with red paint dumped on it's head.... jeez!

Twain, Dylan, and Gabor are/were great sales people - so were Jesus and Gandhi.

Part of industrializing people was to make them get along under alien conditions - crowded polluted industrial cities, factories, office buildings in alien places far from "home" - no more home for anyone - moving all people to prisons, so to speak. To make people function as aliens in prison, industrial society developed social programmers, and chemicals. Dale was an early chosen social programmer for this new world, that has become quite old.

I certainly understand there are lots of tools for programming people... which program was Jim Jones on... which program did he use on others?

What program does the US Military use in Afghanistan... on soldiers... on civilians... on US citizens?

My wife used the Hypnobirth program to have a baby without drugs - do unto your baby as you would have others do unto you... we learned that from a CD and it was very useful.

It is hard to gain appreciation for what is right, when you are busy making-up excuses for what is wrong.

What program will we use to help the people of Haiti make friends and influence people?

They'll never appreciate Voodoo Economics, so I suggest AIRLIFTS to Cleveland... get them the hell out of hell.

NONE OF US MAY COME CLOSE TO WALKING IN THOSE SHOES.

Disrupt IT

Thanks for providing this - it is closest to the word of god, for citizens of real NEO.

Disrupt IT

I find it interesting that the Supreme Court's decisions found a way for people to stay on the couch and justify it.

In months when there is no snow, Police get all uppity and litigious about kids walking in the street. It is a beacon for cops - a young black male walking in the street. In winter, they are forced to do so and they are not alone. Elders and parents with strollers, too, are forced to walk in the street by neighbors who don't shovel. Dog walkers are in the street.

It is courteous to clear the walks. That's probably why businesses do it. But since the Bankmans, everyone has an excuse to avoid the exercise and the courtesy.

In Shaker Heights:

Residents are responsible for clearing driveways and sidewalks. (A list of snow plow contractors who have obtained permits is available online.)

When crews are busy with snow removal, brush collection is maintained as weather permits only.

The City plows sidewalks when a snowfall is 6” and at the discretion of the Administration when circumstances warrant (i.e., consistent snowfall which accumulates to 6” or more after several different snow occurrences).

City sidewalk plowing is conducted in the following order:

• Parts of neighborhoods leading to the schools
• Main arteries
• Side streets

So if the city plows your previously unshoveled sidewalk, is it you or the city that is liable if someone slips? "everyone is assumed to appreciate the risks associated with natural accumulations of ice and snow and, therefore, everyone is responsible to protect himself or herself." Indeed. And everyone should know that there may be ice under that light coating of snow if there has been a melt or even if there hasn't. Yes, indeed the roads where cars have driven over snow are slippery and may have ice underneath a salty, slushy mix.

Would it be courteous for First Energy to work to reduce mercury emissions for their operations? Yes. Do they HAVE to do it? Maybe not. Would it be courteous for Cleveland Clinic to adaptively reuse historic buildings instead of tearing them down? Yes. Do they HAVE to do it? No. Should we have been allowed to vote on a quarter cent sales tax increase? Probably. But did the BOCC HAVE to put it on the ballot? No. Are courts always right? Is the recent Federal Supreme Court decision to allow us to become a corporatacracy, right?

Would you be happy to snowshoe to get to retailers and restaurants? You might find this a deterrent. What about plowing? Should cities follow the shovel rule and say, "Fuck it, people should know that they can be killed or injured driving in snow. If we clear the streets, we might get sued - let it go."? No. But then in Ohio, cars rule. In this economy and in many areas, fewer people have cars. We clear a way for the cars. I guess maybe pedestrians are just second class citizens or maybe we are expected to have snowshoes just as cars are expected to have snow tires.

On my street, I was, for a long, time the only person who shoveled. Now almost all the neighbors shovel. We actually see each other in winter. Of course, the empty homes' walk remain unshoveled. It makes sense to me that the city could put people to work to clear those walks by enforcing their ordinance. But they don't because of the Ohio Supreme Court's rulings. They don't even enforce that ordinance when it drives students to walk in busy roadways to get to school. The empty homes on my street are the places that cause folks to have to enter the street. If the city required those California owners to pay a service company or a neighborhood kid to keep walkways clear, someone else would have a job.

My dad was shoveling into his 60s, and that was not smart. He should walk, but not shovel.

If you notice today the snow is melting. I believe we should disrupt nature, as little as possible in every way, including moving and dumping chemicals on snow as little as possible... play in it, but don't mess with it...

Don't waste carbon on it - don't salt our environment because of it, and don't be a fool and die over it.

If you come to 1894 Roxbury, don't bother the neighbors, wear weather appropriate attire, be responsible for yourself, and beware of the DOG.

Businesses should reduce their snow footprint, just as they should reduce their carbon footprints, and if we are going to waste carbon clearing pathways for vehicles to move with greater ease through the snow, the vehicles damn well better share the pathways with humans.

The best strategy for Cleveland to address the issue of snow and carbon is to encourage distant learning and telecommuting - if it snows too much to drive safely then people should be able to work and learn at home, and not go out at all.

Use Genersl Systems Theory to address these matters:

The systems view was based on several fundamental ideas. First, all phenomena can be viewed as a web of relationships among elements, or a system. Second, all systems, whether electrical, biological, or social, have common patterns, behaviors, and properties that can be understood and used to develop greater insight into the behavior of complex phenomena and to move closer toward a unity of science. System philosophy, methodology and application are complementary to this science [2]. By 1956, the Society for General Systems Research was established, renamed the International Society for Systems Science in 1988. The Cold War affected the research project for systems theory in ways that sorely disappointed many of the seminal theorists. Some began to recognize theories defined in association with systems theory had deviated from the initial General Systems Theory (GST) view[14]. The economist Kenneth Boulding, an early researcher in systems theory, had concerns over the manipulation of systems concepts. Boulding concluded from the effects of the Cold War that abuses of power always prove consequential and that systems theory might address such issues [15]. Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a renewed interest in systems theory with efforts to strengthen an ethical view.

General systems research and systems inquiry

Many early systems theorists aimed at finding a general systems theory that could explain all systems in all fields of science. The term goes back to Bertalanffy's book titled "General System theory: Foundations, Development, Applications" from 1968[6]. Von Bertalanffy tells that he developed the "allgemeine Systemtheorie" since 1937 in talks and since 1946 with publications.[16]

Von Bertalanffy's objective was to bring together under one heading the organismic science that he had observed in his work as a biologist. His desire was to use the word "system" to describe those principles which are common to systems in general. In GST, he writes:

...there exist models, principles, and laws that apply to generalized systems or their subclasses, irrespective of their particular kind, the nature of their component elements, and the relationships or "forces" between them. It seems legitimate to ask for a theory, not of systems of a more or less special kind, but of universal principles applying to systems in general.

—[17]

Ervin Laszlo [18] in the preface of von Bertalanffy's book Perspectives on General System Theory.. [19]

Thus when von Bertalanffy spoke of Allgemeine Systemtheorie it was consistent with his view that he was proposing a new perspective, a new way of doing science. It was not directly consistent with an interpretation often put on "general system theory", to wit, that it is a (scientific) "theory of general systems." To criticize it as such is to shoot at straw men. Von Bertalanffy opened up something much broader and of much greater significance than a single theory (which, as we now know, can always be falsified and has usually an ephemeral existence): he created a new paradigm for the development of theories.

Ludwig von Bertalanffy outlines systems inquiry into three major domains: Philosophy, the Science, and Technology. In his work with the Primer Group, Béla H. Bánáthy generalized the domains into four integratable domains of systemic inquiry:

These operate in a recursive relationship, he explained. Integrating Philosophy and Theory as Knowledge, and Method and Application as action, Systems Inquiry then is knowledgeable action.[20]

Disrupt IT

You are right.  We did help our neighbors shovel when we were younger.  Not the same neighbors though.  Our children used to go out and shovel with us as did most of the children in the neighborhood; and they all did it for free.  I remember we would all shovel our section of the street too so people would have someplace to park.  The man next door to us shovels with his son and he is teaching his son to help his neighbors.  It warms my heart to see the two of them working together.