h1. Moronic opposition to Promedica's plans to build an HQ in downtown Toledo --(my jan 6, 2015 toledotalk.com comment)-- toledoramblingman "wrote":http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/186388#186396 bq. _"Majority of *+other+ downtown workers* around the U.S. do not expect parking right in front of their building."_ Which is why it's silly to compare Toledo to other cities, in my opinion. Residents in this area want to park close to their destinations. That's life around here. That mindset won't change. From the Jan 4, 2015 Kushma "opinion":http://www.toledoblade.com/DavidKushma/2015/01/04/ProMedica-and-Promenade-Park-Let-s-have-both.html q. ProMedica executives insist that building the garage on that site is an essential element of the development. They cite what they call the need to *ensure the +safety+ of the company’s employees,* some of whom work at night. q.. From that same Kushma piece, Senior U.S. District Judge James Carr expressed a moronic viewpoint: q. He dismisses the safety concerns ProMedica expresses as a “sham and pretext ... *I often attend events* downtown at nighttime, park on the street, and have never felt threatened or unsafe in any way.” q.. Attending a few or even several events downtown is not even close to the same thing as going to work at the same time each day, five days a week, 45 to 50 weeks per year. Predators rely on patterns of behavior. Hopefully, the judge is smart enough to realize that a person walking alone presents a different target compared to someone walking among dozens or hundreds of people at an event. The alleged safety issues might be a misplaced concern to some, but if many of these employees are coming from locations outside Toledo, then it's obviously an important issue to enough people. I don't see Promedica changing their plans about parking. Has anyone on city council "called Promedica a terrorist":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/953#1853 yet? Maybe the opponents to Promedica's plans should have started a business and grew it to thousands of employees, and then they could have obtained the clout to do what they want on that land. Right or wrong, that's business. It might be easier and cheaper for Promedica to buy a soybean field in northern Wood County or western Lucas County and build their own campus-style setup with green space, a pond, walking trails, etc. On their campus, they could probably operate their own small stores and eateries to satisfy their employees. hr. --(my additional proposed comment not posted. i don't care enough about the issue, i guess.)-- bq. _"Several times this past *Summer.*"_ Is that the same as over 200 times throughout the year for an employee at that location? Will you be at Promenade Park tonight around 7:00 p.m. when it's dark with our temp around 10 degrees and the wind chill factor below zero? And then will you pretend to walk to wherever opponents want Promedica employees to park? And will you do it tomorrow morning with our temps in the single digits and wind chills below zero? Or Thursday morning when it's even colder? Here's the Toledo forecast: Last Update: Jan 6, 2015 12:19 pm *This Afternoon:* A slight chance of snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 15. Wind chill values as low as -2. West wind 13 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. *Tonight:* A chance of snow showers, mainly after 8pm. Cloudy, with a low around 5. Wind chill values as low as -11. West wind 15 to 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. *Wednesday:* A chance of flurries. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 11. Wind chill values as low as -13. Northwest wind 14 to 16 mph. *Wednesday Night:* A chance of flurries before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with a *low around -5.* Wind chill values as low as -23. West wind 9 to 13 mph. *Thursday:* A chance of flurries. Partly sunny and cold, with a high near 9. Southwest wind around 17 mph. *Thursday Night:* A chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 7. Chance of precipitation is 50%. *Friday:* Mostly cloudy, with a high near 15. br. It's not horrible weather, but it's probable that many people prefer to limit their exposure to it. The opponents to Promedica's parking plan should organize a walk to the steamplant each morning this week between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. and then from the steamplant to wherever between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. Mix it up. Pretend-walk with a slight limp because you slipped on the ice, so you're slightly hobbled. hr. my second posted comment: Excerpts from a Jan 6, 2015 Tom Troy "blog post":http://toledoblade.typepad.com/bladeslices/2015/01/ludeman-promedica-parking-garage-largely-on-site-of-old-fed-buidling.html q. Councilman Rob Ludeman said he intends to argue that the proposed parking garage will occupy much the same space that the former Federal Building occupied, before that building was demolished in 2001, so little permanent park land will be lost. As a veteran of council around 2000 under a previous attempt to develop the former Toledo Edison Steam Plant, Ludeman recalled that qualms about putting parking on the site was part of the reason developer Randy Alexander's plan for the Steam Plant fizzled out. Here's a Blade picture from 2000 showing Randy Alexander (at left) presenting his plans to members of council at the time. (That white rectangle at the top left of the drawing was where Alexander wanted to put a surface parking lot.) !http://toledoblade.typepad.com/.a/6a01348623092e970c01b7c72f9552970b-800wi! q.. br. Another drawing. I wonder if the city has kept all the artistic renderings for all the proposed Toledo development projects since 2000. It would be enough for an exhibit. br. Also from Troy's blog post: q. When Toledo City Council members convene *today in a 1 p.m.* committee meeting to discuss a proposed development deal with ProMedica for the Steam Plant ... q.. Meeting updates found at https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552530233904361472 - "plan to build a garage in Promenade Park downtown drawn dozens of people on both sides of issue" !https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6r7RcFIQAEf8Cs.jpg 300x225! "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552537427848749056 - "ProMedicaHealth's Whitney said company looked at suburbs for new HQ but the downtown is more advantageous; Now saying could be 1,000 jobs" "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552537844963885056 - "ProMedicaHealth's Whitney said company's move downtown Toledo would mean $39.5 million new payroll for the city of Toledo" "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552539676087963649 - "ProMedicaHealth sticking to its plan on parking. Whitney says there is not enough existing parking; wants to preserve and enhance park" "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552543615101468673 - "ProMedicaHealth intends its project to be done with union trades." "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552543988683919362 - "Councilman Steel says he was surprised about height @ProMedicaHealth wants for proposed parking garage in Promenade Park. (Up to 6 stories)" "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552546876512563202 - "The @ProMedicaHealth parking garage would take 14% of Promenade Park and would include shops and an outdoor movie screen, says Ms. Whitney" "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552547672788586497 - "Larry Sykes wants the bottom line: how much will deal with @ProMedicaHealth cost city? he asked. How will city deal with food trucks, docks?" (Wait a minute. Sykes asked about food trucks.??? Hello?) "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552547943753211904 - "@city_of_toledo Councilman Rob Ludeman says @ProMedicaHealth is on right track and called its project "grand slam for city of Toledo." " "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552551185803411456 - "@lindsaymwebb said she supports @ProMedicaHealth plan to move downtown, build garage" "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552551516780109826 - "Councilwoman @lindsaymwebb infers she understands @ProMedicaHealth concern. She didnt feel safe walking at night downtown / 2 small children" hr. additional tweets by Ignazio "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552560232157937664 - " "What's missing in downtown is not green space. What's missing in downtown is investment," said Steve Serchuk, who works in real estate." "#":https://twitter.com/IgnazioMessina/status/552561905609756673 - "Elizabeth Weber who lives downtown said it already looks like a big parking lot and ProMedica's plan would make it less welcoming."