Lights Out for Chinese LED Plant in Cleveland
Cleveland at dusk, where the lighting is not yet as green as the mayor would like it to be. (Courtesy files.nyu.edu)
Marketplace had a downright enlightening segment the other day about the potential and peril of using sustainability as a tool for economic development. New York and Chicago have been doing this with some success, and now Cleveland’s mayor wants in on the act. But instead of simply promoting sustainability through tax credits, development bonuses, and mandates, Frank Jackson took a clever approach, saying whomever built a LED plant in the depressed Rust Belt city would get the contract to outfit it with all its civic lighting needs. It was a brilliantly shrewd move, until it all fell apart. Listen in to find out what happened.
Didya Hear the One About Pitetsbkrrh?
Ask anyone from Pittsburgh (present company included) what the blinking light atop the Grant Building is, and they’ll quickly respond, “Easy! It spells out Pittsburgh in morse code.” Well, not exactly. Turns out a local grad student who also happens to be a ham radio operator was up on Mount Washington for the annual 4th of July fireworks (of which we have the best, courtesy the great Zambelli family). While he waited for the lights to go off, he was watching the red flashing light atop the Grant Building–the city’s first skyscraper when it was completed in 1929 and a wonderful art deco achievement by Henry Hornbostel–when he noticed something that didn’t belong. Read More
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