Readily acknowledging how outlandish the idea might seem at first, Erie, PA mayor Joe Sinnott held a press conference Tuesday to announce his new and admittedly crazy initiative to develop the citys waterfront and green spaces. I recognize this probably sounds insane, but Ive got this strange feeling there might be some sort of upside to converting our unused and blighted lakefront into a family- and business-friendly hub of the community, Sinnott told reporters, explaining how the counterintuitive and probably a little nuts proposal would replace the decaying and unsightly old manufacturing buildings along Lake Erie with a vibrant retail-entertainment district. But wait, it gets crazier: What if we also took some of the nearby vacant lots andhold on to your hats, guysturned them into public parks? With dog runs? Sounds bonkers, right? But I think it just might work. Though the proposal has received cautious support, city council president Melvin Witherspoon told reporters that the mayors idea to open the refurbished waterfront with a weekend-long street festival was the unhinged ranting of a madman. 