MayDay

Two pics today - testing out a new toy (wide-angle lens):

In case people think I'm exaggerating - those dark areas that aren't snow-covered? Black ice - sorry, but this is unacceptable and if people aren't grumbling enough about ECP, this just gives them a lot more ammo:

MTS, what they're saying is that for visitors to WSM who DRIVE and use the parking lot (especially on amateur days aka Saturday) they tend to park, walk into the market - get what they're after and go back to their cars without stepping outside of the market itself.

^^^I have to agree with both opinions - I think re-tenanting Tower City with entirely outlet stores would cheapen the atmosphere even further. However, I think if they had a balance of "better" outlet stores (yes, such things exist) alongside a mix of mainstream stores, that would be something that could work. It would also be more of a resource for people to patronize everyday. As much as I'd love to see Barneys, Varvatos, etc. - besides MTS, who on this forum routinely drops $200+ for a pair of jeans, or $500 on a pair of shoes with enough *frequency* that that level of high-end shopping in Tower City would be sustainable? I'm not saying that such people don't exist, but I'll go so far as to say they don't exist in Cleveland in enough numbers to make it worthwhile for the luxury retailers.

"New and unique"... :roll: How about retaining (oops!) or re-attracting stores that most people with a modest amount of disposable income would actually patronize? I mean, sure - I suppose I could go get an airbrushed T-shirt, some "kicks" for that day I decide I can "be a witness", or hell - maybe some bling for my cellphone, but christ almighty - most typical *and* atypical shopping malls manage to have a tenant mix that includes a shop or two where I might actually be willing to spend a little cash. Get it together! :whip:

I believe the onus is on the building owners and the lesser-informed may think that since they pay into DCA that they no longer need to do snow removal.

Hmm, normally I don't know that our forum policy allows for petitions like this - but if this petition is successful, I have one less reason to go to Cracker Park (and that would mean a Trader Joes within 5 minutes of my house!). So I say it stays! :-) And welcome to the forum!

And folks - let's take a moment to breathe and THINK before we post. If you have something off-topic or stupid to say:

"Does anyone have any info on HarbourView or Coronet/Mayfair apts??" Well a friend of a friend of a friend used to live in the Harbourview and I don't recall complaints. It's not the newest or the most attractive on the exterior (it looks like a Florida Days Inn, but again - if you live *in* it, you don't have to look *at* it) but the location is great - across the street from a metropark entrance, just away enough but in stumbling distance of Lakewood's "west end" bars and restaurants (anything from college-ish to high-end dining), and also in walking distance to Rocky River's small but quaint historic district (and Heinens grocery store). You're also in walking distance of the gorgeous residential areas north of Clifton - if you like to go for jogs or walks in areas of historic mansions, it's one of the best in the area. Location-wise it gets a yes vote from me - as far as the building itself, I only know it has a heated pool and again - it might be dated but that depends on your tastes. One thing is for sure, get a unit on the west side of the building, which would give you a view of the Rocky River valley and metroparks. Also - note that this is located on the western end of Lakewood (aka the polar opposite of the Red Line station at West 117th). You still might have options for public transit but your travel time to work might be a little longer by 10 minutes.

What you call boring, I call sane. Any noise was my noise, any mess was my mess, and any drama - well, that just wasn't in the equation. Sure there were times where I'd end up watching a movie or two on my own if all my friends were busy or out of town, but for the most part I loved it. I'm just fortunate that my partner and I are very compatible as far as living habits and for the few times we aren't, we have a big house ;-)

I thought it was great to have that time off school but I was small for my age (I was 4'9" in my junior year of high school so imagine how small I was at 6 years old) so everyone thought it would be fun to throw each other into snowdrifts. Guess who got sized up as "light and easy to throw" :x

Try getting information from locally-based architecture firms for a web site like mine. Pelli, RTKL, HOK, Gehry - all completely happy to provide me information (and lots of it) for buildings on my site over the years. Sure, my site's a small-time amateur operation that's not going to do much for them, and they could easily have junk-mailed my emails, but they didn't. That's a lot more than I can say for the Cleveland firms I contacted. Well, one did reply but it was an accusatory "well, why would you want that kind of information?!?". I'd love to get more for Cleveland-firm designed buildings on my site but apparently they can't be bothered. :?

"This site is a support group for urban nerds. I know I can't be the only one who gets blank stares when ranting about urban development in the real world!" The first forumer I met was Paul_In_Cleveland - I actually him met long before this site existed. He was running the "Downtown Cleveland Building Projects" site and we had emailed each other about construction updates, etc. Since we both worked downtown, we eventually met for lunch and it was so cool - we were chatting about stuff that our respective S.O.s and friends would just be like "uhh, that's nice... (dork)". We realized that we weren't alone in taking a different route home so we could see a certain building going up, or taking a different way so we'd get to see our preferred view of the skyline. Then ColDayMan was visiting Cleveland and it all went downhill from there... ;-) Seriously though - I love this (and the skyscraperpage.com) forum because I get to gab about architecture, cities, planning, whatever and my partner is supportive because he doesn't have to endure my blathering! Of course, the forum meets are basically a gathering of a bunch of like-minded nutjobs - we'll need to have another one soon!

Just a suggestion - I know that this may not even be RTA's domain but the partially-closed sidewalks and particularly the crosswalks along Euclid between Public Square and East 6th could REALLY use more salt/ice removal. I doubt that the contractors can be bothered to do it, but it would really go a long way in making some goodwill. It's bad enough construction has re-routed people, but to allow that re-route to be treacherous as well? Businesses and clients are being inconvenienced, so at the very least I think they'd applaud an effort to make the detours as accessible as possible. As it is, there are patches of ice all over the intersection of East 4th and Euclid, and the sidewalks on the south side of the street are only cleared wide enough for ONE person - not in each direction, ONE person at a time in ONE direction. A little detail, but a big huge pain in the @ss that wouldn't and shouldn't take much to fix. Again, I (and plenty of people on this forum) know that the end results will be worth it, but I can't say the same for the thousands of people who only see the ECP's construction as a detriment.

"Freeport, a somewhat less attractive destination" Uhh... maybe some parts of Freeport but if *this* is "less attractive", I'll take it any day!

MTS, put a sock in it. :roll: It's not a misconception - you're the one who doesn't spend five days a week in the CBD. rockandroller already said that in the big picture, ECP is great but in the meantime, there are parts that are a royal PITA. Those of us who spend more time here are a little more qualified to comment on it. Getting back on topic - hayzell, if you can give us an approximate idea (no specific address, just general area is fine) of where you're going to be in Lakewood, that might help us give you a better idea. If you can get to the Red Line station at West 117th (Lakewood has a Community Circulator that stops there), that's basically a straight-shot past downtown to the University Circle/Cedar station, where Cleveland Clinic runs shuttle busses to/from. My rough guess would be to allow 20-25 minutes from the West 117th station for the Rapid ride, and another 5-10 depending on catching the Clinic shuttle. There's also the option of taking the 55 that runs along Clifton Blvd. to downtown (or the 75X that runs up Berea Road to West 117th), and then transferring to either the 6 (somewhat slow local bus line), or the 9X (faster express bus line). Again, depending on where in Lakewood you get on, it could be anywhere from 20 minutes to 10 minutes to downtown. The 9X usually gets me from downtown to the Clinic in about 15-20 minutes, the 6 takes about 20-30 minutes. As everyone has said, once the Euclid Corridor (Silver Line) bus rapid-transit is up and running, that will make the trip from downtown to the Clinic MUCH faster. And - you might consider taking the Rapid to downtown and transferring at Tower City to the Silver Line. It probably sounds like a lot of "six of one, a half-dozen of the other", but I just wanted to give you a rundown of some options you have.

MTS, it's an opinion. And there have been times where I'm inclined to agree with rockandroller's assessment, even though I'm well aware that the end result will be great.

Indies - and yes, I absolutely love them. The best is when the wife goes into a tirade - I swear she's channeling the Swedish Chef from the Muppets! :laugh:

^Like I said, I really think the history and proximity with Johnnys plays into that. Johnnys, along with Blue Point, XO, etc. have been the places for a "power lunch" or "special occasion" and it's probably not on Crop's immediate agenda to distance themselves from quality institutions. Just so you know - I think a lot of people on the forum prefer locally-owned spots to places like Brio so you may be preaching to the choir :-). Although I think you might be onto something - we've had forum meets and evening outings - maybe we could try to get some people together for lunch every now and then?

I think they might want to plug their price point a little louder. Looking at their menu, they look to be on par with Metropolitan but for the longest time, that space was always higher-end dining. I imagine people may still think it's as pricey as Johnnys Bistro so they may only consider it for "special occasions".

I'd say you have your priorities straight (aka I know the feeling - see below):

If that discount applies to the Bier Markt as well, sign me up yesterday! :drunk:

Master - I guess FairlaMontCopley has some nice areas as far as natural beauty but I find nothing exciting about corporate office parks - especially their architecture. Now Sand Run is absolutely gorgeous, as are the homes on Merriman and the Woods (I've been to a few parties in that 'hood - something tells me we might know some of the same people), and even the more modest homes as you get over by Castle Boulevard. I just don't find the area around Weathervane (the heart of "the Valley") to be particularly interesting aside from the setting. Sure, the hills around it are great but the built environment aside from the small cluster by Weathervane Theatre is mostly car-centric strip plazas and run-of-the-mill apartments and a patch of blah-zay ranch homes (i.e. Barcelona Drive, etc.). Another big reason there aren't a lot of shots of neighborhoods is that many photographers (myself included) tend to get the "evil eye" for snapping pics of private residences. Btw, have you checked out the photos in the city-specific sections in the main site? I ask because there are a few shots like those you've requested. Apologies to inkaelin for piggybacking on his thread :-)

Welcome to the forum! There are two places I can think of: The closest to Lakewood would be Inn The Doghouse on Berea Road: http://innthedoghouse.com. Not as close is Mutt Hutt in Tremont: http://www.themutthutt.com/ As with anything - especially involving a loved one (yes, I consider dogs "loved ones"), do your homework and don't be afraid to ask questions, get referrals, etc.

Stopped in the Market Cafe in Amtrust (Ohio Savings) Plaza on East 9th. Highly recommended - great, light-filled space with multiple seating options from communal "high tops" to bar seating to regular dining. Approximately 5-ish different stations offering pretty much everything under the sun - I grabbed a slice of philly/steak pizza (pretty good) and an order of chickpea salad with tomato, artichoke, and basil (deeee-fricking-lish!). One concern would be the ventilation - with all the food being prepped in the space, had I stayed in my coat would have smelled like my lunch. Only complaint is the clientele: the herds of f#ckingly oblivious lower management types who would stand in the middle of a walkway ensuring no one could escape, or they'd try to walk in one direction with their head completely turned in the other all the while carrying a tray of food they obviously weren't too attached to. Yeah folks, I'm just another person in the world - please let me get out of your way and please don't chuck your soup on me - that's all I ask :-)