MayDay

"the OC" *cringe* Sorry - something about that nickname chaps my @ss.

"MayDay, a hellish commute? He could still get to 77 from the Eastside." You could still get to 77 from Pittsburgh if you want :roll: :x To get to 77 from Shaker Square, he'd have to go through a few miles of surface streets in less-than-pleasant areas. More to the point - Shaker Square is nothing like Pittsburgh's Southside; it's lovely, it's absolutely charming, but someone looking for the ambiance, amenities and bustling nightlife of Pittsburgh's Southside won't find it in Shaker Square.

Shaker Square for someone who will be working in Independence? Good lord, give it a rest already! 3wood - you'll have to forgive MyTwoSense - he'll recommend Shaker Square to anyone without much regard for their criteria. I happen to adore the Shaker Square area, but even I know that it would make for one hellish commute.

Welcome to Cleveland and the forum! I think that your best bet would be somewhere in the vicinity of West 25th in Ohio City. It's mostly clustered around the West Side Market and offers a similar vibe to Pittsburgh's Southside. It's not one long stretch of activity so there's a little difference. Tremont is slightly quieter and less densely built but it offers the amenities you want - it's also close to 176 (the Jennings Freeway), which puts you near Independence within a 5-10 minute drive.

Since you'll be renting initially, and dependent upon transportation your best bet would be either Little Italy (within the city limits and almost walking distance to the Clinic), or Coventry or Cedar-Fairmount in Cleveland Heights. There are areas of Cleveland Heights that aren't completely crime-free but they're not what anyone would consider dangerous. Oh, and if you happen to know or see Joanna Lumley, tell her I send my undying love ;-)

^Depending on traffic (read: weekend), you can make it from Hudson to downtown Cleveland in 30-35 minutes - especially via the Turnpike's ramp to I-77.

^My take - if I'm in the left/passing lane going way over the limit (when I drive, I'm usually 5-8mph over and that's pushing it) and someone's on my @ss still wanting to go faster, I get out of the way. That way, they get ahead and get pulled over by the cops first. It's not my job to ensure that everyone is obeying the speed limit and if some jerkoff wants to go 100mph - as long as they're doing it away from me, it's all good. I absolutely hate when I'm a passenger and someone is tailgating our car and the driver doesn't kick it in the @ss and move out of the way. It's not like the tailgater is going to have an epiphany of "hmm, gee golly - I suppose I was driving a little too fast", just because someone holds him up for a few seconds.

"retail competition has increased on East Side with First & Main in Hudson," Okay can we just establish that once you're south of I-480, you cannot regard yourself as either east or west side? Brunstucky is not west side, Hudson is not east side - they're just "out there".

You're mixing up your game show hosts - Alex hosted Jeapordy, Chuck hosted Wheel of Fortune and Love Connection (back in two and two).

"Dimora said if the building doesn't come down, it would be put up for sale rather than renovated for county use. "What kills me is no one cared one iota for this building until we talked about it," Dimora said. "It can sit as a vacant, empty building." Look at the little ( :lol: ) baby pout when he can't get his way.

For the most part, crime in Tremont is limited to property crimes such as cars getting broken into, etc. Some of it is completely preventable (aka don't leave your iPod or anything of value out in plain sight). The best areas north of I-490 are around Lincoln Park (West 11th, Lemko Hall area), and the best areas south of I-490 are closer to West 14th. The southern portion of Tremont isn't as photogenic but there are some decent places to be found.

"Neighborhoods with the cutest girls? Hummmmmmm" For the record, this Admin is not opposed to *tasteful* discussion of what areas might be conducive for admiration of northeast Ohio's attractive residents of any gender. However - the operative word is tasteful, and any discussion that deviates from that standard gets shot down. That said - even as a gay man, I can't help but notice a lot of attractive gals at the South Side in Tremont (working or visiting).

Although there was a small turnout of UrbanOhioans for the Riversweep event, there was a lot of cleaning accomplished - kudos to X, peabody99, and markymark48 who did a great job. I also have to tip my hat to the kids from Brecksville/Broadview Heights High, and the Laurel School - these kids were hard-core and fearless, lifting tires by the dozens. We meet with Abe, coordinator for the Ohio City cleanup: Oh yeah, we were meeting at the West Side Market: The wooded hillside along Columbus Road: My first garbage bag filled up quickly - I found (among other things) a lampshade, a pair of track pants, slippers, and I learned that Cleveland's homeless population favors Cobra: This was/is someone's house: But don't feel too bad - they have an awesome view of the downtown skyline: Down toward the Columbus Road bridge: My favorite townhomes, the Irishtown Bend townhomes: X doing a great job! St. Mary's Challenger - built in 1906, and 551 feet long http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/stmaryschallenger.htm Literacy, anyone? The West Side Market tower, Hooples, and the Columbus Road bridge: You see these tires? Those kids dragged them up out of a ten-foot ditch - hardcore, I tell ya! Now this is part of the Scranton Road peninsula - owned by Forest City Enterprises: Would it kill them to at least put up a fence on that side of the road so the Riversweep efforts can be spent elsewhere? Looks like the Challenger is going to have some company: The American Courage - 636 feet long (almost as long as 200 Public Square is tall) http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/amcourage.htm And that's all folks!

"can say, Citi just open up a Branch in cleveland or would they have to aquire a bank to open up shop?" Sorry I didn't see this earlier - any bank that doesn't have a retail presence in the state of Ohio would need to apply for permission to business here. As Confiteordeo said, it's often easier just to acquire an existing smaller bank and grow from that.

For those attending, they provide gloves, garbage bags and water - and a lunch afterward.

""street urchins" who can be just thrown away." If only...

3231, looks like Mov2Ohio beat you to the punch. :-)

Too bad, that was a decent non-chain place out there.

Welcome to the forum! I love the idea of the charrettes, but the layout style is a little confusing - I'm seeing the announcement for the current proposal (waste receptacles) below an entry for the April bridge charrette. It's great for a blog, but for making announcements and soliciting entries... I'm not sure of a better way to organize it, but my suggestion would be to organize things so that entries are kept/listed with their corresponding charrette. Also, you may be having fewer submissions because a lot of people are wrapping up finals/school - the forums have seen a small dip in participation because of that. Keep up the good work!

3231, are you a practicing Catholic, or were you raised in the Catholic church? I don't think it was an insult in the least, and I think there are a lot of people who would do well to consider the advice on the cup. I think the message has a humanist slant encouraging people to do their own part to solve problems, rather than solely praying and hoping things get better. I don't see that they were suggesting people ditch their beliefs, just that people should rely on themselves as much as they do their religion. If that constitutes an insult, the Catholic church has problems way beyond a message on a coffee cup.

Oh, that'll be fun to shred a hack on that "news" show.

I've posted quite a few "pretty" pictures lately, so I should balance them with a thread of some of Cleveland's less (or soon to be, but not yet) polished spots:

West Side Market - there's a stand in the eastern produce arcade (closest to the West 25th Rapid Station). They usually have nice stuff, and decent prices.

"that Cyrus menu looks tremendously pedestrian...except the vegetarian offerings which actually look pretty good. But if they have a great cheeseburger and some quality micros on draft rounded out with some Reggae ..then they may be on to something. i just don't get why these places try to compete with the Shooters early 90's "Americana" IE grilled chicken salad/wrap menu. do we need more of that?" I think that most places in that area - until Stonebridge is at build-out would do well to aim for the middle of the market. No, it's not necessarily exciting cuisine but it'll give another option. One thing I noticed about their site - they boast beautiful views of the River and skyline, but they're nowhere to be found (nor are any people).

tbone, do you know if that is a garden apartment (English basement style) in one of the Tremont Ridge townhomes? If so, those are on the pricey side for the area (but compared to some cities, it's inexpensive) but they're also in the most gentrified section of Tremont. So, yes $675 is high (especially if utilities aren't included, and absurd if secured parking isn't included), but you're getting new construction in a prime area that's in walking/stumbling distance of the bars/restaurants that Tremont is known for. Tremont is really an odd mix - you have over 20 churches in one square mile (everything from a Korean Catholic church to Russian Orthodox), coupled with dozens of new townhomes, along with former ethnic halls (like a Moose Lodge but geared for Ukrainians or whoever), shotgun bungalows, all centered around Lincoln Park. The residents are just as eclectic - young hipsters (who eschew places like the Warehouse District), guppies, Section 8 recipients, older empty nesters with an artsy slant, old folks who bought their homes and retired from the steel mills, etc. There are no chain restaurants in Tremont, but there are plenty of restaurants to choose from - from Sokolowski's Polish food served cafeteria-style to the chic spots like Fahrenheit and Parallax to the neighborhood joints like South Side and Prosperity to coffeeshops like Luckys and Civilization. Take all of that and hem it in with the Innerbelt on the west, the Industrial Valley to the east (and north with amazing skyline views), and the post-Industrial Valley with the new Steelyard Commons power center and you have one heck of a quirky neighborhood. http://www.urbanohio.com/ClevTremont.htm