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Crapola... I live right by there. Not for long though, I'm on my way back to Lakewood. And no this incident isn't the reason. But the area's downhill trajectory is evident. So glad MTS isn't around right now...

Burnham I like what you've done with the place. Although I'd go for more trees and less grass. 40 acres may not be enough for a forest but a grove would be nice. I liked your earlier version too, the one that kept the fountain. And what's with that extra building? Can we see the rest of it? I'm no suburbanite either, but we can't let bums and thugs can dictate our landscaping decisions. Having no benches downtown isn't going to solve the homeless problem. That would just turn one problem into two.

Damn skippy.

But if "we" instead advocate for social services and pedestrian-unfriendly development all along Main Street, it seems likely we'll get just that. So far we have. "We" begged Applied Industrial to put their fortress where they did. "We" said forget Strongsville, we got your Strongsville right here on Euclid a few blocks from CSU. You're talking about restrictions but I'm talking about active solicitation. Demanding this facility on this site is just one more sterling example. There are entire threads here bemoaning the car-centric suburban impact of all the hospitals on Euclid. Do we really believe this one would be all that different? Why double down on a recognized problem? I'd otherwise never suggest this, but the city/county/CDC's efforts here have been so misguided that maybe we'd be better served by a hands-off libertarian approach.

Here I go again... $500k of city funds? Streetlights. Potholes. Distressed properties. I had no idea we were facing such a critical marina shortage.

"It's bad, really bad" was not the mayor, it was Joachim Noah of the Chicago Bulls, commenting on downtown nightlife. Full agreement. Standards matter.

No crystal ball, but I'm not sure it will be vacant all that long. The article also mentions several million the city already spent there for site prep. Between that and the BRT and the Clinic nearby, it has plenty going for it. My concern is that so many leaders on so many levels, particularly Fitzgerald, are dead set on making this a social services district. I just think those needs could be met in a much less destructive way, planning-wise. Euclid should be the Main Street of all Cleveland residents, of all area residents... not just the most needy and vulnerable. Concentrating our problems on Main Street isn't going to help anyone, including the needy and vulnerable. They deserve a city they can be proud of as much as anyone else does. And they need their city to attract new investment, new jobs, new tax base. A Main Street lined with various crisis centers isn't going to get us there. This isn't about hiding our problems, or slighting those in our community who have problems... it's about putting our best foot forward, as a community, so that our most vulnerable residents can one day have better lives all around.

Local leaders speak out against decision not to build psychiatric hospital in Cleveland http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/03/local_leaders_speak_out_agains.html Snippets: Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, Ohio House Minority Leader Armond Budish and State Rep. Sandra Williams insisted on Thursday that Kasich should reverse course and bring the hospital back to Cleveland. "We're not willing to accept anything else," Jackson said at the news conference. FitzGerald said the decision not to build the hospital in Cleveland is bad public policy because it undermines efforts by government agencies to work cooperatively while hurting the needs of vulnerable citizens.

To the extent that "they" means gangs engaged in open warfare, it's a legitimate concern.

Quite right. Cleveland's primary task over the next 40 years is to replace most of its housing stock, and that's a biggie. Thousands of woodframe doubles and shotguns need to come down. In their place we need townhouses and high rises and mixed use apartment blocks, as well as several good-sized new parks.

Completely agree with Burnham_2011 about the marketing approach. Also about the music angle. Apart from HoB, our major venues are a good ways out from downtown. Smaller ones are scattered around in a way that allows no synergy. There's no Austin or Beale St equivalent here.

Superior and Euclid could one day form a big streetcar loop, since they meet again just past University Circle.

In cases like this, privitization is just plain wrong. And it should be obvious. Robocop is looking more and more prescient as the years go on.

Cool... but this should be a fundamental front-burner priority, rather than one of "10,000 little ideas."

Agreed. It takes guts to be earnest. And my jeans actually fit me. But PBR is genuinely good for its price and I'm glad everyone serves it now.

^ Cool project, meh building, odd bridge support. Looks way bigger than the bridge itself. ^^ clvlndr, you know the answer. Our muckety-mucks are pursuing alternative directions for our transit system. Instead of capitalizing on our existing rail infrastructure, we're building new infrastructure for buses.

Ken Johnson even has city landscapng equipment named after him.

That would be so funny if Columbus was bigger that Detroit now. Not ha-ha funny, but still.

There was a strong push to widen the streets here, due to traffic congestion, around the turn of the (last) century. It was discussed at the 1912 Ohio constitutional convention as an eminent domain issue. One delegate thought property owners should actually pay to have their lots shrunken for road expansion, because they would be the direct beneficiaries of the reduced gridlock. The problem derives from the shape of the city and is common to Great Lakes ports. Most cities are more or less round, with downtown in the middle. Cleveland isn't, so compared to a round city of equal size, there is less area in which to spread the same amount of traffc flow. Chicago and Milwaukee have similarly wide streets for the same reason. But due to topography and water boundaries, it was especially bad here. Look at the east side and how it constricts as you approach downtown. Also consider that most of these streets once had trolleys on them, which split them down the middle and made them seem less vast.

Yuppies w/kids moving out is inevitable, but it's not problematic as long as the inward flow is greater. A positive net flow will increase the tax base and average educational level of the city, which leads to better schools and services (for all residents), which will allow for more permanent family-based growth down the line. But it all starts with attracting young and educated newcomers, and that requires providing the built environment (and transit) they're looking for.

The healthline BRT was a colossal mistake. What's important now, for Cleveland, is that we don't repeat it. We need to take a stand against BRT and make clear that we need real rail because we're a real city. And I agree strongly that Clevelend needs to do more to enhance its live music scene. Why doesn't our leadership get this stuff? Because it's composed of the wrong people. The last big opportunity to make changes was the county council/exec elections in September. For the most part, changes were not made. Reform-minded individuals need to vote regularly and get as involved as they can in local politics.

Hopefully these shared services are a precursor to consolidations. Otherwise we're cutting Indians but leaving all the Chiefs in place.

I really doubt that people in Cincinnati or Columbus would consider taking a train NE to Cleveland if their destination was Chicago. That's not remotely competitive with driving there. Airlines can get away with this sort of thing only because they go 500 mph. But I agree that establishing marketable service along the northern route would help sell the 3C concept.

Great article, and the subject deserves its own thread. I should note that my guide in Minneapolis unabashedly pointed this out.

It's been a few years at this point and I do need to brush up. Unfortunately today is not the day for that. Stringcites don't help much here, so please summarize your take. What aspects of SB5 run afoul of home rule in your view, and why?