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As I recall, the Schofeld bldg hotel project also had to get a variance for having no lawn buffer. At E9th and Euclid downtown. There's no excuse for it, our zoning codes are psycho and they need to change.

It's called a "front yard setback" and there's also a side yard requirement. Apparently taller buildings require bigger side yards. No density allowed!

Cleveland's zoning code is very anti-urban and it needs to be rewritten.

RTA is a "special district" like the local sewer system. That's why it can call itself independent. ODOT, for example, couldn't call itself "an independent politcal subdivsion" because ODOT is a state agency.

Not pleased. The offense needs to change, but stability at HC would have been nice. Mangini brought needed discipline without losing the players. I would have given him at least another year, with a new OC and another Heckert draft.

I think this is the way to go.

Larkin made some points that need to be addressed as we plan Ohio's next attempt at rail expansion. There aren't enough pro-rail people out there for an "us & them" approach to work. 3C didn't even win over all the pro-rail people, and some of Larkin's points were often regurgitated by pro-rail people. 3C startup service may not have been Ohio's best possible rail plan. That sort of startup service may not ever be Ohio's best possible rail plan. It is not anti-rail to say so. The 3C debate is over. We have a chance now to control the terms of the next debate, or at least try to. What rail plan will we be talking about when Kasich comes up for reelection? I hope it's not the same one, and I hope we're not still trading talking points with 3C detractors four years from now.

If you have a CSU ID, it's free!

I'm sure there are some retailers missing, but between Severance and U Square and various plazas (plus the one yet to be built on Cedar) it seems like the Heights has a pretty competitive non-luxury mix. Especially when you compare with Lakewood. Neither Steelyard nor Westgate is "right there," and the Great Northern area is really a trek.

I love University Square too, and I think it would be extremely successful... downtown. But that's another matter. Oakwood Commons seems intended to bury U Square once and for all. I agree it's unnecessary and perhaps unwise as an investment. I understand how different types and configuations of retail spaces meet different needs, but how is this any different from Severance? The need here seems met, aside from a few chain restaurants maybe.

Cleveland has funded a lot more than just monuments in recent years. This isn't some radical notion, nor is it even uncommon. The city wouldn't just build a tower by itself, but, as it has in the past, it could certainly assist private sector partners with financing. And with land acquisition. How can this parking lot be so sacred and untouchable, when the City of Cleveland just got done forcing the destruction of the entire east bank of the flats? Multiple historic blocks-- gone. But we can't acquire a solitary parking lot? I think we can. All I'm saying is that possibilities exist. I'm not claiming to have a skyscraper developer lined up, and yeah, that would be a necessary element. Everyone agrees the economy sucks. That said, we have an inordinate amount of surface parking in the core of our downtown and we aren't powerless to address that.

There are also reasons we might want governments more involved. Documents are out in the open that way, and the public would have at least some say in the matter. This doesn't have to be the only way things get built, but at a time when banks are abidcating their role in financing development, it's nice to have options.

Not all retail is the same though. Here we've traded small shops for big boxes, which probably skews the sq ft ratio. They put a premium on space for the sake of space.

Similarly I know a lot of people, myself included, who have looked in OC for apartments and haven't found much to pick from. One would think an area so close to downtown would be stocked like Lakewood or Coventry, but alas.

I figured as much, and maybe it's a reasonable price to pay to refill a historic office building of that size. I agree that the strip plaza kills pedestrian continuity on 25th. Ideally the Market District could extend south to I-90 someday. It would also be nice if the area from the L-C bridge to 25th could be spruced up, since many people approach OC and WSM from that direction.

Because too much has been torn down. Ohio City needs apartment housing badly. And a couple blocks of 25th street barely constitutes a "district" of any kind.

What about upgrading the exact same line, but only from Cleveland to Toledo? Could Kucinich and Kaptur do that w/o Kasich's say so? In light of recent events, is there any possibility that ORDC might pursue upgrades to Ohio's existing Amtrak service? For instance, if Ohioans could take a train from Cleveland to Chicago, one that leaves and arrives at reasonable times... that sounds like a significant victory for rail and big embarassment for Kasich. It also sounds somewhat doable, given that the service already exists albeit at grossly un-reasonable times. And what about increasing speeds on the Cleveland-Toledo portion? If we demonstrate that HSR between Ohio cities can be a reality, would that not defuse a lot of the 3C opposition?

I'm all for cutting payroll taxes, especially at the city level. But what do they pay for? How would the lost revenue be dealt with? Spending cuts? Different taxes? Without addressing the other side of the ledger, it's tough to speculate on the net effect. Another concern is whether the geograpically graduated rate would interfere with efforts toward regionalism. We all know the burbs have been undercutting the city like this for a long time, and part of me would love to see the city fight fire with fire. But the city's budget demands are different (see above), and there are factors other than tax rates inhibiting some relocations into the city. Cleveland may not want to escalate a bidding war it can't win. A proposal like this may garner more support if it didn't incentivize relocations from within this county or region.

A nice summary of what's in store for the next 5 years or so. I'm not sure these projects will "remake downtown" but they're still welcome additions. What bugs me is that so many of them involve replacing something we already had, most notably the Flats. And even if they represent necessary upgrades, the innerbelt and convention center also fall into this category. We need a lot more projects like Uptown, which replace surface parking. The article also discusses nodes of small business revitalization in Ohio City and Tyler Village. It's great to see them mentioned alongside higher-profile items like the casino. These homegrown efforts deserve every ounce of promotion they can get. Considering the slim likelihood of attracting major employers from outside, our best bet is still to develop them from within.

The idea that a major public project would require bidding is no revelation. City Hall lacks competence. From Ferchill's perspective, I'm guessing the opportunity's not so fantastic without the no-bid sugar on top. His reaction almost suggests there was a quid pro quo aspect between this and the tech center proposal.

That loop plan is great, and 17th is really ideal for it.

Some of these things need to be said though. We've had plenty of Cle-Pitt threads and we don't need another, but I don't see how Larkin's statement is objectively untrue. I say that as an unabashed Cleveland booster. We have a long way to go and we need to pick up the pace. We need to keep defending our community from outside criticism, but we also need to take our problems more seriously. I've got nothing against the local media challenging the local leadership. They're supposed to.

If it only serves the St. Clair corridor, then yeah, that seems wasteful. I don't see much point in an eastward extension if it doesn't reach the "prime" areas beyond E152nd. That's where the demand comes from... desirable areas separated from everything else by miles of rough stuff. Just like Shaker, where rail service fills a similar need and is very popular. Has it spurred growth at 79th and Kinsman? No, and it isn't likely to spur growth at 79th and St Clair either. But it does wonders for downtown and for Shaker.

Both major transit projects of the recent era (WFL and BRT) seem to be driving development. And our #1 development spot (UC) has transit galore, with the new BRT service and 2 new rail stations in the works. I guess you can't rule out coincidence, but it walks and talks like correlation.

This is why I think we have so much to gain from transit investments. We gotta link all those nodes together. And the St Clair corridor has a lot more inherent growth potential than that nasty part of E79th. Exhibit A: The lake.