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I agree it doesn't need to be party central, and that a broader mix of uses is desirable, but it's important to me that the Flats as a whole remain open to the public. It's a unique geographical and historical area in which I don't believe any form of gated community is appropriate. Large complexes that are exclusively residential seem too close for comfort, and the "moat" only serves to drive that point home.

Interesting that the thought of actual retail never crossed their minds, all they said was restaurant. And while they have a point about the area already being active, their plan involves taking some of that away. I don't like the idea of making any part of the Flats into an exclusive residential community.

If there's a dirtbike and no trailer, certain inferences can be made, like you have no intention of taking it out in the hills somewhere to ride it. If that's the claim, grill them about details and maybe they slip up. I wonder how many of these kids have solid cover stories about preparing for a run at professional MX. Chasing them down shouldn't be necessary. I'm still confused how a fleet of Interceptors couldn't get in front of a 1979 Malibu, so yeah I'd rule that out. And this has nothing to do with using the bikes to sell drugs... you can't ride them in the city regardless. Bicycles you can.

I'm thinking they shouldn't be that hard to track down if you can't legitimately have one. Drugs are easy to hide, motorcycles not so much. I realize the city has an abundance of secret lairs available. But these kids aren't supervillains and Cleveland has quite a lot of police per capita. Just take their bikes away.

That's a suicide ramp, it probably does need to go. The last thing we need is a bunch more people trying to use it.

How many dirtbikes are registered in the city? I saw one doing what you describe, can't remember if it was Lee Rd or 131st. It was very Mad Max.

Superior from 9th to 12th is a pedestrian dead zone, which doesn't help. Back to back parking decks with no storefronts should never have been allowed there. Unfortunately this bar will need to generate its own foot traffic or become popular with students in a hurry.

How interested are you in silly memes and youth sports achievements? That's 90% of it. But it's still useful for keeping in touch with your broader network. People will move and change phone numbers but keep the same Facebook account. It's also like a high school (and college) yearbook that updates in real time, for what that's worth. If you've never used it before, there's a nice early period of reconnecting with long lost pals. It's also good for sending event invites... so commonly now that friends without Facebook accounts often get left out.

Right by CSU and a lot of residential, I like it.

IMO this is what happens when we cut bait on bad neighborhoods. There comes a point where it doesn't matter how nice downtown is. These neighborhoods require urban development triage because they've been allowed to fall so far into misery. No one should have to live like that, not in Cleveland.

Agreed, the west side is ripe for new southbound rail to spur growth. It's a pity we aren't putting high-density developments along the western lakefront. But there's a slope to the south, so there's no limit to the lake views we can sell if we build upward. Bringing this area into the rail system would help. Not much abandonment in the Clark-Fulton part of town, lots going on actually. Some targeted investment there could go a long way.

I love this Detroit Ave idea, but I would send it straight through Lakewood to downtown Rocky River.

Agreed, we really don't need a District for it.

There's also the new country place on Huron. Country is popular enough around here that RTA's station muzak is often set to WGAR. It wasn't long ago that downtown featured two mechanical bulls.

Any apartment that rents for $5k in Ohio should include a small helicopter or something. Up till now, residential conversion has been synonymous with "relatively worthless for its original intended use." But I feel like TT can and should be a premier office address for the next 100 years. This project comes off rather cynical in that sense. I'm also curious what effect this could have on the public observation deck. Currently its hours are limited by workday elevator usage. So what happens when tenants need the elevators 24/7? Totally agree that the Tower City complex would benefit from a residential component, and that sounds like a great thing to... build.

I hope this doesn't beat out the May Co building for tax credits. Terminal Tower just had major exterior renovations and is relatively marketable as is.

Huh? Buses are mass transit, and buses share the roads with cars. Some here have suggested road policies that would hamper cars or make driving them unpleasant, to prod people toward transit use. Hard to implement those policies without also affecting bus riders, the majority of transit users. Taking cars off the road will reduce congestion, but if that's done via policies to make the roads less expedient, buses become less expedient as well. Defeats the purpose.

What's this about dusk?

The surface is just that and opinions are just that. What's your opinion? About the topic, I mean. Like I said, I work with these people. My sympathy for them is acted upon offline and has nothing to do with my opinions on urban development. I raised similar concerns about about a similar facility proposed at Euclid and 55th. I think it's important to favor pedestrian-oriented mixed-use development on major streets. These facilities don't interact with their environment much, so they aren't good fits for areas where we're trying to stimulate pedestrian activity. Very important work goes on inside these facilities but the location of the building isn't important to that work. I could have suggested Bath as an alternate location, and it's a perfectly good one, but then the city-to-suburbs issue might have overshadowed my main point about the Gordon Square Arts District. Personal criticism was inevitable, I knew that going in. And I'm used to it.

First I've heard of the brewpub element. Very cool. A good tenant trumps a bad roof any day.

This project lifts up the neighborhood by lifting up people in the neighborhood, rather than by moving them out of the neighborhood. Sounds more like it's consolidating extremely troubled people from elsewhere. There isn't a whole facility worth wandering around any given neighborhood. I have no ill will toward these people, at all, part of my job is helping them... I just don't understand the value of putting their facility on a showpiece street. It offers nothing to pedestrians except distance, in what is supposed to be a welcoming mixed-use environment. Looks like a nice enough building though. And parsing out whether this is Cudell or Edgewater or Detroit-Shoreway or Gordon Square is counterproductive IMO. Cleveland needs less focus on neighborhood boundaries (imaginary lines) and more focus on the commercial streets (real functional lines) that tie it all together. Detroit might be the best we have, especially when Lakewood is included, but there's such a jarring transition right here. This project doesn't seem to advance any coherent plan to fix it.

I still don't get how the west shoreway is for pedestrians, at any speed limit. There's only one place north of it to walk to and it's already served by tunnels. To the south it's all bluffs. It's like Columbia Pkwy in Cincinnati. It might connect walkable areas that aren't walkable to each other, but it's not remotely a walkable area in itself. So why pretend it is? The new speed limit seems more spiteful than anything else. The unpleasantness of commuting on it now is considered a feature, except by people who actually have to do that-- which includes everyone on the 55. Every attack on cars is an attack on mass transit too.

Does it have to though? Think of what Detroit Avenue could be, from downtown to the Rocky River valley and beyond, if the west 80s weren't quite so bad. It was hoped that investments in Gordon Square would eventually radiate value outward. For pedestrian purposes, this is a stone's throw away.

Ideally, the roof is completed and is a different color than the surrounding concrete. Right now the match is uncanny, which helps the HVAC stand out even more. Via Vite on Fountain Square would be a decent model to emulate. It's red and most of the equipment is crammed into a back corner. Doesn't help that so many people will be approaching this cafe from the rear, since that's where our rail and retail hub is. It's too bad we couldn't keep the original rounder design. This structure has a cheaper look and its design doesn't allow for a good orientation.

There's a lot of open land in the city. Why did this have to go on Detroit near Gordon Square? I want these folks to receive the care they need, but I'm not sure how being in a hot neighborhood benefits them. Same goes for Euclid Ave to an extent. There's plenty of space along Union or Central for people who are too busy receiving treatment to go gallery hopping. And it's a better move for the tax base, which ultimately allows the city to help more of those in need. Lovely. Might want to try that again, making allowances for use as well as form.