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That would be unfortunate for everyone. Are the credits not transferrable? Part of me would rather see the May Co get them but this rehab is important too.

What's the point of keeping the east side segment of the Red Line? It hasn't much, if any, true TOD. The HealthLine does the job and provides riders with access along Euclid Avenue from Public Square to University Circle. 45 minutes vs 15... the health line is very slow. And its shelters don't really shelter. They made the walls smaller than the frames. The red line also goes by the juvenile court on Quincy, which helps a lot of people in a way the health line can't. And besides, it's already there so we might as well use it. Are you proposing we stop?

The problem with the WFL is that it accomplishes so little, and in doing so, serves so few. And any development taking place along it has to be weighed against the destruction of the original Flats, which was contemporaneous with the WFL. Why arrange those two things at the same time? Even if there was no financial crash and the current FEB existed in 2010, that's still a long timeframe where the Flats are sitting there dead around this brand new train. Nothing about it makes any sense.

The WFL set us back decades, in terms of transit investments. Poster child for waste and poor planning. And as noted, White was the first to start aggressively suburbanizing the city, the polar opposite of TOD. And don't forget what he did to the Flats. Michael White might be the most destructive mayor Cleveland ever had, and that's saying something.

Retail seems to be doing well. Even the pawn shops look nice.

I wish I had picture posting skills... because I'm looking at both roofs right now and it's not even a close comparison. Via Vite's equipment is barely visible, to the extent that any of it is even exposed. It looks great. That's quality design work. The Public Square cafe's roof is about 50% pipes & stuff. It looks like the actual roof was torn off in a storm. That does not meet the benchmark set by Cincinnati.

The entire project is pure aesthetics. But we're drawing a line at exposed piping and machinery? That seems at least as important as adding plastic snails. Only one of those things costs the city and taxpayers any money. *Hint* It's not the snails *hint* It isn't about who's funding it, it's about who's making the calls. Maybe the foundation made its donation contingent on snails. Or maybe they just told the people with design authority to "do something nice" with the money. This project is already way over budget, to the point that the state had to get involved, so it's a little odd to leave any aspect looking unfinished. If the plan is to spare no expense for aesthetics, which it fundamentally is, then at least follow through with that concept. This roof will be prominent in a lot more publicity photos than any other roof downtown. Some buildings do have exposed workings up top, but others don't. This should be one that doesn't. I don't think it's that big of a deal, just a less-than-ideal oddity. Using the square includes promoting the city with photos of it. That may actually be the use that benefits the most people.

Gotcha. I'm increasingly mystified about the definition of POP though, since a large proportion of red line trips begin with a turnstile scan, and an even larger proportion involve one. Sure, if you go from W 117 to E 105 you won't see a turnstile, but what proportion of trips is like that? The health line represents my understanding of POP, where you have a pass (farecard?) but you almost never do anything with it.

Strap your proposed instructions are the best I've seen. Not quite complete, because there are other options and terms that would need to be addressed. For instance, sometimes you are given the choice of "activated" or not. If you buy a 5 ride pass "activated" it comes out with 4 rides left, and in that particular instance, you do not need to use the secondary machine. Depending on which machine you bought it from, the time printed on it may be completely random, so the two hour window that it remains "activated" for transfer purposes is not easy to discern. Presumably, after that two hour window, the pass switches from "activated" to "deactivated" status, then becomes "activated" again upon the next scan. This is not explained when you purchase it as "activated" the way you would any other pass, or farecard as the case may be. I think the first step to any of this is to standardize the terminology. I guess I don't understand what POP means either, since the systems for the red line and the health line are quite distinct, even though the website text suggests they're identical. The red line almost always involves a traditional scan-your-pass process, and I had thought the core concept of POP was to avoid that, so I've never thought of the red line as POP.

Pleasant greetings to you too. "POP" can't mean multiple things, any more than "activated" can. I was talking about a type of pass that has to be scanned whenever it's used, not debating the merits of POP. RTA had an opportunity to discuss my experience privately when I submitted a complaint through its website, but chose not to. My suggestion for the website is to remove the line from the feedback form that says RTA's goal is to respond within 10 business days. There's no need to create unrealistic expectations. Also, feel free to use any or all of my text here to explain the usage of a 5 ride pass on the website. Here's the website's current text: PROOF OF PAYMENT: The Red Line Rapid and HealthLine BRT on Euclid Avenue use a Proof of Payment system. Be sure you pay your fare before you board. Ticket vending machines (TVMs) are located inside all Red Line Rapid Stations, and all HealthLine stations. Retain your activated farecard or pass until you exit the system. This text does not even mention 5 ride passes, and more importantly, does not mention the additional step on the additional machine that's necessary to avoid getting arrested at Tower City. It doesn't mention that machine at all. It's also not clear what distinguishes an "activated farecard" from a "pass." Based on this text, I thought I was OK buying a 5 ride pass from the fare machine, getting on the train, and scanning it at Tower City... just like the weekly or monthly passes I typically use. Boy was I wrong.

The entire project is pure aesthetics. But we're drawing a line at exposed piping and machinery? That seems at least as important as adding plastic snails.

Actually I approached the nearest officer and asked for help using my prepaid pass, and their response was to arrest me. Normally with POP you don't have to scan a ticket to get through a turnstile. On the red line you do, sometimes. And with a 5 ride pass, or any kind of pass, you have already paid. It's just that, uniquely to the 5 ride pass, you sometimes you use a turnstile based machine to scan it and other times use a very different looking machine. However, if you use the other type of machine and you're going downtown, you still scan your pass through the turnstile device in addition to the other machine. However, you do it differently than if you were departing from downtown. In this instance you scan it through another type of slot, as if it were not a 5 ride pass. So sometimes you use the pass once, and other times you use the pass twice. Sometimes you use the turnstile device in one manner, other times you use it in a different manner. The rules change depending on where you're going and where you're leaving from. Simple as pie. My mistake was thinking that a turnstile scan device was used for the same purpose in both directions, and not knowing what the small machine at the other station was for.

Very good points. I don't think the red line is POP though. At tower city you have to swipe a pass to get on or off. And if you are using a five ride pass, you need to have already debited it when you arrive-- or RTA police will arrest you, which is not the best way to explain policies IMO. They did it to me, and they better not do it to some GOP dignitary this summer. Or anyone, really. Just describe the policies and ticket statuses more clearly. "Activated" can't mean multiple things.

This isn't the only downtown with trees, my question was whether other cities experience this problem on a similar scale. Other northern cities perhaps.

In the case of San Francisco, there's an enforced housing shortage. It doesn't get much more elitist than that.

That's a good solution. I was thinking it would run along the lake the whole way, but it doesn't have to.

Is this a normal mortality rate for transplanted trees? If not, what does the supplier have to say about it? Some of the Euclid Corridor trees sat dead for years, might still be there. Some of the Euclid Corridor treelawns look like litterboxes, because even the grass didn't take and nobody cared. This is why I'm leery of spending much on "streetscape improvements." Unless that means storefront renovations, but somehow it never does. It always means the worst landscaping money can buy.

Have we heard anything about events yet? Really hoping they can have something (major) lined up for Labor Day at the latest. Ideally, we need a music festival and we need it 10 years ago.

West coast cities are expensive because there are only a handful of metros along that entire seaboard, and money is moving to the coasts like never before. Not surprising that the middle class can't hang. I don't see issues of race or culture or local politics here, just economics. Hot markets are for rich people.

Seems like some of the reverse commute potential would come from the neighborhoods getting skipped over. But if express commuter rail is doable, let's do it. I still think extending the red line and the waterfront line are important, but commuter rail would fill a big need too.

I feel really good about this draft. They had a solid plan and executed well. Considering the hit rate on draft picks league-wide, there's value in quantity. This is two drafts worth of people. Couple of questionable picks, but they also took two of the best "hands" receivers available. I like it a lot.

sorry, double post

Mechanization happened all over the world though, and sprawl didn't. Postwar Europe had cars too, and they built freeways, and the war's destruction had given them a golden opportunity to reformat their entire built environment. But they didn't. Instead they maintained their density and their transit infrastructure, rebuilding their cities as before, while America chose to forcibly reformat its own intact cities. So no, American sprawl is not a result of natural laws or universal behavioral norms. It was not some inevitable stage of history. It was a result of specific policy choices by people in power who chose sprawl as their goal.

^ It may be that sprawl is better for modern warfare, or was at one time. As for conspiracies, most of them aren't secrets. They don't need to be.

The boarded-up windows looming overhead are distinctly urban, and no one will be enthralled enough to miss that. Cart before the horse. What Public Square really needed was the Medical Mart treatment, i.e. no expense spared to bring in retailers. We built it new and we're paying people to occupy it. The May Co building was already there, with a history as a major draw, and it just needed some work. No, it didn't get the tax credits. But so much local money has been spent within a stone's throw of it. Now plastic animals... and nobody can put windows in that thing? It's right there.