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This is hardly an only-in-Cleveland thing. I can think of similar or worse stories from Chicago, Philly, etc. Didn't a building in Manhattan just explode recently?

Wow, that 1895 city hall is awesome. What a shame it never came to be.

It may well be that the rural roots of the industrial-era immigration wave did influence the comparatively open designs of Great Lakes cities. That's an interesting theory. I might suggest that the industries themselves also played a role, i.e. maximum density isn't advisable when there are so many factories in play. But particularly in Cleveland's case, the city those immigrants originally built was extremely dense compared to what it's being replaced with now, so I don't believe either of those points comes close to telling the whole story. Look at before and after pics of the League Park area. And the postwar sprawl trends in question here are nationwide, not limited to this region. De-urbanization is still happening throughout America, while the counter-trends favored on UO are still in their infancy. One could even say those trends have yet to fully reach Cleveland. The majority of large-scale redevelopment in the city tends to be single-use and notably suburban in style, while historical preservation remains a very low priority outside of downtown-- even within downtown, if we include CSU. Basic concepts of TOD are largely ignored, even in developments branded as TOD. I don't attribute these issues to evil forces of suburbia, and I don't believe it's helpful to do so. Instead I look to misguided leadership in the city itself, which needs to do a better job of encouraging density and mixed use, while discouraging cookie-cutter sprawl designs where they don't belong. There are vast areas around this metro where those designs do belong, which I see as a good thing, because it strengthens Greater Cleveland by offering people in that market segment what they want. Cleveland itself should focus not on enmity with the suburbs, but rather on providing a fully realized alternative for a different market segment, the one most likely to drive its own future growth.

I mean all of it. Those numbers change dramatically just a few blocks to the west in some areas. That park is no different than Beavercreek requiring air conditioning at bus stops. RTA is charged with serving the entire county as best it can, which includes maximizing everyone's access to retail and employment centers at the county's edges.

Wasn't that sort of on purpose? I'm not seeing either the management of either mall or the city being very enthusiastic about this idea. Probably. I don't agree with segregation though.

This is the elephant in the room right here. Urbanism is a total package that requires mixed use and transit in order to properly function, and it involves far less emphasis on owner occupation. But these builders build for-sale houses. That's it. They also speculate on greenfield land. As such, they have a vested interest in promoting single-use residential neighborhoods in the suburban format because that's precisely what they sell. That's why developers' statements must be examined critically. Yes they're experts... but their expertise is limited to their narrow specialty, and more importantly, their positions are driven by a self interest in promoting that specialty. So of course they're going to say that what they prefer to build is what people prefer to buy. And in large part, they're not wrong. They're just not speaking for all people. They're speaking for their own customer base, and they want that category to remain open ended. Everyone who chooses urbanism instead represents money out of their pocket.

I can't get behind this sudden explosion of shipping containers everywhere. First downtown retail, then housing in Tremont, now this. Shipping containers are an appropriate material for actual container shipping and that is it. Our city is not a junkyard and its attractions should never advance the notion that it is. The nautical theme is good, but there are plenty of ways to engage a nautical theme. Pick a different one.

Elections are a check on the size and reach of government, most directly on its budget. Look no further than the title of this thread for an example.

With better materials these might fit in nicely, and they wouldn't be the only modernist housing in the northern part of Tremont. I think the gray color is problematic. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer warmer exterior colors. Browns, reds, yellows. When it's so cold here for so much of the year, I think those colors have a positive psychological impact. They also blend in better with existing brick and sandstone structures. Instead, parts of this design blend seamlessly with its own driveway, while other parts are more of an asphalt hue.

I like the general design, I just hate the use of the corrugated metal. With a change of materials I think these could be top notch. Exactly. There are some cool elements to the design, like those giant windows. But living in an industrial city doesn't mean living in tool sheds. The factories are down yonder by the river, while this is supposed to be a quaint historic neighborhood. Design standards would be as appropriate here as anywhere in the city. Are there none at all?

Those look downright third world. Like they're made from shipping containers. Red flags also include the terms "exposed concrete" and "panel." There's even panels full of holes, which look ideally suited for building your own dirtbike trailer.

I know it's popular in some circles to call that "aid", but it isn't really. Unless we are operating from the assumption that the federal government has first dibs on our money. Income tax rates are a political decision impacted a balance of many factors. One of them, without a doubt, is the interest deduction on mortgage. To take it away would require a significant lowering of the rates themselves. Assumptions work both ways. Many assume it's proper for the poor to have such limited "dibs" in the first place, while others don't. One could even view the mortgage interest deduction as a direct subsidy to banks, as a reward for... having money, because they're banks.

I used to live in the one on High Street, about 20 years ago. My first apartment! It was cheap and nasty but we had a great skyline view. I fell in love with that type of building and I have spent most of my days in something similar ever since.

As to what we're doing now, who did that displace? Nobody was doing this via mail. There were newsletters, sure, but nothing resembling a forum. This is a mass benefit, a novel contribution to the world, that I attribute to technology-- a change for the better. But automated checkout is simply replacing people for its own sake. Rather than solving a problem, it just takes one problem (of debatable severity) and gives us another. And as I pointed out above, the benefit from that change is largely contained. Checkout is still checkout.

I'd rather have one more person employed in my community, so even if there is only one staffed checkout lane, I will wait in that line. I also make it a point to do most of my shopping at stores that aren't actively pushing machines to replace people. I have no doubt it would be more convenient to order my groceries online, have them picked from an automated warehouse and delivered by drones. That's the direction we're heading, but not with my support. Of course some of the savings will be passed along to the consumer, just enough to drive competitors under, but the lion's share will be captured by whoever owns the robots. And once the competitors are eliminated those discounts fade away. And the result is less people in my community who can afford to do business with me. Goes around, comes around.

^The high level bridge allows commuters and river freight to ignore each other entirely, while a drawbridge would set them at odds. People balked at traffic lights, so now we'll ask rush hour to wait for passing ships? And the shoreway itself serves an important purpose in absorbing commuter traffic from tighter, denser city streets. Putting all that traffic on Main Avenue would hamper Main's development into an ideal pedestrian-oriented mixed-use neighborhood street. That transition started years ago, so all those people living nearby might take issue with this plan as well. Ultimately the shoreway and its bridge benefit adjacent areas by allowing them to focus on being the best urban neighborhoods they can be. Making those neighborhoods accommodate commuters would split that focus, and would reduce the ceiling for the kind of development we actually want.

The Left has a responsibility to pick up this issue and run with it. It should be framed as a problem for business and commerce. For example, low wage health care workers have great difficulty getting to their jobs, and these jobs simply cannot wait for them. Employers find themselves out of compliance when workers can't get there, and are forced to spend wads of cash on overtime and agency help. Public transport is a cheaper, more efficient way to solve the problem. It doesn't just benefit the workers, it benefits the business owners to a larger degree.

These problems start at the top. Bad cultures develop; good cultures are developed purposely. The agency's hostility toward rail is well known. Every effort to promote BRT expansion is a plank in its argument against rail. In public discussion, the current rail system is treated as more of a burden than an opportunity or a point of pride. This will continue until there is fundamental change in how the agency is run. The RTA Board is ultimately responsible.

Extending the Green Line there seems like a no brainer, but isn't there some problem with the park blocking it?

There's more rivalry between Ohio's three major metro areas than between either of them and any rural interests. Measurable voting patterns disagree. These patterns also point to a certain existing nationwide organization that could serve the "League of Cities" purpose. At minimum, it would be an important ally to any such League. The groundwork is already in place for cooperation, there just needs to be more active cooperation.

R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy

Apologies if this is the wrong thread... I have some 5-ride passes that are from 2013 but still have rides left on them. No expiration date is given on the passes themselves. Are they still good?

That is several kinds of awesome all at once.

I've been to Minneapolis once, for a job interview. The firm was opening a local office so they'd had people here for a while setting things up. My interviewer commented that wow, there sure are a lot of black people in Cleveland... like he'd honestly never encountered that situation in his life, and never expected to.

Wait, you're predicting that he will be the Republican nominee? Yep. Any guess is a reach at this stage, but that's my guess. Imagine the narrative he could present at a convention in Cleveland's resurgent downtown. Of course we then come to the counter-narrative, which may force the opposition to highlight problems in their own stronghold.