Foraker

Heard a rumor that Rising Star Coffee is moving from the old diner on Lee to the former bike shop on south Taylor (just south of Quintana's). Seems like a good move. Can anyone confirm?

It's a very big deal. Add in the fact that the developed area in Cuyahoga County has grown dramatically at the same time that population has been flat or shrinking. More miles of roadways, more lanes as roads are widened, more miles of water/sewer/electric/gas/cable, etc. -- far more infrastructure investment on a flat or falling tax base. Yes, sewer systems last a lifetime, but not forever. As the older suburbs are now discovering, maintenance is expensive. And while the newer suburbs are enjoying their newer infrastructure today, where will we be in another 50 years if the population continues to stagnate and expand ever outward?

Awesome -- a welcome planning project for "simplifying the two-mile segment's 12 [TWELVE!] access ramps and identifying the locations and types of crossings for bicyclists and pedestrians."

We need more Republicans like Former Chief Justice O'Connor to speak up.

How does this compare to the revenue generated for the city from the acres of surface parking lots downtown?

A kind of strip-mall building of small businesses with parking in the back. You can see the "before" on Google Streetview (and compare to the adjacent building to the east which recently renovated the front of that building). Cleveland Heights's building department was gutted in the 2008 economic crisis and hasn't been the same since. They outsourced the inspections to SafeBuilt for a decade, just now trying to bring it back in-house and hiring building inspectors.

EVERY infrastructure project with public dollars should be required to consider the maintenance cost 20-years forward. If the city is going to "own" a stadium, we should insist on construction practices that reduce future maintenance.

The author of Not Just Bikes is Canadian.

I wonder whether it's already too late for that idea. Climate change is trending toward warmer winters generally, with fewer (but potentially larger) snow events. Less frequent snow can be dealt with with snow machines, but warmer weather (and rain) may make skiing unprofitable as an ongoing business in Cleveland in coming decades.

Exactly -- and clearly it has been a tough sell as shown by the (lack of) investment in transit. I am hopeful, however, that more people are at least recognizing the benefits of transit and thinking about it, if not a large enough group actually advocating for it yet. We will continue to see Boomers aging and their ability to drive will continue to decline. And the younger generations are delaying learning to drive and showing signs of not wanting to drive. That could lead to a political coalition in a few years that actually would advocate for better transit and TOD. Ever the optimist.

A ton of good points made here in the past few pages, but let's remember that Hopkins needs a reliever airport and that's currently Burke. Before Burke can be closed, a new reliever needs to be found -- and that will require some significant investment in upgrades to said airport. Would love to see the details of that report on Burke.

Yes, and with every recycling it becomes worth less (the fibers get shorter with each recycling). Sadly, that's probably still better than a lot of consumer products, but even mixed in it reduces the amount of virgin materials needed for paper. Unlike magazines or printed photographs, for example, you don't need high quality paper for practicing math problems. Thanks to recycling and earth day campaigns we do have a greater awareness of the value of recycling today. Thanks to schools.

Meh -- I somewhat disagree, but I can see how that might be the case in different businesses. In my company, politics only gets you so far. We know how much each person brings to the table -- show me the money -- competence and teamwork go much further than who is liked better by the boss. Obviously, that is not the case in every business. The introverts here who are working remotely have gotten lost in the shuffle. And it was extremely difficult (and largely unsuccessful) to onboard new employees during the all-remote period of COVID. [The new guys always say "who the heck is George?" even though he's been in tons of meetings with them from the start (this is a guy who has worked from home since COVID and never talks to anyone unless he has to, seems to get his work done mostly on time and mostly ok, never takes on extra work or goes out of his way to communicate, doesn't turn his camera on during video meetings -- that guy.)] To succeed here, even if introverted you have to make that extra effort to communicate with your team at the very least. Some introverts can do that via email better than in person, but if they're not making the effort, they're even more forgotten and passed over than if they had been in the office where they are more likely to be forced to have those interactions. If you're super-competent and a hard worker, maybe you can get away with less communication, but those aren't the "typical" introverts in our business. And I think that is why some sort of hybrid is going to become the norm. The introverts will get more time alone, but they're not going to be able to avoid all in-person interactions and the business will be better for that compromise. Hybrid work will probably mean fewer offices, and more people will want to live downtown to be closer to their office so that they don't have to drive. We have people at both ends of their career, starting out and downsizing, living downtown now. And they all say how they love walking to the office, to the ballgames, to all the downtown restaurants/bars. Seems more like we're going through a transition of what downtown is going to be than a true death-of-downtown-offices.

A good bit of paper is recycled now too. And paper doesn't have to come from trees -- other fibrous plants (such as bamboo and hemp) also can be used to make paper.

I was in Cincinnati recently and have to laugh at the thought of "traffic" in Cleveland. Yes, there is the "time" cost of commuting and parking, but Cleveland doesn't know how good we've got it. It reminds me of how so many Americans who have never traveled overseas to see how people live in other countries think that "everything is better in the U.S.A." Personally, I think there are a lot of advantages to at least part time working with your colleagues in an office -- onboarding, creating loyalty to the business and company culture, etc. But I think we've reached the point where almost everyone who sits at a desk all day will want to work from home at least part time, and that's likely to continue. Diversity in work styles -- working from home or working in an office with your coworkers -- might be another "rights" battle on the horizon. I imagine there are already lawsuits filed by workers who think they can do their job "just as well" while working from home and want to force their employer to allow them to do so.

https://hoodline.com/2024/08/ohio-department-of-transportation-welcomes-new-director-as-jack-marchbanks-steps-down/

We have in fact seen a trend toward more people living downtown. If fewer of them need to travel to an office in this new work-from-home era, I can understand wanting to live where the restaurants, theaters, sports centers, lakefront, etc. is within walking distance, not in Brecksville where you have to have a car (the car tax).

While a lot of attention has been given to closing Burke and possibly building a new "stadium village" there, the city should also look west -- from the river mouth to the stadium. There was some discussion at one time of moving the port closer to E55th, which has better highway access. Doing so would open up a lot of desirable land for development (and more parking for the exurbanites). Doing so would take as long (or longer) than closing Burke, but it should be on the table.

Cleveland getting some positive national press is never a bad thing. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-22/cleveland-s-cuyahoga-riverfront-awaits-its-transformation

Correct, that is my understanding as well. The former bakery building is for sale.

No, no, no offense taken, but nope, completely disagree (except that we need a well-connected network, absolutely). A painted bike lane provides zero protection from motorists, and I've seen (and experienced from a bike!) cars driving through and parking in the painted bike lanes enough that I would never want my grandmother or 5-year-old anywhere near one. It's not a question of "the perfect bone" being the only acceptable option, it's that a painted bike lane provides an illusion of being better than a roadway without any bike lane, and in my experience it is not. In a road wide enough for a bike lane but without the painted bike lane, cars tend to drive a few feet from the center line and bikes can safely take the curb. There's usually not enough room for cars trailing behind to want to pass on the right (and unexpectedly crush a cyclist). Add a painted bike lane and the cars move toward the center line and the result is more room between the car and the curb -- which seems to entice drivers to accelerate and pass on the right (through the bike lane!) or (as also has happened to me) pull over and stop in the bike lane as if it was for parking. Painted bike lanes by themselves are just not worth the cost of the paint and we shouldn't be spending the money on them if that is the case.

If I'm out for recreational riding, then that makes a lot of sense. I'm going to go someplace pleasant to ride -- and a protected bike lane on a wide or fast roadway can never be that "pleasant" a place to be. On the other hand, if the goal is to make it easier to choose a bike when you need to go somewhere, then we need protected bike lanes. Just as it seems ridiculous to choose to ride on a protected bike line on a wide or fast roadway for pleasure, it seems ridiculous to think that there would be some way to build a "bike trail" through downtown so that workers can get to their jobs or kids can get to school. Very few people are going to choose a bike and share the road with motorists, so we do need protected bike lanes. If available, I think a bike trail completely separate from a roadway should be the first choice, and the more separation between motorists the better even in a protected bike lane is second best (improved with a nice tree canopy and good street-cleaning!), while painted bike lanes are a sign of desperation at best and are unlikely to encourage anyone to choose cycling over the car. Getting more people to choose alternatives to the car will make driving better as well.

Sorry to hear it. I wish they could have made more of an effort to bring in musicians. Comfort food, great jazz, and a well-worn atmosphere made the Old Nighttown great. I really liked the patio addition for when the weather was nice too. But that was the old Nighttown. Despite some opinions, the owners of Red the Steakhouse are experienced restaurant operators and a decent choice to take over the business. I'm sure that the improvements to the building structure were necessary and the kitchen is undoubtedly better. But unfortunately, the renovations also removed a lot of the character of the place, and (news flash!) the restaurant business continues to be a very difficult endeavor, even for the experienced, and is probably harder post-COVID. I don't think anyone could compete with customers' memories of the old Nighttown -- whoever the next owner is, I hope the next owner can make the place their own and not try to and not have to compete so directly with hazier-by-the-day memories of Nighttown's greatness. A name change might help. I think there is still a weekend-brunch and evening-jazz customer base that needs satisfying, and I hope someone steps up to give it a go.

This is why we need to decriminalize marijuana federally -- so that all of these different compounds can actually be studied to learn what works, for what, and what the side effects are.

Cleveland Heights wins state grant for demolition of former Hillside Dairy building in the Mayfield Triangle. https://www.cleveland.com/community/2024/08/cleveland-heights-gets-state-demolition-grant-for-hillside-dairy-along-noble-corridor.html