Foraker

(From the Cleveland Historic Photos thread) Just imagine how a boulevard would change the experience for pedestrians. Cyclists. If we really want to access the lake from downtown, converting the Shoreway to a boulevard should be a high priority.

So if we want to move toward a nicer lakefront downtown we need to convert the Shoreway to a boulevard, eh? let's do it!

So why isn't Amtrak learning from foreign operators and the airlines and moving to food cart service and fewer sleeping cars? Most Americans would be shocked at how spacious and comfortable (and reclinable) Amtrak's seats are compared to the increasingly cramped airline seats that everyone knows.

And the PD catches up.... https://www.cleveland.com/community/2020/03/from-carriage-house-estate-to-boardinghouse-dorms-across-from-top-of-the-hill.html

Reminder -- https://janresseger.wordpress.com/

Nighttown/Zoss/former Fifth Third Building -- https://www.cleveland.com/community/2020/03/former-fifth-third-bank-building-in-cedar-fairmount-sold-to-nighttown.html

Looks like the school district and the city are going to try again to repurpose the old Millikin school site https://www.cleveland.com/community/2020/03/cleveland-heights-school-district-team-up-on-development-of-old-millikin-campus.html Does anyone have any pictures of the old Rockefeller/Severance Stables that are reportedly at the back of this site?

Looks like that paper was written in 2016 -- good stuff, and not super-expensive to make significant improvements to Cleveland traffic. Has NOACA just ignored the study results? Are there any plans for securing any of the funding needs outlined in the white paper?!?

Meanwhile, Lincoln, Nebraska gets new electric buses https://journalstar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/new-electric-buses-will-hit-lincoln-streets-this-spring/article_6e2441e2-40c8-55b9-a664-5e2a045b6045.html

Very nice. Although I would get rid of all of the parking adjacent the terminal. Let everyone arrive via drop-off, bus, or Rapid or some sort of dedicated people-mover/tram. Move the parking and rental cars off site. Silly to build a car warehouse so close to the terminal. (I know, not everyone agrees.)

I suspect that the intent of those "balconies" is to provide a door -- a larger opening than a window, and the door can be opened to let more light and air into the apartment than a window would. The railing is there more as a safety measure when the door is open, and extends across the windows for aesthetic reasons, not to provide outdoor space for the tenants.

Back in 1825 Ohio had a statewide property tax that funded early schools. Today we have state House Republicans fighting with state Senate Republicans about how best to fund vouchers (and continue not to adequately fund public education): https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2020/02/ohios-ongoing-school-funding-failures-underlie-the-edchoice-voucher-mess.html

From the same article, a reason why despite low unemployment the current GDP growth sucks for the average worker.

Yes. More explanation here: https://www.heraldtribune.com/article/LK/20090621/News/605215584/SH http://www.roundaboutresources.org/roundabout-vs.-traffic-circle.html

Around 10pm last night, Cleveland Heights City Council voted unanimously (7-0) to approve the financing package (TIF and city contribution, to be funded with non-tax revenue bonds). After four years of planning and meetings and design changes -- Top of the Hill is finally underway. I don't go to many city council meetings but I was impressed with the attendance (the fire marshal had to issue some warnings to the overflow crowd in the hall). Speakers were probably 2-1 against approval of the project, almost exclusively because of the design -- not good enough for the gateway to Cleveland Heights, too tall, blocks the view from the Buckingham building, the developer wasn't good enough, etc. There was a lot of strong emotions and anger in that group. There were also proponents, few of whom were really excited about the design but many expressed concerns that after the developer bent over backwards for four years further delay might kill this deal and utterly discourage any other developers from doing business in Cleveland Heights for the foreseeable future. I thought the council's comments after the public comment period were well thought out. New councilperson Melody Joy Hart in particular did a good job of explaining that the planning commission, the architectural review board, and City Council had already approved the design last year and the city couldn't now void those agreements without paying a substantial penalty, and that the only issue before council was whether to approve the financing. The financing was well explained by the City Manager, Tanisha Briley, and Councilperson Hart subsequently explained the due diligence that went into it and why she thought the financing was sound and why she was voting in favor despite having been elected to bring "change" to the city government. I was surprised at the unanimous vote though. Several members of council have not been enthusiastic supporters, to say the least, and the new council members were under a lot of pressure to try to change course. Councilperson Hart also said that they would be doing a review of the process to improve it before the next development project.

Lots of economic info on this project on the city's economic development website. https://www.clevelandheights.com/1081/TOH-Economic-Impact-and-TIF-Information

The Keith building is not empty, but I'd guess that OnShift's four floors will create a significant opening. The first couple floors are pretty small spaces due to the Connor Palace lobby and dual elevator banks (one side for floors 1-10, the other for floors 10-20). My understanding is that there are a bunch of internet server rooms in the building connected to the high speed fiber highway under Euclid. It will be interesting to see what K&D has planned for that space after they shift OnShift to another property.

Drove by that site earlier this week -- didn't realize that there was room for development there. Hooray for density!

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/03/jim-cramer-the-profit-in-oil-and-gas-stocks-is-drying-up.html

Maybe not, but density is increasing on that corridor -- Top of the Hill in Cleveland Heights, further down the line Cedar-Lee-Meadowbrook will add density, UH is building at Cedar-Taylor and density is increasing at Cedar-Warrensville -- it will take a while to do the planning study and get each of the cities along the way on board, so why not start and work with the cities/county/NOACA to provide incentives to further density as a precondition for construction. Freeway medians are the definition of low density, that would be the last place to put BRT.

I would love to see a study on a BRT line from university circle down Cedar to Beachwood.

Let's revive that plan to remake the shoreway through downtown Cleveland!

I wish some architects would dig up the plans for some of these old buildings and reproduce the buildings. Retain as much of the outer appearance and inner layout as possible while accommodating modern needs (and designing for eventual re-use as needs change so that buildings are not torn down!)

Seems like it's time to mandate designs and construction techniques that facilitate re-use and de-construction. Horrible waste of resources to tear down the Justice Center and toss it in a landfill.

It's already out of date -- the old police station at Stokes (E. 107) and Chester (lower right in the photo) is no more.