Foraker

Several others have chimed in that the mother here was in the wrong, but I would caution that we may not know what the kid told his mother. I can attest to my kids saying things about a coach, only to find that when I check in with the coach and other kids and parents it was my kid who completely misunderstood (or mis-remembered or outright lied) what he'd been told. So the mother's error may have been simply not checking other sources to verify what her kid had told her. (Or maybe she didn't actually listen to what her kid said.)

Nothing seems to last long there. That space is pretty small. At least the tower across the street will bring more people to that end of Playhouse Square.

Should make a good impression when the All-Star Game comes to town!

This is a little dated, but Cleveland Heights and the Cleveland Heights CDC, FutureHeights, are working with East Cleveland and other partners on a study (and hopefully future investment) in the Noble Road neighborhood between Mayfield Road and Euclid Ave. http://heightsobserver.org/read/2018/10/23/noble-road-study-kicks-off-oct-29 There is currently a survey being done to ask visitors and residents for their input and it looks like there will be a community meeting at the Cleveland Heights Community Center at 7pm on January 17. http://www.futureheights.org/noble-planning-study-online-survey-is-now-live/

This is a little dated, but Cleveland Heights and the Cleveland Heights CDC, FutureHeights, are working with East Cleveland and other partners on a study (and hopefully future investment) in the Noble Road neighborhood between Mayfield Road and Euclid Ave. http://heightsobserver.org/read/2018/10/23/noble-road-study-kicks-off-oct-29 There is currently a survey being done to ask visitors and residents for their input and it looks like there will be a community meeting at the Cleveland Heights Community Center at 7pm on January 17. http://www.futureheights.org/noble-planning-study-online-survey-is-now-live/

What do we want Carnegie to be? https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/1/whats-a-stroad-and-why-does-it-matter

Boo! I hate that we are adding another bridge to maintain to a highway system that we already can't afford to maintain to high standards.

Thanks for the depressing news that you didn't have to go back to the 1950s/1960s transit heydays to find much better transit times than we currently have. Let's hope that new management at GCRTA and the results of the transit study (and your continued advocacy!) get us back to a higher quality transit service in the near future.

How have transit times changed since public transit's heyday in Cleveland? Gordon Square to Case (currently looks like 40-50 minutes)? Cedar-Lee to Playhouse Square (currently also 40-50 minutes)? KJP -- do you have old timetables?

Family-size dairy farms are dying out. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/dairy-farming-is-dying-after-40-years-im-out/2018/12/21/79cd63e4-0314-11e9-b6a9-0aa5c2fcc9e4_story.html?utm_term=.ee10a847ce1a

If you look at the construction cam today, you'll see a partial answer to this mystery -- it's topped with a cement pump.

I wouldn't call this a fire sale, where you're typically trading away all of your proven quality (expensive) for unproven potential (cheap). Overall I'm pleased with this deal, which seems to shuffle around some decent but not (yet?) great players, improves the position alignment, and cuts some payroll for next year (although it doesn't do much for the payroll in two years' time). Encarnacion for Santana, maybe a wash but the edge goes to Santana -- both in hitting and in 1B defense. Neither is in the prime of their career at this point. Santana is only cheaper in 2019. And we know he has real passion for Cleveland (reportedly still owns a home here). Sorry to see Yandy go, but we didn't have a good spot for him in the infield -- would you prefer Yandy over Lindor or Ramirez?!? Good guy stuck behind better guys -- this move seems like the best for Yandy to go and play every day. He certainly wasn't lighting up the scoreboard with his limited playing time (although he did play in 70 games, which I would have thought would have been enough to show more power than he did). I'll be pulling for him and hoping that playing every day will help him turn into a better hitter than he showed -- and I'll welcome him back to Cleveland when he fits a need. Bauers seems like someone with upside, and even though it's tough to say whether he has as much potential as Yandy he fits better with the Indians' current needs -- outfield experience! These moves do suggest that Cleveland now has a lot of options at 1B -- which suggests more deals are likely in the works before spring training. If any of the rumors about a Kluber trade come true, THAT would look much more like a fire sale!

What the heck is that gray column to the left of the crane in this picture?

That would be ideal -- add some height and put retail at street level, I wouldn't object to a dollar store as part of that project. The building does not provide an ideal street presence on Larchmere. A long blank wall (with an attached mural) faces Larchmere and the parking lot is on the corner with E121st. The "front" of the building actually faces E121, not Larchmere, and is set back from E121 by the parking lot. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4880488,-81.5977892,3a,75y,60.51h,89.74t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shqp17aiOKvxa_QIZiT-zMg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I use E55 and I490 regularly and never have any problems or see any accidents -- which makes the frequent hating on that intersection mystifying. I don't think adding a stoplight less than 100 yard further along is going to make much of a difference -- although I'll completely stop using E55 if I have to take a ramp to another light. This also will be terrible for TOD opportunities south of that intersection.

UGH. Watching that "simulation" video makes me think that this is going to be the eastside version of the Shoreway where it enters downtown Cleveland. "Boulevard" is laughable. Really, really disagree with the decision to route the corridor UNDER E55th and the width of this roadway (looks like 5 lanes, with a sixth turn lane at intersections). If we really must add this new road, how do we minimize future maintenance costs? I keep coming back to this fact that Ohio is not adequately funding its roadway maintenance to begin with, the City of Cleveland clearly doesn't have the funds to make up any deficiencies, so we really should be minimizing lane-miles and the number of bridges. It doesn't look like there is going to be any further public input. ODOT is moving ahead with this design -- is that correct?

This is an aside to the building of this tower, but we did some research on the chemistry of concrete and at the end of the day it was surprising how much of that chemical process is still not well understood. There are a lot of variables, including the chemistry of the aggregate and the water that is used, that can affect the quality of the resulting concrete. Lots of "experts" in the field seemed to be operating on their gut rather than science. Reminds me of some really good tool and die makers -- where experience and passed-down knowledge trump scientific understanding. Nice to see the basement pour is nearing completion -- now construction can move up!

If you have a copy of those plans, it would be nice to see them. (I love maps.) I'm somewhat surprised that "security" wasn't used as an excuse to push all the car traffic away from the terminal. (And although I think the security concerns are probably overblown, I'd like to see this happen!)

If only there was a light rail line that could lead to a parking and car-rental station.

Anyone know what is happening on Chester, just east of E40th, north side of the street, approx. 4316 Chester -- construction activity on the lot to the east of the Transaction Realty building?

Traditionally conservative states are adopting renewable energy for economic reasons -- Ohio should follow suit. https://www.juancole.com/2018/10/economics-embracing-climate.html The U.S. risks being left behind as other countries bring more renewable energy online. https://www.juancole.com/2018/10/renewables-revolution-china.html

With the increase in hybrid and electric vehicles and the ongoing road construction, the gas tax is going to be increasingly insufficient to pay for road maintenance. So transferring it to funding mass transit seems like a good idea -- making mass transit more convenient and pleasant will reduce the number of vehicles on the road and may ease maintenance requirements as a result. We probably need another source of funding for mass transit as well, however. Gas tax receipts are likely to evaporate in the long run. We should increase the gas tax, and index it to inflation and carbon emissions -- for global warming and health reasons rather than increasing revenue for roads or transportation.

I thought this analysis was spot-on. https://www.cleveland.com/expo/sports/erry-2018/10/69b6afef074500/ohio-state-needs-to-consider-t.html

I agree -- but "sprawl" is also a thing in those areas. I pass through St. Henry regularly and it seems like there's a new further-out suburban-style development every time. They are obviously doing well, and within commuting distance of a lot of employers outside of St. Henry. But is it sustainable?

There are some images up on the city website, but the developer is still tweaking the design and finish materials. I think the massing is pretty close to final. https://www.clevelandheights.com/988/Top-of-the-Hill -- retail space has been reduced to 15,000 sq (from 20,000 sq previously) -- a space on Cedar at the point has been converted from retail space to amenity space, with a community room (maybe fitness) on the ground floor with windows, and a pool and deck above [this seems like a wise change -- they noted that advisors said no one would walk all the way to the point, and they're probably right] -- approx. 275 apartments and 275 parking spaces in the garage -- in response to objections to the long continuous massing along Cedar in previous plan, they now have an elevated walkway over the "laneway" to the parking garage [I don't like the skywalk] -- developer is expecting the total cost of this project at around $80million, city is estimating that the value of the building and property after construction at about $44million -- city and schools gave a 30-year property tax abatement, and some people were pretty upset about that. Supposedly the schools currently receive about $20k a year in property taxes, and will receive just under $400k per year during the abatement in "service payments" on the TIF. -- Final design work should be done in another month, but the project still has to go through the Architectural Review Board after that. I think they were estimating a closing for the project in February-March 2019, with construction to begin in by the 3d Q 2019, completion anticipated by 3d Q 2021. The public comments included more griping about parking, griping about the tax abatement, and griping about how the design looks "too modern" for Cleveland Heights. Someone said that the project looks like it could be in any "lifestyle center" development in the country -- and I can't disagree. Others, including Brendan Ring, the owner of Nighttown, gave enthusiastic kudos to the city and developers for listening to and addressing their previously-raised concerns. The city and developers are very pleased with progress so far, and I think rightly so. Both sides have made compromises which bodes well for this project actually coming to fruition. Someone asked about core samples and water runoff and I thought the answer was pretty funny -- they just started doing core samples and the developers haven't received the results yet but "they're finding rock" -- ha! And they will dig underground retention basins if needed to address runoff. There are places in that area where the basements were originally blasted out of bedrock, and now the basements flood. It's a difficult problem to solve. So they may find solid rock uncomfortably near the surface for this project. Overall I think everyone involved, from the city manager and economic development and planning teams to the city council, the Cedar-Fairmount SID, and the developers, are all very very excited about this project. The nearest residents may not be convinced yet. But the solution to Cleveland Heights's high taxes has to include development of vacant land in the city to increase revenue, and on that front this project looks like a winner.