Foraker

"White flight" was the genesis of sprawl, but Canada was whiter than the US. https://www.planetizen.com/news/2018/10/100960-why-canadian-cities-avoided-detroits-fate

A friend of mine tried to start a sports business on the top floor and the property owner wouldn't come down enough in price to let him try to make a go of it. He found an old warehouse in Euclid instead. That top floor location has never been rented. The owners were too smart. The development at this corner makes me think that South Euclid and University Heights have taken the approach that new suburban auto-dependent construction will solve their problems. (See also the University Heights side of Cedar-Taylor.) That approach will always suffer from someone building something newer just-down-the-road. Look at Severance Town Center, Golden Gate, Beachwood Mall, Legacy Village, now Oakwood Commons and Pinecrest, next -- ? I would argue that they should pursue development more like E. 4th downtown, Coventry and Cedar-Lee business districts in Cleveland Heights -- walkable urban development with a residential/business/retail mix. Don't expect people to come from Solon to shop and dine here. We have some good examples in the area -- could someone look at the Cleveland Heights (east) side of Cedar-Taylor and the University Heights (west) side and compare the per-acre tax revenue? I bet Cleveland Heights wins. And I bet that the Coventry, Cedar-Lee, and Cedar-Fairmount business districts bring in more taxes-per-acre than almost anywhere fronting Mayfield Rd.

The tower crane foundation appears to have been laid.

That's a nice area of the country, but I haven't been in that specific area in the past ten years or so. You seem fairly well-prepared already. The area is rocky (granite), so good boots will be key; and often steep, so you might take more frequent breaks. Ticks are more likely to attach to your feet/legs and crawl up, so gaiters to bridge the shoe/pants junction would be better than neck gaiters if you're that concerned about ticks. Spray your pantlegs with bug spray, don't walk through any meadows, and check yourself post-hike. I'm a mosquito magnet, but ticks have rarely bothered me despite lots of time in the outdoors and companions who were not so lucky. Other suggestions might include a small blanket or foam pad to sit on (but not necessary), some extra dry socks, and a small first-aid kit (blister treatment is probably the most likely first aid you'll need). Check the weather -- the temperature at the peak will be much lower and it will be windier than at the trailhead. A raincoat may be sufficient for some extra warmth, but you might want a fleece for your lunch break. My trips to that area generally demand trying a new regional beer, eating some lobster, and a trip to Ben & Jerry's (the latter being much less of a novelty now than it used to be -- but still a nice reward after a hike!) Also, New Hampshire doesn't have a sales tax (or income tax -- so you can imagine what property taxes are like!) but I think there are hotel and restaurant taxes to collect tourist dollars. Without a sales tax, outlet malls can be worthwhile, if that's your thing. Antiquing is big there and it seems every small town you drive through will have some antique (or junk) shops. I'd check TripAdvisor or Yelp for hotel and restaurant ideas. Share pictures and stories when you get back!

The author proposes that inner-ring suburbs merge with the relatively larger central city. Here in Cleveland, it seems like it would make sense to merge Cleveland with East Cleveland. What about Brooklyn, Lindale, Newburgh Heights, Bratenahl? Others in this forum have suggested combining suburbs, not necessarily merging with Cleveland, but reducing the number of suburbs. http://www.city-data.com/forum/cleveland/1911648-suburban-merger-4.html That may make sense for some suburbs, but it is not a reasonable solution for everyone. The city has to weigh the benefit of new residents (and their contributions to the city tax receipts) against the increased burdens that taking on more geography will bring: expanding the jurisdiction of its police and firefighters; expanding the infrastructure maintenance responsibilities -- parks, roadway, water, and sewer lines, etc. Cleveland might be able to absorb East Cleveland without much effect on its expenses/revenue thanks to the industry there and the fact that Cleveland already surrounds East Cleveland on three sides and already manages the water in Cleveland Heights on the fourth side. But the same might not be true of Euclid or Warrensville Heights, for example. As hard as it may be, some suburbs may just need to be left to die a natural death and returned to parkland or farmland.

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/08/how-america-killed-transit/568825/ Excellent article that outlines some mass transit history in the US. Another great quote accompanying some maps (including Columbus):

And it sounds like Congress also needs to be encouraged to get out of Amtrak's way.

After having traveled by train in multiple foreign countries, I really would like to support Amtrak in the U.S. They don't make it easy. /begin rant I just looked into taking the train to the east coast for a conference in several months. The price is right, but the schedule of trains through Ohio really means that I need two additional days -- even leaving in the middle of the night and traveling for nearly three times the travel time of flying I do not arrive early enough to attend the first sessions, meaning I have to arrive a day earlier and pay for an additional hotel night. So frustrating to think how many more passengers Amtrak would have if they would just increase the frequency of trains along existing routes! >:( >:( >:( /end rant.

And if they're not... and jut out in front of the 3,500 lbs steel box going 35 mph? Then they will likely die through their own failure to take reasonable care. But any damage to that other vehicle or the person riding in it is likely minimal. In contrast, if you drive your "3,500 lbs steel box going 35 mph" through a red light "in front of the 3,500 lbs steel box going 35 mph" -- both vehicles are likely to receive significant damage, the odds that you or the other driver will be injured are significant, although your odds of surviving are relatively good. So, while it may be irritating that a cyclist would break the law and not come to a complete stop at a red light, the cyclist's law-breaking has minimal impact on others' financial and physical well-being, in stark contrast to a car driver with similar behavior. Like jaywalking, it's a law that should only be enforced against cyclists when they act recklessly and risk causing an accident. What would a libertarian say?

County is assisting East Cleveland in demolishing 80 more abandoned properties. https://www.cleveland.com/expo/news/erry-2018/08/b71d45b2941541/eighty-blighted-homes-being-de.html

Under that logic though bikes should also be on the sidewalk. Or maybe we need protected bike lanes to separate bicycle users from 2000+ pound cars. Fewer lanes for cars sounds good to me!

See below. Joe C, how hard was it to tell the developers and the city that you want to reserve a 50-foot-wide right of way from the end of the Blue Line tracks to the NW corner of Chagrin/Warrensville? They wouldn't have thought any more or less of you. Depending on how the garage is configured, you might be able to run the rail lines through the ground floor -- not much different than a tunnel -- the trick is avoiding cutting off access to the ramp.

The economy may not crater in 2019, but does it matter? -- most workers are already in the crater. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/

How long before it's under water? :P

To me this is a sign that this project needs to be broken into smaller pieces. Start with that parking garage and it will be generating (some) revenue as soon as it is complete!

At other universities in Ohio, any time a professor even SUSPECTS that there is a domestic abuse situation, they are required to report that to a compliance officer. So if Urban failed to do so as required, that could put him in hot water with university requirements at OSU.

Cleveland Heights is trying again to develop the vacant lot on Lee Rd. between Meadowbrook and the new parking garage off Tullamore. Two proposals were finalists in response to the City's RFP, Cedar Lee Connection and Newland Development (see proposals at the link) https://www.clevelandheights.com/981/Meadowbrook-Lee City council just authorized the city manager to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the "winning" developer, Cedar Lee Connection. http://heightsobserver.org/read/2018/07/31/ch-city-council-vote-authorizes-mou-for-the-meadowbrook-and Forumers here will remember that the downfall of prior attempts to redevelop this site was in part the result of an AT&T easement that runs diagonally across this property, and AT&T wanted an exorbitant amount of money to move their buried lines and refused to allow construction over the easement. So maybe that's why this proposal has that diagonal walkway through the project in the preliminary sketches. The proposed timeline has groundbreaking scheduled for January 2019 and a grand opening in August 2020.

I don't think so -- that concrete right up against the Hanna building was uncovered, not recently poured. And it looks like they're driving retaining walls in front of those concrete structures.

Thanks for the summary. I was there as well and the other thing that I heard was that they have now ruled out trying to woo a hotel to the site in view of what they expect to be intense competition from hotels "down the hill" in University Circle. And I think financing is still up in the air and is expected to be finalized at the "Closing" in early 2019. The slides from the presentation are now on the website. http://www.clevelandheights.com/988/Top-of-the-Hill I stuck around after the presentation to visit each of the stations. I think the city people are pretty excited about getting all the initial agreements signed. The architects were talking to people about what they would like to see, so they were gathering some input. They think that they will finalize the massing and have some initial design ideas to show the community in the fall for more input before the design is finalized. Lots of residents in the area (including at the Buckingham Apartment Building (now condos) in the middle of the development) worried about parking, both during and after construction. The side streets already are seeing a lot of overflow parking from the Euclid Heights Building's filled parking lot (Barrio's success, plus The Fairmount, and BW3 and Aladdin's across the street). The parking consultant seemed very knowledgeable. I also overheard some concern that the development should include some public green space. (I can't imagine where on this site -- but maybe the city can find somewhere else in the neighborhood that could be set aside as a public park.) I managed to spend more time talking to the traffic planners and I liked them; they seemed to have some interesting ideas that they were still planning to model to see how they would work. I made some suggestions for pedestrian and public transit amenities -- but we'll have to wait and see. From the outline of the site that the developer is focusing on, my impression is that anything outside of that development boundary may be coming out of the city's budget for this project. As usual, that might not be as generous as we'd like. I didn't think to ask about a taller tower at the point, but I did hear some people telling the architects that they were glad that the buildings weren't going to be so tall right next to the existing buildings. Your comment about the desirability of a taller building at the point led me to look for a statement from the city about height restrictions in this area and I found it -- from the Staff Report at the bottom of the website linked above: So I think it would be fair to provide some feedback to the architects requesting that the "creative and unique design" needed at the entrance to Cleveland Heights at the point should include additional height. The city may be reluctant to let the building go too high since the Buckingham building is only 4 stories, but maybe we could get another floor or two of height right at the point, stepped up from whatever is adjacent the Buckingham. PD's report: https://www.cleveland.com/cleveland-heights/index.ssf/2018/06/top_of_the_hill_designs_shown.html#incart_river_index

Fallout from sanctions hits World Cup https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2018/06/17/iran-nike-cleats-world-cup/708410002/

There are a lot of problems with the current funding system. One is that it's not just state dollars that follow a student from public school to a charter school. My local district loses a few thousand dollars per kid living in the district that goes to a charter because the amount that the state requires the district to pay out is less than what the state provides the district in the first place. Another problem is that losing one or two kids per grade often is not enough to reduce the number of teachers that the public school has to provide. So the public school district is losing income while being forced to maintain expenses. Let's also remember that private schools can dismiss a kid for behavior problems at any time and the public schools have an obligation to continue to try to educate that child. So public schools have more kids with learning disabilities and behavior problems and these things cost more to deal with. And every citizen, whether you have children or not, benefits from having quality public schools. Many learning disabilities can be overcome, with the right help, so that the students become productive (taxpaying) members of society. Kids whose behavioral problems are addressed early are less likely to be a problem for society later on. Quality schools mean a quality labor pool for businesses to draw from. Or to start new businesses!

Seems like the smart thing to do would be to split the site around the easement. Two smaller projects provide fewer consequences of one failing to work out. Trying to do Big Projects and hoping for a home run is riskier. And the rumor I heard last time is that the owner of the easement wouldn't allow any construction above the easement either. So you might as well put a sidewalk over the easement and call it a day. While I'm also excited to see what is going on with Top of the Hill, I would prefer to see separate developers execute smaller projects within the overall plan, or have the plan executed in smaller phases than having one giant project. (And I'd love to see wider sidewalks and a Euclid-Heights or Fairmount-type median along Cedar in the Cedar-Fairmount business district -- Cedar is too wide for a pedestrian-centered neighborhood)

As long as the Ohio Republican Party is against all regulations and transparency for charter school financing, the Republican Party is effectively encouraging corruption.

To add to my post above, I found this early site plan for One University Circle. Note the site for Phase Two...... That "Adjacent One Story Commercial Structure" is a PNC bank branch.

Sounds like a fantastic idea. As soon as we figure out how to raise the money to maintain our existing infrastructure, that is definitely an idea worth considering.