Map Boy

What's this Swingo's Grand Tavern?

I can't say for certain that if Downtown was as bustling as envisioned in current plans that I would have stayed 10 years ago, but I would have been much more likely and I would have been more eager to come back. True, part of what drew me back here was the desire to be a part of positive change...something that I felt so detached from in NYC... But I'm also an urban planner and I can't expect others to want to return to or stay in Cleveland for the same reasons. There is an innate desire in so many of us to get out and explore the country/world and I don't think that will change regardless of how happening Cleveland is. However, if we give people a slice of what they like about other cities here, on top of what we already have going on that others may not, then we'll be able to retain and lure more people to live here. This goes for jobs and employers as well. If Cleveland is identified as one of the cities that people have on their list of places to consider (for living, working, starting a business, retiring, whatever) and it's not just for people who grew up here and have families here, then we'll be making huge strides. I think Stark's plan, in addition to Wolstein's, Corna's, Marous's, Zaremba's, and so on are just the ticket...

Very nice! Thanks for those. These bridges should help bring some visibility to the trail in a place where it could have easily passed through with little fanfare...

Fantastic...step by step...33-0 is a pretty sound majority!

I guess I'm having trouble envisioning how they're going to fill this thing out to the full footprint (as with the lower floors), but it looks to be at its peak height...maybe one or two levels shy. Perhaps these will be the elevator shafts, which they often do first in construction.

Here are a few more from street level, today: The "market" building and the new building, both moving along: Looking back up the hill from the Powerhouse parking lot (perhaps the next development site?) Another from that spot, with the big crane they've been using (they fold this thing up at night, but it stays on site)

Great article, "Winning Pays." I hadn't seen that yet. I always assume that business is up down there when the teams are doing well, but it's nice to see it in print as well!

Thanks ya'll! I'll be posting more from today a bit later. Two days of sunshine in a row and I'm taking full advantage!

Punch, you know what the "Y" is all about, right? For those of you who don't, there's a nice explanation of the "Y Cleveland" theme, in the second post on the second page of this thread...it's the first article in a series from KJP and it really introduces this whole topic quite well! I agree and I've had some worries about this...

Here's a little something to get people excited for this Saturday's subway tours... Stonebridge, from midway across the Detroit-Superior Bridge: The view east on the bridge: Why don't we have more of these old school lamps on the bridges? Bridges, bridges, bridges! (can you see the ship coming in under the lift bridge on the right?) Jacknife, with Warehouse District and Flats East Bank housing in the distance: A closeup of the dense cluster of housing rising up from the East Bank: Looking north across Settler's Landing, Old River Road and W. 10th Street: W. 10th Street, more housing density! Looking back west from the foot of the bridge towards Stonebridge: A shot of Downtown offices and the Convention Center from Willard Park: New ticker on the Idea Center Building and new awnings that now line several PHSQ storefronts: Around 5:00 on a Monday...

Good point...do you mean "wet-nap?" :-D

OK, so I took a couple weeks to get over there...

A couple snaps from yesterday on the Detroit-Superior Bridge: A Classic:

wow, we got way off-topic here! question here should be whether or not Parkworks would be an organization that could get involved with the design and programming of a new park on West 25th...any ideas? murmurs?

"he didn't need a market study to gauge the viability of his project" those sound like famous last words... But hey, no need to be a wet blanket! This sounds like great progress!

^what? yes, Parkworks is still very much in existence. Wimwar should see to it that their website gets updated!

Yeah, there's a lot left out there. I'm curious about how they determined what made the map and what didn't. Perhaps there is a marketing arrangement?

^bingo. If they don't incorporate a dog run/park into this plan, they're missing a great opportunity. Dog parks are a great lure for area homeowners and a great way to ensure that the place is being used for legitimate reasons. So, Wimwar, is Parkworks getting involved?

^Well, "simplest" is probably an understatement, but yes 2 minutes late is still late and that's a bad precedent to set. You've got to pretend that the deadline is at least a day before the actual deadline...you never know what's going to happen! Besides, if they were really working on the thing up until the final moments, you've gotta imagine that it wasn't polished and pretty. Anyway, there are still a number of good firms left. I hope that the County's new practice of making and meeting deadlines remains true throughout this and their other projects!

^They can't just hire the bike messengers like the rest of the Downtown restaurants? Nice shots pope!

The Cavs as a team deserve many props. With a couple exceptions, the Cavs as a TEAM outplayed Detroit, who is the pre-eminent team in the NBA right now. In the end, we folded, but we made our run and we looked sweet doing it. That said, I think all this negative talk about getting a supporting cast for Lebron is pretty lame. It's typical end-of-the-season BS and there's no escaping it, but I just want to say that we gelled towards the end of the season for about two straight months...when it counted. Of course we could always use an addition or subtraction here and there, but let's not forget that every one of our role players contributed in these two series. If nothing else, I think this speaks to the great potential of this squad in 2006-2007!

Hmmm...a park...what a novel idea! I'm all in favor of parks, but I feel that significant public investments like this should be accompanied by larger master plans. So, if the City, CMHA, the County, and Metroparks (you know they'll be included on this discussion) are all going to collaborate on a significant park, then let's talk about the parking lots across the street that belong to Lutheran. And yes, B12, we can talk about relocating the THI "hovels" that you so despise. I wonder, though, if any of that land on the east side of W. 25th is stable enough to build on. If THI is relocated, can we actually build there? Anyway, I like this idea. let's make sure it's done right and that it doesn't become another liability, but rather, a big asset!

That's quite impressive! I only hope that the function can be improved as much as the appearance... By the way, is it in the University's plans to extend the plaza west over the parking garage towards the law college? This looks like a sensible plan, but I've never seen it anywhere...

where's everyone watching the game tonight? Downtown? East? West? South? Home? I'll either be in Cleveland Heights or Downtown...

nope, I'm pretty sure there's a contract on the land that says that this building has to remain "affordable" for something like the next 20 years or so. I'm not sure on the timeline, but it's still a good amount of time. It is pretty much guaranteed to be leased out and Ferchill gets his money because HUD is paying the the difference between market rents and what is "affordable" to the low-income tenants. the building is beautiful and the market rate rehabs further down Prospect will give the richies a new place to live. There's also the Osborne across the street and many others nearby!