Map Boy

To help paint the picture: The former Lou's Furniture: Future home of the Near West Theater : The north side of Detroit, featuring one of those nifty new Re$tore Cleveland posters! A new ice cream shop that is apparently doing great business! The Gordon Square Arcade, whose upper floors will soon host renovated apartments: Charing Cross Book Store, in front of CPT: The vacant Capitol Theater...future home to indie flix?

Actually, Paul Byrd's numbers are pretty solid. He pitched over 200 innings in two of the last three seasons (Millwood only did it once) and has had an ERA below 4.00 all three years (again, Millwood did that only once). He strikes out three batters for every one that he walks and he's a career 4.23 pitcher. Signing him at $6-7 million was a good bet when they can't be sure that Millwood would sign with us again for even $10 million a year. Keeping Millwood would cost us a lot and I think that with Byrd, we've managed to add a solid arm to accommodate for his absence. Of course I'd rather have Millwood, but it may not be a choice that's ours to make! And if Elarton doesn't end up signing with us either, I think it's time for one of our youngsters to come up and get a shot. We've got arms, let's see 'em!

oh, I'm sure he would too! He'd sit out if it meant we had a better chance of winning (that would never happen). our defense is atrocious...

Thanks Don!

true on the charisma, but that may just be a first impression... he's got respect all around and will surely gain Frank some additional support. kudos on this appointment Mr. Jackson!

indeed it does! and another one on the north end of the West Bank that would provide access to Whiskey Island. Funny, though, that there's nothing closer to the Wolstein project. His project is on the map, so it is interesting that they would put one just east of the CSSB and not closer to this hub...

I actually don't mind it! It's a little weird how it juts out into the sidewalk, but that street isn't exactly a normal through street, so I don't see that being a huge problem. It's such a stark contrast to what that garage looked like beforehand...pretty remarkable really!

wait, Inn the Wood is gone? where the heck am I going to get my potato, cheese and veggie log?!

I think the big difference between the first and second half last week was that our offensive line called it quits after the second quarter. Frye was getting hit hard on every snap in the third quarter and just barely regained his balance in the 4th enough to make a little progress. The 3rd killed us, though. What'd we have, -7 total yards?

yeah, and Hoffman's getting around that much (not sure exactly, though), probably a little less. the Wick had a tremendous year last year. if you didn't watch the games and you just looked at his stat line, you'd think we were crazy to rate him as a lesser option and give him only $5 million for a year. however, if you did get a chance to see any of his typical outings, you'd know that most of them could've gone either way! I hope he can pull it off again and I hope that we can develop one of our tremendous young arms into a viable replacement! it's cheaper that way...

heck yeah! that's what I'm talking about! excellent idea gotribe!

I'd never heard of these proposals before and naturally, I support them adamantly. So, the thought that their removal from consideration is the result of RTA actions is just f-ing unbelievable! How did someone with his background get placed in charge of engineering at a transit authority??? He's certainly qualified to continue designing overpasses and new ways to eat up farmland, but shouldn't he be working somewhere out in the exurbs or sitting in an ODOT desk in Columbus? This is infuriating...

Well, if we can justify it through a significant amount of development on either side of the river we can probably get a good bit of money from ODOT and the Feds for it. KJP? Do ODOT or the Fed tend to fund projects that are pedestrian only? Personally, I don't think we need more vehicular access here and it would most definitely be a more expensive and space consuming project...so, what about just a pedestrian lift or swing bridge? It could be a mini version of the existing lift bridges (historic throwback) or something modern... what are they doing at North Coast Harbor? That may be a good benchmark...

From what I've heard, the sewers are some of the oldest in the city. That's not surprising, considering where they are, but this is the first time since the turn of the 20th Century (when they were installed) that there is a project in the works that warrants upgrading (replacing) them. I like this optimistic outlook from Wolstein. And of course I like the baseball metaphor! The office building still seems to be a question mark, but the word on the streets is that it's a pretty solid spot and should be able to lure something pretty significant. The question remains, though, who will the site lure? Someone from elsewhere in Cleveland? Someone from elsewhere in the region? Or someone new to the region? Let's hope for the latter!

I saw that last night and had no idea what was going on! It was too cold to check out, though!

I agree...winter can be fun to WATCH...but walking through it? not so much fun! This conversation about getting across the river is such an interesting one. We've got our high-level expanses covered, but when it comes to Flats level in the residential part, there's really only one bridge that fits the bill. That's the Center Street Swing Bridge and it's got the south end covered. As much as I love the walk from the lower level of Stonebridge, across the CSSB, along the river, to Settler's Landing and on to Old River Road and up to the WHD, it's not the most practical option for everyday (or winter) foot traffic. It's a nice stroll... Now, another, northern pedestrian bridge would be great, but how do we do it? The elevator up and cable car options seem a bit too complicated. The water taxi should prove viable, but shouldn't be the only option. What about another, much smaller, swing bridge? Or a bridge that enxtends out over the river like a fireman's ladder? I'm no engineer, but I don't think we need to be building something that goes up into the structure of the Main Ave. Bridge. I think that these questions will be answered as the development starts to pile up. Wolstein's already asking for over $80 million in public investment in infrastructure and other odds and ends, so it'll likely come as an attachment to a project on the West Bank. That, or once the residential population is strong enough down there to put significant pressure on City Hall and ODOT.

and we're in for another nail-biting, heart attack season with Bob Wickman!

I know...that's one of the things I've discovered since moving back here. Time CRAWLS when you're looking for updates (pre-Urban Ohio!) from afar. Being back home, I see the progress in the finer details. Time will fly and signs of progress in site prep and the like will be exciting enough for 2006! Again, the sheer number of projects kicking off in the final quarter of this year and then in 2006 is so exciting!

This area is already pretty well inhabited...but as more conversions take place, the population will continue to grow. I agree, though, that the prospects for this part of town are just amazing! Seeing this church succeed makes me wonder about the church on the south side of Detroit, between 58th and 65th (not sure of the cross street). It's for sale on Progressive Urban and it fits so well into the neighborhood. I really hope that it can be preserved and put to a creative new use like Josephat!

hmmm...tough bet to take. It's really amazing how much progress this entire (5 phase) project has made, while other projects either remain on the drawing boards or stuck in financing, legal or interminable construction phases. And as the only Downtown condo project of significant size to open in the past couple years, they seem to have captured a lot of market demand that has driven the project even further. During a lecture last night from Steve Strnisha (founder of Strnisha Development Advisors, a public/private real estate consulting firm), we determined that site work on the Flats East Bank could begin as early as next year, but that we really won't be seeing any openings until 2009-10. This seems like forever, but the project is so much more complicated and involves a complex web of financing. I'd be interested to hear from the Stonebridge developers how they did this on their own...and how they were able to quickly navigate the maze of financing and get these things built! It's not like they were building out on greenfields in the 'burbs. This is still the Flats and there had to be some really difficult stuff to get through. I guess it's possible that Stonebridge took just as long from inception to completion, but that it all came in under the radar...

really? i thought the whole reason that this addition was necessary was because the developer/owner was not able to put the lobby and elevator inside, since his garage leaser would not give up a couple parking spaces? I never heard that it was intended to be an architectural feature...more like a "we've got to save our asses" type of response so that they could actually open this thing up!

yup...about two weeks ago! there are now vacancies there and across the street where the old laundromat used to be (next to the sushi shop).

"next year" and I'm already thinking two years down the line, when we might actually see our last two top picks playing together!

ok, there's ONE picture of the new buildings in the last 4 pages of this thread...what gives guys?! I drop in for an update every couple months and I am left disappointed! I guess I'll just have to get them myself when I drop in on the old 'hood at the end of the month!

yikes! how much does the Ohio City Home Tour usually cost?