Map Boy

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/iseco/112004611529230.xml?iseco&coll=2 Promising article about Cleveland bringing one of its own back from Chicago to start a brownfield land-banking program. He sounds capable and ambitious...both things we need! However, as promising as this sounds, Cleveland doesn't exactly have the best track record for aquiring delinquent/blighted properties and turning them around for profitable/productive use. Case in point: the Whiskey Island lighthouse. Maybe they'll be better under a new format. Anyone know how the City's residential land-banking program is going?

well, this drawing does nothing for me, since the first one didn't really represent the building very well, so I don't feel that the second will do any better. what's exciting is that it's a solution to a pretty significant problem that's been keeping the project from competion, so whatever, I'm for it!

damn! that's quite a list! I'll have to admit that i'm a little disappointed in the Cleveland proper representation in there, though. seems like there are more veg & veg-friendly places in Oberlin city limits than in Cleveland! thanks, though, bizbiz...good to have this!

hey, no sweat! You just sound like you've got some good stuff to share, so we're trying to get you loosened up!

i know, we're all dorks... but looking at that picture right now is actually having a cooling effect on me...goodness knows I need it!

OK, so it's actually like la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona in that TERRY (not Jerry) Brown is builing it little by little over the span of a lifetime... It's still a work in progress and he lives there and I believe runs a design/architecture firm maybe on site. My friends are good friends of his and are supposed to be moving in to help offset the cost of construction and upkeep and what not. Still not sure when they'll be touching down, though.

my friends are moving in there...i'll get the goods from them!

yeah, go to this site: http://www.realneo.us/node/1022

wow, amen to all of that! this project is of course very exciting in and of itself, but the talk of expansion and neigborhood cultivation eastward and along the bluffs is very exciting. and the notion/necessity for the City to start planning for open space in this area that will appeal to and drive further residential growth is so important!!! i've envisioned this district (actually had dreams about it in my sleep) as a residential growth corridor for years... and we need to push it forward!!!

It's about time they started paying attention to this! (this was my pick for the building I'd most like to see fixed up in my city...an earlier thread on the subject of unique structures with great redevelopment potential!) Official neglect for Cuyahoga gem Monday, June 27, 2005 Tom Breckenridge Plain Dealer Reporter The abandoned Coast Guard station on the western side of the mouth of the Cuyahoga River is a rotting landmark, a city-owned jewel tarnished by vandals and neglect. City officials say it's time for serious talk of a multimillion-dollar makeover of the three-acre compound, whose curving, white-washed buildings and six-story lookout have marked the river entrance since 1940. The site is linked by pier to Whiskey Island. More at cleveland.com http://www.cleveland.com

Yes, of course there are great things about each of these neighborhoods and we could come up with 18 bazillion different systems for ranking them (maybe I'll come up with one soon), but this initial article was from the Free Times and who knows what their criteria were? Are we talking shops and nightlife or parks and schools or all of urban quality of life combined? Maybe once the article surfaces we can make sense of this. That being said, if they're talking Metro Cleveland, then I would most definitely include the neighborhoods within Cleveland Heights and Lakewood in the "best urban neighborhood" category, as some of these are our best examples of livable 'hoods in the region. I would not, however, call Cleveland Heights or Lakewood a neighborhood unto itself. They, much as Cleveland is, are cities made up of neighborhoods.

HOT! errr, cool! That's one heck of a photo there, Blinker. I could look at that for hours... You'd never know it was Cleveland if it weren't for the power lines and the overabundance of snow!

by the way, check out the plans on this April 28th (late, I know) Landmarks Commission photo link...they're almost all rowhouses! Ohio City (47th & Lorain) and East Blvd are featured here... http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/landmark/agenda/04-28-2004.htm#

more of the above set of images at http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/landmark/agenda/photo/june092005/index.htm

i'll be you BRATenahl didn't even make the top ten! let's raid their castles and pour the money into the metro coffers! (no offense if there are any mathers, rockefellers or other wealthy-types on here...) [all in jest, of course!]

Awesome! I agree 100%...mixture of uses, with emphasis on the strong market pull from housing right now, spells success! This is really great...and the addition of amenities retail in the old Cantina (I think we should just call it the Cantina, a la Star Wars) will help to solidify the Stonebridge development's convenience factor. It's already pretty close to West 25th/Market Square and of course, Downtown, but now it'll have its own little retail cluster as well! And only a year-and-a-half away? Great! Keep the construction cranes in the neighborhood...we'll need 'em!

I'd agree with those four, though not necessarily in that order... I'd have to put Ohio City on the top of the list...surprise!

yeah, lots of us could say, "I hear from this guy who met one of the construction workers who said 'blah blah blah,'" but I guess we'll really just have to wait and see from the people who live there! Personally, I'm thrilled about the whole thing, for the simple fact that it's a really cool development that focuses attention on a central location with a lot of history and a great view of the future. I would never have had this vision, so the fact that there are people in Cleveland with their hands on money and development know-how who are thinking so progressively is just wonderful!

by the way, have we earned an upgrade on the title of this thread by now? or should we start a new one titled "Cleveland's hidden stock of new and used rowhouses"?

I may not speak for everyone here at UrbanOhio, but I think we're all excited to see what everyone who joins the board has to say and share as it relates to their interests and expertise... That being said, it looks like Icecream's expertise is probably in the technical/legal property realm, so I'd be interested to hear some news or input from him/her that doesn't sound like an accusation... by the way, I believe that earlier post that aimed to display the scaravelli property included a disclaimer and a parenthetical "approximate" that we all heeded pretty sincerely.

How 'bout this one in Ohio City? "Clinton Terrace" I found it on the Visio Architects web site (www.visioarchitects.com)

property magazine...good find woolybear!

psyched about this and about the potential mixture of uses. incorporating space for retail and offices can only help this mini-neighborhood within a neighborhood flourish... on the other hand, if the whole thing looks like junk in 5 years because of shoddy materials and construction, then this could all come back to bite us in the ass...

If this was the only barrier to going forward with this proposal, I would be stoked about it. As it is, though, it's just one more reason that they'll add to their list of many for not pursuing the option any further... Anyways, great work KJP!

Back in Cleveland last weekend, I guzzled my fair share of Eliot Ness and Dortmunder Gold...yum! Gotta love the Great Lakes Brewing Co...