Map Boy

Yes, Cincinnati has a very large stock of row-houses. And having lived in Brooklyn for over 3 years now, I'm going to miss the brownstones that line so many of our residential blocks here when I return to Cleveland. I do love to see new housing density in Cleveland, but so many of these projects are just a part of a larger block. We've yet to see a large, cohesive development of substantial density built in recent years in Cleveland. The closest we've come (to my knowledge) is the Beacon Place development near Church Square and the Cleveland Clinic. The Euclid and Chester sides feature rowhouses, but are set back from the road on a smaller, ring road. The side streets are lined with tight-knit detached units. Given, I like this development a lot, I would have liked to see it incorporate more commercial and tie more into the existing street grid, rather than setting itself apart. I'm all for density, but I think we could make more of these opportunities. For example, adjacent to this traditional urban development, we have a commercial strip mall with great amenities, but it's built like it's in Mayfield or Solon or some other auto-centric suburb. These modern strip malls were endorsed by the City in the 90s and I understand why they're so important, but I don't understand why they were built with such unattractive form. (sorry, went a little off the subject there, but I'm still talking about density and urban form...)

van Damn! that's some good stuff! I will note, in particular, the similarities between Milwaukee and Cleveland in terms of geography and reputation and the disparities in the use of their natural amenities. From the looks of those pictures, MW actually utilizes its waterfronts for productive and public uses... Cleveland planners take notice!

how could you cheer for one and then change to the other??? It's like rooting for the Red Sox and then deciding...oh wait, I actually like the Yankees! Just Ohio-style. I'm more curious than anything...not really offended (yet!)

That's pretty hilarious to think of the Bengals winning the AFC...let alone the whole thing! I'm picking them to lose 16 straight, starting with an embarassing loss to the Browns in week one!

Ahhh, the Big Egg! I spent a very depressing New Year's Eve there when I was 18, listening to their crappy juke box and drinking dishwater coffee... As for me citing vegetarian favorites, I'm definitely one of those veggies who can eat just about anywhere. Hook me up with some fries or a grilled cheese sandwich and I'm cool. I'm not very strict about where stuff comes from...I just don't eat meat or fish. In regard to Tommy's: I'm not offended or anything, so no worries, but I've never had a bad experience there! I grew up going there and pretty much every high school dance was preceded by a date at Tommy's. It was a great enticement to get my west-side friends to come over to my hood and even my friends in Cincinnati cite it as a good reason to come up for a visit! The milk shakes are unbeatable (If there's someone who can top them, I'll be there in a second!) and there are just tons of options for veggies like me, while still being able to satisfy picky non-vegetarians like my grandma. Speaking of good milkshakes, is that place over by St. Edwards still around? I think it was Malley's or something? Used to go there after high school football games between the Wildcats and the Eagles...people were always starting fights.

The plans and the actual photos are both so nice! Just think of those streets in a decade when the trees have begun to mature...and in 20 when everyone's thanking their lucky stars that they were built with real brick and the place looks like a nice street in the West Village! (maybe I'm getting carried away...)

well, mr. paul in cleveland himself is now an UrbanOhio member, so we'll get all the goods directly from him! as for his site, it kept me going on all those dark days I spent in London and Portland when I needed my Cleveland fix!

nice! congrats Wimwar! can't wait to see it... I'll bring the granola if you bake the brownies (don't forget the soy milk) and we can get those hippies on our team! Given, I wouldn't mind living on Hessler as it is, but don't you think their quality of life would be a little better with some shops around the corner? Maybe a book store or a grocer? I know the concern is with building height and sun blockage...so why can't UCI/CWRU or whoever it is compromise and build uniform height along the entire property, rather than staggering it as I'm assuming the plan was to be. And what of the property across Euclid?

very nice...too bad we don't have a meandering river like that here in cleveland where developers could build hotels and housing and take advantage of opportunities for recreation/beauty... if only there was some sort of bendy---no---crooked river to work with...

by the way, here's the/a news story: http://www.wkyc.com/video/player.aspx?aid=12983&sid=35455&bw=

for those of you who didn't catch this on the news: http://www.wkyc.com/video/player.aspx?aid=12983&sid=35455&bw= It contains some optimistic talk (and some images) about all the new stuff going on around town and actually didn't have time to mention some of the biggest ones! That's a good thing!

on the news, eh? that's nice! at this stage in the game, it's probably too early for actual designs, but Zaremba probably has something similar to Developers Diversified's conceptual plan for the East Bank. I'd love to see it! unfortunately, every time I turn to City Architecture for projects that they're working on, I get smacked in the face with this tease: http://www.cityarch.com/

it would also be nice to see the green space that sits next to a parking garage just south of Erieview turned into a more accessible/usable space. Right now it's just a hill that has a certain "off limits" vibe to it. With new development nearby, it could either see a new structure or be given a more welcoming public use. And then, of course, there's Perk Park, which hasn't changed yet???

Interesting... Comments on the widening/replanting issue. The median is a great asset as far as greenery goes, but it's true that it's not very functional. I see no need to make the road narrower, but I can see the desire to make the greenspace more usable...i.e. a promenade, or shady sidewalks instead of a big concrete planter in the middle of the street. It would be a shame if we lost the old trees to something newer and less mature, though. (we've discussed the newer weak-bodied "spindly" q-tip trees that have been popping up downtown in other threads)

Paul, you beat me to it... I'm wondering if that sort of use is going to be "urged" out of the area once redevelopment begins. For right now, there's no need to mess with it, since there aren't a lot of uses on the nearby blocks that don't involve automobiles. But in the future, I can see that being a "blight" (what an awful word) on the residential community that we're talking about here. The parking garage may be outdated, but I can't see it going anywhere unless someone has bigger plans for the lot. Maybe a new form of retail on the ground floor could help it fit in? some greening perhaps? maybe I'm getting way ahead of myself?

Well, KJP, you're the one who posted the article! I was just commenting on what is, to me, a glaring blank spot in the courtship of retailers to the Cleveland area. If UCI and CWRU really are planning to make the area a fully mixed-use, world class cultural/university area, they need retail! Ford/Euclid is the premier spot for this and I know it's kind of at a standstill, but not long ago, they were thinking big about it... That's how I got to University Circle.

OK, I'm a BIG fan of the last couple sentences of this article. Still could care less about Crocker Park, but I'm glad to know that Stark is maintaining his big plans for Downtown Cleveland!

oi, the fact that channel ? moved its headquarters and the FBI built that gated office building right on the bluff really irks me. there were efforts to develop them (Davenport Bluffs, anyone?) but I seem to remember this being a major Mike White era debacle. Still, there is SO MUCH POTENTIAL for this area...and sure, we might not have the money, but people with money will take notice once these first few parcels get going!

Well, of course there's still going to be crime. It's the organizing/mobilizing of residents, merchants, city, and police that I think will be noticeable there. When the successes are more widely recognized than the failures, a neighborhood can really make its push.

Brunswick? who knew?! (aside from Summit Street, that is) The more the merrier!

Yeah, that's peculiar and disappointing. I'm sure Forest City has people on the ground there in Vegas, what with all of their megaprojects across the country. Maybe they just didn't get covered in this article. Or maybe they're just dropping the ball in a big way! Glad to hear about all the other people representing at the conference... Though, I'm still wondering why no one is talking about retailing University Circle.

Am I the only one who didn't know that the CWRU village project was going to be LEED certified??? If they receive certification, this project will be among the first (and largest) in Ohio! This is fantastic! I hope Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are paying attention and will start to make certain LEED points mandatory in their new (public) projects. Case's Village @ 115 to be among nation's leaders in energy efficiency, environmentally conscious design First phase of $126 million North Residential Village to open this fall May 9, 2005 | For more information: Kimyette Finley 216-368-0521 Case Western Reserve University’s new $126 million housing project —The Village at 115—is expected to be among the nation’s leaders in energy efficiency and environmentally conscious design. In addition to pursuing points on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system for the seven residential houses in three buildings that will open this fall, Case also is establishing one of the most comprehensive systems for measuring energy consumption. “We’ll be among the first LEED-certified buildings in Ohio and considered a national leader in energy measurement and verification. This will be on the cutting edge,” said Donald Kamalsky, assistant vice president for student affairs and director of housing at Case. Informational kiosks in each residential house will provide the 740 students who occupy The Village at 115 with statistics on real-time steam, water and electricity. Monthly and annual energy use will be monitored and calculated per house and per student occupant. In addition, energy operations for the Village at 115 will be compared to existing conventionally-designed buildings on campus. Overall, the high performance buildings in The Village at 115 are expected to reduce annual energy consumption by 40 percent, and reduce peak heating and cooling demand by 30-40 percent over conventional buildings. “We wanted to make the buildings a teaching instrument and help students to learn and live an environmentally appropriate lifestyle,” said Gene Matthews, director of facilities services at Case. “Once students understand how their lifestyles impact [the environment], they can begin to control how much energy the building consumes, and it gives them some control over their living space. “Our goal is to produce a generation of students who are more environmentally aware and conscious not because they learned it out of a book, but because they learned to live that way here,” Matthews added. The data on energy consumption also will be broadcast on the Internet, allowing researchers from almost anywhere to access the information. Energy-efficient initiatives for The Village at 115 include a heating and cooling system design that allow for hot and chilled water to be generated at two central locations and then distributed to each house that is part of this phase of the project. The system is designed to reduce energy usage and loss, as well as maximize free cooling and heating during the “shoulder” seasons of fall and spring. The Village at 115 also features a unique system for ground water recharge, the collection of surface storm water and most roof run-off water. The water will percolate into the ground gradually rather than into the sewer system with wastewater. “Students said we should be a model for building energy-efficient buildings. Being responsive to environmental concerns was the responsible thing to do,” Kamalsky said. In addition to the environmentally conscious features that will exist in the new buildings, Kamalsky said about 60 percent of the construction waste for this project has been recycled. Other energy conservation measures and efforts to encourage recycling for The Village at 115 include: -highly insulated, air tight buildings -light shelves -high-performance windows -local materials such as brick, slate and poured in place concrete (cuts down on fuel and transportation costs) -construction materials that were made from recycled materials -motion detectors to monitor occupancy and reduce energy used for lighting -recycling bins in each residential house -electrical distribution that is designed to reduce power loss -individual fan coil units in each suite to moderate temperature -drip irrigation and low-flow plumbing fixtures for water conservation Project organizers are compiling an inventory of all these environmental measures and will send the information to the U.S. Green Buildings Council, which will award LEED points for the project. LEED-certified professionals have been involved with various stages of The Village at 115.

KJP, might the French bistro you speak of be Oui Oui??? It opened in the old Ohio City Pizzeria location and I got to have lunch there in March...c'est tres bon! (don't laugh if that doesn't mean anything) Mama Santa's has definitely been my favorite in Little Italy over the years, but that has a lot to do with its affordability, on top of the great pizza. When my parents were buying back in the day, I got them to take me to Porcelli's, which was sooo good! And yes, the ambiance at La Dolce Vita is stellar...very much a place to see and be seen. I seem to recall the wait staff there being particularly appetizing... Interesting sidebar: who has the most attractive staff??? customers???

Good thinkin X! Some good, old fashioned land banking sounds about right! Especially if they're going to consider installing some public space on that end of town in the future. I guess they can try to make that a part of these developments, but you'd be leaving it up to private developers...

Anyone following progress in Avondale? I've been keeping tabs on community organizing efforts over there and they seem to be moving along nicely.