Map Boy

AJ, tell me about the new development... how is it selling? What does a typical condo/townhome cost? I'm assuming it's probably a little higher than Cle, considering proximity to the Chicago market. I look forward to seeing more pics!

I saw a huge line boarding the bus on Friday downtown by the Ritz... looked like a lot of college kids getting outta dodge for Spring Break!

Easy rides on the 26 and 25 yesterday evening. Not sure if they were on-schedule, but I understood that they likely wouldn't be, so I wasn't expecting the timetable to be accurate. Another one of my rides was free, though, since the farebox was out of order!

at least mine had an attempt at keeping on topic!

^I certainly don't. I used to take the train down with my parents for the holiday displays and Bruce the Spruce at Higbee's, but I only started taking the train on a regular basis in 1994. When was the new station and Tower City opened? I seem to recall that it was right around that time.

The Niners were mentioned as a sidebar to that ESPN article as one of a number of duds in recent years. You know how it goes... a team surprises in a year when they're supposed to be an "also ran" and the next year, they're picked as the favorite and they tank (the Tribe has been subject to this recently too). Whether it's the hunger of the underdog or a schedule that presents an opportunity (both could factor), I think it's safer to take MTS's view and look for a playoff run this year and then see what happens. I'm sure that's the outlook the Brownies are taking!

Took the bus down to see an evening flick last night. It wasn't as jammed as I've experienced in the past, but considering that much of the audience was probably still buried in their neck of the woods, I was impressed with how many people were there! I saw a 6:45 showing of Jellyfish and I'd have to say that the theater was about 3/4 full, which is great. I overheard several conversations while in line from people who took the train down since their cars were buried or from people who had come in on Saturday and just stayed in a hotel instead of trying to get back out. How fun is that to be stranded downtown during the Film Festival! One thing I love about the festival is overhearing these conversations from locals and from tourists. In most cases, it's from people who know how great Cleveland is and know that CIFF is one of the top events of the year. In some, though, there's the sense that Cleveland's cultural delights are just beginning to dawn on them. CIFF's slogan this year is "How will it change you?" and I think they're right on the money... By the way, who loves that video with the Twilight tune and the guy walking through Public Square??? I do! Finally, in response to the comment from 8Shades about culture vs. sports, I've a BIG sports dork, but I also love the cultural offerings in Cleveland. On average, I'd say I spend much more time watching sports. But when it comes time to actually plop down some cash to see a show, I'd opt for the arts 10 times before going to an athletic event. Part of this is because I can always watch the sports on TV, but part is because I know that my $ means a lot more at a play with 50 people in the audience than it does in an arena where the "actors" are getting paid $12 million a year.

^Is that dude using a squeegie mop to clear off his rear windshield? MayDay, it looks like Tremont got a dusting compared to other parts of Cleveland! Nice shots all around team!

How do you know that I didn't break into a vacant house and take those pictures???

I guess posting these here is more appropriate than the other blizzard thread... Here are a couple from the Near West Side of Cleveland about an 6 hours ago: And then from about an hour ago when I went out to shovel my walk: I'll admit that this is a snow drift, but it's only about 8" higher than the rest of my yard.

If the WFL needs to be elevated at the bend, then you should be able to build right up to it so that it becomes part of a building, rather than a barrier between two parts of a growing neighborhood. If it's not treated right as the growth expands north of the RR tracks, we'll be living with this mistake for decades.

Htsguy, shouldn't you have wrapped your post in an envelope marked "top secret reconnaissance" and included incriminating photos? Did you grab a pop can off the table for identification purposes?

fantastic all around! now, if we get a decent pizza shop for the nabe and an Indian restaurant, I'll be set!

Don't look now, but the Browns are being mentioned as a Super Bowl possibility in 2008... Browns focused on winning, not building for future By Pat Yasinskas ESPN.com Updated: March 7, 2008 It's early March, and Romeo Crennel is ticking off his haul from April's NFL draft. "Brady Quinn is my first-round pick,'' the coach of the Cleveland Browns said Thursday. "Brady's going to be a good quarterback for the Browns for a long time to come. My second-round pick is Corey Williams. He played four years up in Green Bay, and he played very well. My third-round pick is Shaun Rogers. He's a tremendous talent, and he's very excited about being in Cleveland.'' More at ESPN.com.

In particular, I'm looking at the footprint of the 20-story office tower between Front & Main. I would imagine they'd want to build up over the garage. Then again, this could be one of the "dated" parts of the image. Perhaps it was done prior to knowing what would be built there.

I noticed that yesterday while walking around TC mid-morning. Sure there were more vacancies than usual, but there were several new boutique-type shops that I'd never noticed before that were selling men's and (mostly) women's clothing and accessories. I don't know that anyone has filled the Panera space yet. Wasn't that downstairs by the cookie place? I think the deli you're speaking of is one level up. In any case, things were buzzing yesterday morning with the CIFF getting started and the workday crowd in and out. Caribou, for one, was swamped the whole time I was there reading the paper...

Wow, not one, but TWO roundabouts? I can already hear traffic engineering preparing their rebuttal... I know we're looking at very little of what's been done here and apparently it's outdated (so why show it?), so I'm not going to comment too much. I agree, though, that what is shown inside the WFL loop looks to be inappropriate... lots of lawn and parking. Still so speculative, though. A question about the area south of the RR... is all the parking that is shown actually open to the air or are structures to be build on top? It's hard to tell, since the images a blurry and the text is unreadable. Any insights? Otherwise, I guess we're going to have to wait for the 28th!

I had not heard this before... it would be fantastic!

did Channel 5 really need to park their van so close to the hole? Sheesh!

From Steve Litt's blog yesterday: http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/ Fate of Cleveland Clinic's Art Deco building to be decided Thursday Posted by Steven Litt/Plain Dealer Architecture Critic March 05, 2008 16:51PM Keep it or pitch it? The future of the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine Building near University Circle at East 105th Street and Carnegie Avenue will be decided Thursday. Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine The OCPM building could be demolished later this year and replaced with a parking lot...

oh no!

I heard about the rail issues on NPR this morning, but I figured that if I wanted more info I could just go to the website. Thankfully, my wife let me have the car today because there was nothing on the site to report! I, too, have had zero luck when calling the RTA help line that's posted at stops and stations.

Last night's results have confirmed what I was afraid of... Urban Ohio members are not a representative sample of the Ohio population. I wonder how close we are to a representative sample of the urban Ohio population?

^that would be odd, as it's a new station. I figured it had more to do with fare collection. And yes, this station will have a larger role in a couple years as this part of Fairfax sees new investment and the Clinic creeps further south.

New topic: fare collection. I've had a larger share of my rides since the new boxes have been installed where my fare isn't collected than I ever did before. Is RTA having problems with the new system? I hope you got a warranty! Also, in terms of rush hour fare collection on the Red Line... Cedar-University Station has about 25 people boarding every train during rush hour. I know there's someone in the booth part of the time, but it's not uncommon for me to get to the station before 6:00 and find the booth empty. When I get to the platform and there are 25 people waiting to board, I'm praying that they don't open the front door only and require everyone standing there to board and pay, since that would take a good 5 minutes. Most of the time, they don't. The end result in both cases is that fares aren't being collected and riders aren't being counted. What gives? Last question... what's up with the E. 105th Street station being front door on and off at all hours? More than a few times I've seen people in the rear car running like hell to get to the front car (crossing the "plank" between the cars) while the train is stopped at the station. It's especially bad when that person either A) has kids in tow, B) is blind, or C) is otherwise not very mobile. I've seen all three and it's a shame!