Map Boy

Wow! Congrats to everyone involved!

^Let me know if they do! Remember when there used to be 3 fixed round tables on the plaza? In their place, there are now 7 movable tables (3 more are on their way) and 30 chairs, plus there are 3 new timber benches and steps and walls that can be used for seating. The restaurants will be getting more tables/chairs in the spring - the distributor was out of stock! More music tomorrow at lunchtime - The Lennox Ensemble string trio from The Music Settlement

Traffic on the plaza has been up considerably since the "soft" opening last week. Check it out!

Picking up on the restaurant bit, I agree that the district can support more venues, despite the variety and number of places already up and running. Some patrons of the theater will certainly agree that W. 58th (and beyond - Minh Anh) or Herman are too far to walk, which is why Luxe is so well positioned to do well once the Capitol opens. There have been murmurs for years about the old Perry's location (next to Gypsy), which is where Luxe was initially meant to go. Plus, the Lou's Furniture building has had potential tenants coming through for months. I'm confident we'll have more announcements (and options) soon! As for the merchandise retailers in the district, I have to commend Danielle from Room Service, as well has her neighbors, for really making their way in Gordon Square for 2 years, prior to the streetscape and theater coming together. They've toughed it out through some challenging times, doing a lot to bring people in for special events, promoting their businesses, as well as a district that was just getting its feet under it as far as the masses were concerned. Think of all the people who came to Gordon Square for the first time for one of the "Made in the 216" events. When the theater opens, these people will already feel like they know the place and will serve as ambassadors to all the other newcomers. It's been a great source of pride for me, living in the neighborhood, to send people to Detroit Avenue over the past couple years. This is due, in large part, to our great retailers, but it also helps to have a strong and supportive community around you and a CDC who knows what it's doing. On the subject of first impressions, Detroit-Shoreway CDC is administering an "ambassador" program during the month of October in order to welcome all the new visitors to our neighborhood. Essentially, neighborhood residents have been asked to volunteer to be Gordon Square ambassadors during two shifts EVERY night from the opening of the Capitol (10/1) until November. I'm not sure how we'll be identified, but we'll be out there, ready to direct people to their destinations, tell them about life in the neighborhood, where to get a bite to eat, how close the lake is, etc., etc. Again, kudos to DSCDO for having the foresight and ambition to put this together! The buzz has clearly already started. Any of you who were out on Detroit yesterday could feel it. Even with rain all day long, the street was alive and it felt great!

Just when you think it can't get any worse... we go to Baltimore and play like a bunch of 10-year-olds. Seriously, I tackled better during 6th grade flag football!

it is remarkable how many people they have out there working on this project, well into the night. I've been very impressed by this on a daily basis. It's looking great!

ahhh, I see. Well, I thought this was important enough to post, but apparently not important enough to attend!

What the heck happened to the Opportunity Corridor thread? Didn't see this posted elsewhere on here - there are 2 meetings tomorrow: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM at the Cleveland Play House (8500 Euclid Avenue) 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM at Mt. Sinai Baptist Church (7510 Woodland Avenue) http://www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/ClevelandUrbanCoreProjects/OpportunityCorridor/Pages/default.aspx

The Indian restaurant next to the Euclid Tavern opened over the weekend. Not sure of the name...

I know what the problem is and how to get to the ticket I want, but these first time riders did not and ended up with senior tix. I don't know if they realized it before getting the fare cards or if they were surprised at how cheap the tickets were and what popped out! Don't worry. The next day, I made up for one of them by paying twice with my 5-ride card for a single ride...

several of my co-workers were delighted to tell me that they took the HL downtown on Wednesday for the first time. they liked the ride, but were confused as hell by the farebox and ended up just buying a bunch of senior passes! all they could say was "RTA must be losing a ton of money because of this."

Haven't tried La Boca yet, but all I'm hearing is good reviews lately, so I'm ready to go! I like the look of the burrito spot on W. 25th. I'll have to hit that up when it opens too! Any word on an opening date?

I don't believe construction at either station (Mayfield or Cedar) was due to begin until 2010. Not sure about a more specific time.

I am also a frequent rider (2-3 days per week) and have very few complaints about the timing/efficiency of the vehicle and route. Having validated quite a few 5-ride cards, I know what buttons to press and can do it quickly. However, for a new, single-ride fare, I concur that it is a cumbersome (dumb) set of steps and I am still ticked about the "exact change" thing, which isn't going to change. My other complaint is that bike/stroller accommodations on the vehicles are not sufficient. If you board anywhere but the northwest quadrant of Public Square, you have to ask someone to get out of their seat to store your bike where it's supposed to be. I like that the new articulated buses (3,22,26) have the front loader bike racks.

^I wholeheartedly agree. There's been a lot of work in the Edgewater Hill area in recent years to complement the Battery Park development. These are some of the nicest block in the neighborhood, IMO. I'm excited and intrigued by this storefront move across from Save-a-Lot. I feel like the closest place to D-S to get a good sandwich from a local deli is Tremont, which has several options. I'd hit up a good sandwich shop in that Detroit Ave location quite a bit... provided they offer good veggie options!

I hope they offer samplings and cooking demos for the public to partake in... and expand the sidewalk cafe to the west end of the building!

Sounds like your team is getting along well! I was part of a group that went to funders for startup money at the same time as Exhibit:Cleveland. When they got their CIL funding, we withdrew our proposals and pledged to help them with their program. It was all pro bono work... funding was used to compensate artists for materials and for cleanup costs and supplies for the displays (for what I can remember). The first one we worked on was the May Company Building, back in 2006. EC went on to do a number of other windows and other programs have spread similar ideas in the Lorain/Variety Theater area, St. Clair Superior, and elsewhere. It's good to see that even if one effort fizzles out for its own reasons, there are plenty of active, creative people to head up the next one!

I was so excited about this place opening and was extremely disappointed to find that so much of the grub us cooked in meat by-products. The pomme frites are apparently cooked in duck fat or something like that. While I'm sure it's all delicious, what's a vegetarian to do in a place like that? I would've thought a green restaurant would take that into consideration.

CSU MUPDD Capstone 2007 http://urban.csuohio.edu/academics/graduate/mupdd/mupdd_capstone07/retailreport/retailreport050307.html

That zoom lens knocks my socks off!

Bummer about the Ohio City Diner. I hope the building isn't too far gone to repair. And that everyone was OK! Interested (but not yet excited) about the return of the Big Egg. I only ever went there one time - New Year's Eve on the cusp of 1996-1997. I have a feeling the "new" venue won't remind me much of the old.

Is this SC4 or the newer "Societies" one? I haven't played in years... for the same reason as 3231. First, it was grad school, now, it's the wife and kid. Ironically, the wife likes the game. She's the one who bought it for me!

Right, the County would be a potential tenant for the Huntington Building. Not a bad notion. I wonder if having part of the building be government occupied would impede any potential mixture of uses, though.

Nice win my ass! The Browns have GOT to be the most frustrating team in football to watch right now. After the 1st quarter, the defensive and special teams tackling was atrocious. In Q1, they were swarming the ball carrier, not letting them bounce around and fight for extra yards. Then, all of the sudden, they just lost their mojo and the Bills' two RBs were having a field day! And special teams? Come on! And then there was the playcalling and clock management in the final two minutes+... again! What were they thinking with 2:30 left on the clock and two timeouts, passing the ball SIX straight times?! They should've been running the ball once they got into position... keeping the ball in the middle of the field and eating up the clock, so that when they kicked that field goal, they leave the Bills with no more than 30 seconds. WTF??? oh, what pain! nice to get a win, yes, but I have so little confidence in this team on every level.