Map Boy

wow, yeah, I love that peninsula! What was the epicenter called? Cavity Place? Gravity Place?

That is a good point about purchase contingent upon the buyer's current home selling. I often forget that there are two sides to the equation. There still has to be demand for the prior unit or the buyer won't be able to complete the purchase of the new one. This, of course, doesn't factor in for renters who are now buying or for migrants from other locations who are moving regardless of the sale of their old home.

With the Fed dropping the interest rate, we should see an uptick in housing sales. Regardless, these new construction projects often have ridiculously low financing packages for buyers, so demand for these should be stronger than your average home on the market. Plus, they're kick ass!

They can change the look of the shelters all the want, but they've still got to function better. Lights, information, shelter... these are the big factors. A fresh design can certainly be a sign to riders and passers-by that there is an investment being made. It can even wake someone up to a transit option that they didn't know about. However, the TWE study and long-awaited implementation should be about so much more. Can anyone speak to this in respect to the Crocker Park facilities?

^Thanks for the response there Jerry. I'm interested to see the interiors, or even a "floor plan" for one of these BRTs. Bikes make transit so much more viable and as I said before, RTA has made great strides, but still has room for improvement. Being able to take my bike on the bus/rapid cuts down my trip time by about 50%. On the room for bikes issue on the Red Line, this is a real pain in the butt issue. I know the trains weren't designed to accommodate bikes and bikes can be more problematic, since most don't fold down like a stroller can, but making a cyclist board the train in the front and then roll his bike to the rear of the car, through all the passengers who have no interest in moving their legs... well, that's just preposterous.

What are you not buying? The fact that Little Italy Redevelopment didn't write that letter? I've said nothing to imply that LIRC either supports or opposes this project. All I said is that we shouldn't assume that they agree with one letter or another until we've heard it from them. I would think, based simply on the nature of urban development, that they would support it for a number of reasons and oppose it for others, all of which we've discussed here. In the end, though, it is their responsibility to work with the developer, the supporters and the opposition to come to the best outcome possible. I don't know if LIRC has voiced an opinion to date. If anyone was at the meeting and knows if they were in attendance (which they should have been), I'd be curious to know what they thought. And you're right, clvlndr, that LIRC shouldn't just stand by and watch. If they have a master plan in place (which they do) and they feel that this development meets with the community's established vision for the neighborhood, then they should be supporting it or helping to bring it into compliance with that vision. If it runs counter to the community's vision, then they should step up and say why. As for the adjacent landowner being entitled to their opinion, well, that's just part of the process, both for landmarks review and zoning changes. I wouldn't take that away from them, but I also wouldn't let it be the deciding factor. By law, they are allowed time and a venue to respond. Their opinion need not be heeded in order for the proposed project to be approved by the legislating body. It may, however, bring up issues that the various boards will need to consider before moving forward with changes or approvals.

Good questions, UrbanLife. I've posed some of them elsewhere, but haven't heard a response.

Great shots, as usual, Mayday! I always check in here when I miss events because I know my fellow UrbanOhioans will get out and get me some pics! I've heard a few accounts of the Race for the Cure... sounds like it was just phenomenal. The turnout, listed at 20,000, was impressive, but I'm hearing it felt like far more!

Great shots 8Shades! I didn't make it to either day's events (crazy weekend), but I drove down Superior and by the chalk fest yesterday and was happy to see people out. FYI, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance sent out free trolley passes to some of its mailing list. We got them and were totally planning on going Sunday, but as I said...crazy weekend.

Jerry, I think the distinctive looks of the new trolleys and their improved routes have been great for ridership. And of course, being free helps! However, one issue I had immediately after the opening of the trolleys was that both lines were the same color. My eyes aren't great without glasses, but even with mine on, a dot-matrix "E" and "B" look pretty similar from a distance. What would it take to put a little color-coding into the exterior of the trolleys? I was expecting one to be green and one to be red, like the signs, and I was puzzled why this didn't translate into the actual trolley colors.

cue the YouTube video! I took out the extra "o"s in "loooong" to make my post seem less dramatic.

You're right about #2 in the letter, KJP, but until I've actually heard a response from LIRC, I wouldn't put too much weight on what the private Little Italy Development has to say about the CDC's master plan. I bolded the word "don't" in my previous post to make sure everyone reads it right!

I'm still intrigued by RTA pulling off being the first to release an image of the Uptown & CIA plans, even at bird's eye! I'm a little curious as well about the public release of these plans, which are ambitious and idealistic and have serious potential, but are still a long way from being realized and are in so many ways out of RTA's hands. I just don't want to set the bar so high that we'll end up disappointed in the real result. Or for people to set their expectations based on one agency's plans for the area, when there are many players to consider.

Yes, how/where did we determine what the LIRC position is? If I missed it, I'd like to know! To piggy back on the mud slinging, though (because you all know I love to), I understand how the adjacent landowner's input is important, because they are adjacent, but how can their master plan really have any bearing on the plans of an adjacent land owner to build out his/her own property? Especially if they're not planning to provide an easement or have their property (which consists of lots of asphalt and paint) otherwise impacted by the development. CIA, on the other hand, offers a nice support document, but they are a stretch when considering neighboring properties.

Oi! You hotheads need to check your "p"s and "q"s before you start slingin the old mud around! Little Italy Development, LLC and Little Italy Redevelopment Corporation are two completely different entities. I know, they sound VERY similar, but the former is a private, for profit "developer," who operates surface parking lots. The latter is a non-profit community development corporation. I'm not sure where LIRC weighs in on this project, but I don't think it's safe to say that their opinion is that of the private landowner adjacent to the proposed project. Just wanted to clear that up...

The county's got some bad data on there. I notified them a while back, but what can you do?

In response to critiques from KJP and others (because this was my initial reaction when I saw this too), this project is on an island, surrounded by property that is also privately owned. While it looks like they could easily just have their tenants drive up E. 119th Street and park in the rear, that is not the case. The City vacated E. 119th Street some years ago and it is now owned by a private parking lot operator, who manages several hundred spaces along this stretch. So, as much as I hate the new curb cut on Mayfield and the use of the first floor sidewalk frontage on this high volume pedestrian route for automobiles, well, there may be no project without it. I'm not sure what negotiations they've attempted with the parking lot folks, either to purchase an easement or to lease spaces from them, but that's something that I hope has been or will be discussed.

Congrats! I joined the married party earlier this year... honeymoon TBD. By the way, what are you doing on UrbanOhio the day before the wedding? Get to work, boy!

in the old nearly new shop space? i noticed that was all torn up yesterday.

very nice. And the 5 units above Wonder Bar are the only for-sale units at the present time, correct?

I went in with the thought that if JFK was on that list, I was discounting the whole thing. The trip from JFK to anywhere takes forever! And it ain't cheap unless you decide to just take the subway... and then it's a really long time. CLE being left off this list is ridiculous, especially considering that it boasts the first airport to downtown rail link in the nation (correct?).

Always something in the works over there! It's hard to believe that someday, they'll be all done and move on to the next big project... I'm happy to hear about the units over Corner Alley. I didn't realize there'd be so many! What are there now? 200 or so? My experience has been that they're always within one or two units of being 100% occupied. 66 new units should add more energy and should fill up quickly! Especially as they should be opening right around when the ECTP is about to start operations...

I always check out Bill Lubinger in my Wednesday PD for goodies like this. Although, I think they've seriously messed up the title: RESTAURANT ROW Budapest Blonde owner turns to Blue for new venture on East Fourth Wednesday, September 12, 2007 Bill Lubinger Plain Dealer Columnist Ilona Simon is mixing blue with her blond. The owner of Budapest Blonde, a European-style martini and wine bar in Independence, bought the closed Halite restaurant in Ohio City from partners Jack Anfang and Ricardo Sandoval, who also own Fat Cats in Tremont and other popular destinations. She's turning the space into Budapest Blue, an after-work night spot designed in seven shades of blue, with domestic and imported beers, martinis and wine to wash down traditional bar fare. More at cleveland.com http://www.cleveland.com

yes, the very same bookstore that was selling a book for $5 over the cover price and couldn't do anything for me when I pointed out that the cover said "$14.95" and their sticker said "19.95." I opted to get the book from the library. jerks!

^I posted a similar comment/question earlier. This is a big problem in my eyes. For the most part, the RTA isn't going to hear from people who are pleased with their ride. We just assume it's going to work for us. But when we do have problems and we want to be constructive about getting them taken care of, we need to feel that we've been heard and that our concerns are taken seriously. There should be action, as urbanlife said. Whether the comment be about the attitude of a particular operator or the function of a facility or vehicle, it is important that RTA be responsive to the communication, even if no direct action can/will be taken. This is the same as anything else I choose to spend my money on. If I am displeased with my service at Dave's, I'll drop them a line. If I don't get a response, I'll be less likely to stay loyal to them for my shopping needs. Unfortunately, there aren't too many alternatives for transit in Cleveland. I'll just end up driving more.