Map Boy

I know there's not really a whole lot of excitement on-site these days (that stuff will start appearing in the spring!), but I'm curious about this note from the Design Review/City Planning Commission agenda from February 16th: SPECIAL PRESENTATION: The Avenue District Anyone know what this special presentation was about? Perhaps streetscape? Perhaps phase two? Hmmm???

Anyone else read this and wretch? As much as I appreciate the publicity for the many attractions and events in the Circle, the fact that the "other options" and "tips" don't include transit induced me to fire off a letter to the PD. Plus, they grossly underestimated parking capacity in the Circle by a factor about about 8! Circle's big shows squeeze parkers Saturday, February 24, 2007 What does it mean when there's a ton of great events in University Circle? Parking will most likely be a nightmare this weekend. The area has more than 1,500 parking spaces, and the string of special shows opening and continuing this week are going to make empty ones hard to find. More at cleveland.com http://www.cleveland.com

The final group of PR Newswire prospective employees were in town this weekend. I showed them around Playhouse Square (Statler Arms & environs), Live-Work District, Asia Town, east past Beacon Place (Fairfax) to Rockefeller Park and north through the park. We drove back down East Boulevard, talking about the beautiful homes and cultural gardens. We walked around Wade Oval, drove up Fairhill to Larchmere, walked around Shaker Square, and dropped in on the North Union Farmer's Market. From there, we drove down Coventry to Coventry Village, walked around a bit and then drove through Cedar-Fairmount before heading down to Little Italy. We walked around Mayfield and stopped in on Anthony's for lunch. The group was much smaller this time, but they seemed pretty impressed. Two from the group have already committed and are purchasing homes. The others were looking to rent and are still undecided. As for progress so far, I've heard from a few visitors who've decided to move to Cleveland and from at least one who's decided to stay in New York. His reasoning was that he's in his early 20's and just recently moved to NYC. He didn't feel like he'd given it enough time yet, so he wanted to stay before trying another new city. I certainly know that feeling! All in all, I think the tours went really well. Others on the forum might have more to share, but I think they got a good look at what the city and inner ring have to offer. The rest is up to them and their employer!

I finally went into the Monastery on W. 25th (north of Bridge) today on my way home. There were two tables occupied and I checked out their tea list for some loose leaf teas to go. I was pleased to find a list of what appeared to be more than 60 teas, from pu-erhs, to rooiboses, to greens, whites, blacks, organics, and so on. I asked about a couple and the owner (?) was very responsive and and knowledgeable and even insisted that I sample one that he highly recommended. The list of what they stock is also apparently going to grow. He also mentioned that they are planning to have tea tastings and other events that will help people understand tea. He's appeared very excited about the whole thing, which was nice to see! I grabbed a few ounces of tea for a reasonable price and will certainly be heading back for a sit-down. Anyone else been yet?

Sorry, no. This was another of the PR Newswire tours for their employees who are interested in moving to Cleveland. There's another thread on the topic somewhere on here.

I was there with another tour group today and they were loving it! They loved the movie theater, grocery, pet shop, sidewalk dining, rapid lines, and especially the farmer's market! And this is in the dead of winter...albeit a very beautiful day. Shaker Square is representing well to me and to the fresh eyes of newcomers... I'm happy to be able to show it off!

KJP, I really like your idea for a land use master plan around all of RTA's property. I wonder if they've made any moves towards this as part of the TOD guideline process. I was surprised and dismayed to find that no comprehensive land use or master plan study had been done for land along the Euclid Corridor. This should have been done in conjunction with "Dual Hub" and other planning efforts over the decades and would have been a major cause for any version of the project coming true. As it is, we're working on it now in a piecemeal basis, which just isn't how this whole thing should've gone down. In response to the Pope's question, I typed a response yesterday, but lost my internet connection and the response with it. So, I'll try to sum it up again... I can see where the cart/horse issue comes up here. Is it TOD that will increase ridership, or will TOD happen only if demand for RTA is intensified? TOD is clearly a strategy that RTA should be targeting every chance they can get. However, in the meantime (and over the past several years), they could have been increasing ridership through better management and capital investments that would lure and keep current riders (I've written more on this in the RTA thread). If they weren't constantly turning people off with the way the system functions (or doesn't function), they would see even more ridership increase than they already have. This would lead to more demand for TODs from private developers. The cart/horse is clear, but I think it makes a load of sense for the RTA to start with its own management and operations, rather than now coming up with the "aha!" moment of TOD, which will involve complex real estate and development partnerships that it has relatively little (or no) experience with.

So, this is one of the eminent domain hearings, but wasn't the demo of wolstein-owned properties supposed to start recently? I would understand if the weather threw them off a week or so...

ah, yes, I'd forgotten!

Well, obviously, some of the land they owned is used for facilities. One of these that was highlighted as a potential site for TOD is the CRT depot on Euclid, near E. 44th. It's 5.2 acres and goes all the way to Chester. They cited the adjacent developments by Heartland and a few others. They have plans to combine the CRT depot with another facility, so this should come up in the future. The RTA and keynote speaker focused on land owned by transit authorities and the potential they have to use the development of these properties as revenue generators. Other speakers, like Joyce Braverman from Shaker Heights, talked about the developments on adjacent land, like Heartland's project at Shaker Town Center.

I wanted to share my delight with the team that on my way to the TOD forum at CSU yesterday, I boarded an E-Line trolley at Public Square yesterday with 46 passengers! That, and there were still other people at the stop who got on the 6, which was just behind us. How long did it take all of us to board? About 20 seconds. Why? Because we used both doors and there was no waiting in line to pay! This was just a taste of what the Silver Line is going to be like...

In the words of a UO member that you might be familiar with, "no one said you had to read it." :-P

Phase II is just the two townhomes, right? I think they sold the rest of the project to someone else... The beautiful (and immaculately restored) home on the left is where the developer's parents live!

Yes, I think on the whole that this forum was a big positive step for RTA. They were the ones pushing to have this conversation and that's a good sign. They've obviously been trying to do TOD for years, but there's never been a clear strategy or directive for their efforts system-wide. Now, they have one on paper and its the product of a long process of consultation with national experts in TOD. I agree that I was disheartened (and pissed) to hear Joe C spout off speculatively high numbers like he did and to hear the "not in my lifetime" quote (both of which I wrote down with the notion of passing them along to you lot). However, he did raise some interesting questions later in the forum about the ability of developers to obtain financing when they are leasing, rather than buying, the property that they are to develop. The keynote speaker (Jeffrey Tumlin) said that this is a nationwide problem and is one that our lobbyists should work on changing at the federal level. As far as revelations for Cleveland, I heard none. It remains that this is a critical area of development for our region and transit authority to capitalize upon, but I am still more concerned on a day-to-day basis with RTA's general operating deficiencies than I am with their potential to do TODs. The TOD will occur if the market pushes for it. The market will push for it if more people (I mean, LOTS more... not just an annual increase of .05%) want to utilize our existing transit system. What RTA can do about that NOW is make their system more user friendly. Their catchy ads of late and the very popular Downtown trollies are steps in that direction, but they need to step up their game in regard to maps, station waiting areas, and the like (see the RTA thread for more on this). In the meantime, they can promote TOD all they want (and I'm glad they are beginning to), but until the market sees proximity to transit as a "deal maker" and worth the extra cost and headache to make happen (zoning changes, land leases, brownfields, etc.), I am not going to hold my breath.

That Copenhagen waterfront is so "untimate." Any signs of demo? It's the end of the month!

I think that's one thing that's causing us all to worry a bit. With Stark, it seems like it's all or nothing at all. It's fine (and advisable) to have a master plan, but you've got to be able to start somewhere. I know that Pesht will be built in phases, but I really doubt Stark will begin a Phase 1 without assurance that the whole thing is set in motion. I don't think he'd be satisfied building just one corner of Pesht if the rest couldn't be built. Whether that's a good way of looking at it or not is a matter of opinion.

No, I don't think the reporter wrote this correctly... I believe this is the area south of John Hay (Carnegie), east of 105th. It's part of the Fairfax Master Plan, but isn't technically in their service area. Part of it is in the UCI boundary, not that any of that really matters much.

You'll have to go check it out for yourself...I believe it leaves from Asia Plaza, but I've never actually seen it. Blinky? 8Shades?

You heard correctly...there should be some community meetings in the near future.

You getting a commission from Rysar? Or do you just want new neighbors?

Do you people not read KJP's work??? http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=1684.120

Geez, I didn't realize how much Bibby's numbers had dropped this year. Not that he couldn't flourish in Cleveland, but he's not having one of his better seasons. Year Team G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG 05-06 SAC 82 82 38.6 .432 .386 .849 0.4 2.6 2.9 5.4 1.0 0.1 2.43 2.10 21.1 06-07 SAC 52 52 35.4 .388 .299 .831 0.6 2.8 3.3 5.2 1.1 0.1 2.40 1.70 16.6 [what the crap? it looks good in preview mode, but when I post it it gets all wobberjawed!]

^what?! Well, they should open it, but what about a redesign?

^Edit: the above post from the PA website is about the Federal regulations, not just about PA. Sorry I wasn't very clear about that!

Holy crap! That was amazing! We cannot trade him! Check out these rumors...we'll know it all by 3:00 today! Trade talk heats up as deadline nears Posted by Mike Conley February 22, 2007 09:40AM The clock is ticking and it appears the Cavaliers are in a sprint to land a point guard for the playoff run. It's no secret GM Danny Ferry has targeted the Kings' Mike Bibby as the apparent missing piece to the puzzle. He's reportedly been linked to the Cavs for over two weeks now. Will the deal get done? It depends on who budges first. More at www.cleveland.com