Map Boy

This isn't unexpected, but it's still a shame. I think it would all be a little more bearable if RTA had been doing more PR and had kept to its initial timetables. As it is, completion of the corridor still seems so far off. I know they've done a lot to keep in touch with property owners, businesses and neighborhood stakeholder groups, but it just never seems like it's enough. Also, in relation to the Halle Building, didn't they just remodel the whole thing? They were working on it the past winter and I was expecting some sort of opening...

Euclid Ave. merchants just try to hang on Construction takes a toll on businesses Tuesday, July 18, 2006 Christopher Evans and Amanda Garrett Plain Dealer Reporters ......

The Cedar-Lee was packed last night for the half-off Monday showing. I went in not expecting a whole lot, laughed more than a few times, but overall, felt that the writing and thus, the movie, was sub-par. I mean, it had a low budget, but it also had a great lineup of actors, so I think they missed the ball on this one. The waterslide with the skyline view (from like 5,000 feet!) was my favorite part! It reminded me that the movie wasn't really aiming to fulfill any realistic purpose, but was just a movie. Oh, and Heather Graham is a fox...Parker Posey says so!

Wow, I don't think we're going to see an opening for the Corner Alley this fall if that's what they've got going in there right now! Why is the pace of development and rehabilitation so glacial in this town? These guys are just losing money with every day that passes with no revenue coming in! Also, a bit further down the street, wouldn't it have been nice for Fantasy One to actually open in July as they had posted on their sign? I bet they could've made a little money off of the Ingenuity crowd! Talk about missing an opportunity due to sluggish construction...

Wimwar beat me to the punch! Yes, two new cars in University Circle, which I can see expanding in the not-too-distant future if they're successful...that's just my optimistic opinion, though! Are we on pace to see 20 cars by the end of the year? ps: I've yet to see anyone but Ryan actually driving one of these!

saw a 4-car red line train on the bridge over the river today around 6 pm. I don't think it was in service, though!

I had a great time on Thursday night...the only night I was able to attend. I brought my puppy and we were easily the most popular site inside the gates! (just kidding) I loved the drums (I got chills) and enjoyed wandering in and out of the different venues, though I didn't stay at any one for long. I liked the mixture and the "hidden" element of some of the attractions. However, to address what Wimwar and some others have mentioned, perhaps there could be "town criers" or something who walk around before showtimes to announce that something is about to start across the way. "Hear ye! Hear ye! In 15 minutes, So and So and His Wonderful Band will be playing on the E. 4th Street Stage!" Adds a fun element and helps people figure out what's what.

from Crain's: Amasa Stone House to become condos By SHANNON MORTLAND 6:00 am, July 3, 2006 The A.M. McGregor Home has donated its former nursing home Amasa Stone House to the Northeastern Neighborhood Development Corp. Plans call for the East Boulevard location in Glenville to be transformed into 25 condominiums. The Amasa Stone House has been vacant since 2004, when A.M. McGregor Home consolidated its services into a new location in East Cleveland.

^right...good points Strap. It's rare for a development in this city to get financed without some presales (Avenue District) or momentum built up from other phases (Stonebridge). Shaia's would certainly be contingent upon this and the risk involved with eminent domain proceedings is pretty significant. As KJP's article implied, it's unfortunate that more negotiation and collaboration is not being pursued with this project. Or, at least, not to our knowledge. It would be a shame for the city to lose out on development potential and possibly suffer from long-run negative impacts due to having developers at war with each other. Also, there's always the issue of what kind of precedent eminent domain cases set for the future of development in a city. I, too, am wondering what's going on behind the scenes...or at least, what's going on in the mind of Wolstein!

oh, riiiight...i made that mistake once before, didn't I? Well, maybe it's because no one's talking about it! so, is the residential component still a part of it or not?

wow, very impressive! I watched the thing like 3 times! I'm particularly smitten with Battery Park Boulevard... I still think there's an opportunity to incorporate more neighborhood retail into the project...most likely on the boulevard running north/south from the power house, on the ground floor of the large loft building. I'm reminded of the vacant retail spaces nearby, though, every time I say this, so I guess a great outcome would be seing those spaces filled up to serve the existing and new population.

^good question zaceman...how far can Shaia go? if the court battle really takes place and he's ready to break ground in 6 months, what then? Does he risk starting and then losing the property and all the money he's sunk into it? What scenarios can the courts create here anyway? Is it either the land is transferred or not? Is it one piece of land at a time or all at once?

Excellent article, KJP. You really delivered a lot of what has been expressed here in a concise, well-written piece! I hope people outside the forum are reading!

My girlfriend and I moved from zero-car NYC to 1-car Cleveland. We lasted three months here without a car and I believe we could've gone longer, but the night classes and my girlfriend's part-time occupation as a doula (look it up) made living car-free impractical. The car sits in its space without moving for probably 3 or 4 days each week, but the fact that we have it (she bought it and I am lucky enough to get to use it when need be!) makes us more likely to drive on occasions where we wouldn't have thought necessary during the three months we lived in Cleveland without one. In addition to the school and on-call doula job, every time we wanted to trek down to Yellow Springs (near Dayton) to visit her family for the weekend, we'd either have to borrow a car from my parents or rent one. I don't consider Greyhound to be an option here and we certainly don't have a viable rail option from Cleveland to YS! As far as day-to-day needs, in Ohio City, we have a full-service grocery store, plus the West Side Market within a 5-minute walk. We have restaurants and bars galore and some of the best transit access (bus & rail) in the city. We have a library and many social service agencies within a 5-minute walk, but no post office and no pharmacy. We have several retailers in the immediate vacinity, but none that really suit my tastes. We can bike or walk to most places we need or want to go, including Detroit-Shoreway, Edgewater, Downtown, and Tremont. (I've even started biking home from University Circle after work!) To top it all off, we have City Wheels based just a few blocks from us. But these are choices and not everyone has the luxury of choosing transit, automobile or bike/ped. By me, TOD is not only a desireable form of development for aesthetic, sustainability and market reasons, but it is also the best way to build an equitable city where people really do have the most choices possible, whether they be rich, poor, young, old, disabled, or whatever. Basically, the agenda for TOD can be pushed a lot harder from number of directions that haven't tuned in yet. And the situation will only get more urgent as time goes by and more poorly planned development occurs.

^This has got to be the most interesting TIFs I've ever heard of. A bowling alley? I mean, I know it's going to be something special, but weren't the historic tax credits and other subsidies enough to make this project stand on its own? What kind of subsidies are the other Downtown bowling alleys receiving? Tax abatement? Enterprise Zone funding? Not likely!

We'll start with some stuff on the federal level: This, from the APA Advocate, a monthly online publication of the American Planning Association: http://www.planning.org/apaadvocate/2006/july13.htm Some highlights: HUD Urges CDBG Formula Changes HILL HOLDS HEARINGS ON NEW PROPOSAL The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed a major overhaul of the formula used to determine Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)... The proposal also would eliminate requirements for public hearings and community outreach for CDBG plans... ...the proposal raises many questions and may seriously harm some communities. Ranking Member William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) pointed out that St. Louis would lose nearly one-third of its CDBG dollars under the proposed formula... House Judiciary Committee to Vote on Takings Bill MEASURE WOULD ALTER 'RIPENESS' RULES The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote this week on the Private Property Rights Implementation Act (H.R. 4772). The bill, sponsored by Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), recycles earlier federal takings bills from recent years. Under the bill's provisions, takings claims would have immediate access to federal courts... DOT Issues Proposed SAFETEA-LU Planning Rules COMMENTS DUE BY SEPTEMBER 7 Last month the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration jointly issued a proposed revision of regulations governing the development of metropolitan transportation plans and programs for urbanized areas, state transportation plans and programs, and the regulations for Congestion Management Systems (Federal Transit Administration 49 CFR Part 613)... House Passes the FY07 Spending for Transportation, HUD Bill CDBG GETS SLIGHT INCREASE; HOPE VI AMENDMENT APPROVED On June 14, 2006, the House passed the FY07 Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill... >The bill funds the federal-aid highways program at $39.1 billion, as set by SAFETEA-LU. This is equal to the President's request and $3.5 billion more than the FY 2006 enacted level, excluding emergency supplementals. >The new Small Starts program aimed at assisting transit projects costing less than $75 million did not receive funding in the House bill. >Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (Section 8 vouchers) is funded at $15.9 billion, $458 million more than last year and $44 million below the budget request. The cost of this program alone is 45 percent of HUD's total budget. >The bill provides $4.2 billion for the Community Development Fund, $22 million above FY06 and $1.2 billion above the President's request. This includes $3.9 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program and $270 million for Economic Development Initiative projects, $60 million less than last year. The committee created a new requirement that all grantees under this program must provide 40 percent matching funds in order to receive any funds.

Much of the decision-making we do in and about our cities is dependent upon policies and legislation that are passed down from the federal, state and other non-local governing bodies. Arguably, the federal government shapes what happens on the ground in our communities more than anything other non-market force. This thread is one attempt to keep up with legislative and policy moves that are proposed or approved at multiple levels of government.

wow...uplifting story about an up-an-coming cleveland company! they should do even better with the new local initiatives that are aimed at promoting the types of buildings that they have been contributing to.

^Detroit, Euclid, W. 25th/Pearl all make a lot of sense. Detroit has so much potential as it is, but just imagine once the Lakefront West project is complete! Which brings us back to the other threads... http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=1916.0 http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=4526.0

Agreed

But what about the question of whether or not the design creates a pleasant, or better yet, inspiring setting? I know, people with discriminating tastes (like us!) will walk into this new development and set off on our hyper-critical analysis, but what if the place is actually designed well, while taking cues or even mimicking a style from the past? I don't see anything wrong with that. Understanding that I'd want something modern and unique (that hasn't been done before) that can accomplish the best result even moreso, if this project (or others) can be accomplished by borrowing from the past, but using quality materials, creating a superior product, and a desireable place to live, work and play, then I'm not going to complain. Now, if the use of classical or traditional styles is just a token gesture...like adding cheap crowns or mock roof-lines to a building and it ends up looking like freakin Disneyworld, then I'll complain! One of the hazards of trying to do something new and unique is that you'll produce something that people don't understand...renters, buyers, commercial tenants, whatever...and the project gets lost along the way. On the other hand, you might end up with something that everyone else in the country will want to emulate for generations. Interesting conversation...you think anyone's listening?

wow...sobering indeed! Well, what percentage of Clevelanders had cars in the 1920s and how many of them lived in and worked in the city and its core neighborhoods? We don't need to answer that question, because we all know what I'm getting at. That said, I'm surprised that the 326 is our most heavily used bus route...surpassing the 6 and all others. Though, I guess if you looked at corridors, the 20 and the 6, which both run more frequently than the 326, also share the heaviest parts of their routes with several other buses. The 326, by contrast, is by itself for much of its route, along busy, mixed-use Detroit. So, if you looked at corridor numbers, Euclid and W. 25th/Pearl may surpass Detroit. KJP?

Short, but sweet. That sounds like it's right on the money Wimwar. I hope the first two years are as successful as I imagine they should be, to the point where the market will take the reigns from there. An exciting project to be involved with, needless to say!

I'm registering a renewed vote of excitement for this project... Glad to hear that progress is being made!

Are you planning on putting off that masters degree until the project is completed?