Map Boy

wow, that's fantastic! It's nice to see a company from Beachwood recognizing the allure of the center city and its historic buildings and neighborhoods. One of Bob Stark's main themes when rationalizing the construction of new office space Downtown is that the suburban office market has a shorter life span than the office and industrial buildings that were built in cleveland in the early part of the 20th Century. Buildings/complexes like Tyler Village should live on for another 100 years and see a wide range of productive reuses. I can't exactly see that happening along Mercantile or Rockside Road!

ha! great interview...Ronayne inspiring as usual...apparently, Mulready told him to walk around in circles...what???

very nice...she's starting to fill out!

nice work! I've never even thought of doing that! I wouldn't expect there'd be any reason to be fearful of going into Riverview, but I suspect that they have a sign in desk...yes? My fave is the same as Rob_1412's

^Right, the numbers above are for the portion of that map that is labeled as "Downtown," not for the entire District 3 area. This "Downtown" is defined by the City of Cleveland, but the districts were created for the purposes of the Drilldown study alone. Not sure about the number of new units added since 2000... that's the million dollar question, eh?

nice shot, MayDay!

Great update KJP! I'll be on-site with bells and whistles for the first day of work...who's bringing the champaigne? I'm also tickled at the idea of the latter phases growing if the early phases are successful! As for the price points...there are plenty of more affordable market-rate units in and around Downtown...both for rent and to buy. Namely, Pointe at Gateway, Montana Townhomes and Mueller Lofts. These all feature units for sale under $200k. Rentals abound, but keep in mind that we're talking Downtown here and if you want to live Downtown in any active/thriving city center, you're going to have to pay more. Here in Cleveland, we have the luxury of a relatively affordable Downtown, as well as several exciting and even more affordable inner-city neighborhoods...for market rate buyers/renters, as well as low-income households.

By the way, if you check out the Cleveland Neighborhood Market Drilldown (which I like to use), the Downtown Strategic Planning Area (as defined by the City of Cleveland) featured the following in 2000: Drilldown Census 2,208 housing units 3,813 housing units 21 vacant housing units 1,255 vacant housing units 2,187 households (also the # of occ. units) 2,558 households (also the # of occ. units) 6,145 population 5,960 population There's much more detail and data at http://www.nhlink.net/socialcompact/district3.htm This is all on 2.91 square miles contained in the area demarcated in the following map... http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y44/cbongorno/CNMDDistrict3.jpg

I certainly don't dispute that 15,000 would be a great milestone, but the number I've been hearing lately is 25k. That's from Ned Hill, economist and Brookings fellow at CSU. Then again, that may just be what he considers the ideal, but not necessarily the "critical mass." I also agree with what Wimwar said...if you have 15k spread from the Flats West Bank to CSU, that's not going to be nearly as critical as having 10k from Old River Road to E. 13th Street.

Great work team! Especially KJP, of course. This is very exciting and will be a great example of City/County/Private cooperation if they can each get their parts together and get this thing rolling. Maybe we'll even see this realized before the Flats East Bank!

^Nice detail to note KJP...

yes, well done...even though I only made it for lunch...I was impressed with the number of people who turned up! MayDay, do you have any estimate of the total number of people who joined throughout the day?

Great stuff B12! And thanks for the suggestion, CC. We're always looking out for our next neighborhood. And yes, CDM, it needs a lot of work. There was a lot of poor planning from the top down that sent this place into a tailspin, though, so it's hard to blame it on the neighborhood without pointing a big tsk tsk finger at the fed and state DOTs, for example. Also, as this thread illustrates, neighborhood often look quite different when you're on the sidewalk versus driving by in a car. That's not to say that Clark-Fulton looks a lot better from the eyes of a pedestrian, but you know what I mean...there are details that you wouldn't otherwise notice! (By the way, that guy in the grey hoodie looks super fast. Is he some sort of professional runner?)

Thanks for the photo update Musky! Sadly, I don't think this one's going to give me any chills once the cranes are at work...

Funding for community policing has been cut drastically and repeatedly throughout the Bush administration's tenure. There are loads of proponents on both sides of the aisle for more foot and bike patrols and more cops on the street, but the funding keeps getting drawn down. This has a lot to do with the number of citizens and representatives who are now living in suburban communities where this is not perceived to be a problem. Hence, another example of the public sector (state and fed) disinvestment in urban areas. By the way, guess where the majority of this public safety money is being diverted to...wars in other countries that are being labeled as "homeland security." You'd think that homeland security would start at home, but I guess our leaders just aren't that bright. On the other hand, I think that community led efforts, like Peabody's neighborhood walks and the DCA's ambassadors can and will make a noticeable difference, but only if everyone invests themselves in them. So, get involved, call your reps, attend a block club meeting, and buy your drugs from Westlake.

yes, the game sucked and the fireworks were freaking out my new puppy all the way over here in Ohio City!

Ummm...yes, I've been doing it for years! It's just fantastic to see people with the will and power to do it moving the agenda forward for once! KJP...new thread? "Flats West Bank" perhaps?

^If you're looking for information on the Citywide Plan, visit the City Planning Commission's site at http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/cwp/cpc.html for links and documents to each part of the plan. Trust that there are provisions, recommendations and policy for each of the things that you mentioned. However, as far as I know, there isn't a citywide "greenprint" or anything like that. Though, I agree that it would be quite helpful. Perhaps non-profits like Parkworks or the Trust for Public Land have developed a more comprehensive greenspace plan for the city/region? The County Planning Commission (http://planning.co.cuyahoga.oh.us/) also has some large plans for open spaces, such as the Cuyahoga Valley Initiative.

By the way, does everyone know that the Murray Hill ArtWalk is going on this weekend? Little Italy should be bumpin! From Cleveland.com: Little Italy celebrates the arts during the 27th Annual Murray Hill ArtWalk. Cleveland's longest running artwalk opens its streets for a weekend of fine art, music, and food. Visitors will enjoy special weekend events and fine art exhibitions. This summer event is more than an art walk, it's a tradition.

It's kind of its own neighborhood... quite neat actually... but somewhat secluded by the bridges, water and shoreway. It's all hilly and overlooks the lake, waterworks and pretty active port facilities... there are tons of seagulls and some historic WPA buildings and decor. They're rehabbing it right now and I don't think anything is happening in the near future that would turn it over to market rate housing. (correct me if I'm wrong)

Fantastic teaser! I can't wait to see what they've got up their sleeves!

So so true... kudos to Litt for this timely article. It would have been timely whenever he wrote it, but I think it's even more timely right now with all the big building plans on the horizon by institutions, government and developers. I just wish he could've gotten this message across to the Cleveland Clinic about 20 years ago! Thanks for posting, B12.

^ Agreed that W. 65th is an important corridor for many reasons and that it's lacking at present. ^ Also agreed that the new building will be a bit better, but the fact that we had a chance to go for a full true urban redevelopment and missed it is possibly more painful now that there's going to be a new structure on site with a brand new lease.

^ I know this is just one example and it's only during the summertime, but it's a good start. If things like this can get a good rep and attendance, then they'll expand as more people find out about them and attend or get involved in other ways.

From http://www.cleveland.com/sparx/ Sparx Street Beats is an energetic performance art series that takes place LIVE on various open spaces of downtown Cleveland, from June 1st - September 16, 2006. Every week the sidewalks come alive as selected performers present charming, mesmerizing and colorful shows to passersby, making the experience of exploring the city more pleasant and exciting. Because all acts are encouraged to promote their upcoming performances, a gig through the Sparx Street Beats program becomes more than just an earned wage. It's an opportunity for professional ensembles to market their artistic product to new audiences. In return, visitors, residents, and merchants of Cleveland are exposed to high-quality performing arts from our region in a very accessible, non-intimidating way. From June 1-September 16th, a total of 28 FREE Street Beats Concerts with over 100 different performers will take place on the open sidewalks next to restaurant patios and retail merchants. Themed shows will feature a combination of professional dancers and musicians. Happy Hour concerts will take place on Thursdays from 5:30pm-7:30pm either on E. 4th Street in the Gateway District or in The Warehouse Districts. The lunchtime concert series will take place Fridays from 12pm-2pm on Star Plaza in the Theater District or in front of Tower City on Public Square.