Etheostoma Caeruleum

Well, I am using Lexmark Imaging Studio. It comes with the copier/scanner/printer. I tried going back in there and re-configuring it, but apparently I am making incorrect selections. Is anyone familiar with this set up?

Forgotten places that still have some hidden gems. Do you know how difficult it is to get the average acquaintance of mine to see potentials and worth in many places like this? I love the Heritage Row houses.

Thanks.. I don't know why, but I cannot get this photo to format correctly so I can post it. Any suggestions?

Yes....Exactly the philosophy I am talking about.

Hi, I tried posting a photo here. It would not load...says it may be too large. It was 5.5MB. Is there any way it can be posted?

I never meant in my posts to say they (Marons) did anything wrong. On the contrary, I like what I see happening and do not want it to evolve into things of the past..and just thought that in and near that district, that they needed a few more important elements to make it more complete. McCleveland, you are right... Tower City is much still there. I like the retail plan because it disperses the retail through out downtown which encourages more exploration and foot traffic downtown...and does not polarize it into districts. It actually connects the dots, so to speak. And implementing window displays (as do many malls until they fill the voids) would just be a better site than seeing such a site as empty site on Est 4th and Euclid. That is really a simple thing to do. Gives artists a chance to have fun.

Just a fleeting thought.. Are there any "East 4th Street" T-shirts anywhere?

Memories! The May Company, when it was actually The May Company, was a great store.. it had everything and of higher quality. A cooking supply store would be good. That's an idea. Tower City has that new sea salt/oil store... for cooking. Anyway, I would hope that such a fabulous structure of the May Company, will not just have CR there.

Yes, I agree with the two posts that responded to my original.... The Blackfinn.. Hmmm..indeed another restaurant/pub...that's swell, but still, if I lived there (I live on the near west side but support downtown a lot) it would be nice to have a food market with real freshly baked breads, NO FRITO LAY products, a real fruit market that sold local produce when possible. (I know we have the many farm markets and WSM too, but I am referring to something that serves daily needs right within a 5-10 minute walk) Maybe a section that has light hardware needs like light bulbs, electric, and simple basics... How about a local furniture maker or linens... What I am trying to say is we need more of the basics that such a walkable neighborhood needs for residents. It would be attractive to future residents who actually chose to live right there. Afterall, you can only eat and party so much until you have to live daily life...and to me, a real neighborhood, as in the origin of neighborhood's past, had all the daily essentials very close. I do not want to have to have such a place like 668 Euclid, and have to drive over to Steelyard. That is not the kind of experience I would want to be paying for if I invest in such an urban core neighborhood. Also, and I know I may get bashed for this...But, if it is going to be predominantly eating.. Then for Pete's sake, PLEASE... Not everyone likes eating grease, meat, and bar food..and some like to eat REAL exclusive vegetarian cuisine. Not just menus where vegetarian is an afterthought option. But food where such can be found on the island of Kauai at Blossoming Lotus, Youngstown with Flaming Ice Cube, Akron with Vegeterranean. I know there are some great restaurants here at 4th, but it does lack one important element...and that is, catering to the spending power of a very high vegetarian population in this part of Ohio. If it is going to be another culinary type district....then you cannot ignore real art of vegetarian cuisine and cooking. It is much much more than a few pieces of lettuce and a cherry tomato. Most people have not been exposed to just how divine the cuisine can be. And when they do get exposed to it, they're in for the shock pleasant surprise of their life. Anyway, yesterday was nice in the afternoon at Flannery's with the Irish music outside. Much more to my taste. Then night came and all the Flatsy-like kiddie crowd was there...filling the air with smoke. That's when I say... Not my cup of tea. When you reach a point you develop other interests, you see how important creating a neighborhood of economic diversity, offering something for everyone is, in maintaining long term stake holding residents. Let's do this right. Look how crappy the Flats became. I don't know how many times I scraped vomit off my shoes back in the late 80's!

I was there last night too. I love it, but there is something that concerns me about the long term future of E. 4th.......that it would start swaying in the direction of becoming just another version of The Flats...with only drinking/eating establishments. Here we go again! There needs to be more than this alone in that area...more diversity. Not everyone, especially stakeholders/residents who get up and work the next day, want to do the party/bar scene ALL the time. So, it is imperative some more intertwined galleries, and retail that actually add to making the 'neighborhood' FUNCTIONAL for daily needs, must be implemented. If people spend a hefty pile of cash to either rent there or purchase a condo....I don't think they will want to have to get in the car and drive to suburbs for other needs. That defeats the purpose of the urban neighborhood. I just think so far, as much as I like this district, that it is going one way. I hope I am wrong. I am by no means trying to be a Debbie Damper on East 4th, but think about it. Lastly, I am surprised, since this is such a well run and maintained area, that the empty space on the west corner of 4th and Euclid has, in the meanwhile, been left for so long, with cracked door windows, smeared glass and a bunch of construction-like mess, which is clearly visible. Until someone rents this space, or any other like space for that matter, it would be good to place some sort of signage, display, or art, murals in the windows to exude future activity....or a display that would inspire, and demonstrate just how nice a downtown storefront can look for a future business. Such a scenario would not deter potential businesses, either, by suggesting that the space is already occupied.......because such empty places have already sat for ages with the old shoe polish smeared windows with the "For Rent" sign hanging. Displays would inspire future possible business, and make the place look a hell of a lot better in the meanwhile. Nothing exudes depression more than seeing empty storefronts that actually look ghostly empty. Instead someone can look at something that would help to stir ideas.

Better than the typical McMansion thing, yes..but It is still sprawl we don't need. I have been there. I used to do work for people who lived there. Too sterile, and too much lawn chemical use. And although of higher quality, a lot of the materials used in these homes will probably not last as long as the kinds of buildings Thomas Jefferson saw. The materials look nice but are not quite the same...and are more pretend. Vinyl siding doesn't age very well, also. I am 50/50 on this place.. Part of me says 'nice' then part says Blaghhh! Probably the lawn chemicals and the bastardization of stream habitat. (my background is in ecology, hence my attention given to that)

Because it may have something to do with EPA required clean-up before anyone can occupy the properties. The properties are often contaminated by industries who left without being held accountable. Unfortunately, we are left to pay the price to clean up their mess.

You're joking, right? "cities over crowded?" The cores are NOT as full as they should be... Suburbia on the other hand is over packed....so what next? Repeat this process all over again until we cannot tell city from country? Keep the urban activity near the urban hub.

Yes, I agree too... It is essential this area be kept this way because it is one of the last bastions of neighborhoods of its kind in the proper. On the planter thing... Even when the planters themselves are painted (if they are box types) makes a big difference. I hate when people allow the smallest things to erode...but then the smallest things seem to make the most notice, in either a positive or negative way.

Interesting. Do the historic district protections extend to the "goldfish" block of buildings on prospect directly south of the Flannery's/Buckeye building? I would love to see the 'goldfish' buildings renovated. Those are eyesores for 4th nearby. A bit dark and desolate too. But I would want the existing businesses to stay. Even if these buildings were washed somehow, it would make a difference.

Is Volks still open?

Yes, I agree..some of these quirky signs actually add some character. So since this is a historic district, does anyone think the building will be saved? I also do not understand all the emphasis for 'parking' downtown. Decks maybe, underground ok..BUT, no surface lot crapola.

Yes, it is pretty well cared for. Every time I go to Edgewater, I bring a bag to pick up litter.

Volks has been an institution in downtown for as long as I can remember. It would be nice if the building was actually renovated how it should look, but with keeping Volks? Maybe? Or not? PLEASE..Nooooo Parking lots.

Nothing but sterile lawns polluted with lawn chemicals. Eco-dead zones killing our rivers and streams. This stuff doesn't impress me.

By the way, the color photo seems sad... Not a soul in sight. I think this portion of Euclid looks so much better, even though that photo is not that old.

Is Kent moving their urban design offices ALL to this site? Will this leave a vacancy where they are now? I am a bit confused.

Volunteers need to keep litter/broken glass regularly kept up...because the city won't do it. I have learned that if you want litter kept at bay, and do not want to attract more via the broken window theory, you have to clean it up regularly via block clubs, etc. (not just once a year, rather at least once per month) It is the most obvious and preventable visual eyesore that contributes to eroding the value of the neighborhood. Left unabated, it only gets worse and worse. It is also unsafe for bikes to have to ride over it. No one likes cleaning up other people's messes, but this needs to be done. The bike tunnel was seemingly ok every time I have ridden through it.

Interesting point. I think The Plain Dealer is even worse, though! Why is it that every time I read an article that presents something positive about Cleveland, it seems as though the writers have this obligation to hint at crime, rust, and population loss? Or, the same Cleveland smears, for that matter....as if the problems we face are strictly endemic and exclusively Cleveland's! When they mention population loss, they cast a dark shadow over the entire region..as if people left the whole region all together, when maybe they've shifted to the suburbs, or just on the other side of the imaginary line. Regionally, we have lost too, but in the future we can focus on quality more than quantity. Sometimes less could lead to more. Anyway, otherwise it was a pretty good article.

You just said what I have said for years. I always wondered why several smaller/local/independent businesses, as the economy was originally built upon, had become 'not as good' as the one giant company who rides in like the Lone Ranger and saves the day. The bad thing about the 'one big company' thing..and when you build an economy around one golden goose egg.....is that is it falls, we all fall. We need to strive more, then for economic stability instead of always growth, growth, growth...Growth beyond maturity is cancer...and a diverse economy will breed a stable economy---Just like in the eco-system in nature; the more diverse it is, the more stable it is.