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???? I am so confused about this project. Will we end up sending the money back to Washington? Good god, I hope not. CMHA drops plans for rentals Thursday, March 09, 2006 By David Plata West Side Sun News Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority has scrapped plans to build 12 affordable rental units at West 41st Street and Lorain Avenue and instead will rehab a dozen boarded-up houses on scattered sites south of Lorain. Councilman Joe Santiago said George Phillips, CMHA director, decided to rehab 12 rental units on scattered sites after Ohio City Near West Development Corp., the local nonprofit group and owner of the West 41st and Lorain site, turned down the plan. The board discussed it and they do not support affordable rental units on the corner of West 41st and Lorain, Santiago said. Anthony Fossaceca, OCNW board president, said the board suggested the site be developed with seven market-rate and five affordable rental units, but that CMHA wanted all 12 to be subsidized. He said CMHA turned down a compromise of six market-rate and six rental units. They withdrew their offer, he said. CMHA took it off the table. They left us high and dry. Phillips did not return calls Monday and Tuesday. Fossaceca said he applauded Santiago's suggestion for CMHA to rehab 12 scattered sites as affordable rental units. Santiago, D-14, said the houses to be rehabbed are between West 25th and West 48th Street south of Lorain. He said Phillips suggested rehabbing the properties. I agreed that would be a great opportunity to help start rebuilding of that neighborhood that is so blighted, Santiago said. We have over 68 boarded-up homes in that area. Prostitution, drug-dealing, safety concerns, graffiti and blight are big problems in that area. Santiago also said the OCNW board objected to plans to build 59 market-rate units and 12 affordable rental units at West 28th Street and Church Avenue, now the site of CMHA's offices. Plans are to start demolition once CMHA moves to the area of East 79th Street and Kinsman Avenue. I feel the (OCNW) board is not representing the entire community and what the community feels affordability is in the community, Santiago said. Fossaceca noted that CMHA owns most of the site. But he said the OCNW board, believing the area has a high concentration of subsidized public housing _ with CMHA's Lakeview Terrace to the north and Riverview Towers just to the south _ asked for a higher mix of market-rate units. We thought it would be way too concentrated in that area, he said. The work would be paid with some $8.5 million remaining in a HOPE VI grant, awarded in 1996, to build some 420 units of mixed-income housing as a replacement for Riverview Towers. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development last year turned down an extension of the grant deadline, which looms March 22. Meanwhile, opponents of the Columbus Road component of CMHA's plan, which calls for a 171-unit mixed-income development in five buildings, have started a petition drive against that part of the plan. Pat Wisander, who lives on West 18th Street, said she had herself collected about 140 signatures. We have close to 160 signatures against it, she said. Most of it is merchants at the West Side Market and residents in the area. Wisander and others have complained the Columbus Road project will bring too much added traffic and that the sewer and water systems won't be able to handle the increase. Santiago said added traffic will not be a problem and that CMHA will upgrade the sewers as needed. Most of the OCNW service area is in the Ohio City area of Ward 13, represented not by Santiago but by Councilman Joe Cimperman. Asked about Santiago's comments, Cimperman said he doesn't want to lose the HOPE VI money. We have to make this work, he said. I don't know what the final mix will be. But one way or another, we have to figure out how to preserve this money. I don't want to see this money go back to Washington.

Welcome to the board, W28th!

Because of the size of your images, its tough to compare them.

I believe that the only current international flights that Cleveland has are: London, Cancun, Toronto, Montreal, ??

Great news!

Are you saying that this is urban architecture? How do you define "urban architecture"?

Born in Cuyahoga, educated in Knox, out of state for 10 years, and now back in Cuyahoga for good.

j73, Why do you like the Applied building? I have a hard time looking past the following things: it's gated off from the city; it looks like it should be surrounded by trees within some suburban office park; it greatly discourages workers to venture out onto Euclid Ave. Do these issues not bother the urban designer in you? What redeeming qualities do you find in this building?

I would think that there will be negotiation before ED is used. Of course Wolstein is going to lowball them at this point. He is inviting counter offers. Hopefully, Wolstein will be realistic and not try to drag this out too much.

Seems like KJP has the closest contacts with RTA. With the cost overruns that occurred so far with the ECTP, I hope that this project will not be downsized as a result.

Is Whiskey Island (Wendy Park)a nice place?

Musky, Great stuff. Very eerie.

I used to ski 4 days a week off of Rocky River.

I just hope that they are respectful and don't use vinyl siding. ;)

I am more than happy to see this crater be filled with a decent building.

They probably couldn't get rights to it.

Personally, I like the comment on Ohio City Victorians. I just finalized a contract to buy one. :clap: Journal's take on Cleveland has us doing a double take Tuesday, March 07, 2006 Chris Seper Plain Dealer Reporter Average high in the 80s? Water-skiers galore on the lake? That's you, Cleveland. Don't deny it. Men's Journal, a magazine about travel, exercise and technology geared to professional men, says in its April issue, out today, that Cleveland is one of the 50 best cities to live in. Cleveland is listed in the Journal's "Comebacks" category - for cities with "cheap real estate and a fresh perspective." The Journal offered categories such as "Best of the Best" (For example, Portland and San Diego) and "Adventure Cities" (Minneapolis-St. Paul, for one) as opposed to a ranking of 1 to 50. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: [email protected], 216-999-4169 www.plaindealer.com

I think that some of Gehry's earlier stuff worked in the urban context. Fred & Ginger might be my favorite building, period.

Kevmr25, For some detailed discussion on CSU projects, check out this thread: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2289.0

^I think your assessment is correct. When I lived in Memphis and Nashville, most people had this "this is the best damn city in the world. You yankees, who could ever want to live anywhere but here?" It doesn't matter what part of the south that they are from, small town or big town, their town is the best and don't you even try to say otherwise.

It think its more than a little far-fetched.

I think Memphis would hold its own against Cleveland.

If you think Cleveland has a "cross the street" problem, then you really need to visit Memphis. Memphis has two nice blocks, two horrible blocks, etc. Its strange. I was lucky enough to be able to string 4 blocks together in my old Memphis neighborhood.

^considering that, I wish that the hill was a little more unstable. It would be great if those towers were not there. It could make for an amazing park. I would imagine that developers would line up to build 5+ story condos on the west side of W.25th. Imagine the possibilities.

^While they are pretty auto-centric, they have filled dire needs in places where residents were without viable choices. Many times I have tried to figure out how the OC Dave's could have been better configured. Parking is definitely needed and no grocer would go into a project with limited parking. I wish the the Dave's could have fronted Bridge (or at least have its marquee on that side).