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Great news! I am in the market for a new home at the moment. Now I can help kill the city of Cleveland and live a boring life with one singular purchase!

Punch, Case and UCI have been working on that very thing. PBL knows it. Let's put it this way: what if PBL complained last March about how there is no life on the East Bank of the Flats. What would you say?

The print edition of the PD has a footprint. Its a bit convoluted.

KJP--Yes, you are missing some things.. You are a few hundred million short on the UHHS expansion. Also, they project about 1000 more jobs in the next five years. VA expansion will be about $250 million with about 1300 employees relocating to the UC campus Triangle and Beach properties--you'll be able to find that sort of combo bookstore along with a lot of other things if the project comes to fruition. RFPs were sent out almost two months ago. This could also add hundreds of housing units in the heart of the Circle. The Cleveland Foundation has been very generous in funding the "Greater University Circle" planning initiative. This aims to bring University Circle and surrounding neighborhoods together to create a cohesive and ambitious plan for future growth. Connecting neighborhoods and creating additional housing is at the forefront of this plan. The MLK Corridor Study is looking at ways of improving the street network and land use throughout the Circle. This study should be finished in the next 2-3 months. RTA will renovate both the the University Circle-area rapid stations.

j73, All the ideas, except the CIA art gallery, are already in the planning stages. And, yes, even the part about incorporating Glenville, Hough, Fairfax, etc in the mix. I could write a long response to this stuff, but I'm a bit tired at the moment.

Isn't it true that Cleveland has more moving bridges than any other place in the US?

nope. no fox hockey for me. I will pay attention only if the Redwings are on tv.

I heard that UCI's police department rounded up some whores from different areas of Cleveland, let them loose at the corner of Euclid & Mayfield, and then took pictures to send off to PBL. Ronayne is definitely on the ball.

Guv, Any word on when this thing might be built?

^I thought that we had an ordinance like that.

In all fairness, Cleveland also has a lot on the docket "to make life more enjoyable."

I like the McMansions a lot. However, these ones don't have enough vinyl siding for my tastes.

How many people in Cleveland follow the NHL? I am a huge sports fan, but I only glance at the NHL standings every 4 weeks or so. Additionally, its not that much fun to watch on tv.--too hard to follow the puck.

OK, back on track with Pesht.. I feel that Asher's phase I would be the most important project in downtown Cleveland. Personally, I am not a big fan of the WHD because of the parking lots. It is not a good urban experience at the moment. But, imagine a 4-way intersection with mixed-use structures at each corner. Filling in those lots will create a greater experience of city life to pedestrians. Its all about the experience. If you feel good in an area, you will want to return. Seeing Public Square across all those lots really kills the experience at the moment. I know that I am not saying anything new. I am just hoping that this project moves along quickly. We need it to. Also, residents need a place to hang out on the street. It would be nice if we could bring the sidewalks out and eliminate a lane of traffic each way on West 6th between Lakeside and St. Clair. Create some places where people can sit and relax. Maybe even create a long and narrown fenced in area that could serve as a dog park. We need to bring people out onto the streets for reasons other than drinking.

Well, I think that Litt was trying to make some news and I think that Lewis is a bit unfair. Case is currently planning a large progect that would inject a lot of street life into the area (at the Triangle and Beach). Lewis knows this. What does he expect? Is it supposed to be built overnight?

Look for some sort of response to PBL in the PD's op-ed section in the next few days.

Well, it does appear that the Cancer center will be on the Euclid parcel. That's good news, in my opinion. Now lets hope that they bring it all the way to the sidewalk.

If you look at what Litt has said in the past about UC, he continually depicts it as a dead area. I question his interviewing techniques and the relevancy of an off-the-cuff statement made in a brief phone interview. Was this really front page news? Anyways, Lewis just gave UCI 100,000 grand to 'dream big'. If he didn't care about the area, he wouldn't be donating money in such fashion. At this point, things are moving in the right direction for the University Circle area. There is a lot of room for improvement, but things aren't as dire as Litt's article portrays them to be.

Well, this is a very good sign. total VC dollars over the past 5 years: 2005 $171 million 2004 $62 million 2003 $32 million 2002 $33 million 2001 $8 million VC investments in med firms soar Region could gain national rep if private financing stays strong By SHANNON PETTYPIECE 6:00 am, January 23, 2006 Northeast Ohio health care companies showed last year they could lure big investment bucks to town. If they can do it again this year, the region likely will gain a national reputation as a health care hot spot that attracts entrepreneurs, workers and investors. The $171 million in private capital raised by local health care companies in 2005 was nearly three times the amount raised in 2004, according to figures compiled by BioEnterprise Corp., a Cleveland-based nonprofit that works with medical startups. Baiju Shah, president of BioEnterprise, said the numbers continue the positive trend of recent years and indicate Northeast Ohio is a serious player in the private capital market. http://www.crainscleveland.com/

Due to its proximity to Jacobs Field, maybe they are just creating more surface parking space. I hope not.

Cool idea! I would expect Stark to advertise in Erie, Akron, Youngstown, Toledo, Canton and maybe even Columbus. Your idea would make an interesting marketing campaign for Cleveland. Instead of saying "hey, come and visit the rock n roll capital!", it would may be more effective to advertise the city via a condo ad. Come live within a 5 minute walk of RR HOF, baseball, Lebron, the nation's second largest theater district, lakefront, riverfront, tod, etc. Overall, Cleveland does a poor job of marketing itself. There are so many people that move here each year to work in the Clinic or UH and none of them are told about the cool neighborhoods that we have. So many of the people working at the Clinic live in the suburbs and therefore don't think about showing off our hipper side. We lose so many newcomers because they are not properly introduced to Cleveland. When my wife interviewed at UH, their tour of the Heights was pretty poor. Oftentimes, UH or the Clinic loses resident physicians to hospitals located in cooler cities. We will never be Chicago, but we are much better than the stereotype. Cleveland needs a group that could provide marketing/tours/relocation info to the major companies that bring in people from outside the region (Clinic, UH, Progressive, Sherwin Williams, etc). Otherwise, they will probably just receive pamphlets from the developers that are busy building cluster homes out in Solon.

MGD, Good thoughts. I hope that we are not too premature about the Front St lofts or Ferchill's project. Well, we are premature, but I obviously hope that they move forward. If Shaia's, Ferchill's and Asher's projects all go forward, Cleveland will need to do some serious marketing to make sure that people are aware of them and their potential for creating a vibrant neighborhood. There will be a lot of product on the market. Also, I sincerely hope that they market the area as car-free place to live. In the end, most people will have cars. But, we need to start implanting in people's minds the idea that upscale neighborhoods can coincide with good transit options. Whether or not they choose to take the rapid, we need people to think that the rapid can easily take you to cool places. After this mini-wave of projects, I would hope that developers start designing some of their units so that they are appealing to young families. Many young people can buy into this area, but they may leave in a few years if the neighborhood doesn't provide viable options for young families. In regards to Asher's design for the West 3rd-6th mega block, I would like to see a semi-circle of open space at the corner of West 6th and St. Clair. Currently, there is no place where you can sit and people watch. It would not have to be a large space, but it would be a great location where a ground floor coffee shop could open out onto small plaza that is equipped with chess tables, benches and a focal point for a street performer. As the warehouse district is currently set up, the streets don't invite the pedestrian to stop and look around. The district needs a central area where folks can arrange to meet before going to a restaurant or just sit and eat lunch.

I often am against 'home-rule', but this is a time when I hope that it takes precedence. Good synopsis, KJP.

Has anyone seen the sales office yet?

^I would never get rid of the Center St. bridge. But, I do see what you are saying. It would be great if there were a cool drawbridge that connected St. Clair to an extended Washington Ave. It would cut through the Powerhouse parking lot (no big loss). I think that would do a lot for connecting downtown to the West Bank.