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^furthermore, I don't know too many people who would like to live in between an active steel mill and a highway. Its better to focus residential development in better areas.

Oftentimes I wonder why we have two large public schools in a relatively small area of Ohio.

I vote for May Co. Higbee's doesn't look as obviously vacant as the bottom floors of May does. Also, we would get better foot traffic on Euclid as Tower City would suck in Quicken's lunch crowd from Higbee moreso than it would from May.

I highly doubt that is the reason why people don't like Walmart. If that were so, then people also wouldn't like Cingular, Texas Instruments, Dell Computers, etc.

Mayday, Thanks for the rundown and for your honest opinions.

Good News! I don't like the Higbee building for anything but a department store. There are plenty of other buildings downtown, with Class A office Space, that can meet the needs of this company. I guess we'll have to wait and see if these are "new" positions or positions "relocating" from D-twat! The article says that only about 5% will be relocated jobs. I think we need to fill up the May Co. building because it is such a black hole. It really sucks the life out of Euclid Ave and sets the tone for the street. I would rather fill up our first and second floors than fill up, ie, floors 18-23 of an office tower. It would have a much more powerful effect.

We really need to fill in the bottom floors of the May Co. building. I hope that it will be placed there.

Here is some more info: Quicken Loans to add jobs downtown By JEFF STACKLIN 2:04 pm, September 8, 2005 Downtown Cleveland employment figures are expected to grow by 350 sometime next year, when Quicken Loans Inc., the online mortgage lender that made Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert a wealthy man, plans to open a new telephone and web mortgage center. As of yet, no specific building for the center has been identified. Mr. Gilbert, chairman of Quicken Loans and majority owner of the Cavaliers, said during a press conference Thursday afternoon that he expects it to be “in proximity” to the Cavaliers’ home, Quicken Loans Arena, formerly known as Gund Arena. Mr. Gilbert said he could have put the center elsewhere, but added, “We thought it was the best move to come” to Cleveland. The center will be the fourth for Quicken Loans, which is based in Livonia, Mich. It is the first such center outside of Michigan. The center is expected to open in mid-2006 and eventually have a payroll of $30 million. The center initially will have 50 to 100 employees, but within six months is expected to employ 350 workers. http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20050908/FREE/50908002/1004/newsletter01

Ok Mr. Detroit Piston fan, want to make a bet that they don't suck this year?

Wow. That's great!

Pope, The Cavs don't suck. I wonder what they will do with the old signs. I just ran into the old Chief Wahoo sign at the WRHS Library. Very cool.

An initiative? This sounds more like some type of loan program for Clevelanders.

Woodward, Welcome to the board! I thought that TRW moved to LA. Also, I really wouldn't consider Livonia an inner-ring suburb. I consider Ferndale and Royal Oak innerrings.

I don't think that the current site would help anything other than the lakefront. Really, it is not a great location. One of Cleveland's biggest issues is the fact that our downtown's focal points are not connected. If the Scranton Peninsula could be developed and connected to TowerCity, I would be all for that plan.

I am glad that they are on the ball about this funding.

jskiboarder, What part of the west side do you think will be hopping? This project is so far out from Cleveland that I don't see much effect on Cleveland except for the far west suburbs. We all know that is not where growth should be. Frankly, this project scares me. I am not sure what to think. In a bubble, it seems nice. In relation to the whole, it may be a negative. Convince me otherwise.

Those renderings are great, but I think that it would take up too much space on the lakefront. I would rather have housing on the port's land. I don't know what to think about Forest City's proposal. I am for the other site, but Forest City has the following going for it: direct link to 2 hotels, shopping, movies and rapid transit to the airport and Gund arena. I think that those are selling points that are superior to the present location. Overall, if I were an out of towner looking for a place to have my convention, I would prefer the tower city site for the above reasons. Of course, I would rather have conventioneers out roaming the streets than all locked up into the Tower City universe. But, the idea is to bring in more business. My guess is that TC would bring in more business than the present location. However, you have to weigh that against having an empty center on the lake and the loss of a possible connection to the waterfront.

Mayday, I agree with you 100%. I have this fear that Jackson would look to put band aids over the wounds of the poor of this city and not try to create the growth and jobs that will help the entire city. I wonder when Cimperman will run. If Campbell loses, will Ronayne run next time around?

Oh, politics.

clvndr, The governing structure of UCI is set up so that it has to do what its largest members tell it to. If Case says jump, then UCI has to jump. A lot has been lost in the past decades due to poor ideas of how to grow the Circle.

There are some conceptual drawings around. If Forest City does the project, they will get their own architects.

MGD, Great post. Very informative.

The restaurants at the Galleria will sure be happy. A possible 1300 swing will greatly affect business. I agree with MGD. I think that Wolstein's proposal is kind of an after-thought. I would be an expense to move all those workers to a new location. Additionally, the Federal govt would no longer receive the rent.

wow, another oldie but a goodie......wasn't that study in 2002? but then again, i don't want to imagine the mess when/if reconstruction starts Pope, They announced a study two years ago. It has gone thru two expansions (it was much smaller in scale before). Funding for the study has just been secured. Urban Design Associates is going to lead the design process starting in early October. They should have some final recommendations in 6-9 months.

Finally, some good news. Its been a rough economic stretch.