WestBLVD

Banyan Tree looks to have closed their shop in Uptown. Hopefully retail will do a little better once the new apartments in the neighborhood get built. It appeared as if ground was already being broke around the corner for the Centric Project this afternoon.

All trees on Euclid from where Chapati is to Dynomite Burger were cut down. On the other side of the street all trees from Corner Alley to just before Dunkin Donuts were cut down. That sidewalk design was poorly laid out, the water would drain away from the tree planters and pool on the sidewalks and in front of the buildings. I'm sure they could have fixed this without removing the trees, but it was probably easier to just pave everything over.

Sadly, all of the new trees that were planted along the sidewalk in Uptown a few years ago were chopped down last week. These were rather large trees for being relatively new and already provided decent canopy coverage. The stumps were removed and the areas where the trees were planted are already paved over to match the existing sidewalk, so it doesn't look like any more trees will be going in. Quite sad.

That car free list is travel list for visitors not wanting to rent cars, not a list for permanent residents who are car free. There's a big difference in the needs and destinations of someone taking a 3 day weekend to visit a destination and not wanting to rent a car versus a resident who permanently lives car free. With Cleveland's airport having rail service arriving around 3:45am and having trains leave until after 1am, all visitors arriving and departing by plane can use the rapid. Many major cities that do have train service to their airports can't boast those hours. So for a traveler flying into Hopkins, staying downtown, wanting to see a sporting event or concert, visiting the Rock Hall, visit the museums in University Circle, eat in Ohio City, check out the Shaker Square farmer's market, visit Edgewater, and check out the Flats a car is completely unnecessary in Cleveland.

It hasn't seemed to hit the news outlets yet, but I'm hearing that Southwest will significantly cut service again at CAK next April. I heard that flights will be down over 70% compared to last April.

"Secondary Airports" have certainly fallen out of favor the past few years by the major airlines. Even DAY and CAK, which were seen as thriving a few years ago, have lost considerable numbers of passengers the past few years. The trend is nationwide as secondary airports in Manchester, NH; Bellingham, WA; Wilmington, DE; Islip, NY; and Newport News, VA have all declined in recent years. Trenton, NJ seems to be one of the few exceptions to the trend, but Frontier has slashed destinations there recently as well. It certainly makes it hard for TOL to compete when DTW is so close and has many nonstops and low cost carrier options. For much of the Toledo area, DTW can be accessed in under 45 minutes. For many office parks in suburban Cincinnati and Cleveland the drive time to their respective airport is the same, if not longer than Toledo is to DTW. Likewise across dozens of metro areas in the US, many downtowns, intl headquarters, and significant cities are a 45 minute drive to their respective airport.

I was walking through uptown today and noticed that Banyan Tree is opening up a shop in the space vacated by that boutique that closed shop earlier in the summer. This is the space next to Mitchell's and behind Chipotle.

Agreed. Even though the formal station name is geographically correct, ... "Mayfield" or "Mayfield Rd" is much easier on the lips... and ears. Even though I'd expect to see heavy usage of the station for this weekend's Feast of the Assumption (RTA is already trumpeting the station's use for the Feast on its website), I'm more interested to see how much it will be utilized in daily traffic, esp around rush hour... Any early reports? I got on at the new station a little after 5pm to head westbound towards downtown and there were 11 riders who boarded. I have no idea what the normal rush hour ridership was at the old station as I normally use Cedar.

Great post! So as I'm looking at the last photo here, the guard rail over the east side of the rapid tracks of the unfinished station looks almost identical to the one that exists today at University-Cedar station. So the question is, was the guard rail replaced at some point to look identical to the one put in decades before the station actually opened, or is this in fact a last remaining design element of the original station? edit: I've always thought that this "unusable" sidewalk along the guard rail was kind of bizarre too. Would original station designs have allowed for riders to exit both sides of the platform?

Here are some photos of the Think Box construction/renovation at CWRU. Two are from today and the other is a photo I snapped about 6 weeks ago when they started to punch holes into the brick walls for windows. They've already put in windows on the south side of the building and are now starting to cut out windows for the east side facing the rail lines. I really like this project because it's so incredibly close to the rapid station. If one worked here, they could get off the rapid and be in their building in 2 minutes. Now if only Case could develop the parking lot on the corner of Fairchild/Murray Hill ...

It's the cold storage building across the tracks from the Cedar University rapid station.

I've noticed that RTA has been operating 1 car trains during rush hour again. At first I thought it might have been an isolated issue, but after riding a single car train 3 times during morning rush the past week, it seems to be a more common occurrence. Does RTA not have enough operable cars to operate every ride as a 2 car train anymore? The 1 car trains just can't handle rush hour volume, people are practically spilling out the door as if it were Saint Patrick's Day. I'm hoping this is just a temporary issue while more cars are refurbished?

People are actually petitioning these new Townhomes? Unbelievable. There's an apartment building literally on the same block as this development, just a few hundred feet away. Lake Avenue is peppered with high density buildings the entire Cleveland stretch. This neighborhood desperately needs new life breathed into it with infill developments. We should be petitioning to get MORE of these developments on the numerous empty lots that scatter the neighborhood, not blocking them.

What I'm trying to say is that this situation likely never would have happened if the officer was placed in a different location than the exit to the station and RTA had a standardized process for conducting the fare checks. Like I've said multiple times, when you are checking the fare card of passengers while they board or are on the train, you aren't treating them as potential thieves as they haven't fully consumed the good they that have purchased. As with so many other non tangible services, this is industry standard. If an officer was placed at the top of the stairs and checked passengers before they boarded it achieves the exact same goal as checking passengers as they exit the station. The only difference is that it doesn't treat customers as potential thieves because they haven't yet consumed the service. Also, what if RTA had a standardized language for conducting fare checks. How different would the outcome have been if it was standard procedure to tell passengers that aren't using a monthly pass, "Please hand me your RTA pass so that I can verify the time stamp." Here, the language is clear and concise what the passenger should do. "Show me your bus pass" is a vague order and it elicited a "smart aleck" response that ended up poorly. Had the initial order been clear and concise, would the outcome have been the same? I'm just stating that this incident clearly shows the many process breakdowns of the fare checks. These are incredibly simple process fixes that RTA could implement to prevent this kind of stuff from happening again.

That is true, but those are big ticket tangible goods. If they find out you didn't pay for the merchandise, then they can still retain that merchandise and sell it to another potential buyer. With RTA, we are talking about $2.25 for a non tangible good. It's equivalent of being asked to show your concert ticket as you are leaving an arena, showing your museum stub as you are leaving the building, showing your sports ticket as you walk out the stadium, or showing your ticket stub as you leave the movie theatre - the operators of all these types of venues can all choose to do this if they wish, but most if not all choose to check to see if the fare was paid prior to admission. The random fare checks are absolutely necessary with the way Cleveland's system is designed, I'm just saying that they can be conducted in a much more customer oriented manner. For example, last month I was riding RTA to Cedar University during rush hour. There was a random fare check at the bottom of the stairs as a crowd of 100 passengers got off. There were two officers checking the fare cards. I was near the end of the line and it took about 8 minutes before I could leave the station. Sure, it's not that big of a deal, but from a customer service stand point this could have been achieved just as easily by checking the fare cards while everyone was on board the train or as they boarded at each station, saving everyone a lot of time and hassle. Plus, when the fare is checked before boarding, it's similar to the consumption of other services of non tangible goods (concert, museum, theatre, sports, etc) where it's the norm. When you're checked after the fact it makes it feel like everyone is a potential thief, and really that's not that great of a feeling. As with the stores that check receipts upon leaving, I always comply, but it does feel a bit insulting that guests leaving the cash registers are all considered potential thieves by the stores. And as the name implies, proof of payment, the same goes for RTA. Until you can prove that you've paid, you're considered to be a potential fare evader. However, when those checks are made makes a difference in the way it feels for a customer. Checking beforehand or during and it doesn't feel like you are considered a thief, check afterwards and it does.

I feel like there is a distinction on the "customer" side of the operation. Having checks before or during the ride doesn't "inconvenience" the rider as much as if they are exiting and just trying to be on their way. Because of the way Cleveland's PoP system works, we're stuck with having these random fare checks, but they can be designed better for the customer. Remember, the vast majority of people have already paid their fare and just want to be on their way. It's sort of analogous to visiting a museum. You go up to the ticket counter and buy a ticket. Whether or not you've bought a ticket, the train is going to go by/ the museum lights will be on. Most times after you've bought the museum ticket there will be a person at the entrance to the gallery that will check your ticket, which no one has a problem with. This is just like buying a ticket at Tower City and then putting it through the turnstile, or entering the platform at Cedar University and someone checking to see if you have a valid ticket before you board. You then walk around the gallery and finish consuming the product. You leave the gallery for the gift shop. Being in the gift shop doesn't require admission, but most people in the gift shop were customers of the museum. As you're leaving the gift shop to exit the building a person asks you to see your museum ticket to verify if you've paid. While they have the right to ask you that, is that the best customer service they could give? In the museum example, theoretically someone could have slipped in without paying if the attendant at the gallery entrance wasn't there at the time, just like on the Red Line. So as a museum manager or RTA administrator is the best way to combat these potential fare violations through checking people's admission tickets/fare cards as they enter, during their visit/ride, or as they are on their way out the door? It's not as easy to evade a fare on the Red Line as some people assume. Can it be done? Of course, but all the scenarios below would involve someone already having a pass or needing to swipe it at some point in their journey: *You board at Tower City *You exit at Tower City *You need to transfer from a bus to the Red Line *You need to transfer to the Red Line from a bus *Your employer sponsors your RTA pass *You participate in a special subsidized pass program (CSU, elderly, etc) *You are a frequent RTA rider and already purchase a monthly pass for all your trips on all RTA vehicles The vast majority of riders are going to fall into one of those groups above and already have a fare card or need it during the journey. An example of a person that could evade the fare would be someone that arrives at Brookpark Station by car or foot and exits at Cedar University where they walk to their final destination. In addition, they make this trip very infrequently. If they arrived at Brookpark or left Cedar University by bus, they would have needed a pass regardless. It would be highly unlikely that a rider who makes this trip daily would try to evade the fare everyday, because after a month it would catch up to them with a fare violation. But the scenario above is why RTA has to have the random fare checks. If RTA standardized the way they do them, then events like what happened at 117th could probably be mitigated.

I never said that there shouldn't be a confrontational way to enforce the payment system. What I essentially said was that when the confrontation happens, make it before or while I'm using the bus/train, not when I'm leaving the station. That's what I don't get about this situation. Since when do patrons LEAVING a station need to show proof of fare? I can understand having to show a fare card on the platform or any area in the "fare paid zone", but is the vestibule of the station considered a "fare paid zone?" Many people use the RTA station lobbies to stay warm or stay out of the rain while they wait for a nearby bus coming to the station, upon exiting the station do they need to show proof of fare, when they didn't even use the Rapid? What about patrons who wait in the lobby to meet a friend/family member exiting the train, do they need to show proof of fare upon exiting the station lobby? I have no problem with fare card checks, but there needs to be a standard protocol of how they are conducted and conducted in the areas clearly marked "fare paid zone."

This was a completely avoidable scenario and the outcome was unfortunate for all parties involved. What I find odd about this, is that the fare check occurred in the exit/vestibule of the station. Every time I've experienced a random fare check it has been either on the train or just after exiting the platform in the area clearly marked "FARE PAID ZONE". These signs state, "In this area, fare must already be purchased, and passes and farecards activated and retained for inspection. Failure to present valid proof of payment upon request will result in a violation fare or possible criminal prosecution." I have never been to 117th street station, so hopefully someone can clarify where these signs are posted there, but at all the other stations, these signs are (obviously) posted just past the point where the machines are to purchase fares. All the random fare checks that I've experienced have always been in these FARE PAID ZONES. Does anyone know where these signs are at 117th? Are they posted in the vestibule where the random fare check incident occurred? If you've already left the system (and the zone marked FARE PAID ZONE) why should you still need to retain a fare card?

Isn't lot 45 slated to permanently close for parking this weekend? That should be a good sign that construction might be happening soon.

Burke itself isn't the problem for a "disconnected waterfront." Its footprint lies from roughly east 13th through east 55th. If you look at the the original lakeshore here and the development along the original banks it's all industrial use. Burke is no more of a problem to a disconnected lakefront than 1000s of buildings in these neighborhoods which do nothing to interact with the lake. Let's say that over the past century we didn't put any dredgings into the lake to expand the lakeshore in this area and the lake was at its original shoreline today? Regardless of Burke being there or not, the lake would still be disconnected. Closing Burke and redeveloping it as a new (and massive neighborhood) is just something unrealistic for Cleveland. The acreage of Burke is like recreating the entire central business district of downtown and placing it again 2 miles to the northeast. Cleveland would have to be a city facing explosive growth to even consider that as a possibility. Even if this were to be turned into a park, we're talking something like 5-10 Edgewater Parks fitting into this acreage. This would also be a completely flat park with no lake views unless you were actually standing on the edges. I'd say that redeveloping Burke is at least 30 years off. When every vacant lot downtown has infill and old historic neighborhoods have no more buildings to convert AND the lakefront area around Browns stadium has been fully developed ... maybe then ... we can discuss creating brand new neighborhoods in the lake bed. I think focusing on redeveloping the waterfront that actually touches downtown neighborhoods is much more critical to creating a cohesive downtown that once again interacts with the lake, ie FEB and Browns Stadium area.

This corner is in such a sad state of affairs right now. It appears a sign went up for a take out Chinese restaurant going in near where Big Fun is/was. The number of commercial vacancies that has sprouted up the past 2 years is really discouraging. I remain optimistic that a quick turn around can occur. The Hingetown neighborhood and all the shops/restaurants practically appeared overnight. If a quality anchor grocer is announced, then it's conceivable that quality retail will quickly fill in the other vacancies here as well.

I believe they're completely removing the old point of entry. It's gone. As of this week, it looks like all signs of construction at the Cedar-University station are gone. Final fencing is up and the southwest side of the platform where the old exit used to be looks completed. I really wish RTA had kept a station exit at both sides of the platform at this station to help alleviate congestion. For the volume of riders that use this stop, the new station seems incredibly under built. Perhaps the new Little Italy station will help take some of the ridership, but for now, especially in winter, the new station just can't hold the volumes of riders that wish to wait in the warmth until a train arrives. It's definitely an improvement over the old, but I feel if rail ridership grows anymore, this station will need to be redone soon.

In meteorology, especially if using an average, 4 to 5 degrees is actually quite significant. Another way to look at summer temperature differences is the average number of 90 degree days or higher. This rises quickly the farther south you go: Cleveland: 9 Columbus: 15 Cincinnati: 21 There are many heat waves that never make it as far north as Cleveland, and if you live along the lake, there may only be a handful of days that get above 90 each year.

What's next for West Blvd/Cudell? This neighborhood has had two high profile negative national news stories in about a year's time frame. The gay bashing that occurred last summer put the neighborhood in a bad national light when a group of youth beat a man and it took 3 calls for the police to arrive and now this weekend's police shooting once again put a negative spotlight on the neighborhood. There are a lot of underlying issues here regarding crime that need to be resolved, and unfortunately that just doesn't happen over night.

I think everything turned out nicely, something that was desperately needed for years. The median looks and feels much smaller now in its completed state, versus any of the designs shown to the public beforehand, which isn't a bad thing. It's nice that 7 lanes of asphalt are now broken up and the road doesn't feel so highway-esque. We'll see how nice it looks in the spring with landscaping and with leaves on the trees. I think this area will really shine next summer and especially once the development at 117th and Clifton is completed. The photo of all the signs posted on Clifton now in Lakewood doesn't look as bad in person as it does in the photo. My only complaint is the Cleveland State Line branding. It just seems a little over the top and kind of confusing. It just seems unusual to see this kind of branding for a bus line that doesn't specifically serve only a college campus's buildings, parking lots, etc. Case operates their own shuttle bus in University Circle, and that's what I'd associate this type of branding with.