clvlndr

I checked out the Westin lobby area and Urban Farmer over Memorial Day... Very impressive and a serious upgrade of the Crowne Plaza it replace.

^You're probably right; I am more disappointed with the format than the writer -- who's actually very good. I hope the PD does give this important project the coverage that it deserves. It seems to have been flying under the radar despite the fact that work has started there ... I hope you're right about this being speculative. As a part-time Shaker resident who has read the general proposals (from a few years ago), on their website as well as the Shaker Magazine, I was under the impression this would have a lot larger residential scale than the snapshot blurb portrayed... I know Shaker all along has admitted that it will not be office heavy simply because the City's high taxes/bedroom status doesn't make Shaker company friendly. But there is still great potential given the prime crossroads/TOD potential... StrapHanger, did FTA grant RTA for their Blue Line + bus extensions? I know the demolition (Starbucks is history) and road reconfiguration process has begun in earnest...

^^ Not a very good article; much more detail is needed... I'm also disappointed with only 160 luxury apts, esp given the considerable size of the Van Aken footprint... Keep in mind, the currently-rising luxury apt building in the tiny FEB footprint is going to have 243 units... ... Finally, I know that RTA chose the .3 mile Blue Line (plus University Circle bus service) as the Locally Preferred Alternative, but I never heard that FTA made the award. Did I miss something?

I hope the new articulateds have a bit less longitudinal seating than (esp) the Health Line and those on the 22 and 26 lines on the West Side.... I know the idea of longitudinal seating is to create more space for standees, and yes, the HL does have some crush loads at rush hour. But the HL just seems rather claustrophobic to me, even when the buses aren't packed.... From the photos, the new articulated buses appear longer than any buses RTA currently owns... but maybe that's just an illusion.

Lonnie was supposed to be the young phenom, 3rd base prospect 3/4 years ago ... After his struggles, particularly offensively, some fans and media were writing the kid off... But the Indians appear to have gotten it right ... obviously.

^Excellent analysis... thanks for that.

I saw this too... I sure hope Michelle drops by and explains what (if any) criteria there was for selecting projects. It's a shame because if any city/project is worthy and in need of such development, you'd think it would be Cleveland/Intesa ... $20M in tax credits for Intesa is a nice chunk of change for a project, as Michelle astutely notes, whose financing is so intricate and fragile and one that is relying on a substantial amount of public subsidy... It's a setback, no doubt, but one I believe can be overcome; there's just too much momentum these days in "can-do" C-Town ... I have confidence in Chris Ronayne to creatively help Coral & Co. keep Intesa to their planned fall ground breaking... Ronayne isn't Superman, but he's pretty damn good.

Terminal complex ... a monstrosity? That's a new one on me... I can agree that Cleveland, like most cities, destroyed way too many Victorian-to WWI era apartments and small-scale commercial buildings – especially in areas like the WHD, where only a fraction (thankfully) survive. But the Terminal area is at the heart of town where the small scale of these buildings, let alone their apparently rundown appearance (you can see this in the old photos) and condition, was simply incompatible with a metropolis that was so rapidly growing in size and stature as Cleveland was during this era… … and this doesn't even begin to address the major advantages of transit, retail, commercial and hotels this huge yet compact interconnected Terminal complex brought and still brings … it's a testament of the foresight of its creators that 84 years after its opening, it’s still expanding… So I can't disagree with you more, although you’re entitled to your opinion.

I'm guessing he's referring to Market East, the 4-block long mixed-use development connecting with the commuter tunnel and the Market Street el (but a subway at that point). Market East is dumpy compared to Tower City, in part because it is underground (low ceiling, as opposed to TC’s magnificent atrium courts) and because of its bland architecture compared to the magnificent train station elements that existed/were kept by FCE when they developed TC. Market East's stores are cheesier than TC’s overall, although they do have 1 anchor store, Burlington Coat Factory (K-Mart recently closed there). The more upscale, Higbees-like Strawbridge & Clothier went out of business in the late 90s; government offices occupy its handsome Art Deco building.

^Not by a long shot. It is indeed mixed use, and one of the BEST mixed use developments in the country, esp given its direct rail connection... You're right, TC probably shot too high re Gucci and trying to land a Neiman Marcus, and, yes, there are some 2nd rate joints in there, but it's no different (and a little better) than most downtown malls in terms of diversity of stores (Brooks Bros. soldiers on). And the fact the casino is drawing many more people into the area can't hurt -- btw, wasn't Gilbert negotiating to buy TC? Did he do so? ... I lost track.

It seems like The Old Angle on W. 25/Ohio City is one of the hotter spots for futbol in the City. They pack 'em in for regular soccer matches; I can't imagine what it'll be like for the World Cup (btw, they've got the best Irish Stew in town imho)... During the last World Cup, most of the downtown bars were carrying it and were drawing fans; for the final match, all were jammed... and passionate.

Excellent. When I visited last year, it was 8p.

Always glass half empty with you isn't it? And you might want to talk to St. Louis about that Macy's. Things are happening in Cleveland. Perhaps you missed them. Retail takes time to follow development, but it will happen. Do you understand how retail operates? The city doesn't just demand that CVS or 7-11 open up and, poof!, it happens. THEY have to be interested in opening in Cleveland and interest from national retailers has been increasing. Ah, maybe you need to take time and try reading before gunning from the hip. :wink:

^Good points. It's amazing how many communities saw, and still see (as in the recent case of Berea rejecting the Red Line extension), rapid transit as a source of intrusion and community threat as opposed to quality living and urban building... Glad to see the new Little Italy is opening up and moving away from its more insular past.

St. Louis is a smaller core city, has fewer downtown residents and has less activity, restaurant, theatre, sports, etc, than downtown Cleveland. Yet, they have a city-block size, anchor Macy’s dept store. But every time talk of a major department store in Downtown Cleveland arises, even when discussing a Target, the magic formula/baseline figures, like 25,000 downtown residents needed, before such a store can happen here. Why? … and St. Louis is one of several examples I could cite… Is it simply that we’re just not committed enough to downtown retail? It seems that may be the case. Our downtown also has no 7-Elevens, no Walgreen's and just a couple CVS’s that close early. The supermarket aspect is coming along nicely, but what about such regular retail? Tons of people are living and/or coming downtown these days, but they barely have anywhere to shop … besides the sparse offerings in TC, of course.

The Quincy Avenue underpass will be closed to through vehicular traffic but kept open to pedestrians, bikes and emergency access. Why? http://www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/ClevelandUrbanCoreProjects/OpportunityCorridor/Documents/_Cleveland%20Opportunity%20Corridor%20Project%20FEIS-ROD.pdf [Pages 4-6 and 4-7] Quincy Avenue currently passes under the CSX railroad and forms a T-intersection with East 105th Street approximately 150 feet to the west. The Quincy Avenue profile under the CSX bridge only meets the requirements for a 15 mph design speed. About 350 feet north, Quincy Avenue-East 105th Street rises over the NS Nickel Plate/GCRTA Red Line. The East 105th Street profile over NS only meets the requirements for a 26 mph design speed. The vertical clearances for both bridges do not meet current design standards. The Opportunity Corridor boulevard, which would follow East 105th Street, would have a 40 mph design speed and would be wider than the existing roadway. Given these constraints, it is not possible to connect Quincy Avenue south of the boulevard and meet necessary design standards without incurring excessive costs for the reconstruction of multiple roadway and railroad bridges. Based on these constraints, Quincy Avenue would be closed between East 105th Street and Woodhill Road. As requested by the City of Cleveland, access for bicycles, pedestrians and emergency service providers would be maintained via a drive on Quincy Avenue to mitigate the impacts of the closure. With the closure, travelers who currently use Quincy Avenue to travel between East 105th Street and Woodhill Road would utilize the new boulevard, East 93rd Street and Woodland Road to make the same connections. The travel distance for the existing and new routes would be nearly equivalent. Based on the above evaluation of the street closures and the incorporated mitigation measures, the Cleveland Opportunity Corridor project is anticipated to have minor negative impacts on local connectivity and mobility. Furthermore, the improved vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian connectivity and mobility resulting from the construction of the project are expected to outweigh these minor impacts. Street closures? Closing a portion of Quincy? Raising E. 105/OC speed requirements from 26 to 40 mph? ... the OC may not be a freeway (yet), but it certainly sounds like it's country cousin...

Well there's one billionaire nearby -- Dan Gilbert – whose Horseshoe Casino fronts PS. The same Dan Gilbert who’s co-investing guzzillions to build an LRT line into a downtown Detroit that he is seemingly rebuilding singlehandedly… It would be nice if, here in Cleveland, he had more interest in (possibly investing in) transit as a tool to bring more gamblers into his casinos (hell, judging by RTA’s serious uptick in rail numbers, as well as the visible evidence of rail riders clutching their Total Rewards prizes on Rapid platforms heading home, it’s happening already. But instead, Danny Boy is tearing town historic buildings and constructing skywalks at historic street corners to greater facilitate automobile drivers in the increasingly tight space of Gateway downtown – a space that will only get tighter once Public Square is rebuilt shunting thousands of cars away from it.

Gotcha. It now makes some sense as to why the new Little Italy station is significantly more expensive than the other Red Line rebuilds. In relocating a track and its catenary, they’re essentially building a couple hundred feet of new single-track HRT ROW, including a new overpass span. … Looking back on it, failing to open a station at this location is one of CTS’s bigger blunders when building the Red Line in the 1950s – we are now undoing a 60-year-old mistake the Van Sweringens had gotten right in the late 1920s --- to the tune of $17M… ouch!

From what I've seen and read, Hyatt badly needs this renovation. A buddy/coworker of mine stayed there in 2011 and they still had tube TVs!... Hyatt needs to get its act together because, based on what I'm seeing, including TripAdvisor posts, they're not delivering a Hyatt-like hotel for the Hyatt-like rates they're charging, despite the Arcade's amazing charm. I love that the Hyatt is in Cleveland and everybody loves the architecture of this grand building, ... how can you not? And, of course, the E. 4th Street/Tower City/Gateway Stadiums location is off the hook... I just wish the could attract some foot traffic in there, at least during the daytime -- it was amazingly busy in the 1980s and early 90s. Today, aside from the Chocolate Bar and the 1890 restaurant, which is very nice, the place is like a dungeon, albeit a very beautiful dungeon.

^Thanks, but wasn't there a planned station there before by the Vans (hence the preexisting "vault")?

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying... ... I'm also adding this caveat: I'm for relocating the bus stops for facilitating a large, unbroken (but Ontario & Superior) Public Square plaza. Obviously, they couldn't exist in this kind of set up because simply moving them to the perimeter of this new square would create a traffic nightmare. But I absolutely believe these bus terminals must be kept nearby and should not be shunted to some corner of downtown as some sort of: out of sight, out of mind maneuver to rid this nice "clean" square of the "rowdies." (and in some people's minds, that won't be the case, entirely, because what about the homeless attracted to all the seemingly prosperous types to the new leisure/retail driven square? ... but that's another story)... Public Square has existed up as THE transit terminus for the region since before the Civil War. Remember all those interesting Public Square "pagoda" shelters for the seemingly zillions of streetcars in those old late 1800s/early 1900s B&W photos? Building Union Station there as the RR/rapid transit terminal only heightened Public Square's transit-terminal status... The existing commuters and their buses must go somewhere... And keeping them nearby the rapid-rail hub under Tower City is imperative imho. One solution is routing more buses along Prospect and Huron where entrances to Tower City exist -- yes, I can already hear some people groaning about shunting these folks to Tower City's backdoor as though they're somehow unworthy. Hopefully that wouldn't be a big issue... Of course converting the Health Line (down the road) to LRT and burying in a Huron Rd subway through TC then out the Det-Sup bridge could remove tons of buses from the center of town -- a la Boston's Green line as well as the unsuccessful (voted down) WWI Rapid Transit Commission proposal for Cleveland -- which would greatly facilitate a super walkable Public Square environment... ... but, oops, there I go stirring up trouble again...

The new shelters harmonize much better with the lovely homes on Clifton and are a huge improvement over the aluminum & glass bus shelters of old. Now, if RTA could now move over to the East side and replace those similar ugly bus shelters on the Blue and Green Lines in/near Shaker Heights with more substantial, harmonizing structures ...

^So, are you saying, the tracks will be widened at Little Italy to accommodate a more substantial platform at the new station? Also, is RTA totally replacing the large, crumbling tunnels at Woodhill over the Blue/Green tracks? A temporary ped bridge has been in place for over a month there.

double-ditto!

I hear you to a degree, but the larger part of me says: it's a big city, deal with it. And don't forget the name of this area: Public Square; it's there for all people. Now if they completely close off the square to all through traffic, ie. Superior and Ontario, which I prefer, the bus terminal is going to have to be moved. But I don't advocate moving it simply because of some 'rowdy' people who are catching buses. There are plenty of folks who are simply waiting for the bus and are perfectly legit. And if we do create an attractive public place with benches and permanent wine/drink (among other) vendors as depicted in the above photos, it's up to the cops and Goodwill ambassador's to keep the peace and route the rowdies elsewhere... It was done on E. 4th -- a much different place than is being planned for PS, but the general idea is the same.