clvlndr

Good point. That corner would be great for a multi-story apt building. This would mesh nicely with the handsome, curved, mixed-use University East apt building next door. I'm thrilled with the Marriott, it's a great location and, yes, I too am a little (pleasantly) surprised by it's bulk and power viz it's neighbors. I'm no construction expert, but it appears that the Marriott is using a pre-fab, modular construction approach (essentially stacking each guest room as though it's a separate pre-built box) which may account for why the building is rising so fast... It's a brilliant use of space; keep in mind, it's rising from a very narrow strip of land. And yes, even though this one isn't open yet, I believe this immediate area could absorb another hotel. The UH/CWRU/CIA/CIM/museums/orchestra/VA hosp complex is within a few blocks walk. This, on top of the fact that the Euclid/Mayfield/Little Italy complex is mushrooming in growth and popularity.

Thanks JJames... exciting!

^I'm not here to skewer Randy. After all, it was his Dad's love and, when he died suddenly, Randy was handed something he didn't create; he did what he thought was right... But I do put the blame on the Lerner's for the Browns' predicament. When Al was still alive, they started the tradition of hiring based on pedigree, and didn't look closely enough to determine younger, hungrier more emergent talent (like how the Jets, then NE grabbed a young Bill Belichick), as opposed to older been-there, done-that guys like Carmen Policy, Dwight Clark, Holmgren. Butch Davis and Romeo Crennel weren't dumb picks, but they lacked NFL head coaching experience and, unfortunately, when there were screw-ups (like the Phil Savage-Kellen Winslow staph-gate), Lerner was not around to really crack the whip... or so it would seem. Let's face it, Holmgren has been living off of his one Green Bay SB, and one appearance with Seattle; but really, he left the Seahawks in shame IIRC...I just get the sense that these has-been managers, come here to looking to score a nice payday from a team that has money to print, while not worrying about much accountability -- C'mon Mike, with a Browns'-starved fanbase sick of the screw ups, you're going to stick us with an inexperienced lug like Pat Shurmur!?... really?? -- Randy's was largely absentee until recently, and (in my opinion) the fanbase and media here is pretty soft and loyal regardless of the product put on the field, which has been hideous since 1999; the worst of any NFL team over that period. Obviously, owner-involvement with on-field issues is a very delicate balance. We know it works both ways (too much, with George Steinbrenner during much of his career; worse, with Dan Snyder and the Redskins and Jerry Jones in recent times; just enough with wacko Mark Cuban -- Dan Gilbert, I think, is following Cuban's lead to a degree, but has learned, wisely, to both have a serious presence while giving the basketball guys space in which to operate; this is why most of us feel Gilbert will ultimately succeed. Randy just didn't have it in him. Browns' football was daddy Al's game. It was after much media, fan criticism that Randy only recently decided to reside in Greater Cleveland. He has other priorities and I just think regular ownership was just too taxing, but to save family face (and satisfy some desire to remain a background force) he's looking to hold on to 30%. We don't know anything about Haslam. As I said, it was a bad situation here with Randy, but fans are really excited for Haslam (I feel) because they perceive him to be the Anti-Randy; that he’ll bring that Southern, good-ol-boy, redneck-y SEC in-your-face type ownership; like maybe he’ll treat the Browns like his beloved Tennessee Vols, with rabid support (and lots of $$$$). As Browns fans, I’ll agree, we need a change from the status quo… But I’ll reserve my excitement for the Haslam regime until I see more.

The new Gateway Sta. looks like a Frank Ghery product... Indoors, the new North Side station looks nice; spacious, like a DC Metro stop, just not many people... Always surprises me that, given Pittsburgh's downtown density and geographic constraints, transit usage (and rail coverage) isn't many times higher there. You'd think it'd be more Boston-like.

I think RTA should consider 3 in-fill stations for the Red Line that would help boost the economics of their surrounding neighborhoods: - W. 41 (or 44th) - W. 85th - Lakeview (E. Cleveland) ... one other, that actually came up under the Voinovich (as mayor) admin: E. 89th & Woodland.

Yeah, btw 41s and 44th would make more sense to me. I've heard a potential Fulton Rd station as well (I think tossed out by the OCDC), but a station there makes little sense for the reasons mentioned; light density, industrial and too close to W. 25th/Ohio City... At West 41/44, there is OC housing in the area, plus a station there would serve (and potentially generate TOD) along Lorain Ave. north of there. It's certainly worth looking into. Lorain could really use an anchor development in this area. Right now, it's too spoty. "Mayor Carl Stokes and Planning Director Norm Krumholz were seeking a public funding (HUD?) for a multi-tower apartment complex built on a retail platform atop a Red Line station in the basement between West 41st and West 44th along the then-new I-90." Wow, Norm Krumholz actually favored a rail rapid transit project!? That fact belongs in a museum.

Yeah, I kinda like Goldhammer, too. As a Denver guy, he often likes to razz Cleveland fans (and fans often fall for the bait). He KNOWS the Rapid is not a monorail. I admire the fact he lives in the city. Many of the (much younger) hosts on The Fan live in the City, too, esp in Tremont. I get the feeling, though, few of them use RTA... ... but kudos to RTA to reaching out to our sports teams (Indians, LE Monsters) and supporting big events (like the 4th of July fireworks) to generate more transit use with these creative, discount programs.

Tower City is not a typical mall; it never has been. Also, Tower City has ALWAYS been a mall ; smaller, of course, before the TC conversion in 1989, but a mall since the day it opened in 1930, filled with drug stores and smoke shops and candy stores and restaurants and shoe stores, etc. The Vans designed it to be a city-within-a-city and not just a train station. Ours was among the 1st to develop air rights over a railroad station in addition to the enclosed retail mall. Plus, TC[s truly at the heart of the City – it’s location over the Rapid hub and at the region’s transit & transportation crossroads, will always make it relevant. Can’t compare it to Detroit’s Ren Cen, or Milwaukee’s Grand Avenue mall, for example. It was from the beginning, and still is, one of the largest mixed use development in American (and probably the 1st). And despite the centrality, transit convenience and connectivity of Tower City, it is hardly the whole of downtown Cleveland. Although downtown did have a thriving retail district along Euclid, the stores closed up by 7p – for those of us (unfortunately) old enough to remember, in the mid-70s, Big Chuck & Houlihan rolled a bowling ball down Euclid at around 7p … and didn’t hit anybody! Nobody lived down there. I’ll take today’s downtown full of restaurants and residents (and street life past 7, 8, 9 and, often, 10p) as opposed to yesteryear’s lively daytime business + retail then complex that shuttered by early evening, after all the commuters had abandoned the place. Downtown, of course, has a considerable ways to go, but it has shown tremendous growth recently. We (fortunately or unfortunately) just happened to have come on, downtown-wise, when big-store retail is disappearing all over, even in the biggest cities (like Philly – 1 down-sized Macy’s, plus a Burlington Coat and a K-Mart.) Downtown retail, in Cleveland and elsewhere, is different because society is different. We’re a specialized society. Suburbanization and suburban shopping, esp malls, obviously have changed the urban retail landscape all over, but our smart phone, instant gratification/gotta have it now, short attention-span culture is perhaps an even bigger reason for the change. Look at the hundreds of cable channels and Tivo/DVR TV at our fingertips today – how long would today’s youth survive with only the Channel’s 3, 5 and 8 I grew up with without totally freaking out? (not very long, methinks)… Specialty and niche stores, like Dredger’s Union, where you can walk away with clothes and light items in a shopping bag, are in vogue and I hope more of them will pop up (not to be confused with "pop up" stores) in Cleveland (not to mention the fact, of course, I want to see DU thrive) That said, I think a moderate/lower end generalist store like TJ Maxx could survive and even thrive in downtown Cleveland. Target, too. I’d welcome either/or or both with welcome arms (and check books).

Not to throw cold water, but with this weekend's listless performance again the Blue Jays, I fear the Tribe is about to take yet another midseason/post All Star swan dive just as they did last year, only this time, they can't use injuries for an excuse. Our productive hitters like Cabrera (who seems somewhat disinterested for some reason) and even Kipnis, are struggling right now. And of course, our potentially best hitter, Carlos Santana, has been MIA all season.... ... On top of that Ubaldo, who had been pitching well, reverted to You-Bum-O once again on Saturday, reawakening gripes, once again, that you just can never be sure which guy is going to show up on the mound.... This team is very fragile and in order to win we usually have to get near perfect pitching to match our popgun offense... This weekend showed the frustation of rooting for this club: we score 1 run, and win, then 9 runs, and lose... Today Lowe was very good (3 runs) and, of course, we go 0-10 w/ runners in scoring position and get shut out... ...par for the course for this oft frustrating franchise.

^Boy, the Dolans (via Mark Shapiro) are sure taking a beating for this plan by sports talk radio, mainly WKNR. Hosts are generally saying that the RTA plan (which personally, I think is forward thinking) is a cheap way for the Indians to divert attention to the fact the team isn't paying money to land bigtime free agents... Aaron Goldhammer, in particular, noted most people don't use the "Monorail" anyway; that he rarely does (from his Tremont residence) anyway, accept a few times to the airport where he said he had no complaints about the service. Goldhammer noted how easy it was just to drive down and park before Indians games, and that there was little traffic... ... but thankfully after some Indians' fans/callers noted that the Rapid is convenient and that there is gridlock, Goldhammer was forced to admit: a. as a member of the media, he gets free parking, and b. also because of that (working) status, he gets to Indians' games way early and stays way afterwards, so that he rarely has to experience much traffic... for this, Goldhammer gets the DUH!!!! award.

Coming along quite nicely... sure hope Wolstein can secure financing for Phase II, FEB really needs this to fill out the current footprint so we can move forward with other riverfront/lakefront development...

^^ So glad Cali is moving forward with these advanced plans. It makes the rest of the country (states) that rejected this money look so partisan, parochial and just plain stupid (Hello Ohio... Kasich). I'd love to see these (rejection states') Republicans being grilled by the populace once Cali gets this awesome system up 'n running; about why (John Kasich) you chose to allow Ohio to wallow in the dark ages while Cali chose to bask in the sunlight... ... well, at least a few Repubs deserve some credit her: Cali's now done guv (Ahhnult) for being open to the TIGER funding; and Michigan's Snyder for allowing Fed money to upgrade the Wolverine to initial HSR standards... Good for them (and bad for us, here in Ohio (aka Missatucky).

Suck on THAT Columbus Dogpatch!!! hahahahaha!!!!

The Clueless camera was on fire! Amazing day-night gallery; very well done. (the photo the toddler in front of the Soldier's & Sailors mon. could win an award, esp if you crop out mom steps ahead of him).

JetDog, I went to PAT's website and couldn't find the schedule-- their website is a little goofy (RTA's is much easier to navigate. I see they recently apparently dropped the route numbers for their LRT (the "T", ... such a rip-off of Boston's great old rail netowrk which has gone by The "T" for decades) and go only by the Red and Blue lines, nowadays. I'll continue to poke around and post it for you if I find it. Maybe someone else will beat me to the punch.

^that would work, too. Pittsburgh's PAT uses this approach IIRC.

I believe business travel is what drives the bottom lines of most hotels, esp in downtown areas. Cleveland has been devastated by the loss of corporate jobs over the last 30 years due to mergers (Standard Oil, OfficeMax) and outright closures (TRW), among others. This has negatively impacted Cleveland Hopkins airport as a travel hub which, in turn, has negatively impacted Cleveland as a convention destination which, in turn, of course, has impacted our abilities to both build new, substantial hotels or reduce the vacancies of existing ones... It's a vicious cycle. Add to that our perceived negative image as a dull, dirty rust belt town that's financially stressed with nothing fun to do (obviously, being knowledgeable about this place, I seriously take issue with that mindset, but I know it's pervasive, unfortunately) -- and the fact that our (almost) home-grown superstar Cav, decides to up and leave in the prime of his career, really had a negative ripple effect on people's perception of the City as either a place to visit (travel & leisure) or a place to live (business relocation, new start-up capital funding, of course, ultimately leading back to business travel/hotel rentals). But the good news is, it appears the image issue is changing. Our game-changing developments, like the casino (something fun to do, and drawing lots of people to the downtown core) and the medical Mart Convention center (lots of start-up and/or consortium business opportunity related to our leading industry these days: health care), holds the potential to reverse the negative down-cycle. When NBC's Meet The Press host, David Gregory, states on air that Cleveland, entertainment-wise, is not the city people perceive and is, in fact, experiencing a "renaissance" (Gregory's word), it can have a positive snowball effect. The end result, of course, is that a positive environment to make the case for new hotel rooms downtown can emerge. We can only keep our fingers crossed at the very least.

One suggestion to make the Red Line schedule easier to read: either bold or put verticle lines, from top to bottom, on either side of the Tower City time point... since it's near the middle of the schedule, it's a pain in the arse to have to keep looking up to the top to see what column you're in. And with Tower City (the main destination) highlighted to make it stand out, it will be easier to read other time points next to the TC column or 1 or 2 columns on either side of it ... Again, just a suggestion.

I think Cleveland's pretty cool in that we branded our train system the Rapid; we're unique; no other American city calls there's that; just like the L is Chicago and the T, Boston. When RTA was formed, I wish they had branded the system with an easily identifiable symbol with the word Rapid; perhaps a giant circle with an R in it. Oh well, they didn't. At least we could be consistent. In most neighborhoods, it's probably not an issue since most are filled with locals. But downtown, the Airport, Ohio City and other touristy (meaning stops for light-using locals as well as out-of-towners) could be more consistent. I do think the floor stickies like CTA's at O'Hare airport would really help. I notice that Tower City has been using them to promote stores and other activities. In fairnes, the new Puritas ediface station has 'Puritas Rapid Transit Station' on it, but that's rare.

I've heard several infrequent Rapid users and out-of-towners say they couldn't find the Rapid in Tower City without lots of help. Others, who've traveled here several times never even knew Cleveland had "subways", despite having been to Hopkins and Tower City... Can't RTA get better signage at Tower City? There's little signs with a railroad train image and the letters RTA. btw, what's with the general use of "RTA" on signs at rapid transit stations? Should people just understand that RTA means rapid transit, despite the agency's running 5 distinct modes? Other cities, like Chicago, use the terms "L" or "Subway" when describing rail services. Seems RTA is limiting knowledge of the system to locals who already know it.

Mr. Ronis was a major name in Cleveland transit... RIP.

I think it'll take a change of power at the state level to get better funding, combined with more visionary leadership at RTA, and an increase in the price of diesel/gasoline that increases ridership while simultaneously increasing the cost of operating busses. The labor savings while significant are balanced by the labor costs of maintaining the tracks. While transit operating funding is as tight as it currently is at the state level, I imagine it would be a big challenge politically to pull off another major transit project. While most of us know that operating and capital expenses are very different things, the public doesn't and would throw a fit if service isn't improved/increased before a major expansion gets underway. As long as using diesel in busses is less expensive than using electricity AND paying for the maintenance of the tracks RTA is going to be hesitant to switch to trams. Sure we know that the maintenance of the roads isn't free, but it doesn't come directly from RTA's budget, so they have no incentive to consider that expense when determining the more cost effective mode of transportation. Finally I think it would take better leadership at RTA. I think that Calabrezze is doing fine at running RTA, but I think he's done a poor job of lobbying the state legislature, and looking into ways to make it better. Probably if he spent more time lobbying and looking at future improvements we'd have a worse current system, but sometimes you have to break a few eggs and I think it looks like Calabrezze has been playing it safe. Actually, I give Calabrese points as an outspoken and eloquent lobbiest/advocate for transit, esp as it applies to transit subsidy. He's obviously been a good money manager for the agency during difficult times... My issue with him is his lack of vision and drive for expanding the system, esp rail, to create new markets and maximize the agency's prime asset: rail transit, esp the Red Line.... and in accord with this, he also has not done as much as he can to promote/encourage TOD around rail stations, imho.

Long term, the trams are cheaper than the current buses. Biker has clearly laid out why, in terms of replacement costs... I'd also add, the rising cost of fuel. Also, the trams are cheaper because they can move so many more people with 1 run as opposed to HL buses. And as your claim about pavement, even though I'm no expert, I don't buy it. Laying fixed track in concrete and preventing any auto or truck traffic to ride on them, mean that the rail is lower cost to maintain than the concrete with its constant expansion and contraction cracking due to Cleveland's extremes of heat and cold... ... and as to KJP's comments: it's no longer a matter of debating the smartness (or lack thereof) of the HL, it's done. I don't think it's a waste at all; it's good in many ways. Conversion to tram, which it is set up to do relatively cheaply, can make it BETTER. Given the replacement costs facing HL buses, there should be some way to get this conversion in as an improvement and not a "new start" under the current regs... and if that's not the case, we should be making the case for modifying them.

Where did you get the 7,000, when every estimate I've read has the population between 10,000 and 11,500? (and that doesn't count the 8-9,000 in Ohio City, which is practically a downtown neighborhood)

^That's all the more reason to, at least, start talking about it now; start engaging RTA, now. So that we can gin up interest, and present facts (like the short life span of HL buses viz streetcars; the already-built stations that can serve the rail cars, etc.)... And we must not let Calabrese deep-6 electrical power as he did for the HL buses. Keep in mind, had the buses been electrically powered, not only (I'll bet) would the buses have longer lives (smaller, lighter, quieter, less busy electrical engines vs. the gas-powered, internal combustion engines of the existing buses), the conversion to rail would be much easier with the electric system in place -- not to mention how cool it would be to convert from bus-to-rail, which is the reverse of what happened 60 years ago in this country.