clvlndr

^I agree with most of the above comments citing RTA's poor planning for St. Paddy's Day. The Saturday bus schedule, particularly eliminating the #55s along Clifton was inexcusable... This ON TOP OF the fact that Jerry Masek noted on this board, earlier, that Red Line capacity was limited because RTA hadn't completed repairs on the Brook Park signal/train control tower that was struck by lightening late last summer. I'm not sure what this limited capacity meant, although Jerry noted the limitation on using more 3-car trains.... But a Saturday schedule on a warm St. Paddy's day that, weeks before, planners were predicting record crowds made no sense.. ... As for the close-in West Side stations, RTA could have short-turned empty trains at, say, W. 117 to scoop up the masses at the close-in stations... Then, they could have run filled up outer trains express from Puritas or W. Park -- I know North Side CTA (Red Line) trains do this during big downtown Chicago events -- even some big Cubs games... Maybe RTA couldn't because of the signal tower damage.. Then again, RTA was running unusual 3-car Shaker trains, including over ATC (auto train control) sections west of E. 79th street (so, you ask, why were they limited in running only 2-car Red Line trains to/from Stokes-Windermere? ... hmmm.) ... Also, I can't understand why RTA wasn't running every in-bound Blue/Green trains out to the Waterfront Line to alllow boarding at WFL stations to avoid the crush at Tower City --> they could have run full WFL trains through Tower City eastbound w/o stopping. Even given the (weak, Saturday schedule) every 15 min intervals on the Blue-Green trunk-line (every 30 mins on the 2 branches), this would have been much better than the crush at Tower City that existed...

^In 2 words: a mess... and a potential tragedy. Would love to see title somehow transferred from Maloof, et. al to someone who has the juice to finance saving this important historical structure, but as long as shareholder suit + the mechanic's lien is in place, I just don't see it. And anyone who indicates the Stanley isn't savable is obviously not being honest.

RTA's a critical component of St. Paddy's day, and we had a major disconnnect: News media, wisely, advised people to use the rails but, at times, RTA apparently lacked the capacity. ... In fairness, Jerry Masek warned that the rail system capacity was still limited because it hasn't completed repairs caused by the lightening strike to its Brook Park train-control signal tower late last summer.

For the most part, people were not as rowdy as in the past although there were 21 arrest. I think the warm weather may have calmed people down. However, one woman, surrounded by cops, was sitting on the curb by and bleeding badly from the head (don't know what happened). An EMS unit cut through the crowds and got to her. Fortunately she was sitting up and seemed OK, just out of it..

^Can't wait. The B&N will be awesome. We haven't had a mega bookstore like this in downtown or a trendy area of town since Joseph-Beth bolted Shaker Square in 2004 or 5. Constantino's will be great. I hope some of he restaurants/bars on the east pavilion will be open soon, although I realize development is considerably behind the west side's.

You're singin' my tune. ... I've been saying this since last year when I experienced scary/dangerous situations at Tower City (this year, we went late, after the parade to the parties, and came home after the peak crowds had thinned), so even though it we had about 15/20 mins longer rides, overall, it wasn't that bad ... But on a crazy transit day when everybody (all local news channels) were promoting using the Rapid, why center all the crowds at Tower City when you have a Waterfront Line with stations only a few blocks away from the Superior Ave parade route? --W. 3rd, ...E. 9th/North Coast? I know RTA is hard wired about how much of a failure the Waterfront Line is so they don't like using it, but to not use it on always uber-crowded St. Paddy's Day to relieve Tower City crowding and potential passenger injury is just hard-headed and silly.

^MTS, if you're coming from Shaker Square, I agree with you, the #48 (infrequent though it has become) is a direct shot and relatively quick. But if you're coming from someone's home in Eastern Shaker, which I was, it's quicker to take the Green Line train to E. 55 then transfer to the Red Line to U. Circle -- esp. the Uptown area, and doubly esp. when the new Mayfield statoin is built.

On yesterday's goregeous day off, I decided to Rapid over to Univ. Circle to check out the Uptown development, grab a Starbucks and sit and read a book by the Art Museum lagoon. -- and Yes MTS, I took a Green Line train to E. 55 and transferred to a Red Line/Stokes-Windermere train to E. 120 -- it's not so crazy; we don't need a special track/train to shunt inbound Shaker trains out to Windermere (note, in Chicago in-bound Blue Line riders from Bucktown (Damen) ride into the Loop and Transfer to northbound Red Line trainst to places like Rush Street or Wrigglyville even though it's no more out-of-the way that what I did yesterday)-- it appears that others are similarly making this transfer to Univ. Circle, as well. The spanking-new, easy-to-use E. 55 station makes this quick transfer/route easy to use. ONE PROBLEM... In the short time to kill waiting for the eastbound Red Line train (which time will be shorter once RTA increases Red Line frequency from every 20 to 15 mins), I checked out the new station and noted that it was FILTHY ALREADY... in particular, the stairs up to street level. C'mon RTA, this station is 6-months old and, already, the signs of early deterioration is present. Please (Jerry, JetDog, somebody) pass along a word to RTA to maintain its facilities so they don't become unpleasant to passengers and cause RTA to get some special (federal) grant to rebuild because of deterioration. I'd hate to see this lovely E. 55 station to go the way of the West Blvd stop, which looks 40/50 years old even though it's just over a decade old in reality.

I like Aaron Goldhammer. He's young, smart, fresh and a non-Clevelander-- the last he uses to needle locals, and I love it. We're so parochial sometimes, and Hammer addresses the audience with such titles as "Browns Fan" or "Cavs Fan" to collectively stick it in our faces. He mixes things up and that's a good thing. And I'm glad he's gradually breaking free/coming out of the shadow of Tony Rizzo, who is all the things negative, to me anyway: old, tired, stick-in-the mud, politically conservative (he often mocks Hammer with the old: "You Liberals..." rant),West Side suburbanite (Strongsville), homer. I also like the fact Hammer's a city guy living-wise (downtown, Tremont) and actually/usually frequents the East Side for his entertainment: while old tired farst like Greg Brinda and Rizzo BRAG at how the East Side is like a foreign country to them (and notice how the bulk of their remotes are on the West Side, usually in burbs like Westlake, Medina, etc.).

^^Good for Pittsburgh. I'll have to detour and check the NS Connector out on my next driving trip back East.

What makes you so sure about that? Why wouldn't gamblers want to use the Rapid IF schedules were convenient (ie, trains don't stop at around midnight every night as they do now). This is esp. true given Cleveland's harsh winters and that the Rapid provides an indoor connection.

I hear you. The Cavs are the freshest of the local sports teams (followed somewhat by the Indians), and yet these stations (both KNR and 92.3), shove talk about the woeful Browns down our throat 24/7 (it seems like). I'm forced to listen to WTAM to get any semblance of Cavs talk since they carry the doggone team -- the station's generally a waste, though; Andre Knott is the only bright light there imho (to hell with right-wing Bob Frantz). I know this is Browns town, but I also know that are a lot of people who follow and want to talk about the Cavs -- they're a damn good story, plucky, promising and upbeat, after they (and us) were kicked in the teeth by you-know-who.... Heck, they're hardly even talking March Madness while still boring us with Browns draft. I've largely tuned out of local sports talk -- at least until after the NFL draft; I listen to NPR (WCPN) for my talk radio fix these days.

Mike Trivisonno's a dim-witted, misogynistic bigot... other than that, he's cool.

I hate to see him go, but I don't see how we can keep Sessions, who no doubt wants to start somewhere and who can opt for free agency at season's end -- leaving the Cavs with zilch-o in exchange. The PD this morning did report that Sessions wants to stay, but that could just be good PR by Sessions/his agent.

I didn't even bother watching that game because I didn't want to see a bloodbath. But I went channel surfing at one point and saw the score was close at halftime. So I watched the second half and I was glad I did! I totally forgot to watch tonight's game at home against Houston. I wished I had -- a 118-107 win! Where did we find that offense?? Or the three wins in a row, all against teams with winning records!! 2 things I think. 1. Byron has settled on a lineup at crunch time that can score: Irving, Jamison, Sessions & Gee -- sometimes with Gibson; sometimes with Thompson at the 5. 2. Byron's been really pushing the bigs to get aggressive. If you don't play hard, you don't play (Exhibit A: Semeh Erden). He's lit a fire on Hollins and Samuels, and they've responded. The other thing is we've stepped up our D bigtime. We hit rock bottom losing to the lowly Wizards last weekend. We've been on an upward trend. Hopefully it'll last.... and of course, Kyrie has become lethal in crunch time. They haven't nicknamed him the closer for nothing.

92.3 (the Fan) is much better than WKNR, which has really gotten tired recently. Baskin & Phelps is my fave show (Phelps gives you a strong Cavs angle which is relief from the year-round Browns draft talk that drives me friggin' nuts in this Town!!), and I like Ken Silverstein and Joe Lull. Much less shouting, more intelligence and diverse sports talk. Plus, listening to clearer FM is much more preferable.

^btw, I've heard it on good authority that Sam McNulty does, in fact, live near convenient mass transit (which includes a nearby Rapid station).

^Not sure about that. IIRC though, council stripped Norton's power as police commissioner which left him a paltry salary of around $37K, which is absurd. Just goes to show you that, although Norton shows promise (finally) for progressive change in moribund EC, there are a lot of dinosaurs still in charge there... I'm not sure how, if, this issue was resolved. Neverthelss, the UCI/EC partnership that led to Circle East is most promising as well as the prospects for other EC projects in the Euclid corridor.

^Yes. Ecovillage was built with so much promise and fanfare as a model TOD. There were plans for an office/condo tower, a grocery store, a post office and other retail built at the new Rapid station. None was built and Ecovillage remains as an island in a portion of Detroit Shoreway that is still pretty rough around the edges. The good news is that the rougher elements of the area (drugs, prostitution, etc.) seems to be diminishing and more professionals are pushing toward south along W. 65th, but it hasn't reached the Ecovillage area... yet. Waverly station will be a major step.

This is really nice to see. This is a substantial development, which will complement the 4-5 unit townhomes dotting Bridge Ave. that were built a decade or so ago... It is pulling quality living south of Gordon Sq. to, hopefully, balance the impressive Battery Park development (and spin-offs) to the north. It's also interesting that while multi-unit RE new starts are struggling downtown post 2008, they are chugging along in the neighborhoods (ie Tremont, esp, and UC, and Battery Pk, among others).

I beg to differ. The fact he campaigned on killing 3-C and, then, did it doesn't give him a bye. Fact is, he distorted reality and glossed over the fact that, in killing 3-C, he cost thousands of jobs (and potential jobs due to spin-off businesses, TOD and otherwise, resulting from the trains. Included was a signed contract to build the trains right here in Ohio -- this in one of the hardest hit states unemployment-wise --- that's representing the people's interests? ... SB5's repudiation is also evidence he's not serving the people... Then what about his stupidly relaxing Strickland's laws to limit ownership of exotic pets that led to the Zanesville disaster, threating thousands of humans and resulting in the killing of over 50 animals by cops... Then, most recently, he tried to refuse Fed. Disaster aid for relief from the recent tornado tragedy just to spite Obama... Yeah, he reversed himself, but how much hardship did those poor souls injured and homeless suffer (you know every minute counts) becouse our doofus governor wants to play politics... and let's not get into the upteen pro gun initiatives that Kasich has backed to allow guns in bars (yeah, oodles of accidental deaths in crowded bars just waiting to happen), and on campus. They say that even a broken clock is right twice in a day. With John Kasich, I doubt even that analogy works... ... Scott Walker's a jackass, but he's a piker compared to Kasich -- no doubt the biggest disaster in the gov's chair in Ohio history, and he's less than 1/2 through his term.

true. I never showed a percentage gain, just current numbers (though I did include the Holiday Inn Express though some say is no longer taking reservations as it will be rebranded) and known future numbers. The Crowne Plaza numbers were never included in the "Current" list cause its already closed. Even so, I'm very excited about the Westin brand coming to Cleveland... I think the renderings of the redesign of the building, esp the fact it'll have large windows, is promising... With Westin, Kimpton, Aloft and (perhaps) Le Meridian ... to go along with the hold on the Ritz, Marriott (several properties) and Hyatt, downtown is charging into the high-end market.

NOTE: was actually looking for the "car free" link. Nevertheless, this is tangentially related... Man's no doubt a freaking 36-year-old multi-millionaire and chooses this lifestyle...I already respect Sam McNulty; even more so, now... Cleveland-area chefs stay slim despite being surrounded by food Published: Saturday, March 03, 2012, 6:00 AM By John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer Follow 10 . . . Sam McNulty Market Garden Brewery and Bier Markt/Bar Cento Height-weight: 6-2, 165 Diet: Avoids processed food. Drinks wheat grass juice and "mega juices" made out of various vegetables. Drinks 5-6 beers a day. Exercise: Doesn't own a car, which adds up to a lot of walking and bike riding. Lifts weights, runs and does yoga. . . . He also doesn't have a car, which makes a world of difference. "Have you ever been to London or Paris or New York?" asks McNulty. "There aren't many overweight people. Why? Because they're always walking." http://www.cleveland.com/dining/index.ssf/2012/03/cleveland-area_chefs_stay_slim.html

^The Westin is not really a net gain (or at least, not much of one) b/c it's taking over the closed Crowne Plaza building.

You're right Htsguy, Coral didn't follow through on these initiatives. But IIRC (I could be wrong), Coral bought Shaker Sq. from Adam Fishman and his group (Centre Point?) a few years after Fishman had bought and upgraded the Square. It was Fishman who had unrealistic goals for the Square, trying to make it compete with Beachwood Place and Legacy. And within a few years the Square lost new, key tenants Fishman brought in: Wild Oats market and Joseph-Beth Booksellers, which rented nearly the entire NE quadrant and, ironically, abandoned Shaker Square to consolidate in Legacy Village. I'll give Coral credit for a more realistic approach to what an TOD urban oasis like Shaker Sq should be -- the Square is in a very good place right now under Coral with a small vacancy rate on the Square itself and with a thriving Dave's Market (in Wild Oats) as well as a number of busy moderate and high-end restaurants in each quadrant. Coral recently relocated from Cedar Center to Shaker Square. Yes, the Cedar Center debacle is cause for concern, but I'll give Coral credit for righting a failing Shaker Square ship that was handed to them by Fishman even in spite of Coral's condo promises which, in fairness, may have had a lot to do with the Stock Mkt Crash/RE collapse of 2008 more than anything. So I'm trusting that UCI took all this into consideration before choosing Coral as joint developer for Intesa.