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But what good do free trolleys do if you are coming into downtown from Cleveland neighborhoods or the suburbs? In such case if you drive, you're going to pay to park in the downtown core anyway so it makes little sense to park somewhere else, pay to park then ride a slow trolley to FEB when you can just pay and park in FEB directly. Downtown hotel visitors? Sure free trolleys are cool; although if one is paying a big bill to stay in a downtown hotel, I doubt a free trolley will be the cherry on the cake for his or her trip to Cleveland. And besides hotel visitors and downtown residents are a tiny subset of FEBs weekend traffic anyway.

Why not just re-extend service on the Waterfront rail line? Both the rail line and the C-Line trolley go from FEB to Public Square but the Rapid, which is not susceptible to traffic as the Trolleys will be, get there much faster and provide through service to the southeast of Cleveland and the suburbs. This move doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I'll bet you guys are right about squawking absentee landlords. Anybody that knows LI knows that, for the last 2 or 3 decades, some of the most aggressively modernistic residential architecture has been in this tiny neighborhood, in addition to several substantial condo and townhouse projects.

^I'm really glad this project is moving forward, but it strikes me as strange and sad that this small 40-unit building is deemed "controversial" and has elicited such angry comments about as highlighted in the article. Steve Litt notes that the debate over Mayfield Station highlights the "tension over the future" of Little Italy. He also noted that Perotti downsized the project from 45 to 40 units. So what is this debate really about? Size? Height? ... not really, apparently, for it will remain 6 stories.... Or is the real question what kind of people LI residents believe this type of building so close to a rapid transit station will attract?... As uncomfortable as it is to remember, one of the main reasons it took exactly 60 years go get the Little Italy Rapid station logically located to where it is centered on that very question.

^At least the article noted that there was some talk of locating the Outlet Mall south of the Shoreway in the Muny Lot. Much better than putting that beast directly on the Lake.

^Lots of promising projects, especially the retail and residences around the stadium. Although not directly on the lakefront, I'm disappointed the North Coast Transportation Center wasn't even mentioned in this article.

Calling Frank a complete idiot is pretty strong. He's certainly had his missteps, but he's had successes too. His stance on the dirt bike park, as well as the Public Square bus closure, turned people off. But what proof do you have that he defends biker gangs?

I disagree with the (surprising) Kizer naysayers, especially those who say he was a "waste of a pick"... huh!!???? Though he is raw, he has all the tools but, most importantly,he likely has be best coach to get the most out of him as well as an improving line and a very promising TE to play behind. And we didn't reach for him. If after a year he can't beat out Kessler, who is a nice backup but not an NFL starter, something seriously has gone wrong.

Not to Republicans.

Of course I know that. I'm talking about protecting the buildings as historic properties, which is either a local, state of national designation for which a property owner must seek an exemption to either significantly alter or demolish.

KIZER!!

That's when the Landmarks Commission needs to step in.

I would give the Browns a "B" for yesterday as I liked the approach and the picks, generally. That we took a hard line and didn't bite on these untested, somewhat questionable QBs is admirable (I think we got a taste of the new regime's ability to remain calm and unemotional was evidenced in our not going crazy and giving Pryor top WR $$ based on a limited resume despite his quality performance for us -- we ended up replacing him with Kenny Britt who's stats were similar to Tyrelle's) I like Garrett and Njoku a lot and probably will like Peppers, too, but we'll have to see. I think the Bears were desperate and foolish for taking Mitchell T at no. 2 -- waaaay too high. I didn't like our trading out of 12 -- the difference between 12 and 25 is significant and we likely missed out on some guys who can help us now. Getting Houston's first rounder next year is OK -- any first round pick is good -- but the Texans will likely make the playoffs and it will be low... I did like our move to trade back in to the lower 1st round allowing us to grab Njoku at TE who could turn out to be a stud.

I agree and absolutely believe in historic preservation in Cleveland's core along with new construction and growth like nuCLEus. The Record Rendezvous building will require a lot of internal shoring up as it's in very bad shape according to an older article by Michelle IIRC... but it's definitely worth it.

I completely disagree. It absolutely is a viable comparison. Saying that these Canadian cities are somehow different than their south of the Lake(s) and border American counterparts because they are part of some special region -- whatever -- is a convenient way to make excuses for the deleterious political and social behavior in America that views blue collar cities, and the people that inhabit them, as 'throw away' leading to cutesy, disgusting monikers like ( 'Rust Belt.' Much of this attitude is rooted in good old American classism and racism.... Canada is far from perfect and isn't totally free of these maladies either, but they are much weaker there and more robust and pervasive here to the point that they are sowed deep into the American fabric. And as heartening as it is to see the partial comebacks of old industrial cities like Cleveland, Buffalo and Detroit, the fact is these comebacks' foundation are rooted in gentrification: that is they can only comeback if they are built exclusively for the professional classes; mainly whites but also Asians and a few black and Hispanic professionals. Canadian cities have not been afflicted by this mindset and thus don't have to comeback the way so many American cities do. Continuing to ignore this fact; to keep lying to ourselves and excuse-make for America indicates we will never honestly address the problem and the negative effects will perpetuate indefinitely.

Mark Raymond has done an excellent job with the Hostel so I have no doubt he will duplicate this effort in the Hulett. The rendering is mega-cool. It's interesting in the article Raymond notes that a number of his Hostel guests could afford traditional hotels but prefer to stay in OC. Hulett obviously is a step in the right direction for more diverse lodging in OC that can more capture that audience. I wonder why more businesses have not chosen to move to the neighborhood as well. It's desirable on multiple fronts as well as being highly accessible.

Hopped the Red Line over to Little Italy yesterday during the late afternoon warmth and sunshine. Checked out LI and Uptown and, the whole time, I couldn't stop smiling. With the still-new Rapid station, the rebuilt RR walkway -- they actually repainted the CSX bridge! -- Centric (very quickly) rising and all the very-heavy foot traffic to/from Uptown and LI (as well as from the Rapid to/from both), if person was mysteriously transported to this spot they'd swear they were in New York or Chicago. It is tight, dense and electric; great mix of old -- often historic -- and modern... This is our new Shaker Square, although it's pretty traditional to older transit cities like NYC, Boston, Philly or Chicago...This is what Cleveland should aspire to for many of its Rapid stops.

renovation, addition. hotel. Good. Now let's get going with it please, though I'd like to see new, well designed fill-in on the west side of West 25th. This is a very nice and creative project... I'd also like to see some similar development replacing the infamous Market Sq. plaza and the area south near the Red Line Rapid station where, currently, there are parking lots and small warehouses and weedy areas along Gehring Street. You know... TOD.

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RTA posted on twitter and on their website they were doing a track and bridge project: http://www.riderta.com/service-alerts/construction-work I saw the word 'construction' in the heading but I didn't see a specific bridge or track work cited.

^Thanks for the update... Do you know why the Blue and Green Lines were closed this past weekend? I didn't see any reason given by RTA (so what else is new?).

^Biazrre

For example, Puritas-W.150. There's a heavy-rail rapid transit station with direct service to downtown and the airport, just a few miles down the road. There is also a freeway exit. And yet there are a few small hotels-- the Marriott, which is more oriented to I-71 is substantial, but La Quinta's hotel, which across the parking lot from the Puritas station, is tiny and semi-rundown (the La Quinta further away near Great Northern in N.O. is much nicer from what I've heard). There's that modest bank processing building erected in the 70s, and the usual warehouses, an endless sea of asphalt parking and a low-density bungalow neighborhood on the other side of the tracks.... This is wasted TOD opportunity at the W. 150 station which, as we know, was totally rebuilt a few years ago, ... and attractive.

^ ... and we must get buy-in from our pols and leaders.

Despite the positive growth in key neighborhoods like Univ. Circle and Ohio City, Cleveland is still a distressed city economically. TOD could be a way to revitalize swaths of the city... It IS happening in University Circle and FEB. But we need to get moving with other glaring locations/stations like W. 25, W. 65, West Blvd, E. 116, W. 117 and even W. 150 and Brookpark. All but a few of the projects outlined by KJP above are very doable. But it starts with community education and a significant paradigm shift. As far as ridership? Riders will get it eventually; I'm not worried about the lack of riders at, say, FEB, for example -- particularly since that project, attractive as it is, is not fully developed by a long shot. Add to that the continued public negativity toward the Waterfront Line, which is another story entirely... We shouldn't let the fear of a lack of riders deter from developing TOD.