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^for all the worries about how this expansion would turn out (ie, would it seriously clash w/ the 1916 Building?) I'd say it turned out quite nicely... The polishing of a true Cleveland Gem.

Ironically bad for RTA customers... If the Green Line’s that packed, maybe RTA should consider a few 2-car jobbies during rush hour. Hate seeing seniors unnecessarily stand… Oh, btw, for those suburbanites (including my Mom), a few times when rail extensions have been proposed, they've been shot down by NIMBY suburbanites (like Berea when the Red Line extension was proposed)... Sadly, there's often a (foolish) bigoted rationale behind it --- couched in such nicey terms like too much "traffic" and "parking problems". ... Yeah, right!

Yes, I believe the privitization craze was one of the nasty legacies of Brit conservative Maggie Thatcher (or as my ex-girlfriend called her: Maggie Thrasher)... Fortunately the British are coming to their senses and undoing Maggie's mess, where ontime performance, and safety (many rail crashes) have been compromised by ceding control to private companies who are/were pocketing the limited profit... And it didn't work in a small, high-density country that's very rail dependent, inside and outside of its major cities. So imagine the mess here where, even in the older (in some ways Britian-like) Northeast, Americans are much less rail dependent. And then there are state disaster areas when it comes to passenger rail (i.e. Ohio) where, basically, the public barely realizes it exists... What am I saying? Imagine nothing... just look at Amtrak now.

^OK, that makes sense... There'd have been a lot more hoopla had it been a direct rail trip to the zoo.

^Nice article. Didn't know about the Metroparks Zoo option... As with most rail transit forms, CVSR is only going to get more popular with the wacko gas prices we're experiencing.

... or, you could EAT at Yours Truly on beautiful Shaker Square.

Bookstore on West 25th prepares for its final chapter Posted by Michael O'Malley June 20, 2008 21:00PM Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer Luna, the cat, has been a permanent fixture around the West 25th Street bookstore owned by Mike O'Brien. Unlike the longhaired cat that lives among the aging titles in the Bookstore on West 25th, the dusty, cluttered shop near the West Side Market will have only two lives. More at cleveland.com http://blog.cleveland.com/plaindealer/2008/06/bookstore_on_west_25th_prepare.html

Interesting shots... I'm glad the focus was on this, the 'underside' of Detroit-Superior, as opposed to the trendy-upcoming Gordon Square district along Detroit and Battery Park & the newer townhouses along the Lake... Even though, as the photos note, Cleveland touts Lorain as "Antique Row" the fact is, this southern part of D-S is still very seedy and rundown with a lot of shady characters and boarded up storefronts. Aside from the scenic church shown, the rebuild W. 65th Rapid stop and the lonely strip of Eco Village, this D-S section appears still stuck in a downward swirl. The hope of TOD around Rapid stop, aside from EcoV, hasn't materialized at all; don't know how much blame should be on the city or RTA (but that's a TOD discussion).

I'm glad to hear there's still interest in this very important (imho) commuter rail corridor... KJP, of these options, which do you think has the best chance of materializing? While CVSR's route is comparatively poor – it exists, of course, mainly in the Cuyahoga Nat’l Park and thus skirts most high population areas btw Cle-Akron (although Peninsula seems a popular destination which CVSR directly serves), is overwhelmingly single-track cutting capacity potential and rides adjacent to the Cuyahoga river which floods out CVSR tracks rather frequently from what I understand. CVSR still is a working passenger line with (what?) about 90% in service now as a tourist line with rolling stock and maintenance facilities.... Seems like it would make the most sense to start with this one, esp w/ the NIMBY's out there, like those of Silver Lake who killed the last C-A-C plan. CVSR does serve the Independence office park area and would stop at Steelyards Commons and end at Tower City. How far along is the plan to extend CVSR into Tower City?

This is the 1st actual website I've seen on the project as a whole (as opposed to, say, Fairmount's rendering of the one high rise)... I think this information is very specific and should answer a lot of questions... ... except one: what's the status on the potential Eaton building/campus? Won't a decision have to be made soon as construction isn't far off as demo work is nearing completion? Plus, if the WFL rapid loop is to be expanded, that construction must be worked out, too.

igon, while you may mean well, your comments smack of the type of understanding lacking an outsider would have. Your comment that you don't think Shaker would decline to becoming a ghetto, inadvertently play into the hands of dimwits who believe diversity is the 1st step in that direction... As to your comment that Shaker Sq hasn't become the destination envisioned, you likewise seem ill informed. Shaker Square is not designed to be another Coventry Village. While there is diversity in retail and customers, the Square has long sought to be family friendly: a place for kids and seniors, alike. Hence there are no bars or clubs on Shaker Square, haven’t been for decades (if ever), and few of them a block north along Larchmere Blvd... There are some retail vacancies on the Square, but vacancies are a part of the shopping center way of life just so long as they don't become dominant... I was recently in Boca Raton, Florida’s Mizner Park, widely recognized as one the nation's swankiest suburban retail centers in an burb with a comparable national upscale image of Shaker Heights, albeit slightly higher these days ... Even Mizner has vacancies; even more per capita than Shaker Square.

These facts should be a total embarrassment for Ohio; why despite our industry and pioneer technology, we're in many ways a very backwards state... It also shows how disastrous, on this level alone, Bob Taft’s gubernatorial reign was for this State. But of course, Bad Bob didn’t elect himself… Strickland gives me hope.

As a frequent Republican basher, I've got to give GOPer Steve LaTourette is due as one of the hippest elephant on trains and transit. Wish more of his Red brethren would follow his lead.

^OK. Maybe modified versions (comparable to the Tokyu's) would do the trick. You noted, earlier something I had overlooked -- the Red Line's concrete, grade separated industrial (track) crossover just east of the West Blvd. stop that could tie in the two systems. West Shore trains could use the middle/stub track terminal inside Tower City. Dual power trains here would be a win-win with minimal construction work needed as well as the need for West Shore folks to be forced to transfer at West Blvd. for a Red Line ride into downtown Cleveland. If I were All Aboard Ohio this would be my #1 (preferred) alternative for the projected West Shore operation. Oops, sorry about the detour... Back to thread de jour: rail transit in other states.

^those Portland DMU's would sure look sweet on either Cleveland's West Shore or CVSR commuter rail projects. How much more, generally, would it take to dual-power these sets to allow a Red Line connection to the West Shore (probably the most sensible, low cost entrance into dowtown)?

Boston at least had the good sense to order dual power vehicles for its BRT project, the Silver Line. It's diesel along streets and electric underground... Of course, I seriously doubt you'll ever see RTA build any kind of subway line, bus or rail so dual power would be useless here.

... She's the one that eeked out a razor-thin win over vet/ex-Clevelander Paul Hackett a few years ago in that nationally-watched, hotly contested race... If I recall, she earned the "mean" tag the nasty way she ran her campaign which should have been a cake walk for a Republican in that district... Talk about a regrettable election outcome.

Consider, too, that Bush and McCain see eye-to-eye on Amtrak.

That pesky downtown neutron bomb certainly was exploded last Sunday... Embarrassing as a Clevelander.

Well, at least Little Italy is; and usually is. LI Artwalk is always fun... Just wish LI could share some of those folks w/ downtown which, on Sunday, was a total ghost town, which saddens me esp when I travel to other cities... I really wish I knew what it's gonna take to get more people down there more often... Anyway, nice shots.

This proves, mrnyc, that modern elevated rapid-transit structures need not be the ugly Rube Goldberg-ian, light-blocking, hideous structures of yesteryear. Used sparingly, they still keep the "rapid" in rapid transit systems while not destroying the look of the neighborhood they're serving... Nudge to Clevelanders who believe future RTA Rapid extensions should largely be street cars -- and don't forget, PAT's "T" is, in fact, an LRT/subway whose genesis came when planners decided to remove street-clogging trolleys from the streets to speed rail transit through Pittsburgh's CBD, raise its capacity and, all around, effectiveness. It appears the "T" will also be part el, too... Good for Pittsburgh!

No question. Sometimes we the public needs some signal (or UO insider, hehe) who gives us confidence, in fact, these behind-the-scene things are happening... Unfortunately, we're too used to the scenariio that when projects go quiet, they're dead.

^Wow, 6!? I didn't know it was that many... That's as it should be. I know noozer's noted Cleveland's long been 'flyover country' for intercity rail sitting somewhere towards the middle between NYC and Chicago. But like St. Louis, Detroit and Milwaukee, Amtrak (and the State of Ohio) should recognize Greater Cleveland's strength as a Chicago satelite -- but that's more Amtrak/Ohio Hub thread stuff. Suffice it to say: RTA has Amtrak covered in terms of a rail connection, if needed. I agree with zaceman, though, since Amtrak has shifted its departure time, it'd be nice if RTA would shift too to make a better connection with this train.

It's a shame about Amtrak and the WFL. Back around 1999 or 2000, Amtrak scheduled a daytime train through Cleveland to Chicago -- I believe it departed Cleveland around rush hour because when I was working over in the Erieview area, I actually saw a WFL train stop and drop off a number of people at Amtrak. It was hard to believe but, for a hot moment, Cleveland had 4 trains btw here and Chicago every weekday... Alas, Bush began his Amtrak onslaught and we have what we have today -- next to nothing... We can't even ride a direct train to Philly... One more reason to despise Bush and count the days until he vacates the White House. Since that brief Amtrak spurt, the Rapid -- Amtrak interface was actually viable... Now?...

Hey, thanks doctabroccoli... and no, I'm not up for big game "messenger" hunting... ... at least not these days. :evil: