clvlndr

This has got to be one of the best photo threads ever on UO. JiveCity reminds us that cities just aren't buildings, but the people who live and work in them -- and what a diverse group they are in StL... I echo Jeff. Every time I see St. Louis residential threads with all the brick, multi-unit structures, including some very large, my reaction's the same: how in the hell does this city have an UNDER 400K population!? The building sizes and densities are seriously Chicago-like. Maybe St. Louis just has a bunch of poor census takers.

Quite impressive! No, this isn’t my image of Buffalo at all… I'm really hard pressed to think of a Cleveland, in-city nabe that has Elmwood’s seeming level of foot-traffic (even in obviously crappy weather) through most of the day -- other than Little Italy... Buffalo residential architecture seems to echo Cleveland's with a base of frame houses, many on large lots like Elmwood's, accentuated by brownstone walk-up apts and mixed-use commercial walking-district buildings. Like Cleveland, hopefully Buffalo can feed off the obvious strength of this neighborhood.

Ohio Podiatric College beautiful building and a landmark for that corner for generations. CC's allegedly not having any use for it is b.s. While I appreciate the jobs, research and prestige CC gives us, so often it acts like an out of control monster that has contempt for Cleveland.

Way to go, RTA. :clap:

^A few apts on the streets near Windermere are still in tact. But many, if not most, like those on Eddy Road are boarded up or simply gone. Many survivors I'm sure are drug havens-- many, w/in the shadow of the ECPD HQ. EC's biggest enemy? It's always corrupt pols.

Nice job. Forest Hill has been solid for years and hopefully it will remain so. The backs of some of those beautiful houses have fantastic views of downtown and the lake. EC is one of the few burbs that exists both at the top and bottom of the Eastern bluff... Hope someday this old burb can pull itself together. With the (thriving) EC Theatre, the Red Line rapid transit (including the still new-ish Stokes/Windermere terminal with the new daycare center attached), extensive rail freight access, Nela Park, Forest Hills Park rec area and upgrading around its UCircle edges, it has a lot of potential. I wish some of the beautiful old brownstone walkup apt buildings down the hill could be saved.

I'm sure the residents of Fairfax beg to differ. I guess you can consider that area Fairfax although I've tended to think of Fairfax as the intact residential area south of Cedar. But whatever. Fact is, though, much of the area where CC est'd its footprint was abandonned commercial buildings and apts, many of which CC steadily purchased over time. Let's just say, then, CC's area was not the tightly-configured, higher population area like where UH is -- surrounded by Case, Little Italy and the smaller but stable UC res area to the east to Mayfield Rd.

I hear you, peabody. But isn't what you're expressing similar to gripes about the East Bank leading to its recent demise? Now I hear gripes that the Wolstein replacement design is sterile and boring... Not in anyway to diminish your arguments, but I think you're always going to have a fine balance between excitement and fun and rowdy-ism/violence in tight urban environments like the Flats, Ohio City and even the Warehouse District. Some places, like South Beach or New Orleans' French Quarter have long histories and are used to it. But in Cleveland, we're still new to these exciting downtown entertainment districts, and we're still searching for the right balance.

Would it be possible to get one of the No. 25s to serve Shaker Square at night after the Rapid goes to bed?

I'm not crazy about the UH design; similar to my reaction to CC's "campus", but lets be real: they're hospitals. Not the kind of touch-feely institutions that people casually (or want to) interact with. I know Thomas Jefferson, right in the heart of Center City Philly is similar, although it is set close to the curb -- it's tight, Colonial Philly, after all. But even then, Jeff was kind an island unto itself even though Jeff is both a free-standing medical school as well as a hospital. The constant challenge University Circle is how much of the prime residential/commercial land will UH gobble up. It's already gobbled up a lot, with some classic houses and apt complexes that have been torn down in the wake of UH research centers and -- ugh -- UH parking garages. CC has vast areas of waste land to grow on but UH's tight confinement is going to create tension with preservationists and those of us who crave a harmonizing walkable nabe.

Let's face it, Drew's just a journeyman. He has skills but is way too inconsistent. He'll never replace Boozer. It was the throw in guy, Varejao, who accidentally became the gem of the Battie trade, much the way the No. 2 guy in the 2006 draft -- Gibson -- clearly overshadowed our 1st pick, Shannon Brown, who doesn't seem like he'll make it here. I'm predicting THE CAVS WILL WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR. I think LeBron will us to it, and the other guys will step up to the challenge, even Larry.... You can see it in Z, who seems almost gritty in his determination to win it now after his long, difficult yet inspiring career. I think Boobie, Devin and even Damon will step it up, too. I don't think there's any team WE CAN'T beat, including the Spurs, who are showing some signs of age. Remember, although we were swept by them, we only lost by a total of 24 pts w/ most games decided late in the 4th quarter. I'm not afraid of Boston, either. What has any of the Big 3 actually won? The fact they are weapons, together, doesn't totally impress me. Plus, all 3 are in their 30s. We're much younger and, as much as I love KG (he's close to being an MVP... behind LBJ, of course), I just think Pierce and Allen will wimp out when the going gets tough... And Detroit doesn't scare me. We beat them last year. Should'a beat them the year before. Now they're showing some aging signs, too... We're championship tested, now. We've got the greatest player on the planet. And we're hungry... CAVS ALL THE WAY!!

^^Pete, I think your instincts are correct. JoeC, though charming (as I've heard he is) and however knowledgeable he obviously is, I perceive him as viewing the job as more, well, a job with a lot of ceremonial perks. That's not saying he doesn't work hard -- b/c I think he does, he just doesn't share view that some view a transit chief should have, including where he lives viz transit. So it's not surprising to me that he lives in one of the more transit-unfriendly, sprawl-oriented suburban communities like Westlake and uses RTA, personally, while in town and, even then, on a limited basis... I do see JoeC as a strong transit advocate, particularly as relates state and federal funding, and he has worked to upgrade the quality of existing RTA services. I see some important innovative programs under JoeC, like the fare streamlining, eliminating bus/rail duplication and increased emphasis on TOD and, of course, ECP, whatever one may think of it… I’ll give him that. But beyond his official capacity, I just don’t perceive that transit is central to his life. KJP meanwhile lives & breathes railroading and transit and is extremely knowledgeable about it. He's passionate about transit though I'm sure not paid nearly as much (sorry to get personal) as JoeC -- probably working more than often as a volunteer and an advocate, and that’s when he’s not working his “day” job. So, yeah, that KJP chooses to live in a walk-able, transit-friendly neighborhood and is a frequent user – equally not surprising. I could be dead wrong, but that's as I see it from my vantage point.

Great shots... I miss the Hanna Fountains. The Mall seems sterile without them, although I understand the flooding/other problems w/ them in the CC. I miss the old Flats in their heyday where, nightly, the Cuyahoga was thick w/ pleasure boats... those were the days...

Thanks, buckeye1 :wave:

I thought the predecessor firm, Ernst & Ernst, was indeed founded and HQ'd in Cleveland for decades. It was one of the original "Big 8" accounting firms. I'm not totally certain, but I think I'm right; you may want to recheck this... unless you're ONLY talking about it's most recent incarnation as Ernst & Young, which I know less about.

There was planned to be a WFL station there -- where the line levels off and there are elevated side platform areas -- for a planned Great Lakes Aquarium, obviously never built... No doubt such a station would be built for an office tower adjacent.

I don't think the Flats East/RTA WFL loop location is as horrible as people make it sound. Remember, it's going to be on the waterfront surrounded by high-end residential & retail development in a high-density, walkable environment... Maybe Stark should work on luring suburban businesses downtown much like how Detroit lured Compuware from the suburbs to the center of town and a new mixed-use building... ... oh yeah, I guess that would upset Frank's concept of city-suburb cooperation... oh well.

Not to sound like a wet blanket, but remember, this is Ohio we're talking about... It's not a think-outside-the-box kinda place. Moreover, we don't elect presidents (or is it, have them SElected?... oh well, another discussion) for no good reason... for good and bad, we're a microcosm of America... we've phased out the corp franchise tax, except on struggling financial instructions killed by the foreclosure mess... We've got more burden than expected/normal on Medicaid: we're older, poorer and our boomer workforce hasn't been adaptively re-trained adequately... and so on. America. And you really want nightmares? Consider that Ohio’s attitude toward passenger rail is even worse than America's toward Amtrak. Now that's a scary thought. Strickland's certainly progressive enough; wildly liberal for what this state's used to; ditto his Dem (junior) Senate counterpart in D.C. Sherrod Brown. But Ted's dealing with Republicans in the legislature. Hello!... Do you think we're actually ready for a 'radical' solution in THIS state like shifting infrastructure spending to passenger rail when there's so scant little of it existing that any long-term economic curative talk is going to sound like some namby-pamby intangible liberal placebo? This isn't some Dem vs. Republican rant, but merely noting what exists and what's realistic, in THIS state; a state with the current lowest state spending on passenger rail in the already generally conservative (economically) Great Lakes region. Just like with the old high speed rail plan of the 80s; just like with Cincy’s promising regional “starter” light-rail commuter package; just like with Cleveland-area’s planned Cleveland-Akron-Canton commuter plan, -- one Republican pol or town can (and usual will) emerge from the woodwork just in time to derail well thought-out, progressive rail-based proposal/solutions… pun intended. Much easier, in this state, for Voinovich and his contractor buddies through ODOT to, say, add a lane of Turnpike for a couple ten miles to ‘convince’ the public we’re really attacking OPEC and a listing economy…. My hard-earned tax money for passenger trains that ‘I’m not going to use anyway!?’ … are you kidding? … ‘I mean, what the hell is that high-falutin’, liberal M.I.T.-type lingo like inf-er-a-rastructure anyway, Myrtle?’ Fact is, leadership (and by that I mean a steady yet subtle education geared toward a gradual paradigm shift) has got to come from well organized grass roots efforts… like All Aboard Ohio. Look how, slowly, attitudes are slowly shifting along Cleveland’s very conservative West Shore suburbs in embracing the concept of commuter rail… it’s coming from the grass roots, peopled by folks on this board, in an orderly, steady methodical approach. It can happen statewide, just not overnight. And even then, don’t expect Ted publicly embrace it immediately and totally. He sits in the saddle of a stubborn mule where a carrot and stick can make the animal mule, but spurs will only get him thrown to the ground. Maybe ideas like noozer's for using the state's bonding authority for rail infrastructure can fly. But it's going to take a lot of research and education in this not-so-thinking-out-of-the-box state. All Aboard's got to really roll up its collective sleeves. Remember, he got to the Guv’s mansion not because this state suddenly woke up and became enlightened/progressive, but because we had an idiot, crooked Republican gov in a nation fed up with the Iraq war policies of a similarly dim-witted Republican commander-in-chief. Now, I’m taking my wet blanket with me to bed.

I read the article is saying E & W is looking, but not committed to Wolstein; nobody is at this point. The only certainty, if we're to believe Stark, is that Eaton's not going to Pesht as of late last year... ... Stark's shot at East Bank's being "urban sprawl" is interesting, both considering his Crocker Park and given Wolstein's prime office building location directly at a planned new RTA Waterfront Line station inside the WFL's loop.

If it's me you're talking about, the answer is: no.

Nice article about a Cleve institution -- luv the WSM... Now, if we could convince the City to stop those weird, quirky hours/days, and have the joint stay open at least 6 days per week (sans Sunday, perhaps) and be open from 8-9a til 6-7p, then WSM will really be great.

Thanks, CornerCurve.

I know 2-3 years ago, we were driving through the Flats coming from a party at the Powerhouse roughly 1.5 hours after New year's eve midnight. Normally, I don't like to be downtown midnight b/c there are so many drunks, and often violence... When we came to the Waterfront line crossing on Old River road, cops were directing traffic around where an apparent drunken had crashed into/knocked down the crossing gate and signal for the RTA trains... The irony is obvious... maybe, just maybe, the guy (woman) who did this could have been riding the train and avoided this escaping possible injury or even death ... We'll never know for sure... This is but one small example of the many accidents I'm sure happen every NYE around the area. ... point being, Pope, I think it is a very big deal. If this service saves 1 injury or life, it's critical. We know during St. Paddy's day, RTA provides rush hour service, and 2-3 car trains all day for similar purposes because you know, just like NYE, there are more drunks than you can shake a stick at... So for a lousy few thousand bucks, for one night, why shouldn't RTA be running this service?... Esp since it already had been doing so.

^You're right, Pope, Jerry did answer it... I'll bite on the Summer answer (though I may not agree). But the New Year's Eve service, which is only 1 night per year and where the rail service could save lives and help downtown, too, is something that I think needs to be revisited.

Not the issue of New Year's eve service, nor the issue of this being a "service" and not a business.