clvlndr

(note, I know we're drifting from the Ave District thread, but) I was just skimming the Indianapolis photo site -- even THEY have a Borders bookstore of some capacity. Detroit has a small one in it's Compuware mini-mall downtown. All we have (just about) is a cramped Borders Express in Tower City. A sizeable bookstore could do wonders as a people place attracting a more artsy crowd along with book-worms/lovers. Wouldn't at least part of the old Mays be good for this (esp now it's under new ownership)? Isn't the population downtown big enough to support a big bookstore? Wouldn't this help attract some of the downtown naysayers in the burbs?

^I hear ya... Hopefully Avalon Station II will garner enough presales so it may get the go-ahead. Avalon I slated to open very soon. The area btw the condo towers and the back of the (Chagrin Ave) stores is slated to be low-rise townhomes, if I'm not mistaken. Sure would be nice if a mirror-Tudor-style mixed-use apartment/condo could be attached to the Kingsbury @ Lee & Van Aken.

Re: Lee & Van Aken station Dreaming of a new, bright RTA stop Thursday, June 07, 2007 By Marie Catanese The Sun Press ......

(article moved to TOD thread)

^^All right, fine, but I still don't see why this could not be done at night. If it's not done in time, they would not affect rush hour, they'd merely have to stop and string out the project and subject it to fines pursuant to most construction project. Indeed, the very reason why RTA and most rail systems don't operate at night (as RTA, Philly and many others once did) is because of the opportunity to perform maintenance -- mainly routine, but other types of maintenance as needed as well. Second, I don't buy the higher union fees for night work. RTA is a service not a for profit operation. No one is asking them to throw $$ away but, to seriously inconvenience thousands just to save a few union shift bucks simply doesn’t wash. At the very least, there will be trains to and from Tower City from both sides of town, I will give you that. This may not be the best example, but there are plenty where RTA has shut rail service completely when it seemed unnecessary to do so. Calabrese may not make all the ‘track level’ determinations on routing, closures and the like, but it happens under his watch. And don’t tell me the foolish rail determinations – like eliminating Summer late-night weekend trains and all-night New Year's Eve service and running single cars during rush hour or big events, which he’s wont to do (esp on the Shaker lines) do not bear his imprimatur and somehow don’t coincidently fit neatly into his anti-rail posture.

It's unfortunately an attitude to prevalent in Greater Cleveland which I face and hear all the time. We don't want to hear it, but until their is some kind of "wow" project other than sports bars and stadia, it's not going to change anytime soon. You can talk till your blue in the face about the increased entertainment and residential aspects of downtown, but people won't listen to you. And that "wow" project is for Cleveland is significant and high-end retail, period. All people understand is that our last big department store -- Higbees/Dillards-- closed in 2000 and nothing has come close to replacing it, ... and the discussion ends.

^well, Wolstein knows now what he has to do. He said he's willing to move forward regardless the outcome. Now he has a blueprint from the judge... Corrigan has tipped his hand and, frankly, I think his approach is the right one in getting the settlement completed and the project moving forward with all deliberate speed. I think Wolstein should take heed of Corrigan's sage advice.

Exactly!

um, pope, this IS the less busy weekend... the Cavs are out of town until the 12th, the Indians are on the road this weekend, and I'm unclear as to what bearing the repaving of lower Prospect would have on the need to transfer trains when passing through Tower City... The Cavs are having a free watch party at the Q Sunday -- 20,000+ will be there (including me & the boys). The town is in a frenzy over the Cavs so the bars and restaurants downtown will be packed. It's a bad weekend for track repair... But that's not the point. Why is it that Cleveland closes its rail system even during minor repairs unlike any other system I know? Ever heard of single tracking? Answer: Joe Calabrese is a jerk who, once again, shows his contempt for rapid rail and its patrons. He does this again and again and the affect is it drives down confidence in and patronage of the Rapid. Stupid. Stupid.

[note: interesting to see Philly's Delaware Valley Regional Planning Comm. take the lead on this worthwhile project; In Cleveland, rail transit isn't even on NOACA's (aka: NoAction)'s radar screen] Plans to extend subway to Navy Yard get a boostA $100,000 grant will fund a study. Other projects in the area will benefit from federal seed money.[/b] By Paul Nussbaum Inquirer Staff Writer http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_region/20070605_Plans_to_extend_subway_to_Navy_Yard_get_a_boost.html The hopes for a subway line to the Navy Yard got a little closer to reality last week with a $100,000 grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. To nurture dreams like the subway extension, the DVRPC sprinkled $3 million of federal seed money on 43 projects around the region - $2 million for Southeastern Pennsylvania and $1 million for South Jersey.

...maybe, if we're lucky, a large chunk of those cars will remain in the garages of the commuters whose butts will see the seats of the the many buses and trains that blanket the Warehouse Dist area.

Actually, I hate the 2-3-2 format; it really sucks and puts so much pressure on the road team. We can overcome it, but we're going to have to steal one in S.A., losing the 1st 2 a-la the Pistons series won't do, and the Spurs are a tougher brand of fish than our recently vanquished neighbors to the North. I really don't know why, after creating thrilling series w/ the 2-2-1-1-1 format, which helps foster lots of thrilling 6 and 7 game series, the championship series is always 2-3-2. It stinks. And why oh why couldn't at least one weekend game be during daylight hours instead of prime-time for every stinking thing? Television execs... sheesh!

A bit of hyperbole on my part. Fact is, though, rumors were flying about W.65th closing under Calabrese but the EcoCity Group along with green project from some Oberlin College students planned the townhomes in accord w/ the new, green-friendly Rapid station, so it did seem like the townhomes saved the Station. Sadly, though, nothing has been built since, TOD-wise, not even any of the slated retail inside or surrounding the station itself. ... As for W.117th, no, I don't have any specific adaptive reuse ideas for the red factory building although, given it's setback from the street, you'd think some kind of mixed use or condo project a la Chicle just up Berea Rd... W.117 is hemmed in by factories to the south, but there are possibilities that seem to be thrown away. Why surface parking and the bus loop? This is a prime spot for mixed use or res development. Then cattycorner from the station you've got horrible fast foods and a sea of surface parking. Again, development could bridge the station with the excellent, high-density and historic Birdtown nabe to the west of the red factory... Cleveland RTA, like it's CTS predecessor, doesn't seem to understand TOD. The orientation is always toward drivers or comfy bus transfers for commuters distant from stations rather than building up ped commuters like traditional rail systems. RTA and Frank's officials merely travel cross town to what was done at Shaker Square, and what Shaker Heights is doing at both Lee Rd and Warrensville along the Blue line. I mean, have you noticed that, in it's (very slooooow) Red Line station rehab has executed such gems as: moving W. 25 from next to busy West Side Mkt to across the street in order to build a lightly used bus loop that, now forces the bulk of Market shoppers to fend their way across wide and dangerous Lorain Road (if I recall, the cheap and rundown CTS station predecessor at least allowed passengers to come up on both sides of Lorain.; ... and how about those parking spots at urbanized W. 65 where, I'm sure, the overwhelming majority of commuters are peds and large bulk of whom don't even own cars to begin with, some by choice (like the Eco-gentrifyers who like using the Rapid and bus). ... and yes, its very penny-wise/pound foolish not to build an escalator inside W.117. This is a heavily used station and to force riders to walk up and down stairs or use what should be handicapped elevators is simply backwards and foolish in today's era of Metro construction/rehab. Like I said, Cleveland still just doesn't get the transit thing... not yet, anyway.

^Mary Jane Skala is a Cleveland hater; and a lousy journalist to boot. A few years ago, she trashed Shaker Square and a lot of Sun Press readers reacted, to which she retreated to some bogus 'objective journalism' standard. I'm not saying she should be a sunshine blower, but she's way negative toward anything urban. She sounds like a typical Republican, live in the lilly-white, homogeneous burbs type. It's a blot on the Sun Newspapers that this woman would be the major editorial columnist. She's awful. I'm not saying regionalism is the be all, end all, but her arguments against it are so full of holes...

Awesome LeBron; Dan Gibson explodes from nowhere; Z cleans the glass; and every Cav steps up.... it all adds up to 1 thing... CLEVE-LAND BASKET-BALL!!!! :yap: :clap: :-D :evil:

I'm not sold on regionalism "Reflections" By MARY JANE SKALA GO TO 'World War III flickers' column May 31, 2007 Cleveland is dying. Downtown is comatose, businesses are fleeing and people are fleeing Cuyahoga County. Leaders are wringing their hands, wondering what to do. Regionalism, someone says. Ears perk up. Regionalism? Regionalism. You know, where we take an eraser to suburban boundaries and run this area like one big happy family. More at www.sunnews.com

Its only been three years, and i'm still waiting for the cranes. ... only at the behest of the gods of Hessler Court.

May be, I'm not sure. Wouldn't surprise me for, as w/ Forest City, which is developing other cities all around the nation, here in Cleveland it's often more about personalities than about progress.

It appears W. 117-Madison appears to be yet another lost TOD opportunity. RTA is rebuilding another surface parking lot and bus loop -- in other words: more asphalt. The station's immediate area is tricky cause it's half Cleveland half Lakewood. But still, you have the huge old redbrick factory adjacent to the station (sitting btw the Red Line stop and the excellent, high-density Birdtown nabe in Lakewood with it's neat though under-potentialized walking district along Madison). Across W.117 there's the one small strip of bars in an old facade which probably should be maintained. But cattycorner the station we have ugly, low density fastfoods, including a Burger King. It looks like a new gas station is being built up the road behind it (heading toward the lake)... This seems par for the course for Cleveland TOD. And the station, though it has a faux-Colonial look, has a too-small looking headhouse and, incredibly, NO ESCALATOR in what was one of the busiest stations on the Red Line. Why? Typical RTA, always operating on the cheap. As I've said before, TOD is bigger than RTA and must be coordinated with the cities in which they lie. Just as with W. 65, in which the bass-ackwards project seemingly had the EcoCity townhouses were built to save the station -- TOD seems stuck in the mud.

I'm very exhausted... and, of course, VERY HAPPY!!!! :-D :clap:

I thought the issue was a potential unconstitutional taking without just compensation. If that's the case, then even if they when, the holdouts can't just sit there and screw Wolstein for any price they choose or simply hold on to their properties, as you suggest. If what Wolstein's offering now is deemed unfair by Corrigan and too low, then if he subsequently ups the bid -- post court decison -- to a level deemed 'fair' and acceptable, I'd think, theoretically, they'd have to sell or, this time, be the fair game for a justifiable ED action. Per the Norwood case, interpreting the New London US Sup Ct case: the question surrounded whether property owners -- in Norwood's case: blue collar owners in a neat & tidy hood -- having a shopping developer, utilizing the power of city gov ED -- unfairly designating these properties as 'blighted' and, thus, setting these poor folks up for an unconstitutional taking w/o just compensation.

That won't be the case if Forest City successfully lures the Medical Merchandize Mall and the convention center there. It'll also be hard to say a place doesn't matter that has downtown's highest rated hotels and the main Rapid station connected to it, not to mention the Q, the Jake and the highest concentration of connected office space in one complex.

^ I have Connecticut relatives and have always been fascinated with the famed New Haven RR commuter line into Grand Central (which I used when I visited a buddy of mine at Yale)... But isn't it so American that officials would let this line -- one of the oldest and busiest (and electrified) line in the nation deteriorate to the extent that our new 150 MPH (bullet) Acela trains are limited to 75 miles an hour!!??

84% of Metro Detroiters commute to work alone in their cars Andy Henion / The Detroit News Advertisement Get free headlines by e-mail Get text alerts on your cell phone Get The Detroit News on your PDA Charles V. Tines / The Detroit News More than 96,000 bicycles used by commuters to pedal from bus stops to work were put on the racks of buses operated by SMART. See full image How to boost gas mileage Properly inflated tires can save 5 cents a gallon in gas. Replacing a clogged air filter can improve gas mileage by as much as 10 percent. A well-maintained vehicle produces up to 20 percent less volatile organic compounds and 10 percent less nitrogen oxides. Sources: Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, U.S. Department of Energy Getting around MichiVan: http://www.vpsiinc.com/Home/index.asp?OID=27 SEMCOG's rideshare program: http://www.semcog.org/Services/CommuterPrograms/RideShare/ Detroit Department of Transportation (city buses): http://www.detroitmi.gov/ddot/index.html Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (regional buses): http://www.smartbus.org/smart/home Detroit Bikes! (bicycle club): http://www.detroitsynergy.org/projects/detroitbikes Source: Detroit News research Related Articles and Links Metro Detroit commuters go green, swap cars for bikes Gallery: Bike to Work Day draws cyclists to Detroit Printer friendly version Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery Record high gas prices are fueling renewed interest in car-pooling, riding the bus and even bicycling to work, area officials say. But the nearly $3.50-a-gallon burden will have to climb another dollar or two -- and stay there -- before Metro Detroiters make permanent changes to their nation-leading love of driving alone to work, according to some experts. "I don't even know if $4 gas would cause many changes around here," said Walter McManus, analyst with the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute. "I think it would have to be more than $5 for people to consider really changing their behavior." About 84 percent of Metro Detroiters commute alone, highest among the 50 largest urban areas, according to the U.S. Transportation Department. Single-commuter travel has risen steadily over the past 40 years, both in Detroit and nationwide, the agency says. The result: needlessly congested freeways and excessive pollution, activists say. Detroit's smog levels exceed federal standards. But try getting people out of their cars in the Motor City. Often, it takes a jarring event -- such as Teresa Chapman losing her job in Flint four years ago. The Clio resident's employer, the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources, offered her a position 80 miles away at its downtown Detroit headquarters. The 42-year-old secretary said she was ready to quit until she and several coworkers signed up for MichiVan, a federally subsidized ride-share program. "I love my car, but I also love my pocketbook," Chapman said. AAA Michigan announced Monday that gas prices set a record for the second straight week, at a statewide average of $3.27 a gallon, although several stations are now clocking in as high as $3.49. The Energy Information Administration says prices could jump if demand surges, as it often does, in late July and August. Rising prices over the past year have prompted commuters to seek other modes of travel: MichiVan hit a record this spring with 1,486 participants, officials said. Through the 27-year-old program, which operates mostly in southeastern Michigan, groups of seven to 15 take a supplied van to work, with each paying a monthly fee and splitting gas costs. Average daily ridership on the regional buses increased 8 percent last year, to 36,798, according to the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, which caters to commuters. In addition, more than 96,000 bicycles were put on the buses' bike racks last year, surprising some drivers and officials who didn't believe the racks would be widely used when installed in mid-2004, said SMART's Fred Barbret. Many passengers ride their bikes from the last available bus stop to their jobs -- sometimes a mile or more. About 100 people a day, an unusually high number, are registering in SEMCOG's carpool system, which lines up prospective ride-sharers, officials said. About 3,600 commuters are now in the electronic database, according to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. But even with the flurry of activity, officials say it is difficult sustaining commuters' interest -- especially when gas prices go back down. "It's this whole mentality of loving your car," said SEMCOG spokeswoman Sue Stetler. Joseph Schwieterman, a transportation expert at DePaul University in Chicago, said erratic work schedules and family-centered lifestyles have put a damper on carpooling. "Our cars are also becoming like mobile living rooms, with satellite communications and CD players and cell phone gadgetry, which allows us to be more productive on the road," he said. Metro Detroit, he added, has a "good expressway system that crisscrosses the region" and makes it easy to get around by car. It also lacks a commuter rail or subway system, which rules out a potential commuting option. Only 1.4 percent of Metro Detroiters use public transportation to get to work -- one of the lowest figures in the nation, according to the 2005 Census report. You can reach Andy Henion at (313) 222-2610 or ahenion@detnews

Great city (my personal fave); great school; nice shots. IIT/Brownsville is one of the real comeback neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago.. Welcome back to cleve... Photobucket's nice.