clvlndr

i don't think we'll see a subway on euclid though for a long time, and in the near term, i'd rather see significant rail and bus service improvements to other areas of the city. I'd like improvements in other areas, too (frankly, I don't know what you mean by bus improvements for I don't see any that really will significanty advance RTA over what it is); but if ECP were developed so the BRT could be converted into a subway at some point, I'd be all for it... Fact is, we as a city really blew it in not developing the dual hub subway... I was in Atlanta last week in the Midtown section of the city's North side - adjacent to the Margaret Mitchell residence/museum. Here, thanks to Atlanta's leaders' vision, cooperation and guts in building a full Marta subway up its core corridor, svelte Chicago-style high-rise condos are sprouting up everywhere and midtown is developing a Manhattan/Chicago style walking district -- unheard of, previously, in Atlanta -- and remember, Atlanta's population and overall density was less than Cleveland's when MARTA was conceived and executed -- today, the Capital of the South is reaping the benefits while Cleveland,...? Meanwhile, because we lacked such vision and courage in Cleveland, we have BRT and the ridiculous, suburban-like cul-de-sac development around Euclid-Chester and E. 79th -- this area being similar in distance and historical character to Atlanta's Midtown... We still have subway connections into the Rapid, at Huron-Ontario into Tower City, or under the Detroit-Superior Bridge which could someday connect with light rails rising from a subway, around CSU, following ECP's path and using its stations... Sure urbanlife, under the current RTA administration and (at the moment) lukewarm to anti-rail mentality of the City itself, it doesn't seem attainable. But stranger things have happened and even downtown's office activity is getting stronger by the day... I'll hold out hope that someday, hopefully soon, we can correct the monumental dual-hub failure that led to ECP/BRT, and if current construction can better facilitate a future subway conversion (to rail) of BRT, all the better.

So you prefer the Shoreway remaining yet another in the multitude of faceless, nabe-splitting Cleveland freeways, esp when high density residential development would most likely spin off the shore boulevard? Why?

Great job. My home away from home... everything a User would want in a city: great architecture, culture, total walk-ablity, 24-hour street life in neighborhoods too numerous to count, diversity, density, history, rail transit (everywhere and of every mode-- if you want the ideal American city that actually kept all its transit, this is the place), colleges (this is the REAL college town), location (in the middle of the NE corridor; an hour or so away from everywhere by rail); ... even moderate climate (certainly by Cleveland/Chicago/Buffalo standards)... If only Philly had a better sense of self so it wouldn't trash itself, so, literally and figuratively... ah,... an amazing place.

I'll gladly take 750K sq feet of office -- 1M in retail can only mean he's talking to a major chain/dept store of some kind... he couldn't fill that kind of space, in the Phase 1 bounded area w/ a bunch of small shops and restaurants. It appears in his attending the International Council of Shopping Center's convention, Stark is going shopping for shopping... But this is good. Start smaller and let's see where the market takes Stark. Remember, RE prices are still falling, nationwide. WHD is Cleveland's hottest hood, but it's relative. I just want Stark to get going, and all this activity FINALLY makes me believe that, yes, he really is about move... I haven't heard anything solid about a hotel in the Pesht, yet, but I'd love one to be part of the mix.

Thanks for the info. You guys really have your act together... Organization and aggressiveness and lining up the key players. It seems you have the right strategy... This quote disappointed me somewhat: "The perception is there isn’t enough buy-in across the region for commuter rail, making it difficult to fund a demonstration without federal dollars, let alone find local share dollars for a demonstration." Oh well, bunk the demo, though it was a nice idea... I'm a little put off that this project won't even be looked at until fall 2008, but a realist. Next year is a presidential election year and Bush (& maybe the Republicans in the WH) is/are out. The Republicans will be battling to regain at least a house of Congress and I'm sure, Lorain commuter rail will be looked at as a pork-barrell, home/pet project, no doubt for Kucinich... So realistically, it may be early 2009 when the new presidential admin is seated. Just keep up the good work getting our local act together. Getting CPC on board is a very good move. We need to get Frank on board, too. (is CPC under Frank's control?) Let's see what happens. btw, I doubt very few, if any, Metra engines or bi-level cars will be junked, cause every midsized market looking at a cheap start up wants some... Metra's got to be the most popular transit agency in the country for that reason... Also, what about this Richard Enty -- is this guy cloned? he seems everywhere... Isn't he heading CVSR and their effort to extend into Tower City??? Maybe he's RTA's version of a baseball team's utility player ... Sounds like he has a lot of energy and enthusiasm for all things Cleveland transit -- the type of person RTA needs more of, as opposed to, well, ... you know who...

... Any buzz in Columbus as to momentum for state funding for the Lorain-Cleveland commuter rail demo? Any news whatsoever?

^points well taken, but I think sometimes our developers fall into the messiah complex -- that their home-run project will save the city and, of course, as we see in the Flats, (as you note) these biggie, high-profile projects also draws out the leeches. But then, too, these big projects are risky and in a conservative town like ours, where we're so freeway car oriented, big, high-density, mixed use urban developments, I'm sure, are a very hard sell here, esp in our local economy... I'm sure local banks much prefer those single-use, strip developments in the burbs. Answer: do what Price-Corna (w/ Stonebridge) and MRN (E.4th Street) have done. Start small; one building at a time, then build momentum and excitement-- contact hitters can score runs-- just don't always swing for the fences (homerun hitters are usually the biggest strikeout kings, as well). Both Stonebridge and E. 4th are now the hottest existing downtown projects going... Meanwhile, Stark Pesht and Wolstein Flats are stalled... but things seem to be looking up for both... One must have a great deal of patience in this town; we'll all be rewarded, eventually; it's just not happening overnight.

EXACTLY!!!!

Like I said, I've seen subway construction handled better than this REAL SUBWAYS; and for our trouble we get landscaping and friggin' buses. How can you not know about these old sewers? Some planner's head needs to roll.

I want a win Sat @ NJ. Shoot 'em; put them out of their misery and send a message to Motown!

When I lived in Philly, people often said I was simply from "Ohio". Worse, Philly folks (both in person and in the media) would refer to Cleveland as "out there" ... as in the middle of cornfields which many really did believe the city was surrounded by...

True dat... We must take care of biz, tuesday, for if we don't, all bets are off... But if we win, I'm certain we'd win in 6, maybe 5... hell, maybe even sweep the damn thing. I've got a sneaking suspicion a collision course with those dreaded Pistons is in our future.

^I don't know, MTS, have you ridden on the WFL lately? Have you ever gone down that ramp from Tower City down to the Flats where the driver's jerked people, literally, to their knees (during the few times there're WFL crowds)? I have and I sure don't get that in other cities; at least those old time places where, unlike the DC Metro, drivers actually drive the trains... I do remember after the rash of RTA crashes in the late 70s, early 80s, that a FTA (or whatever the Fed transit agency was at the time) issued a report saying RTA rail drivers were the worst trained anywhere. ... and while I know Cleveland gets unfairly picked on nationally by bogus 'studies', my own personal observation leads me to believe this one had some substance and, I'd be willing to bet, the expensive, train-slowing signal system install, was designed to counter RTA's poor driver training -- or at least the perception, thereof.

When I was a kid in the 70s, RTA always advertised it was a 20 min run to the airport. Then, we went thru a horrible slew of accidents on both heavy and light rail and the decision was made to put the new, high-tech cab signal system on which automatically is supposed to stop and slow trains when they're too close to the one in front... It seems like there's been nothing but trouble from the git-go w/ this system, aside from the fact of its gigantic expense for a system of low/mod ridership... In fact, in the 80s when this system was installed, the PD -- which was notoriously anti-RTA in those days, had banner headlines about how slow the new signal system had made the Rapid... and the Downtown-Airport run crept up to 25 minutes, scheduled. What is it now, 27 minutes? ... wow, that's progress!! My Two Sense is right, the 'improved' signal system seems the main culprit for slowing trains... Add to that the piss poor training of RTA drivers -- ours are the worst I've seen in the nation. How many times have you felt like you were going to lose your lunch because some Rapid driver slams on the brakes, often due to these signals stopping trains (w/ that loud beep-beep-beep from the cab)... I'm no expert, but I know they shouldn't slam the breaks on like that -- our drivers lay hard on the brakes even when coming into stations. So it's an all around problem. RTA must not train its drivers properly cause I've spent many hours on systems in cities NYC, Chicago, among them, that are much more heavily traveled than ours, yet their drivers don't drive in such a clueless manner... About the worst incident was, a few summers ago, when a Shaker LRT Waterfront bound train actually missed the switch and started heading toward the Red Line bridge toward the airport. I was actually scared this woman was going to crash us. Of course slammed on the brakes then called, panicky, until the tower could get her to back us up into Tower City so we could then proceed to the WFL. And if this happened to me who, for years since changing jobs and is a more infrequent rider -- imagine the horror stories w/ the 5-day/week commuters...

Cavs clearly out-muscled NJ. LeBron has a bad cold; we shoot poorly, and still win... Cavs in 6.

^you might be right, MTS... like I said, many want to look simplistically for villains (ie: Mike White killed Progressive downtown) when, really, there are more sides to issue. Seems like someone I spoke w/ years ago also said it was more like United stiffed Hopkins/Cleveland, financially, more so than the popular folklore that Forbes chased out United and damn near killed Hopkins leading to its much weaker state than the 70s & 80s.

^he's probably referring to the 80s battle Council had with United Airlines, I believe, over runway/gate fees -- United finally responded by pulling out of Cleveland. I also believe Cleveland may have been a sub-hub of O'Hare (United's hometown airport), but I'm not certain. Many blame Forbes for leading the fight that resulted in United's loss and subsequent decline in the airport. Whether that's entirely accurate, I tend to doubt (we often too easily search for villains, here) but there's a perception of this.

Glad to hear it. The Galleria is a beautiful, 1st class indoor mall facility in the newest portion of our biz district closest to the lakefront... it deserves success.

^Oh yeah, ... I forgot about the LE monsters. Hockey's not my cup of tea, but you've gotta respect Gilbert's trying to raise interest here and more activity downtown -- Can't hurt the economy.

I was hopeful, but realistic about Gilbert/Quicken. I love the kind of owner he is for the Cavs -- Lord knows, we need a rich, aggressive, young, competent bottom-line guy. The absence of such an owner has been a big reason we haven't won anything since 1964 – I think that w/ LeBron and Gilbert as owner, the drought will end... But I figured he'd consolidate Quicken in downtown Detroit. It's his hometown; it's where he made his billions; where his connections and business relationships are. I'm sure there was some grumbling that he left town to buy and rebuild a nearby, rival NBA team. Owning a rival team is one thing (and it would probably be contentious was it not for the fact the Pistons are a championship club and we’re still trying to get there) But to ask Dan to steal away thousands of jobs from a town more distressed than ours (forget the much touted, Cleveland-leading poverty study), esp from a downtown only beginning to show life – not nearly as strong residentially and entertainment/activity-wise as Cleveland’s -- would make him a turncoat pariah in his hometown... and that would be lot for us to of Gilbert. I’d love Quicken’s HQ here, but I’m content with a elite, financially competitive basketball team as the Cavs are, today, under Gilbert.

^proves my memory was pretty accurate.

I thought there was some UO speculation, a year or so ago, that E. 116 would be modified in tandem with what, originally, was planned at St. Luke's Pointe -- that is, the main hospital building would have been converted into condos with adjoining townhouses facing or close to the RTA station... now that St. Luke's Pointe project is struggling and has been drastically scaled back, I'm not sure that'll happen (or whether it was anything beyond spec to begin w/)... BTW I read last week that those newer 60s Brutalist buildings to the west of the now-empty main St. Luke's hosp building are being torn down and that social services agencies are slated to occupy with the main building with some kind of housing component -- if someone knows more, correct me...

Typical Americans (you're friends, that is). We're a nation that's "not to keen on public transit" which is why our cities are sprawling the way they are compared to those of Europe & Japan... maybe next time you can convince them to ride the Rapid... for Browns games, there is no choice. People from down Columbus way are forced to use the Red Line lest they want to spend hours of aggravation and $$ in traffic... Unless, of course, you're tailgating, in which case time won't be of the essence anyway...

I'm no RE guru (wish I was, b/c I could clean up here), but it appears that simply some projects are more/better funded than others so developers are more apt to build/finish more on spec than hard presales which all of them must have some presale ratio before a spade goes into the ground... RE is funny, reflecting the people who buy & locate there. Speculators since the dawn of time have tried to figure exactly what turns people on or off about property... Fries & Schuele soars while Jay struggles... Stonebridge (w/ it's weird sort of out-of-the-way location) can't put up buildings fast enough to meet demand, while Pinnacle, right in the heart of one of Cleveland's hotest/hippest hoods, is -- by simply eyeballing it at night --is largely vacant. Go figure :wtf:; although I have heard gripes that Pinnacle is considered by some overpriced for this market and may come down a tad (then again, Larchmere Lofts, around the corner from me, is selling 12-1400 sq ft, 2-bed units for over $320K and like F&S and Stonebridge, stay over 95% full -- again, go figure) ... Developers like Heartland, no doubt, subsidize their struggling (presales) props w/ their more successful ones... I know for a fact, Avalon Station was, as of Christmas, had low presales -- about 17 units sold of around 50, yet it is almost finished. And it appears their moving on Phase II across the street. I suspect once Avalon and a few others get on their feet, Heartland will turn attention (including stepped up marketing) to Jay... but as to when, exactly, who knows. Of course their reps are going to project as sunny outlook as possible...

Ouch! ... I too actually liked some of the 50s-60s style old CTS stations, like the one at Univ Circle; even the old Windermere stop, before it became a rat-trap. I guess designers feel all that curving concrete style is dated and now, like W. 117th, they're going pseudo retro, in part attempting to capture the look of RR stations of yore... in some cases, they're not doing such a grand job. All in all, though, I'll take ours over some of the other new ones I've seen in other towns; like Baltimore's outdoor stations (double yuck!!).