clvlndr

This is good news, indeed. But a couple Qs: 1) what's the Kucinich Factor play in all this? 2) What is the possibility to get NS freight traffic reduced (if not relocated entirely) on its line thru Lakewood to facilitate the new commuter service? 3) If it's conventional commuter rail, can service be linked to the proposed thru line east to Aurora? For the Lakewood/West service, I like the idea of NJ/Philly area-type (the new Camden River Line) only if service can be directly routed over Red Line Rapid tracks into Tower City. I think it would go over big in this corridor, esp the more densly populated areas inside Cuyahoga County. If not, then it would have to be conventional, bi-level push-pull diesel equipment, which is also attractive and, these days, downright luxurious in some cities (ie South Florida, MARC and Seattle). I think it's a win-win proposition, either way, and much preferred over BRT (or even light rail) down the middle of Clifton, imho.

UPDATE PLEASE: what's going on with the planned Brookpark Rapid hotel/retail/parking TOD proposal of a few years ago. I know it was held up because of a dispute last year, but I understood it was settled and that construction should begin this year... Well, upon my visual inspection passing through during an airport trip last week, it seems that the crumbling old station and the pre-fab aluminum "temporary" one have not been touched and that nothing is going on. What's the deal?

Nice pics, MayDay. I too was down there as well as over in Ohio City (the Old Angle, where the crowd was more civilized). Rapid trains, both light and heavy rail, were stuffed to the gills. The scene was pretty rowdy, and we saw 2 people barf on the sidewalks, w/ several more passing out. I think Superior turned out to be, well, er, the superior venue for the parade. It is wider and more majestic, it has fewer buildings and those it has, are set back further from the curb (meaning, of course, wider sidewalks than Euclid). And because many of the buildings are classic and institutional types from Dan Burnham's original mall plan, they have fewer windows to break. I just think the parade (which has taken on a life of its own here in Cleveland) can 'breathe' better on Superior. BTW, I'm sure I'm not the only one who longs for the day we can regularly get half the St. Paddy's crowds downtown when there is not a special event.

As usual, a very short, surface-y PD article on a very serious issue. It would be nice if this newspaper had reporters that would bust ass researching and reporting such a critical matter, so the reader/rider can be armed with all the facts.

Add to the fact the superior set up Cleveland has with a) an existing rapid transit system, including a fast airport connection, b) a several direct radial routes into downtown given our former passenger rail/freight prowess, and c) a historical, intricate system of grade separation from streets and other routes that have been built over the last century-plus. We, of course, have a much larger metro population base (by about a million) over Nashville as well as bigger and closer metro cities nearby to take advantage of. There's really no excuse for Cleveland other than pure lethargy and negativity. Also, as you may be aware, ex-Guv/presidential candidate Howard Dean got a 13-mile commuter rail line for tiny Burlington, Vermont. Sadly, though, when the Gov left, his opponents scuttled the nifty little engine that could... so forget Nashville, Burlington reeeallly makes Cleveland look bad.

Balto: In most cases I agree w/ you, 3 blocks is nothing. But here in Cleve, we always hear gripes that our rail only has 1 downtown stop (now a few more w/ the WFL, no matter how inconvenient some say it is). But Cleveland's one is at least in the center (traffic-wise and spiritually, if not geographically), while Balto's light rail really just skirts the edge of the business district. As for your Ann Arbor to Detroit line comment: you've got the wrong guy, dude, I'm 4-square behind this, and think the knuckleheads against it are foolish. I'm just saying you sound like you may be pipe-dreaming in underestimating the extreme resolve (and influence) of the rail-haters that could scuttle even a highly logical project like "airport city." And it goes much further than the old stand-by (and tired) excuse that GM is what's keeping rapid transit/commuter rail from developing in Motown ... particularly the latter, as there used to be both Ann Arbor and Pontiac commuter rail service unitl the early 80s operating from 2 diff Detroit terminals (Michigan Central depot and, I think, from somewhere near RenCen).

Agree in part: Light rail serves downtown to BWI airport pretty good, but the Penn Station section is hampered by slow Howard Street. Also, the LRT really only grazes downtown, whose center, near Charles Center, is over 3 blocks away (as is the Inner Harbor, which isn't really served by the Metro either). Also, the Metro has no real transfer connection to LRT, except thru the block-long, crowded Lexington Market. So if you're in the NW Balto burbs transferring to BWI airport, you must either schlep your bags thru the market to the Howard Street corner LRT stop or brave inclement weather when the market's closed (and Shaker Rapid riders gripe at how "inconvenient" and a "hassle" it is to change trains while making the free, level, short-hop, indoor transfer to the airport Red Line (doth, we Clevelanders gripe way too much). As for the Ann Arbor-Airport-Detroit commuter line: don't celebrate too quick. It's hard to calculate exactly how hardened the auto-crazy crowd's zealotry really is. And it permeates to the public (I love deviously stirring debate among my Detroit friends by making my usual: 'Detroit needs a subway' imbroglio. You'd love to see the furrowed brows at that one. And those among the populace who would like transit are either jaded or too weary to fight for it. Sadly (and amazingly), the same mentality thrives here where we HAVE RAIL. Starting w/ the transit chief on down... It's

I just dream that this whole mess would disappear. Why this city, with all the vexing problems of boosting it's existing inner city with high-density comercial/housing properties, TOD's and the like, is wasting time, energy and money over another stupid inner-city freeway is beyond me... and that many transit folks are supporting it... ... so, so Cleveland!

Excellent stuff, noozer. My comments are these: DETROIT: it's ashamed such a backwards mentality permeates in Motown viz transit. Fact is, people would go for an "airport city" concept in the busy corridor. Proof is in the pudding: Detroit's 3 round-trip Amtrak runs to Chicago are increasing in popularity (jam packed on the weekends, ... and on time!). Sadly, those 3 daytime round-trips are much, much better than those wee-hours, usually late 2 runs we've got here from Cleveland. BALTIMORE: It's only partly right to compare Light Rail's woes to Cleveland's Red Line in it's cheap construction. At least the Red Line was designed by the Vans as a rapid transit from way back. Plus, location is really the lesser of Balto's problems. The bigger problem w/ it's Light Rail is operationally -- it's too damn slow!! The track doubling will reduce a lot of it, but it still runs at a snails pace down Howard Street into downtown/Camden Yards, battling cars and untimed, slow traffic lights... It's a fact: for over 4 blocks, I LITERALLY out-walked a Light Rail train-- and it was moving, too, not stopped for passengers!!

Nice. Literary Av housing echoes Chicago's high-density "flat" construction.

While I agree Campus Martius isn't a DuPont Circle, I disagree that it's "newness" is what's sparking its popularity. I think you have to look at what this new square has done for it's downtown. Detroit's downtown is much less a pedestrian/people-oriented place than Cleveland's. So that it's drawing people out of their beloved cars to outdoor concerts and an ordinarily mundane Au Bon Pain in a place like Detroit is noteworthy. I think you have to look on it's habit changing aspects, and to that end, it's been significant for Detroit. Mind you, I do think Public Square's lousy in many ways, it has the natural advantage over a Campus Martius b/c PS is the hub and major transfer point for rail and bus -- so it's automatically a ped-oriented public space. Not so in Detroit which a) has no rail and is more car-oriented than us and, b) has a major bus terminal elsewhere downtown. Also, while it may seem corny to some, I think it's well done, particularly the French-like gravel walk ways in addition to the public stage. Sadly, we've bowed (as usual) to the mighty auto in our clinging to Public Square's archaic design. We can't bear the thought of not letting thru traffic on either Superior or Ontario when, really, Superior (long ago) should have been buried in a DuPont Circle-like duck-under ramp and Ontario should be terminated on both sides and forced into a run about: thus creating the solid, grassy parkland we all believe the Square should revert to. But we simply lack the will to change it for the better. ... Once again, the almighty ODOT rules all!!!!

While I'm not in favor KJP's proposal, I understand it. His goals of TOD are nobler than those who proposed this project which, all along, is intended to be a freeway no matter what euphemistic, cutsie names people intend to call it... KJP's goal of TOD development is at odds w/ ODOT's and it's backers and if it evolves into a TOD "opportunity corridor", the powers that be, and their backers, mainly West Siders who want to shave a few minutes off their commute to U. Circle while avoiding "the inner city" will lose interest. Count on it.

I no longer work downtown, daily, but when I do use RTA, I take the Rapid. Very rarely the bus. I take the Rapid, mainly, from Shaker Sq into Tower City, mostly, for retail, social meetings, sports, etc. I also connect to the airport frequently. When it's warm, I use it to connect to the Red Line for Ohio City (I love O. City on a warm Saturday morning/afternoon during the summer, esp with the weekly "Open air Market fairs). I'm also one of those rare birds who actually uses the Waterfront Line occasionally for other than sports Browns trips. I'll use it for Flat's west bank trips, occasionally (Settlers Landing, across the Center St. Bridge to the Powerhouse or Scene Mag stage concerts). Sometimes to various N. Coast Harbor locations (even meeting a friend at Erieview/Galleria area where I used to work). Since I don't ride every day, I no longer get my weekly pass. I get $3.00 all day passes all the time. Very cheap and convenient. But as I've said many times-- echoing others -- the Red Line off peak/on board fare paying system positively stinks, is slow. I'm embarrassed as a Clevelander hearing the (justified) derisive comments of air visitors to/from Hopkins upon witnessing that Podunk-ish crap. It seems RTA could do some limited off-peak proof of payment scheme by hiring half the amount of cops KPJ speaks of. They already use those vending machines at a lot of stations. Even w/o proof of payment, they also use some automatic card-reader turnstiles anyway. Having them at Tower City has greatly reduced the amount of personnel needed there, even during heavy periods. Why not invest in some more of those at outer stations w/, say, some restrictive features for off peak. They could hire a small cadre of security cops to float thru the system patrolling stations and checking fares (at times). They could also trouble shoot the equipment, at times. At the newer stations that have such readers -- I think West Blvd/98th is one, the RTA "fare collector" usually just sits behind his bulletproof glass reading the paper while passengers self-serve their way into the system anyway. So what's the big whoop? I don't think RTA's seriously exploring the possibilities. It's got to be better than this... ... at least, as of late, I've noticed RTA's gotten a tad better: they are sometimes opening all doors on 2 car Red Line trains during off peak. They simply wait for all the boarding passengers to line up to pay then open all doors to let out departing passengers after a few seconds... As I said, a tad better. But not enough. Btw, I think the idea of a riders’ coalition (to address such issues as fare payment), is a good one.

Renaissance? How so? It's great we're cleaning up city neighborhoods; putting in housing, etc. But what about corporations and jobs? Detroit still has the big 3; maybe not all downtown; maybe with a lot of jobs overseas, but still HQ'd in the Det metro area. What about Cleveland? Which big city lost more corp HQ's and jobs in the last 20 years? ... hint, that would be a certain city in N.E. Ohio. Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather live here than Motown. But as much as people like DaninDC can poo-poo such things as Super Bowls as superficial -- and, to a degree, I don't disagree -- I just get the sense that Cleveland is, well, invisible. Detroit may be getting a lot of the negative pub Dan talks about, but to a degree, you might want to iterate the old line: 'good or bad ... just spell my name right.' I was just in Detroit last week, and whole swaths have been brought to life in and around downtown in prep for this one stupid game. Silly as it may seem, we live in a superficial society. If there's not a buzz about your town, you're forgotten. And in my travels, I just hear no buzz about Cleveland -- other than an old tired river on fire joke (from a moron, no doubt). And NOBODY on this board can doubt our PR/chamber of commerce folks (the Growth Ass'n'?) does a piss poor job in promoting the assets of this area ... ... and they are considerable. It's funny that after Peter B. gave a $150B to alma mater Princeton while slamming Cleveland, essentially saying this town (esp U.Circle) is not getting his serious money cause "leaders" don't have their collective act together, I didn't hear a lot of comment about that here or elsewhere in town. Being happy with one's hometown is one thing (and I stick up for and promote this town everywhere I go), but recognizing inertia is quite another.

I can't disagree with the comments, here. But I still think building Browns stadium where it is, in addition to not being domed, was stupid.

Below, the Sunday PD has an article that's been on my mind. Some of us Clevelanders (I've been guilty, too) have a kind of smug attitude toward Detroit: we've got a better downtown and city hoods w/ more life, housing and development, better public transit, culture, arts (generally, save their Art Institute, which has more holdings than our fine Art museum -- but even there, they have NOTHING compared to our University Circle), big time hospitals, nothing close to a U like Case Western Res., etc... Yeah, we feel that way, but Detroit seems to get more positive national spotlight than us while, of course, they get more of the negative. Detroit wins championships and hosts Super Bowls (and soon NCAA championships) -- because they were smart enough to build a domed stadium, while we talk this "tradition" crap and foolishly dump $350 for a dated open-air, football only building (on prime lakefront RE, to boot!) while the smarter cities: Detroit, St. Louis, Indy, realize they are cold weather cities which need multi-purpose buildings rather than an single-use bowl. Sure, Chicago did what we did viz Soldier Field ... BUT THEY'RE CHICAGO, and we're not. Unlike Detroit we don’t host Super Bowls and we, obviously, don’t win championships. Also, for all it’s troubles, Detroit seems to have more of an urban identity than we do. They’re Motown (music and cars), tough and hard-nosed. They’ve actually taken the crime thing and made it a perverse pride symbol. Sick as that may seem, what does one think about when they say: Cleveland? In the below PD article, as usual we have the Cleveland double-talk (from HOK and uber-atty Fred Nance, the hero who saved DFAS, btw) explaining why we didn't, why we can't ... have a domed stadium. Typical Cleveland. For the record, I don't buy the (PD article) stuff about Detroit having the hotels support an S. Bowl while we don't. In particularly, I don't think Detroit has a significant amount of downtown hotel rooms (if any) over us, allowing the S. Bowl to them and negating it, for us. They’ve got one big downtown hotel, the Marriott Renaissance Center, and a few small ones; my guess is if you add up all of ours downtown, we win --- have you been to downtown Detroit lately? I have… Yes, we know they still have the big automakers and, hence, are more relevant nationally (and more visited, business-wise; meaning they actually have a REAL international airport vs. our Podunk, desolate Hopkins – plus concomitant airport area hotels) than us... but I sense it's more than that. So as we're about to close a week's worth of positive national publicity (and big bucks) focused on our troubled neighbors to the North, are you feeling, like me, that once again we're the loser, also-rans who, as usual, think that we're a lot better than the rest of the world thinks we are? http://www.cleveland.com/browns/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1139132131133720.xml&coll=2&thispage=1

KJP, I would answer you by this, having worked daily downtown in recent years (I’m not now): First, when we had a much greater working force downtown, esp concentrated along lower Euclid near Public Square, rail ridership was much higher (compare numbers from the early years of RTA through the mid-80s compared to now). Secondly, (following the 1st) I don't think you can simply point to a "downtown" work force, as you do, when many of these jobs may be at the fringes of downtown -- percentage-wise, I'm sure -- far away from our main rail hub. While central downtown is languishing employment-wise (I casually walk back ‘n forth across lower Euclid, these days, at mid day while scarcely glancing for cars – it certainly wasn’t that way 15-20 years ago), Upper Euclid, at CSU and the St. Vincent Quad appears to have grown. Those employees out there are not likely to take rail or transit, at all – so you can’t just say “downtown” as if everybody worked right outside Tower City. Traffic is less concentrated at these fringes, like the Quad, and surface parking -- some of it free, is more plentiful -- it's almost semi-suburban around the Quad/CCC parking/traffic-wise. Third, in this town for some reason, more than most, people will willingly take the Rapid to special events, like Browns, Indians, Cavs, fireworks or the Youth Olympics, than they do when commuting to work downtown. When I worked in Erieview, I used to stand at the North Coast station and watch North Point workers stream through the elevated walkway -- ironically, over the WL Rapid tracks -- into the large garage and their cars, while I stood at a mostly empty platform. And I know many of these people (I worked with them) worked within walking or short drive distance from one of the rail lines – riding the WL would be a snap – esp back when RTA ran trains every 15 mins. Why is this? But these same folks will trundle themselves and their kids downtown on weekends to one of the aforementioned "big events" … on the Rapid... again, Why? Fourth -- part of why (which I think tends to negate your counter-argument) is that all 3 of our pro-sports venues are DIRECTLY AT rail stations, which was great TOD planning by us (yes, the WL went to the Browns Stadium site which was preexisting for 60+ years – but Gateway was a brilliant creation, location-wise). Add to this the fact that pro games and big events tend to begin and end at fixed times (whereas rush-hour is staggered over several hours – esp with more modern flex-schedules -- and has moved up considerably as workaday downtown has become much more blue than white collar as later jobs have either opted for the burbs or left the region or state). So with the highly-concentrated sports events, directly at downtown railheads and beginning/ending at fixed times, I believe that RTA moves more people in and out on rails at short headways for these events (lets say a Browns game, which is the biggest regular "special" event) than, at say, 5p on an avgs weekday out of Tower City. And then, of course, with the much thinner Public Square/lower Euclid weekday population, you're going to get more people to drive because it's easier. I think that, here in America where public transit is still viewed, generally, as a negative (and esp in this town), people are most motivated to use it out of fear -- the fear of idling in smog-filled traffic jams. It is in those places where it is used the most. And we all know that we've become rather infamous (famous in some quarters), nationally, for our light, light, light rush hours. And even when you are on the property search -- something I do quite often -- you'll see realtors advertise properties near to the Rapid (at least hear on the East Side) as being: a) convenient for the airport, or b) convenient for Browns Stadium or the Jake... ... If I'm wrong, how come the main rail yard at E. 55 has a good 3rd of Shaker cars (and at least that many Red Line cars) sitting idle during rush hour, while it's empty of Shaker cars (and closer to empty of Red Line cars), during Browns games? There’s no question that TOD development around stations where people would be more New York-like (using transit for more casual, non-employment trips) would greatly boost rail ridership. I would bet you that the Red Line boost we’re currently seeing is for just that type of riding. But the bread-and-butter of any normal rail system neighborhood/burb-to-downtown rush hour commuting. Our downtown is practically dead business-wise, whereas downtown St. Louis, Atlanta and Baltimore (to name 3 similar-sized rail towns) is thriving. It makes the big difference.

Dan, as long as downtown continues to suck, rail ridership cannot grow significantly. No transit can thrive where big sporting events ridership dwarf your rush hour traffic.

I'm pretty sure that 8 cars is the max length for CTA trains on all L lines

Nice to see Cleveland in a positive leadership position for a change. This info should be presented to our "leaders" to push for more Red Line TODs.

I love Andy's 24/7 energy, but his shot is ugly, ugly, ugly -- no way they can count on him to make up for Hughes' points. Brown really needs to lean on Damon Jones who's "slump" is really getting irritating. Kudos to Drew and Z for stepping up lately, but Damon's whining that we big, bad Cavs' fans at the Q are hurting his feelings booing (boo-hoo!/@ 4 years, $16M!!! -- I'd shed some public tears for that contract). We just went down to lowly Portland and are going to be w/o Drew for a few games due to injury. We're oh-and-3 on this Western swing and could end up 0-6. Ouch!

... oh, and btw, those old SEPTA regional rail cars are known to sometimes conk out and even have their electrical units catch on fire. Just recently a new (2-year old) order for new cars was cancelled because SEPTA fumbled the bidding process causing SEPTA to lose a lawsuit whereby a low-bid, RFP respondent that lost out to a higher-bidding, inexperienced bidder sued. Now SEPTA must re-bid the whole package. Typical Philly, a town that lurches from scandal to scandal.

Absolutely, Dan. Planning is what it's all about. As for sports stadia, I do think Cleveland's Gateway is a rare modern TOD. As for D.C.'s Metro usage: I'm not surprised at all (after all, you noted earlier that Metro moves more people than huge Chicago's CTA). It goes hand-in-hand with good planning. From the beginning, metropolitan D.C. bought in to Metro as the future of D.C. Cleveland thumbs it's nose at its train system. And, surprisingly, so does Philly -- you'd be surprised at how many Philadelphians despise SEPTA on all levels. And SEPTA does very little to make its huge, highly-Balkanized rail system attractive. Regional Rail runs with cars, the newest (about 5-10 years old) are pulled by engines only on a few rush hour routes; the "newest" self-propelled electricts were built in the early 70s while THE oldest ones (about, I'd guess, 1/3rd of all cars) were built either in the late 50s or early 60s (and still have long-defunct "Pennsylvania, RR" on them). Stations are run down and dirty, trains, perpetually late and the transit personnel are unusually surly (even by RTA standards!! -- course, maybe that's just a Philly "addytood" thing). BTW, the new/old Philly stadia complex in the South Philly no-mans land of warehouses and factories was chosen SOLELY for its convenience to freeways (esp the ones across the Walt Whitman Br into South Jersey), and NOT the Broad St subway that terminates on the edge of the stadium campus.

My point wasn't so much to compare the 2 systems -- you're right, of course, Philly's dwarf ts Cleveland's and is much older -- my point was to note that older systems (Cleveland's would qualify as "older" viz, say, BART, D.C. Metro, MARTA, etc.) is that they all have issues regarding the challenge to build TOD's near them. I sense the general feel in cities with older systems is these old dogs won't generate new development; that only modern rail (like METRO) will spur modern development. It's akin to thinking re soil erosion -- once the rails been in place for X period of years, it can spur new growth -- which, of course, ignores the possibility of (neighborhood) adaptive reuse. Surprisingly, for a system of its size and complexity, Philly's SEPTA has seen only spot new TOD growth near its rail lines (i.e. Conshohoken, downtown Norristown, among them) while there's been significant sprawl away from the huge network, ie: King of Prussia, Valley Forge/Rte 422 corridor, Cherry Hill (and much of S. Jersey where most office/housing devel is away from the PATCO rail line). Yes, Philly's system has size and natural advantages over ours. But it's instructive to note even a great transit city is wrestling with issues of sprawl, TOD and smart growth.

The thought is not bad, but I just don't know about mixing/mingling w/ the PA and RTA boards -- officials from both have motives that, frankly, I can't say I trust. Moreover, I think in your scenario, the City should have more than one board seat out of 5. The city has the highest dependency and, I'm sure, ridership. I know in Philly the burbs have such a powerful advantage over the city in terms of board seat power, and city officials & residents resent that the burbs have such a relatively small ridership % base. I do think encouraging T.O.D.'s is important and I do think RTA should get involved. I don't know the operating funding viz sales revenues, but I'll trust your figures as you seem to know the inside of things RTA. Like I said, the idea's nice but the devil's in the details. THE REAL Q IS WHO/WHAT ENTITY SHOULD REALLY GET BEHIND TOD DEVELOPMENT? WHO HAS THE BIGGEST STAKE transit? central city? close-in burbs? etc... That asked, the scary thing about your scenario is that the elephant in the room nobody is talking about is that your proposal seems a defensive measure to ‘save’ both RTA and the city. Not faulting you, but it seems so much in America is always premised by Reaction to threats (war, financial insolvency, total in-competency of our youth, math/science-wise viz the rest of the industrialized world, etc) rather than proactively seeking competent courses of action. I mean, it took on OPEC oil embargo to stop our fat-‘n’sloppy Detroiters from building auto-boats, now, even with the obvious instability of the Middle East we STILL are squirming for our lack of development of alternative fuel sources, lack of alternative transportation systems (vs air and roads – can you say AMTRAK?) and our, still, inability to build cars that won’t fall apart before warranty. Do you think Americans buy Japanese cars (from the folks who bombed Pearl Harbor 65 years ago) because they hate America? Or do you think it may have something to do with the fact they want a car that, er, works? This from the, self-proclaimed, greatest industrial/technological Mecca on the earth. This from the country that, allegedly, has a “love affair” with the auto – funny, we just haven’t gotten around to perfecting the damn thing we supposedly have a love affair with, ain’t it? Oh, and yes, the very folks (G.M., et al., who pump that old tired slogan, and who still fight mass transit, are the very ones who continually get left behind by the Saabs, Toyotas, Nissans and BMW’s of the world – funny how that works, isn’t it? And don’t look now, GM’s teetering on bankruptcy and total collapse, and yet Detroit can only sit back and blame UAW for the recent contract negotiated where the union, among other things, fought to hold on to such benefits as health care that isn’t co-paid out employees asses (as, after all, this greatest Mecca on earth can find it’s way to have universal health care – which would save small businesses as well as the poor and unemployed, or a prescription drug program for our seniors so they won’t have to run to Canada to just afford decent drugs). The solution for some Wall Street types: let ‘em die; best to write the chaff off the books, right? Health care’s a privilege not an entitlement, right? So what does all this have to do with transit and TOD and your proposal? … in my book, everything, cause it speaks to our total reactionary approach to everything… IF THERE AIN’T A CRISIS, WHY DO IT, … right? Remember that electric car we proposed in the 60s? Well, the Japanese are building them more and better than we are. And didn’t the idea of airbags come up in the 60s? Yep, but guys like Lee Iacocca sat on it cause it cost an extra few thousand bucks per car, until so many car lives were lost because too many folks hated seatbelts, he couldn’t keep it bottled up anymore so, shazzam!, here are front and side airbags some 4 decades after they were proposed – and, yep, they are (since the late 90s), mandatory! … that is, by federal law? … but back to TOD’s… It's interesting that Cleveland is far from the only old line rail transit city that's thumbed it's nose at TOD. Of all places, Philly has, too -- at least in the modern era. Quite obviously, many of Philly's outer city area and burbs were built by rail -- i.e. the famed Main Line and Chestnut Hill, to name a few, were literally laid out by Pensy RR execs... But many gripe that, in the modern era, it seems Philly's emulating Houston more than D.C. w/ it's extensive Metrorail T.O.D. development since that system bowed in the mid 70s. I travel to Philly quite a bit on biz, and last fall I heard a commercial for T.O.D. sponsored by PATCO, the bi-state port authority that runs such facilities as the Ben Franklin Br and, most importantly, the 14-mile Hi-Speed, heavy rapid-rail line into South Jersey, built in 1969. They literally, in the commercial, gave a quickie tutorial in what TOD's are and how they promote urban "smart growth". Bottom line to this long-winded response is: somehow the Greater Cleveland political power structure -- be it RTA, the City of Cleve, the PA, the burbs (individually or separately), must buy into TOD as stakeholders,-- obviously, that ain't happening, to date. And yet, TOD's (and at least, the talk of them) are popping all of a sudden (w/in the last 5 years or so) at different spots along the rail line: W. 65 (though, aside from the nice row of EcoCity townhomes, this area has a long ways to go), the Brookpark hotel/garage planned devel slated for this year to start; Wolstein's E. Bank, St. Luke's Pointe at E.116, Avalon Station along the Blue line, Windermere, and, of course, Tower City, itself -- surely you'd consider the new-ish Stokes Fed CHouse and Gateway areas TOD wouldn't you? I mean, Ron Tober helped sell officials/the public on Gateway with the promise of the underground, temp-controlled walkway directly to Gund Arena's basement, didn't he? In short, not a bad idea, but as I said, the entities' leaders, in question, are imho too questionable as to their motives for me to buy into this idea --- at least, for now.