clvlndr

FROM RTA'S (PRESS RELEASE) WEBSITE TODAY: W. 117th ST. STATION: The Board awarded a $4.7 million contract to Ohio Diversified Service of Cleveland for construction of a new Red Line Rapid Transit Station at W. 117th St. at Madison Ave., on the Cleveland-Lakewood border. The firm’s bid was 8 percent lower than the engineer’s estimate. A groundbreaking ceremony has tentatively been set for Oct. 11. The station will remain open during the 24-month construction period. The station building will be reconstructed, and renovations will be made to the passenger tunnel, bus loop and parking lot. The original station is one of RTA’s oldest, and dates to the early 1950s. The new station will be ADA compliant, and its design is expected to be a catalyst for further neighborhood development. Federal funds will pay for 80 percent of the work.

Jane will win by default because her opponents have brought no juice and she's got the bully pulpit. I'm not thrilled, but resigned myself to 4 more years of her. She's absolutely lacking in fostering creative business strategies and development. The schools are a mess, and yet another levy was clobbered while there was modest improvement -- if you want to look at graduation rates/test scores under Barbara Byrd-Bennett -- but now SHE's gone – run out of town, in part, by the hateful local media. Yes, it's true, some of Jane's long-term projects -- ie, the Lakefront, are seeing some daylight, but they are far from fruition. And yes, her people (I forget her point-woman responsible for getting Wolstein's E. Bank green-lighted), but she does have a few good people; Chris Ronayne as Chief of Staff may shake some things up. But she botched, badly, relations w/ Police and Fire -- I think the way the layoffs were handled were much too heavy handed; could have been dealt w/ more effectively... And I think she's waved around/championed little piddling projects as big successes while not focusing on the big stuff -- a few that come to mind: the skate park @ the R&RH of F, sidewalk widening on the Vet Bridge, the Red light cameras; adopt a trashcan; changing Hopkins’ name (and while we’re at it, why isn’t she pushing for more serious upgrades at our totally lacking/small airport – the runway expansion/fight w/ Brook Part, now settled after we won-lost-settled, has taken way too long), etc -- it smacks of one who's in over their head. Then there's backwards stuff she's lent a big, messy backing to, like Steelyards, which I really despise (where, again, lacking experience and finesse, she foolishly angered union people and neighborhood grocers). And My2sense, let's not get carried away w/ her alleged housing success. Housing initiatives in the neighborhoods were started w/ a trickle under Voinovich, and became a flood under White; I don't attribute much of this to her, even though there are a few (and I do mean, few) she's gotten behind. But the aggressive nature of neighborhood building is largely the end result of a number of aggressive developers, Marous, Price-Corna, and others, who really came to power under White's admin, and neighborhoods that are really flourishing -- Ohio City (which is bleeding into Det-Shoreway), WHD, Gateway, Larchemere, really came into their own under White (although, Larchemere was coming on in the late stages of Voinovich's run)... Yes, Mike handed Jane some really screwy books (hey, w/ Nate Gray about to sing the bag man/influence peddling blues on Mike, I guess we can, in part, see why), but this constant refrain that Jane's been cursed w/ the BIG BAD ECONOMY has never flown w/ me -- in part, if it's so bad, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT -- get off your, well, she's a lady, so I won't be crass, ... Yeah, we've taken some business hits, but it's not like all the other big metro areas are stagnant like us (look at Cincy and Columbus; their econs are churning; the dread isn't hanging over their heads)... And hey, Chicago, which just swiped our OfficeMax (after stealing away, in the 90s, our biggest priced possession, BP/Sohio), is a Rust Belt/cold whether city like us. I don't buy that "Well, they're Chicago, and their different" crap, because THEY have pols out there working their arses off keep them on top. ... and yet WE are the ones who need someone w/ experience out their swinging, and yet, we've got an inexperienced, and often, indifferent, rookie at the controls -- exactly what we DIDN'T NEED. And, fair or unfair, I just have the sinking feeling that OfficeMax, if handled w/ a little foresight, at the time their were 1st taken over by the Boise, ID outfit, could still be here in Shaker (which, being in Shaker in itself, does take much of the blame off Jane, but still, as was seen by the last minute tax relieve deal she pitched w/ Judy Rawson of Shaker, Jane still holds the biggest financial stick to make things happen)… Jane is a bright lady and has a really sharp, well-connected husband, in top-flight former City Planning Dir. Hunter Morrison... It is w/ these plusses going in, I really had high hopes for her administration and have, for the most part, been bitterly disappointed. ... but, I'm going to hold my nose and vote for her (unless one's a total stiff, I never believe in not voting) -- what's the alternative? I'm not impressed w/ any of her opponents although, at 1st, Frank Jackson gave me hope; but he's either too broke or just another tired insider pol (and in Cleveland that's bad) w/ little, really, to offer. The other guys? While they say nice things, are simply too unknown/inexperienced to really take seriously imho. So I'll cross my fingers that the training wheels that are still on Jane's administration will keep her upright and, maybe, come off and we can start going somewhere -- ******** BTW, --- Cleveland88, welcome. But right off the bat I, like wimwar, certainly don't buy your "throwing money" at the schools attack on Jane. Starving them to seek success makes no sense to me... That, plus your let’s cut and cut and cut taxes to lure business argument, sounds like a bunch of sycophant, right-wing claptrap taken directly from the Republican talking points playbook, to me... But again, welcome; I'm sure we'll have some spirited political debates.

I hope you guys are right and that CH Plaza is simply in "remission." I wonder, though, how closely they're watching 515 Euclid. If that tower jumps off, you'd think CH Plaza, w/ all its pluses -- next to red hot WHD, near Wolstein's new E. Bank Dev., sitting on new Rapid station developed solely for CH Plaze (which would directly connect w/ Wolstein's), could attract CH new backing to pull it from mothballs to reality. Wishful thinking? Yeah, maybe...

It's a nice touch that Case kept/blended in that small group of turn-of-the (20th) Century apartments-turned-dorms along E.116thadjacent to the Mi Pueblo Mexican restaurant. I think the project looks great... Next, hopefully Heritage I’s mid/high rise apts can fill out the empty, seedy area from Ford Rd to E. 115th along Euclid (across from the Triangle), w/ badly needed expanded retail/restaurant/bookstore/cinema, etc... to finally pump up the sorely lagging non-institutional side of U. Circle.

CMH Downtown -- fair enough. But it's not finger pointing to note that Statewide cooperation is lacking in Ohio that could benefit all the cities. And we'd all, Cleveland too, could do more to lower the fiefdom mentality hampers such cooperation while the individual metro areas take the lead in addressing their own unique business problems... In that sense, I stand by what I said.

for CMH Downtown: Hold on, Hoss. Before you make a total jackass of yourself, consider (and read the post), I in no way blamed Columbus for our loss. If you read my posts, both here and elsewhere, I’ve been the biggest attacker of local officials here – our mayor, Jane Campbell, our transit chief, Joe Calabrese – for not progressively enhancing our transit infrastructure, NOACA for similarly it’s lack of balanced, smart transit/transportation planning, our CVB, … all of them. Where were you when I posted, just 2 days ago, (see the transportation board) that Cleveland’s rinky-dink airport, Hopkins, has contributed to Cleveland’s poor business climate? Or when I’ve attacked the mayor for not being proactive in attempting to ATTRACT business; forming a realistic plan as opposed to into an 11th hour huddle with Shaker’s mayor for a join tax-sharing package when it was already game, set and match with OfficeMax. Is that blaming Columbus? :? And your comments about centering a business strategy on the strength of our medical prowess – we have the best medical research complex in the country, bar none (our #2 med research center, University Hosp, would be #1 in most big cities in America – like, say, our twice-as-big neighbor Detroit). I’ve said hundreds of times, Jane and others (including Tubbs-Jones and Kucinich), have not pushed hard enough to attract spin-off medical corporate research complexes – like Pfizer’s amazing complex in tiny Ann Arbor. Is that blaming Columbus? :wtf: Now, mentioning there is a lack of true statewide cooperation is a fact, just as it is that Columbus is no cheerleader for Cleveland, economic-wise, and is more a rival that an friend. Was it lost on you that the State of Illinois actively recruits businesses for the state, particularly Chicago, and created a multimillion dollar fund to attract business like OfficeMax. Is there such an initiative out of our state capital with state cooperation among our big cities? I think not. To act like there’s no upstate/downstate (unhealthy) rivalry in the state is to completely have your head in the sand. So consider, CMH Downtown, before you go off in attack mode, first stop, think and consider exactly who you’re attacking.

I would add Tower City to your list. Even though it is struggling somewhat, and even though one could argue the Van Sweringens built the super structure 75 years ago, we finally seriously moved to finishing that dream in the late 80s, even though the railroads were gone (ironically, the railroads were weakening even when Terminal Tower/Uniion Station opened in 1930). TC was great when it was built, but it's even greater today, and is one of the nation's and world's mixed/multi use TOD developments. Gateway, thanks to great transit planning, is actually a far-flung piece of Tower City. But like most things here, as great as TC is, we know it could be even greater, and that we've lost, and are losing, opportunities to, for example, expand it toward the river front. And as nice as the Stokes Courthouse is in adding even more high density to the area, I sure would like to see some kind of residental towers built nearby/attached to it.

They say a "hundreds" of jobs, which isn't a city killer. But it is a serious kick in our pride. We've suffered so many losses and few (if any victories) corporate-wise recently. Plus OfficeMax is a high-profile, national company. And OfficeMax was a homegrown company (like Standard Oil was, of course), right there in it's Shaker Hts HQ. We really need to come together as a city/metro area an assess what we are doing/not doing to create this horrible atmosphere we have toward business. It's not enough to simply keep leaning on the "its a bad economy" excuse, because other regional cities are either thriving (Chicago) or doing fine (Cincinnati). Unlike other large cities that dominate the state, we can forget any assistance from the Statehouse. Unlike the friendly downstate posters on this board, legislators and others downstate hate our guts and are probably chuckling about the OfficeMax move -- there's a real unhealthy rivalry in this state and it stinks. So we Clevealnders really need to look w/in ourselves and pressure our leaders, who I think leave A LOT TO BE DESIRED. :whip: This nonsense has got to stop.

Don't forget the new Italian restaurant inside the County Engineer's building -- Ponte Vecchio (?). We stopped there for drinks 'n appetizers several months ago (during the colder months). It was small but very nice w/ a nice weekday night crowd and great Flat's views. It's pricey, though. There was an outdoor plaza which I'm sure they're using, now.

You're dead on... I'd really like to see one of those sexy/slender highrises in Cleveland... And while we're at it, for once, I wish this one, of our few highrises, would incorporate balconies. Not only do balconies add to the visual playfulness (if you will) of a tall building, it makes the suites much more fun/livable. I'll never live in a high-rise again (and I've lived in a few in other towns) without a balcony.

I tend to side more w/ MayDay on this one -- I love the concept - parking garages w/ ground-level retail, even w/o the above residences, can work very well in tight/high-traffic areas like 515 Euclid; we need look no further than around the corner to the very-well done Fat Fish Blue development built from the old Goodyear Tire store. But I'm greatly disappointed in what I'm seeing @ 515. It looks cheesy. Most garage-over-retail projects in other cities (Philly's highly successful, recent block-long garage over Maggiano’s restaurant & other shops/stores @ 11th/12th & Filbert comes immediately to mind), go out of their way to mask that the garage is, in fact, a garage -- w/ contemporary post-modern architecture preferences they're usually blended in so well they look like just another office building. ... but not this thing. You can see right through those cheap-looking Plexiglas (?) shields right to the usu, ugly stacked-block parking ramp structure. And the use of the Plexiglas at street level looks really cheap and will look all the worse compared to its neighbors, most notably, the classy/handsome adaptive-reuse at the Arcade/Hyatt with its handsome Vivo restaurant & al fresco seating. I just don’t see how individualized uses can be made w/ this construction (like awnings, multi-colored glass, neon, etc.) Like I said, in concept, 515 is great tonic for this particular area, esp if the condo tower is built, so I really want to like it for this reason, alone... but so far, I'm not diggin' what I'm seeing.

At least there's someone on brain food down in Summit aside from the Akron Metro folks. These Bath-yayhoos sound as from the same ilk as the folks who blocked/killed the initial/sensible NS, C-A-C commuter rail proposal a few years ago. I could be wrong, but killing Cleve-Akron Metro bus service would seemingly put a serious crimp into ever getting C-A-C commuter rail -- CVSR or otherwise... so for now, I say, 3 cheers for Judge Judy Hunter!! :-D

OK, surprise, I'll toss Joe C. a rare rose: the $3 all day pass along w/ eliminating cumbersome transfers was the smartest fare innovation I've seen on virtually any transit system, let alone Cleveland's. The next step, though, is going barrier free, Euro/proof of purchase (or Smartcard), so that rail drivers (and bus drivers, perhaps on heavy lines, too) can stop having to put their vehicles in park to count coins... It's such a doggone waste.

Well, at least it shows the people have a modicum of good sense even though RTA and local officials are necessarily helping them that much.

My apologies, really guys, cause I know I come off sounding like a 1-note attack dog against Joe C. Maybe he's really a nice guy, privately, ... maybe... But my point is, it doesn’t matter what kind of guy he may be as, say, a neighbor or a brother-in-law, he’s hurting/or at least reluctant to really improve (maybe the same difference) rail transit here. we really need to get Mad!! Whether it Joe C., Bush in D.C., Dennis the K (see, even though I'm a liberal Dem, I'm not beholden to any pol who craps on Cleveland transit-wise, as Dennis has, like (Democrat) Al Porter (Darth Vader, himself) did... ... We've got a good transit system (that we clearly aren't getting the most out of, TOD, etc, -wise) which could even be better. But we've been jobbed by so many guys in power, and it particularly galls me that, as I see it, our transit chief is in bed w/ those who are clearly ANTI-transit... ... and, yes, though he may not have been perfect, Ron Tober, who bolted Cleveland (in frustration and for more $$$$) for Charlotte, was a transit hero here. Even though frustrated by the petty pols and the like, he fought and fought and was able to move this giant, reluctant elephant to get some things done -- like Gateway, w/ his strong advocacy of a rail transit connection for the Jake & Gund. Like the really smart, economical Community Circulator buses; Like late-night weekend Rapid Service and all night New Year's Eve service (which Joe C couldn't wait to deep 6) and, yes, like the Waterfront Line, itself, our 1st rail extension since the Airport line in the 60s. He recognized, as do I, that, while the Waterfront Line isn't perfect and we really should fight (at that time) for the Dual Hub subway/rail line, the WL was an opportunity for Cleveland that couldn't be passed up (which so many before him certainly would have) and, therefore, w/ a partnership w/ Mike White and the Bicentennial Commission, saw it through... ... Charlotte clearly saw Tober as a true transit visionary, and snapped him up from us -- so now we're stuck w/ go-along-to-get-along, business as usu Joe C.... ... it's enough to make you MAD. I am... You should be TOO... ... thanks for letting me rant... once more.

I think KJP's proposal to extend one of the Shaker lines under the Detroit-Superior Br (then out the Shoreway via a connection) is intriguing. I never considered it, but it could work as the Rapid Transit’s Cuyahoga viaduct passes close by the Det-Sup Br and it's lower subway deck. Obviously, it would be great to have light rail trains feed directly into Tower City’s transit hub so that expensive downtown terminal-building could be circumvented entirely. And, yes, I'd prefer the N-S line be used for such an extension. The corridor is so lightly used (and as noted, can have much traffic diverted/converted to nighttime customer shuttles), trolley wire can simply be strung over the existing right-of-way track... It's doable, but we'd have to overcome the Kucinich/Calabrese 1-2 punch!

Let's face it, it'll be a cold day in you-know-where when RTA chief Joe Calabrese supports any rail expansion. I've seen enough of his actions (weakening RTA's existing rail w/ poor service), read his negative/hedging comments and know what town he lives in to understand this... Joe C’s view towards rail transit can best be summed up by: :shoot: :shoot: :shoot: :shoot: Now, before you hit me with: “[w]here does the man live have to do with it?" broadside, I'll simply answer: a whole lot. Especially when you’re the transit chief of a major mixed (bus/rail) transit system of a core town that's struggling w/ economic issues and trying to build up its urban center, … and you live in a suburb that epitomizes the worst in urban development: sprawl, single use development w/ lots of cul-de-sacs (and puullleeez don’t give me that faux Main Street Crock-er Park – which Calabrese, not so surprisingly held up as a great TOD model), distance from the urban core (far for Cuyahoga County, ... if it wasn't for the embarrassment he'd face for paying taxes to another county's transit system, I'm sure he'd be in Medina or beyond), and loaded w/ a bunch of think-a-like upper crust types who are either indifferent to Cleveland, esp downtown, or down right contemptuous of it. About the only new rail we could possibly get is the CVSR extension into downtown, perhaps offering some modicum of commuter service to Valley View, Akron, Canton, etc... but THAT project is being fueled by Akron Metro w/ some (very mild) cheerleading from Jane Campbell's people. Calabrese, I'm sure, is just, er, ... along for the ride... So transit fans, expect more and more BRT talk from Joe C …, and please, please don't hold your breath waiting for a rail transit alternative from Big Joe ... for if you do, sadly, I'll have to come attend your funeral.

I think BRT is a waste of time, energy and money accept on, perhaps, lighter trafficked corridors which, obviously, Clifton is not. It's really a pacifier for rail transit enthusiast tossed from the Detroit (rubber tires, concrete, oil) lobby... I'm also an East Sider who thinks Clifton's one of the region's most attractive streets and would hate to see it uglied-up w/ a Euclid-style BRT construction. The most logical alternative is not rail on Clifton, but some kind of use of the parallel NS rail corridor a few blocks to the south. I for one don't think Kucinich and his 5/6 year-old "deal" should continue to scare the beejeebers out of us into thinking rail can never happen here, especially w/ a new, empty commuter terminal just sitting in Lorain awaiting trains!! As KJP and others have noted in the past, this corridor can have freight traffic stepped down to night service for the reduced customers given the parallel main Chicago route several miles to the south. I'll hold out hope.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with you guys. I still don't want the so-called UCAB, or whatever, under any circumstances and see no value to it... but in response to a couple of you--- --- KJP's rationale for cleaning up EPA Superfund cites is the only one I'm on board w/, to a degree. I just wish there were other means to this end. -- Forgotten Red Line in the trench? I don't think it need be and I don't think building a limited access road next to it will help... Look at the West Side Red Line... it is becoming more successful because some local leaders, in part pushed by EcoCity Cleveland (and KJP), have finally started pushing TODs. The Red Line lies in a similar, though somewhat narrower, trench on the West Side, too, but TOD's and not a parallel freeway, are not deemed the fruits of Red Line rebirth. Derilect factory buildings are either being razed or adaptively re-used as multi-unit housing (like what’s happening @ W. Blvd/Cudell). If anything, the Red Line has been hampered by I-90 west, which destroyed many old Detroit-Superior homes and cut the neighborhood in 2 (aside from competing against and sucking potential commuters from the Red Line when, to me, I's 71, 480 plus Shoreway west could have satisfied commuter needs -- but I'm not a West Sider... -- The Chicago Precedent – Chi-town’s a much denser/bigger city than ours so building a rail line in most any corridor there is almost guaranteed to be a success. The 3 well-documented frwy median els you cite were either relocations or extensions of existing ancient L lines (w/ the Dan Ryan essentially being an express extension of the parallel/nearby 1892-built Jackson Park/Englewood line)... Putting rapid rail in freeways can deal w/ where-to-put-the-rail-line? space issues, particularly in a crowded city like Chicago which is really under-freeway-ed for its size. But as a general rule, freeways and rapid rail create/attract diametrically opposed development types: rapid rail: dense/walkable; freeways: disperse, non-walkable w/ substantial parking lot needs pushing buildings further from the transit stops – and in most cases, the freeway-inspired development trumps high-density TOD causing any new development to lower density and pushed away from transit stops. At Chicago freeway-L stops in freeway trenches (which is most of them), commuters must walk across busy parallel marginal roads—the situation being all the more difficult if the transit stop is also at a freeway interchange… So since Cleveland is not Chicago and since the Red Line already exists and is not being relocated or (unfortunately) extended, I think the median strip/parallel highway Chicago-type analogy falls short. Right now, the rebuilding E. 105 Red Line station is attracting (if we can get it built) one of the 1st high density developments in the Fairfax/UC area outside of hospitals: the proposed Juvenile Justice Ctr on Quincy... I don't know why more of this type of TOD isn't being suggested which has nothing to do w/ UCAB... A number of years ago, there was talk of relocating the very-lightly used E. 79th Red Line stop (which is both in a low density area and a hop/skip/jump down the street from the Blue/Green line elevated stop) to the Buckey-Woodland-E.89th intersection... that busy corner, while dead and dilapidated currently, has much potential given that it's a heavy traffic corridor and much closer to Fairfax populations where there has, already, been some neighborhood rehab... why did this proposal die... Also, while none of you guys are arguing it (others are), there's simply no substance to UCAB helping U.Circle in the least... The popular Flats of the 80s stands for the idea that, if you build it, they will come (from all over the Midwest and nation); even with horrific driving/parking problems the Flats used to present. And sadly, given the bassackwards, negative approach we have toward urban development here in Cleveland, it wouldn’t surprise me if this UCAB plan (along w/ the much over-hyped ECP) are merely weak rubber-tire initiatives designed to put the Red Line out of business… a move that would be, of course, absurd, … but this is Cleveland. ... Anyway, that's my two ce--, er, ... ideas.

MyTwoSense is dead on, wimwar, not only would this road be competing with ECP, it would lie directly in the railroad bed along with the parallel Red Line Rapid Transit. It makes no sense at all -- no other city on the planet builds a roadway -- a pseudo freeway -- access to it would be limited, to compete against a high-speed rail line. And don't believe this garbage about it creating opportunity. The planners of this thing have no intention of developing the land in this area; it is strictly a design to help certain people from both the Heights and the West Side, speed to their jobs even easier than they can now in their private autos -- in case you hadn't noticed, Cleveland has very few rush hour traffic jams and the high-speed road access to the East Side via Chester and Carnegie with very well time traffic lights. University Circle will see no gain with this roadway other than more auto traffic passing through so, again, don’t believe the parallel hype that this stupid road will somehow boost patronization of U. Circle institutions … newsflash, these institutions are doing JUST FINE without it and the UCI, Case, Peter B. Lewis and Little Italy, while not always in perfect harmony, are trying to work out commercial/retail and Case Western U expansion – the latter being well underway – and the U. Circle Boulevard is not, in the least, a part of their plans. As for Frank Jackson, and Jane Campbell throwing their weight behind this, these folks have clearly shown they have no clue about TOD's or urban development. Both are on board with that stupid Steelyards big box Wal-Mart and both are behind an equally foolish suburban-type a Target Store recently-announced development for W. 117 at I-90; this one displacing over 100 residents who will have their homes demolished for Target’s big box. Jackson’s merely a typical pol trying to see which way the wind is blowing to lift his flat sails for his mayoral bid. And they call Kerry a flip-flopper -- well this guy, Jackson, was at first dead set against Steelyards but then, when it became politically expedient after Union Club types leaning toward Jane began putting out press releases that Frank’s Steelyard stance was costing jobs (a really bogus rant), he turned full circle… and btw, more sensible Green, grass roots city promoters (folks like EcoCity Cleveland) who REALLY care about orderly development and protecting grocery jobs from big-box Wal-Mart’s union-busting and grocery price gouging, are still fighting tooth ‘n nail against Steelyards – I say, bless ‘em! Wimwar, I know you're a (very welcome) newcomer to Cleveland, but don't buy into the hype of individuals like Jackson and Campbell who are mere patsies for the ODOT auto lobby. This silly road/boulevard/semi-freeway (oh, now they've cooked up a new ruse/moniker: the "Avenue of Opportunity" -- bullshit!) is very destructive to the sensible, high-density development of our City.

pretty mean-spirited, Cincy, if you ask me...

Don't know much about this hood except from the Google Map satellite map... but here's what little I do: - it will evicting 100 people in an urban neighborhood (hey maybe they'll buy more cars and move to suburban-sprawl Westlake, like our vaunted transit chief, Joe Calabrese, so as to further erode our population base, huh?) - it’s building a suburban-friendly big box store (probably several), again -- and we've just got the green light Steelyard's Wal-Mart, too, that will kill our local, urban grocers … YIPPEE!) - there's a heavy-rail, high-capacity Red Line station at W.117, but it's over 1/2 mile away, so folks can’t walk to these projected big boxes -- this project is clearly oriented toward I-90 suburbanites and not Cleveland -- and both the current mayor and the man who's bidding to steal her job are both gung-ho for this (like the mayor was for Steelyards) -- meanwhile May Co. sits empty, and the civic-un-minded Ratners have basically punted on doing any major (or minor) retail for the beautiful Higbee’s building, as they’ve just preformed a sour-grapes hissy fit and pulled their site from the convention center table since the County, perhaps foolishly, chose to line Dick Jacobs’ pocket to and select a site for its large complex that seems fraught with problems ... … hey, do you love this town or what!!?? Sorry guys, but I'm wet-blanket city, tonight... for all that's great about Cleveland, most times we seem collectively too dumb for words...

I'm hoping Wolstein's project may help revive the project -- apparently stalled because of the extra costs to the Marouses of removing an embedded warehouse buried in the W. 10th St hillside. Speaking of Wolstein, here's an interesting blurb from a Jan, 1997 re Bart, the father, in an overview of downtown by a guy named John Herrington (my, how things change): In the Flats, there is talk of change. Developer Bart Wolstein owns three-fourths of the east bank property and wants to make it a more family-friendly district with a bigger mix of entertainment choices. The idea of family orientation doesn't rest well with some business people in the Flats, who see the riverfront wine-and-dine area remaining, in the words of one, a "...party capital of the Midwest."

I thought those beautiful old Prospect row-homes are the Brownstones B & B. The stacked double (mostly wood frame with a brick base, though some totally sheathed in brick) are largely a Cleveland WWI phenomena. The general form (wood doubles with a front porch-over-porch) actually was adopted from the East, particularly New Jersey, but Cleveland put its on stamp on them – while Eastern doubles are rather spindly, ours have incredibly heavy-massed upper porches with the prominent central dormer and curved, decorative brickwork on the lower porch – as I kid, my family used to call them ‘double-dog houses.’ Many are in Buckeye-Woodland which was settled around this time. Many doubles I see on the West Side tend to be of the Eastern, more spindly style, leading me to think that some architect developer adopted the style, moved east across the Cuyahoga, then made a killing contracting that form over miles and miles of lots during our immigration-driven population boom at the beginning of the 20th Century – just a hunch. Another typically Cleveland type is the 3-story, 6-unit apartments, often grouped near street corners: usually in buff brick with wrought iron balconies in the Spanish style -- many corner units are mixed use, with grocery stores or other retail @ street level. Again, many are in Buckeye-Woodland and Mount Pleasant. Cleveland Hts has lots of the latter (particularly near one of their famed commercial districts), but they tend to be in darker brick and don't have balconies. But the general style, essentially 2 X 2 pushed together 3-flats surrounding a central entranceway/stair, seems very Cleveland-ish … I don’t know whether we founded them, but the sure exist here, per capita, than in any other big city I’ve seen. Even though we are, indeed, mainly a frame house town pushed back from the street with driveways (and few alleys), old row houses do pop up in Cleveland in places and they never cease to amaze me -- they're mainly in areas settled before the 20th Cent -- like Ohio City, Det-Shoreway, Fairfax. East Cleveland, probably our oldest true suburb (founded, I think, in the 1860s/70s), has a bunch of them... sadly, though, like most of the high density housing in that highly distressed burb, they're crumbling. Some are truly architectural gems, too; many are on the side streets off Euclid. One that appears to have been saved/partially restored is that curving, buff-brick row w/ elaborate bay windows, at the corner of Euclid & Superior directly in the heavy vehicle traffic corridor. Detroit-Shoreway features some extremely long rows (one, I know, marches an entire block!) that have little architectural ornamentation but are still interesting, nonetheless. In the local vernacular, they're called "terrace homes" and some, indeed, gradually climb sloping land. Of note are the ones around West Blvd near Detroit. Sadly, like the E. Cleve rows I mentioned, above, most of the region's rows are in the oldest hoods which, although some old areas are gentrifying, are in poorest income tracts which means they're least likely to be rehabbed and, indeed, many are allowed to simply crumble until they're condemned -- then comes the bulldozers... ... One happy exception is the handsome row on W.65th just south of Gordon Square @ Detroit. Most were abandoned and one was apparently used as a short-term (see, hooker) hotel. But recently I noted that they've been reclaimed by the City, gutted and are under rehab for future res use, probably aimed at the student/young professional... Jane deserves a bow and a curtsey for this one.

The reality, notes Steve Strnisha, who has served three mayors and now works at the Greater Cleveland Partnership, is that big projects here take a long time. -- truer words hath not been spoken.