clvlndr

I appreciate objectivity, but Fedor is over the top. He always picks against Cleveland teams to get a rise out of the fans and his coworkers. When he was with WKNR a few years ago, the called him "Negative Ned."

My friend & I Rapid-ed down to Scene's "Taste of Summer" festival which was totally free yesterday afternoon-evening. Huge crowds, including a number who opted to use WFL rather than drive. The entire scene (no pun intended) was impressive as all the FEB restaurants got to strut their stuff with speciality food & drink in separate booths mainly next to Crop establishments. After the rains let up, it was a leisurely evening: we sampled several items; strolled the Boardwalk, boat and people watched. Later on in the evening, we strolled over to the new Coastal Taco for some drinks and a couple tacos while we caught the 1st half of the Thunder vs. Warriors NBA game. CT was literally slammed with people; we could barely get a seat at the bar and, then, it took forever to get a bartender's attention... But it was all good; no rush. Everyone was in a good mood. My friend was amazed at the crowds, as was I. Coastal Taco is a middle-of-the-road counterpoint to the upscale Alley Cat up the Boardwalk; these are the only 2 FEB eateries that are directly on the river and, like Alley Cat, Coastal Taco has a substatial outdoor deck. One insteresting aspect is the exterior of the place. Even though it's brand new; just opened this weekend (I believe), the building looks older, its walls were like white painted brick. This seemed deliberate for effect on down to the kitschy faux tropical signage. It reminded me a lot of the old Beach Club along the old FEB; nice touch.

Nice call on Game 5, Hts. You are earning your new title with this prediction even though the Cavs focused more on burning the Raptors in the paint as opposed to jacking up tons of 3s. Also, welcome back Tristan and Kevin. Please stick around until the NBA Finals are over! :) GO THUNDER! It would be great for Cavs to get home court in the Finals if they make it. I'm rooting for the Thunder, as well. I think they're a better match up for us, in addition to our home court advantage. I feel this way even though OKC is mowing down every opponent in their path, including the 67-win Spurs and (soon, probably) the historic 73-win Warriors. Their super-tall, athletic front court could pose problems for us, but I think the LeBron factor, as well as Thompson's strong rebounding, will match them. Plus we have 2 legitimate stretch-4s in Love and Frye, that pulls bigs out from the paint opening things up for 'Bron and Kyrie, and as we see, Frye is tall and long enough to play some decent 5 as well. I'm pumped; we're healthy, have the most talented team in Cavs history and we're playing great ball. ... The NBA Title is right there for us.

FEB is going full Bourbon Street.

^You're entitled to your opinion, but I disagree. I can tell you as a regular to CIFF, the Hard Rock has been a go-to place during one of the frequent snowstorms Cleveland's had during CIFF. We could get a reasonably priced meal inside TC without having to brave the elements. I've been in and out of HR several times for other occasions as well, and have never been disappointed because I know what to expect, and HR delivers. As for HR being "played out," ... I wouldn't know about that. They've been around for decades and, of course, aren't the hot new thing anymore. But Cleveland's has always had patronage -- even lines out the door and into the Avenue mall at times, and as I said, the HR in Philly has significantly expanded in the last year or so and hosts a number of concerts, parties and other events. Sure downtown Cleveland is extremely hot right now and the loss of one restaurant isn't likely to slow expansion. And as happy as I am to see this, I'm just a little worried about a seeming polarization of restaurant choices downtown: places now tend to be either a sports bar + beer n' burger joint, an uber high-end, expensive place, or specialty places for deserts, cupcakes or, of course, java, java, java! Some middle-of-the-road sit down restaurants still exist downtown, but there's a feeling they're slowly being squeezed out... I know HR's country cousin House of Blues is still going strong over on 4th Street, but HR is still a major loss... to me, at least. As for Tower City, it'll be interesting to see ultimately which direction Gilbert goes now that he owns the mall along with the casino next door, with K&D buying Terminal Tower with plans of turning much of it into apartments...

The closing of the Hard Rock downtown is a major loss. It's an iconic symbol, especially in the home of the Rock & Roll HOF. Most major cities' downtowns have one and in a number of them, like Philly, the Hard Rock has recently expanded. HR is flashy and showy but is a museum in itself. The food is decent; the atmosphere and the music, cool. It also means the loss of the last reasonably-priced, sit-down restaurant inside Tower City -- Houlihan's closing last year was the other. I don't think HR's location was a problem. Most times I've been there, it's been busy. As noted, above, this is strictly a business competitor move with Gilbert's divestment from Rock Caesar's.

^In fairness, I could only pull the ad with the woman at the bus stop and the "voice" talking about how easy it is. The other vimeo videos would pull up on my computer. But this ad was consistent with the goofy radio ads I've heard (same voice-over) talking about "The Riiiiide" ... I could stick a finger down my throat with those...

^Finally!

You raise good points about the WFL. But again note that RTA says that cutting back on the WFL would net RTA about $300K/year which is roughly the cost of these ads. However, I still don't like these ads; not for the money that's apparently being spent for them. This is not a commercial for Buffalo Wild Wings. RTA has a budget-locked public agency that's (should be) trying do a public service in luring people onto buses and trains while, hopefully, reducing things like smog and sprawl. Their audience is people who have options (nee: cars), because those who don't have them need little convincing to use transit. The audience is intelligent and would likely respond to ads that don't pander like RTA's current ads do. How does a video of an attractive female at a bus stop with a goofy voice-over saying how easy it is to board a bus convince anybody? How about statistics like, say, the Texas A&M study noting the millions of man-hours lost in people stuck in traffic driving to work? What about studies noting the increase in stress and possible cardiology issues related to driving? ... on a more practical level, why not focus on individual services and what the advantage is to riding these: focus on RTA's crown jewels: the Rapid, the HL, the CSU-55s, Park 'N Ride, the downtown trolley's, etc? Why not talk about the advantages to riding trains in from outer areas and using the Waterfront Line to connect with the expanding Flats establishment (or, as the Metroparks video notes, how the new water taxi dock is steps away from the Flats East Bank Station?) RTA written literature pounds home the fact that there are 8,000 free parking stops at Rapid stations, and another couple thousand at Park 'N Ride lots where RTA freeway Flyer buses zip into downtown. Why can't this information be in the ads along with video of commuters parking and riding as they a not-so-goofy but factual voice-over is delivering the facts? RTA's TV and radio ads speak to their customer base as if they were children.

I think folks are overreacting to the JACK sign. It's not that bad to me and, in fact, the bright red neon is an attraction. The beautiful building that is Higbee's is still very much visible and intact. And even as much as I hate to admit it, I've even gotten used to the GD skywalk over Ontairo/Prospect.

I notice neither the PD nor Crain's photo essay of the Hilton have any pics of Bar 32 from the 32nd floor with it's dramatic views. Is it still to unfinished to allow photos?

Way too cutesy and light on information (in fact, there's no useful information at all in these commercials). For the hundreds of thousands RTA is spending each year for these useless ads, why not spend money to keeping the Waterfront Line running while the Flats East Bank continues to open so as to generate a ridership base?

New rail service to Denver International Airport is costlier than other cities Lance Hernandez, Alan Gathright 5:57 PM, Apr 26, 2016 11:20 AM, Apr 27, 2016 DENVER - The new train service to Denver International Airport is costlier than rail-to-airport fares in other cities. The commuter rail trip to DIA, which debuted with great fanfare on Friday, costs $9 for a day pass, which allows people unlimited, all-day travel to the airport and across RTD's regional light rail and bus system. "For just the average person it's pretty expensive," said Wanda Wofford, who rode the train to DIA to have lunch with her daughter today. "For a business traveler, I think it's wonderful." http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/new-rail-service-to-denver-international-airport-is-costlier-than-other-cities

^Looks nice; a much more substantial boat and more professional operation than the old Holy Moses. I was also glad to hear the captain mention the nearness and connection to RTA's Waterfront Line... Back in the Flats' heyday, passengers could ride Holy Moses boats for only $1 if they flashed their RTA WFL pass or ticket. It was a very forward-looking partnership with RTA at the time. My problems with the service is: I don't get their schedule in stopping at 7 or 8p so they won't "... be a ferry for drunkards." Of course good behavior on the boats must be enforced, but if someone has had a few too many, wouldn't you rather have them ride the boat and encourage public transportation or even cabs or Uber rather than driving? By ending at 8p the boat will not be available for the heaviest period of the Flats on the weekends, so what's the point? And what a nightmare for people who get stuck on one side or the other because the service has ended for the evening. Also it appears there's only going to be 1 boat. It seems the most efficient practice would be to have at least 2. Holy Moses had 2 boats during heavy periods even though, I'll admit, they were poorly run. Holy Moses had multiple stops up and down the river and oftentimes, their boats rode in circles and didn't follow their routes. Their boats were rundown too; a far cry from what the Metroparks boat looks like.

While I realize the competition for state dollars among the 3-Cs, on it's face, seems like an issue for Cleveland, I think it goes deeper than that. In John Hickenlooper, Denver had a progressive, pro-transit mayor who is now governor of Colorado. Cleveland is dysfunctional regarding transit: we have a transit chief who I don't believe is committed to rail transit growth along with a fractured political and business community that doesn't seem to believe in, or care much about, mass transit. In Denver, leaders are All In regarding transit. Consider the below quote from the Politico article cited by KJP: How the $7.6 billion FasTracks project saved Denver from a dreaded fate locals call “Houstonization” is the story of regional cooperation that required the buy-in of businesspeople, elected officials, civil servants and environmentalists across a region the size of Delaware. Their ability to work collectively—and the public’s willingness to approve major taxpayer investments—has created a transit system that is already altering Denver’s perception of itself, turning an auto-centric city into a higher-density, tightly-integrated urban center that aims to outcompete the bigger, older coastal cities on the global stage. Consider what such across-the-board cooperation has reaped: Denver is unveiling a shiny new and widely praised network: 68 stations along 10 different spurs, covering 98 miles, with another 15 miles still to come.

Actually the newer lines generally to the north of the City, like the A Line to the airport, are full-scale, electrified heavy-commuter rail.

^Great news for Denver. Denver's P3 funding concept should be a model for all cities seeking to expand rail transit.

Website is up. Looks impressive. http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/ohio/hilton-cleveland-downtown-CLEDOHH/about/index.html

There is a freight railroad tunnel under this street, which prevented light rail from being a subway on that corridor. Baltimore has several very long freight railroad tunnels, and there is a lot of talk about rebuilding one or more of them, and there is speculation that a new tunnel for the Howard St. freight line would permit the old tunnel to be used by the light rail line. That Penn Station LRT spur was poorly executed as it merely skims the edge of Baltimore's downtown and thus is not convenient for most business travelers who usually end up taking cabs to the CBD (I've been one of them). The Light Rail in general is an example of a powerful pol -- Baltimore's late former mayor-then- MD Gov. William Donald Schaefer -- who wanted it so badly he built it on the cheap. To most effectively serve the City it should have been built several blocks to the East and underneath Charles Street to serve the spine of the city... had this been done, they wouldn't have even needed the spur because the LRT would have directly served Penn Station. It's all very weird since Baltimore somehow found the money, a few years prior to the LRT, to build a full, 15-mile HRT (Metro) elevated-subway line through the center of downtown, but with no direct LRT connection.

^I don't know what you guys think, but I'm still pulling for the Thunder, even though they are still a long shot -- which got even longer with their thumping by the Warriors last night. I went to bed happy Monday. Last night, not so much... Even though, in my heart-of-hearts, I believe this Cavs team can beat anybody... Still, the Warriors give me butterflies. I would rather not play them. Your thoughts?

I'm really liking most everything I'm seeing with the Drury... As for the canopy, its color and size are not problems for me. Luxury hotels almost always have canopies shielding the main drop-off driveway entrance. The only regret I have with the Drury canopy is that it masks the beautiful arches and their relief sculptures above the 3 entrance doors... But I guess there was no workable alternative.

To be fair we've had over a decade of best-of-seven through the entire playoffs and no team has done better than 10-0. So it still would be quite special to go 12-0 even if one of those games is not in the Finals. I'm quite aware of the 2001 Lakers. As I stated upthread they were one insane Mr. "Practice" AI performance away from going 15-0. The Lakers had some rust from having 8 days off. Even though the Lakers played really bad in the first half they still forced that game into OT. What was nuts about that game was after Philly won "experts" were saying Kobe was already handing the torch over to AI and that the Sixers would sweep. Uh, yeah. Agreed; in no way was I diminishing either your point or what this team/Lue are doing in these playoffs... Isn't it ironic that Lue, the very coach helming this amazing Cavs run, was probably best known for Iverson's step-back 3, then stepping over the fallen Lue during that lone Lakers' hiccup in their 2001 championship run?

^In fairness, until the early 2000s, a 12-0 start prior to the Finals was impossible because, before that time, the Round 1 was the best 3-of-5. The then-new Kobe-Shaq Lakers went 11-0 before losing Game 1 in the Finals to the 76ers in 2001. After that 1st lost, though, the Lakers swept the next 4 from the Sixers meaning they went 15-1 in postseason... not too shabby.

Of course we wouldn't want those GOP delegates seeing wasteful spending on things like infrastructure. Make America Great Again! Yep; especially after several conservatives have (very stupidly) opined that the constant cry for infrastructure repair is merely liberals' disingenuous quest to subsidize their union cronies.

This is "insane" for Cleveland considering, as the article noted, FEB is the last ground-up, significant-scale apartment complex built in the City in the last 10 years -- I'm guessing Phase 5 (or was it 6?) of Stonebridge was the last prior to that... This is quite a list and I'm surprised that both nuCLEus and Weston are as far along as they are... However, I didn't see Brickhaus (the Duck Island towers) mentioned while Bullard did mention Jeff Jacobs' Nautica, which IIRC isn't projected to break ground until 2018. Truly a New Cleveland has been born.