clvlndr

I'm wondering, then, why RTA couldn't/shouldn't pursue the Aurora route? Nearly the entire route into TC is either fully abandoned or lightly used. They could build the line right up to the Geauga County border but within Cuyahoga county so as not to have to worry about their financing. As for the Lorain end, has RTA even approached Lorain county about joint financing or creating a transit agency to do so? The West Shore commuter rail idea sounded like it had promise and even some political and media support in Lorian. IIRC they even built a station in/near downtown Lorain anticipating passenger rail service. Also, how accurate were these studies? Weren't they done nearly 2 decades ago? Who did them? They kinda seem self-serving in reinforcing inertia.

^Lots of expenses, to be sure. But no pain, no gain. If leaders from this region really were interested in transit and smart growth, they could make it happen -- at least, some of it. Meanwhile out in the woods just off I-271, Pinecrest in Orange village, Fairmount's East Side answer to Crocker Park, is rising. Just more sprawl -- only this project, like CP, will be another cute little, faux urban-looking, mixed-use neighborhood ... but like with CP, at the edge of the county. When you don't expand transit, you get more and more of this stuff ... but I guess this is the way we (collectively) want it.

I seriously doubt that had anything to do with it. RTA and local officials likely considered the expenses renting track space, building commuter rail stations, requisite communications systems, purchasing rail equipment, insuring the freight RR carries etc. and deemed it all to be too expensive and difficult to undertake. So, as has often been the case with big projects in this town/region, officials decided to do nothing (other than create the bases for LakeTran, which is a good, albeit relatively small, thing compared to commuter rail). This City and region (and State, for that matter) has a tendency to shy away from major challenging projects, especially public works projects that aren't highways/freeways -- think closing Burke and building luxury lakefront apartments and townhouses (too much Federal red tape in closing an airport), expanding CVSR into Tower City (see above viz the commuter rail proposal), any (rail) Rapid Transit extension -- too long a waiting period, too much Federal red tape (environment studies, alternative analyses, etc) and, oh btw, RTA is broke so, you actually want to look to the furture!? expand the Rapid!?... are you crazy!? ... the stiff-upper lip look is far more becoming... ...In fairness, the recent growth of downtown and some other in-city neighborhoods represents a change in this thinking, which is amazing in many ways ... but the old inertia still exists.

Toronto, like most large Canadian cities, has a far better handle on sprawl than most USA cities. And the subways system, esp the Younge Street line, has created insane TOD; in many cases, mini-downtowns, so large that they probably have more total office square footage than the REAL downtowns of several mid-sized American cities.

^^There's definitely some ill feeling with Atlanta with the Delly vs. Korver/Horford stuff, but it's worse with Boston. It's not just Kelly Olynyk, the man who I firmly believe stole a championship from Cleveland with his nasty, cowardly arm-yank to KLove, there's Jae Crowder who not only was decked and injured by JR, but was pushing, shoving and banging on LeBron (hence Perkins pick/take down in Game 4). That game was totally out of control. We won the battle and ultimately the war, but that game cost us the BIG PRICE. And make no mistake, Love still hates Olynyk...

The 401 that runs from Toronto Pearson Airport to Scarborough is the widest freeway in North America. It's insane and I say that living in the DC area. The GTA has the Gardiner, the Don Valley, the 401, the 400, the 404, the 427, the 410, on and on. Ontario is currently in the process of building a long toll-road expressway from the 400 at Newmarket all the way out to Ajax. Equivalent of building a toll road from Cleveland to Ashtabula. Toronto and Montreal a littered with expressways, just like here. I wont even get into the rosy-eyed view that Europe is some sort of racial nirvana compared to US. Only have to do a recent news search on the migrant crisis to see how Euros are behaving along the lines of Trump with a new wave of outsiders at their gates. Remember the recent Paris suburb riots? That reaction was because North Africans are treated so kindly in France. I wouldn't say Europe is a racial nirvana by any means; bigots, hate groups and accompanying political rhetoric have been on the rise there in recent years. I would, however, say that racism and racial polarization is much, much stronger in the United States than in Europe or Canada. It's deeply ingrained in so many facets of American life, we don't even realize it. Even though French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville greatly admired America's new political experiment, his famed 1830s treatise "Democracy in America," sadly predicted that slavery (and it's predicted demise and after effects) threatened divide America and harm its orderly legal/political process... Tocqueville proved not only to be great scholar/observer, but a soothsayer as well.

^^To answer 2 of your questions: if Catholics were not outright banned, as were blacks and Jews, I'm sure they were, ah, strongly discouraged from moving to Shaker in the early days by the Vans and their compatriots. Btw, the Halle Brothers, founders/owners of the eponymous high-end dept store whose large building still stands in PHS, moved in to Shaker and built a fabulous mansion that sits on a hill behind trees on Park Dr. near Horseshoe Lake. The Vans discovered that the Halles were Jews, but apparently grudgingly granted them honorary Protestant status given their wealth and prominence in the Cleveland community. Shaker moved moved away this bigoted thinking in the late 50s and 60s as more liberal and enlightened whites moved in, or, often, the kids of the original shaker residents took root. So much so that in the late-60s, Shaker became one of 1st cities in America to voluntarily bus schoolkids to achieve a racial balance. Oak Park, IL was the other one. Shaker became one of the pioneering suburbs in fair housing and openness which is why, today, there is a large black demographic in the city, today.

Awesome. I've always loved this building going back when it was BOE's HQ. It's tan/burnt orange facade and more Federalist detailing always made it stand out from the white-stone, Classical architecture of the other Group Plan buildings (the Library, City Hall, Metzenbuam Courthouse, etc) of which BOE was the last. It looks even gorgeous-er re-purposed as a luxury hotel. Can't wait to visit.

As I've said up-thread, I like everything I'm seeing about the redesigned PS, esp the new pavilion retail area and the idea of more park-like, programmatic activities planned for the Square, like more outdoor concerts, festivals, food-oriented events and the like. My only misgiving is the RTA bus and "special vehicle" traffic that will be allowed to continue along Superior. I'm hoping that, at some point, hopefully in the near future, that this too may be amended and Superior, like Ontario, is closed off completely.

I like everything you say here, 327... One very uncomfortable difference with Europe and the United States -- as well as, even, Canada and the USA (where the older parts of urban Canada mirror Europe more than its Yankee cousins to the south), is the stronger racial, ethnic and socioeconomic divisions, particularly the racial ones, which seem to have a much stronger impact on all facets of life in this country, from socialization, worship, employment, education and housing patterns than either Canada or Europe... The "freedom" often touted in this country, is the freedom to move away and live away from "others" into one's own homogeneous community (i.e. Medina). Cities are often looked at with contempt in the US of A, where as small towns and their farmers, esp those in the South and West, are portrayed as the American Ideal. It's evolving and didn't just happen yesterday, or even 3 to 5 decades ago, when the urban freeway became the rage and generator of sprawl. The Van Sweringens, and other Heights RE developers like them, touted their new communities as elevated up and away from all the soot and smoke of Cleveland ... as well as being away from "them." The Vans wanted a look-alike, WASP-y community in their new Shaker Village as they banned African Americans and Jews from the town. Their tool for escape from the city was rapid transit, similar to commuter trains in Chicago and the East.... It became the auto and the freeway in the post WWII era and, to this day, especially when you hear Libertarian and Republican rhetoric, the City is once again viewed with suspicion and contempt, with some pols and political pundits not-so-subtly dropping in accompanying terms like "multiculturalism" as if this were some kind of plague.

I'll give RTA some kudos for NextConnect. It's a useful feature that many big-city transit systems I've seen don't have (in Philly SEPTA has this regional rail app called TrainView which is close to useless), and is pretty accurate and updated for late rapids and buses, esp the HL. As for trackwork, I feel your pain. The last few times I've used the Blue and Green Lines, I note that RTA's dreaded "slow zones" have crept over to the East Side, at least on the main trunk line from around E. 55th to TC where tracks are shared with the Red Line.

The city was also planned for, like many Midwestern cities, the automobile. There are millions of people, they just live around the city now and don't have the need to go downtown for work, shopping etc on a regular basis. The post-war era was not kind to Cleveland and many other cities. This, again, is why the Public Square and Mall can be used to attract people, including families, as a reintroduction to the city. Not true. All large Nineteenth Century/pre-WWI cities like Cleveland, Detroit, KC and others, grew up around transit: mainly streetcars. In fact, when Public Square was designed, I don't believe there were even any horse cars -- people either walked or traveled by horse 'n buggy. Midwestern cites became more car-oriented in the 1950s, but with Cleveland maintaining more of a transit focus than any other, save Chicago -- a fact you don't seem to want to recognize.

Rooting for Boston and Indiana in the final two games of their series. Easiest route to the Finals would be the Cs and Hornets/Pacers, IMHO. I don't want to face Boston again. Too much bad blood from last year's series, esp Game 4. There could be the possibility of more altercations, more injuries and even game(s) suspensions. We don't need any of that... Right now, there's no team I fear in the East, so I'd just as soon it be Atlanta, who we'll make short work of.

^Route cuts on buses, significant rail service reductions on the Rapid and fare hikes across the board. There are only a few deviations from the proposals put forward prior to the "public comment." The bus service is at the bare bones as it is, in terms of (non) frequency; the whole system is almost like a commuter bus service, frequency-wise. Bus coverage has been significantly weakened in recent years due to cuts, and it's getting worse. Right now, with most so called "feeder" bus lines into the Rapid (or their being used as simply crosstown commuter lines), service is every hour on most of them and, in the case of the No. 45, which currently connects to the W. 65th St Rapid station, will disappear all together. As for the Rapid, the Green Line service cuts (no service after 8p) are going to inconvenience suburban riders to the point where many will either drive downtown or opt not to go downtown at all. Of course people can drive the (generally) 1, 1.5 miles to a Blue Line station, but many will see this as a hassle, and will not do so. As for the hated (by some) Waterfront Line, it seems foolish to cut after 7 service now, right before the warm weather season and the 1st full summer at the expanded Flats East Bank, where there are weekend crowds even now. Money savings (we're told by RTA) for reducing the WFL will amount to $300K per year. (NOTE: it was pointed out up thread that RTA is spending $275K for advertising -- most of which is pretty horrible/non-information imho). And trust me, after some of the few customers left on the WFL are discouraged by the cuts and leave, Calabrese will return with his rush hour and daytime-weekends only service that existed pre-2013 prior to FEB's Phase 1 opening. Calabrese said he would approach Wolstein/Fairmount, the FEB builders/owners, asking for support about helping fund the WFL. Never heard anymore about this -- I guess not many people cared enough to follow-up, if Calabrese even asked them in the 1st place. Despite all the (quiet) grumbling about how this state (see the REPUBLICANS of this state) starving transit with non-support even compared to such backwards neighbors, transit-wise, as IIRC Michigan and Indiana, I don't see local media (certainly not the "there are no villains here" PD -- though Crain's did speak strongly on this issue) officials, particularly RTA chief, Joe Calabrese, kicking up much sand about it nor are local pols either (where's Frank Jackson? where's Armond Budish? Where are the City Councilmen in whose districts are many transit-dependent individuals trying to get to work who are injured by all this?, etc, etc). Meanwhile Joe Calabrese won't give any straight answers about the Rapid rail car crisis that threatens, in the near future, to close light rail service completely, other than getting snippy with KJP/AAO in the media for simply raising the question. And has been noted, this is no excuse for not having any serious plans for the future... So here we are in our renaissance City (at least downtown and several key neighborhoods) with a transit system becoming more irrelevant every day: raising fares, cutting service, driving riders away with no serious comprehensive plan for growth, esp on the rail side... in other words, a recipe for disaster.

I'm from Cleveland, but have friends living around LA and visit every 5 or so years. I'm thrilled with every new rail transit line LA puts into service. This is a city that is remaking itself every day. It was the ultimate car-dependent, no transit sprawl city until, a couple decades ago, they decided to develop rapid transit lines and engage in smart growth around rail nodes. Now it has one of the largest combined rail transit networks in the nation. Actually, I am jealous of LA in that, at least there, they have transit and city leadership geared toward building and developing a mass transit system geared toward the 21st Century as opposed to here in Cleveland, where officials are building highways and deconstructing transit while gearing it for the 1950s.

Sounds like Calabrese got what Calabrese wanted.

^About the WFL much-discussed Loop. As I noted, I would short-loop the WFL down 18th, then back to TC via Prospect, Huron dropping down into the never-used subway back to TC... the difference is, though, that the looping-back trains would not use the current Rapid station, but the extant, unused Shaker station... Then from there, trains would veer over to the subway deck of the Detroit-Superior bridge utilizing the old subway station under W. 25th then rising onto Detroit, through Gordon Square, the doglegging to the NW under Lake Ave to a terminal at Edgewater park. -- If we wanted to go rough, the trains could head out on the surface in the curb lanes of Clifton Blvd utilizing some, but not all, the # 55/CSU BRT-Lite brick station stops all the way out to a downtown Rocky River terminal... ONE MAJOR PLUS: with LRT's using the old D-S subway and station at W. 25, RTA could TERMINATE ALL WEST SIDE BUSES at the 2 close-in West Side stations: the current Red Line station at Ohio City, and the old/new one at W. 25th & Detroit (with the new Detroit Rd LRT replacing the inner portion of the current #26 bus). And with this, Public Sq. area bus congestion would be cut in half. ... I might send 1 West Side bus line into downtown over the bridge to loop around the WHD, (maybe the no. 81 to Tremont) but that would be it.

I'm somewhat awed that after more than 30 years you remember all of this detail. I didn't. I did take one ride to Euclid from downtown, on what I believe to have been one of the first few trips. I have little recollection beyond this. What I don't get is why, in spite of this very successful demonstration, proving that there was significant demand for commuter rail to/from the northeast suburbs, it was never seriously considered. The "extend Red Line to Euclid" doesn't count IMO as this would be much more expensive than commuter rail and therefore a non-starter given today's budget constraints. The huge difference that most people don't seem to understand is that you need MUCH less infrastructure for a self-propelled diesel or diesel-electric car. No overhead catenary, no third rail, stations only every few miles or so, if that. And we already have well-maintained track to and from many of the population centers in northeast Ohio. It is of course controlled by freight railroads, but freight traffic has declined substantially in most places, so I would think they would be willing, if not eager, to cooperate. Labor costs should not be much different than for existing park & ride services, but the potential exists to recover much more of those and other costs at the farebox, since people are generally willing to pay much more for reliable commuter rail services than for the services RTA currently offers (including park & ride, which is grossly inferior to commuter rail since it sits in the same traffic one could just as easily drive in). If I had the kind of money to be able to invest in another limited proof-of-concept, I'd do it in a heartbeat. And I'd probably do it on exactly that corridor - Cleveland, Collinwood, Euclid, Willoughby, Mentor. The Cleveland-Lakewood-Westlake-Avon-Lorain route might be more lucrative but also a lot more work and money to set up, chiefly due to the numerous at-grade crossings in Lakewood. Agreed. All those rail lines radiating out from downtown deep into the populous burbs are a wasted resource. Cleveland could truly have a great and comprehensive transit network but for just a little foresight and effort.

A shame the area's is misrepresented by lazy-azz City councilman Ken Johnson. Such an originally quality area should have never sunk to such depths.

Government action of some kind, usually in the form of zoning, TIFs or other incentive to high density or even TOD growth, is necessary, ... otherwise, you have Houston which, btw, I heard a news report yesterday where an expert noted that the recent flooding in Houston was exacerbated by the lack of zoning -- all the runoff went onto somebody's property; almost no natural areas left.

Tribe sweeps the Motor City Kitties, but lose Carrasco to a groin pull.

I was quite hopeful that NOACA, would change direction from being seemingly so highway/anti-transit oriented, when they hired Grace Gallucci as director, a woman with a pro-transit background -- from Chicago's RTA, no less. She's been here, now, 4 years and hopefully NOACA has changed to focus on more balanced growth between transit and cars, as well as more positive land-uses, like TOD and mixed-use developments, and less single-use big boxes, strip malls and cul-de-sac residential development that have bedeviled Greater Cleveland. Hopefully the current growth patterns have been changing in recent years from when the 2000-2010 population tracts were recorded favoring the usual growth/sprawl suspects: Western Cuyahoga/Eastern Lorain (the I-90 W corridor), the US 422 corridor of SE Cuyahoga/NE Geagua and, perhaps the worst: Medina county along I-71 south.

^^SVG is definitely Old School. He's a great coach but his hard-edge style wears on guys after awhile and he/them will often burn out.

As I said up-thread, even though Golden State achieved the regular season record, they were leaking oil. And frankly, beating up on a completely dysfunctional mess like Houston says nothing imho -- remember when, earlier during the season, the Cavs visited Houston and ran up 30-point leads on our way to a near effortless rout of these same Rockets -- it actually says more to me about GSW's vulnerability in their losing to the Rockets the other night even without Steph (oh, and did you notice Houston's Ariza twice, in the final 12 seconds, throw stupid inbounds passes; the last in the closing seconds nearly cost them the game as he foolishly threw it into Houston's backcourt from midcourt just beyond Shaun Livingston's reach and an easy layup). Truth be told, if there's any doubt about Curry's ankle going into Game 4, Kerr would be crazy to play him -- they really don't need him to knock off this sorry Houston club. Best save him for latter, bigger battles, like the Spurs and, perhaps, us... Although it's a little scary to think about, the way the Cavs are finally putting it all together in the playoffs and getting excellent coaching from Lue vs. a tough, well-coached Pistons team, I'm coming to believe that, absent another Cavs' catastrophic playoff injury, we actually can beat GSW, SAS, ... Miami, Toronto, or anybody else, and finally bring home the Gold ... this year.

^My bad, I misread you; we're not really disagreeing... I have no doubt Porter, and the Commissioners (at least the 2 who voted against the subway), were in Higbee's, et al., back pocket... As for Tober and expansion, there always seems to be an excuse; it's never the right time for rail. Like now, RTA tells us that it's not the right time to think about rail transit expansion because of the budget crises, even though there are signs the city is coming back and downtown and some in-city neighborhoods are growing; people-wise and expense-wise. Other cities plan rail expansion despite budget issues. I'm glad Ken publicly questioned Calabrese on this in the PD article last month. Just paying the bills is not enough for a transit system.