clvlndr

Posturing.

I was down at Punch Bowl social last night and, even though cold and windy, there were quite a few people there and all around FEB. It was even more impressive given it was a weekday night... Very impressed with the immense size of this place. Very quirky and fun looking place. I'm sure their outside upper deck will be filled next year when it opens to warm weather. Beerhead and the Flip Side were also pretty full as well. Even if a Margaritaville goes into Toby Keith's spot, it's better than having that huge space sit there empty. I'm sure it will attract a lot of patrons.

One design flaw in the otherwise well done Little Italy station is that there is no (open/close) door in the lower headhouse as there is in the upper station leading to the platforms. This means that, although the inside waiting area is shielded from wind (which came in handy with yesterday's blustery gusts), it is not temperature controlled... Good luck on those near zero Cleveland winter days... Hopefully RTA can modify this... at some point.

I hear your premise, but I think calling the Rapid a "frill" is a bit strong. 40,000+ rides (and rising) on an avg weekday may be small compared to most systems, but is essential for RTA -- as KJP noted in his article, look at the huge number, and expense, of replacement buses that would be needed if the Rapid shut down. That's not even considering the considerable TOD the system has generated/is generating (Fairmount for example plans to complete Phases III, IV and V of FEB's TOD development). As to Shaker Heights, it would be unfair to make their residents pay more taxes to "preserve" LRT just because LRT is within Shaker's borders. Shaker pays some of the highest RE taxes in the county already. But what about all those non-residents who use the Shaker lines? Under this theory, shouldn't they pay more too? Thousands of non-Shaker residents walk, drive or bus to Blue/Green Line stations to access the Rapid (I recall some time ago a stat noting that only 1/3 of Shaker Rapid riders lived within Shaker). Taxing Shakerites more would just create more division in an already fractured region with too many intramural battles and jealousies.

The bridge is baaaack... It's actually quite attractive in this form. I'm just hoping that elaborate curly-Q landing to the side of the Rock Hall won't impair the building's iconic visage.

Very sad.

Yes it was very well written... btw was this reported in the PD or anywhere else on local media? Because if it was I didn't see it... No offense to AAO and the fine work you guys do, but important articles like this one, including a quote from Mr. Calabrese himself stating the rail system could shut down without added funding, is only reaching a limited, like-minded audience in the AAO newsletter/website. A wide swath of Clevelanders need this very-important information cause most simply are unaware.

"In most major cities in the USA, roughly one-third of transit agency revenues come from fares, one-third comes from a local tax and another one-third comes from the state. GCRTA gets no money from the state, despite the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) identifying GCRTA’s rail capital requirements as a critical need in a recent ODOT report to the legislature. Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly have failed to lead on this important economic development jobs-access issue affecting more than 1 million Ohioans." But Kasich sure ran up here to Cleveland to do all he could to ram the Opportunity Corridor through, including using Turnpike toll revenue to get it done. So it is with our moderate, forward-thinking republican gov, ... er, presidential candidate.

Sounds like sour grapes whining to me. I hope the 2nd time around is a charm for him down in the Flats, but why does Goodrich have to run down Uptown just because his joint couldn't make it there? He should just chalk it up to bad planning and/or bad breaks and move on and be happy where he's at now... There's nothing "lackluster" about Uptown; it's a fantastic new area of the City with an even brighter future. And yes, the thought of a beer joint with no food does not sound like a winning formula, even for a college-y area like University Circle.

Iman Shumpert to undergo surgery on wrist, out up to 14 weeks By Chris Haynes, Northeast Ohio Media Group Follow on Twitter on September 29, 2015 at 12:35 PM, updated September 29, 2015 at 12:46 PM INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – Iman Shumpert will undergo surgery on his right wrist and is expected to be sidelined 12-14 weeks, the Cavaliers announced Tuesday afternoon. The team says Shumpert ruptured the extensor carpri ulnaris in his wrist a few days ago. Dr. Thomas Graham and Dr. Richard Parker of Cleveland Clinic Sports Health confirmed the extent of the injury on Monday. The surgery is scheduled for Wednesday. http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2015/09/iman_shumpert_to_undergo_surge.html#incart_2box

"Xclusive". In a way, it's a backhanded compliment to downtown's recent success, that these sorts of places aren't moving into cheaper quarters further out. And yes, full pat down security only means they leave their weapons in their cars. The "urban" clientele can be lucrative for clubs as long as they know it's a short term deal. To call them "problem customers" is an understatement. Unfortunately, in a case like this downtown faces the same issues as changing suburbs: how do you keep the problems out with being perceived as up to something else? It shouldn't be a race thing... the Bank just (and some others) just attract young punks and gangbangers. There are similar majority-white clubs that attract troublemakers as well... Not to mention the African American venues, like the Take 5 jazz club in the WHD and the Stonetown restaurant in Gateway that draw a diverse, often-professional clientele that is perfectly responsible.

^The Bank's gotta go. It's just another nuisance club in the middle of a thriving Cleveland entertainment district -- it's the Moda of downtown Cleveland. Sorry, gang wars and a thriving downtown simply don't mix.

This is one of the most frustrating seasons in recent memory... We wasted one of the finest, top-to-bottom pitching staffs in the MLB on top of the fact we have one of the leading managers in the game along with the potential Rookie of the Year in Lindor, despite his only playing 1/3 of the season... People can carp at Ray Farmer all the want (and he certainly deserves heat as does Mike Pettine), but none should have a hotter seat than Chris Antonetti. He made 3 very expensive busts in Swisher, Bourn and Moss -- esp the 1st 2) and it dragged down the entire organization. And now Shapiro is gone, so there's no safety net for Antonetti... If he can't bring a quality bat into this lineup and if we are, again, sellers at next year's All Star trade deadline, Antonetti should be sent packing for, if he survives, it's just one more legitimate gripe fans have with the Dolans.

^This is very great news for the community :clap:... I hated it when the old ESM closed.

^... and nifty video... http://www.indygo.net/redline/

Indy says hello to rapid transit By VICTORIA T. DAVIS @Victoria08Davis | 0 comments Within the next two years, Indianapolis will have the first fully-electric bus rapid transit system in the U.S. according to IndyGo. What will be known as the Red Line will be constructed in three separate phases, spanning 13 miles, with the first phase set for completion in 2018. The first phase will begin at 66th street and College Avenue in Broad Ripple, travel through the new Downtown Transit Center, set to open this fall, and on to the University of Indianapolis (Ulndy). Phase two will pick up in Broad Ripple and travel through Carmel and Westfield. Phase three will extend the system from Ulndy to Greenwood. http://www.indianapolisrecorder.com/article_fb5fb69a-32d7-563e-95c4-a0d3266728a1.html

I didn't mean to make it sound like construction workers only need the parking. The construction for Phase III will take away the surface lot between Phases I and II, which is what will worsen the parking crunch for EVERYONE. And the parking deck to be added as part of Phase III doesn't appear as though it will have enough parking to satisfy all existing AND future parking needs for office, restaurant and theater workers and patrons. Good news, indeed...

I'm very glad Calabrese is considering expanding WFL service for the construction workers once the central parking area is closed for Phase III... I just wish he would also have that same forward-thinking approach toward expanded services for patrons and residents of FEB. People aren't using it much now, but an ad campaign by RTA to increase it's visibility would help. FEB should be one of Cleveland's finest examples of TOD... actually it already is, it's just that FEB patrons, residents and businesses and employees don't see it that way. Sometimes the public needs an education re such things.

^It's interesting that Country Club Plaza was designed for the auto, yet it's surrounded by tons of multi-unit housing, including a number of mid and high-rises along with numerous brownstone walk-ups all of which, of course, encourage walkability. It's also interesting that Nichols' suburban development contemporaries, the Van Sweringens, were backward looking romanticists who encouraged rapid transit, train travel and even dated Beaux Artes architecture for Terminal Tower when Art Deco design was the rage... Obviously the Vans' mindset had more positives than negatives for Cleveland... CCP of course is a major gem in KC's crown as well... Think of how great it/the city would be if Nichols was similarly motivated by rapid transit... oh well, diversity is the spice of life.

^Good stuff, Ink... I guess Mr. Nichols was ahead of his time... or behind it... [quoting in part:] "Nichols was indeed a visionary; he saw the importance of the car in middle-class lives at a time when many thought the automobile would only be a fad of the rich. He put together a plan to build entire neighborhoods and shopping centers designed with the automobile in mind. Planning his dream was the easy part, getting people to buy into it took real salesmanship. . . . The rail line ended at 47th and Troost, so to get people to venture out to his new area Nichols met prospective buyers at the end of the line and drove them in a buggy the mile to his new development. Nichols promised what others hadn’t–plumbing, water, trash pickup, miles of tree-lined avenues, neighborhood parks, sidewalks and even front lawns. His persistence and a distinctive master plan paid off, his residential neighborhoods took shape, and people moved south of the city." http://countryclubplaza.com/art-history/one-mans-vision-shapes-the-city/

I was thinking a lot about Shaker Square when I was at Country Club. Both are in very similar environments, with high density apartments immediately surrounding and 1920's/30's-era high end housing just beyond. Ward Boulevard in Kansas City is very similar to Fairmont in Cleveland Heights, although Ward is a broader boulevard and Fairmont has better architecture. Shaker Square itself (the retail area) is smaller, however, and is transit oriented instead of being built for the automobile. Shaker is still neighborhood retail while Country Club is a regional destination. Good observations... Remember, also, that Shaker Square was something of an afterthought for the Vans... They were mainly focused on single, detached house development on substantial plots in Shaker Hts... Shaker Sq. initially was a non-descript traffic circle around the Shaker-Van Aken Rapid junction... but it seems, some developers were already putting up apts in the area... of course, this was reconfigured and Shaker Square, the retail district, opened it's phase 1 in 1929, 9 years after the rapid went through this area...later phases, like the movie theater and the Van Aken wrap-around parking deck came after the Vans were dead in the late 30s through the 40s. I don't know for sure (because I don't know KC's transit history), but I'd think that in 1922, a streetcar or interurban from downtown served Country Club Plaza... Even though it may not be as tightly focused around a rail station like the Rapid's, it is very dense and came on line before freeways were developed in cities.

I'm guessing this has been discussed somewhere on these boards....I'd like to see the Waterfront Line just become a fare-free zone. It's already a losing-proposition, why not make it convenient for everyone and use it as a loss-leader marketing tool for both RTA and downtown? They could probably easily sell a corporate sponsorship to underwrite some of the cost (The Sherwin Williams Waterfront line, or the Horseshoe Line....). Not a bad idea. It would be great for one of the major corporations to buy into the WFL like some due other high-profile bus lines and bus/trolley routes RTA likes to promote... So far both the public and RTA tend to treat the WFL like the ugly duckling of the system despite the fact that, obviously for FEB, it could/should be seen as a valuable tool to move traffic in and out of this dense development.

Good point. Middle class blacks, Latinos and others are just as quick to run from deterioration as whites. It's a tough nut to crack... I've felt that pols bear a brunt for not being proactive in stemming neighborhood decline, but the people do, also... Stronger areas like Larchmere and Kamms have people who are willing to put up a fight to stop deterioration, even if it's in the form of a Townwatch or similar organization... Sadly, though, in too much of the city the instinct has been simply to run; and run further and further from the core.. I can't discount the loss of jobs or services, too, such as public education, ... although really, as much as we complain about Cleveland schools, it's really hard to name a city, esp in the older NE or Midwest that's any significantly better off that Cleveland in terms of their schools.

^Not good... I'm a little encouraged that the declines have slowed a bit from the deep losses of the 80s, 90s and 00s, but the fact we're still losing and leading the pack in losing, is discouraging. And even though there is growth in areas like Downtown, Ohio City, and University Circle, it's not enough to offset losses in the larger swath of Cleveland... And if we can't arrest deterioration and decline in what should be strong, dense, walkable, transit-friendly areas like Shaker Square and even places like (lower) Detroit-Shoreway, Cudell and Edgewater, the road back to population growth and concomitant economic health will be steep, indeed.

^Good points... and speaking of conservative policies (and philosophies) these days, it's interesting and disturbing to see where they may be coming from: Thursday, Sep 24, 2015 11:22 AM EDT How Ann Coulter became the harbinger of the GOP’s extremist apocalypse Heather Digby Parton http://www.salon.com/2015/09/24/how_ann_coulter_became_the_harbinger_of_the_gops_extremist_apocalypse/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow