clvlndr

For some reason, Lee Road seems (in my mind, at least) to have progressed rather rapidly (sorry)... I'm sure it's been a major pain for users of that station to schlep over to that temporary crosswalk and down the wooden stairs in front of the Shaker Library, then cross the tracks (if heading westbound) to that tiny platform amidst construction dust. I like the design although I wonder if the extensive stairwell canopies (which appear to be less destructible than the plastic domes of the old station which were constantly smashed by rock-throwing vandals) is a bit too confining while going down into the "hole." Some have advocated filling in the Lee Road Station and bringing it to the surface like the Shaker Lee station. I think it makes sense (and cents) to keep it grade separated because of the busy Van Aken-Lee Road intersection above, but then again, I don't use this station and may feel otherwise if I did... It might be nice of a Shaker or RTA cop made an appearance there once in a blue moon, which they don't.

Very nice photos. I'm thinking that handsome building in the East Cleveland photos (the Tudor-style building with the castle crenelations next to the unsightly open dumpster) may be getting a face lift. It seems that a few of these old beauties fronting Euclid have been getting some rehab... I for one, hope Cleveland annexes EC. Not just for the 17,000 population boost, but to pump some money into this important community. Both EC's citizens and classic buildings (both of which are steadily disappearing) deserve better.

I hate the design of this station, as well as it's neighbor down the rails at Woodhill. I feel the design is discriminatory against the poor. Why can't people in these low to moderate income neighborhoods have elevators like what is being designed at Lee Road and Van Aken ... in wealthy Shaker Heights? Race may not be a factor since African Americans heavily use Lee Road's station, although there are more white people that live near Lee (with some using the station) as opposed to E. 116 or Woodhill. Also RTA cried poor with regard to upgrading E. 34th and E. 79th on the Red, Blue & Green and Red Lines, respectively. They did so mainly because of the expense of an elevator. I can see the argument of stations with light patronage like 34th and 79th not meriting elevators, but you can't make that claim at E. 116 or Woodhill, which are very busy stations, esp. E. 116. Calabrese's people seemed content with just letting the E. 34th and E.79th stations close as opposed to spending money to make them ADA compliant -- this even when the nearby Opportunity Corridor "boulevard" (which Calabrese heartily supported to run buses on) professed to help facilitate TOD and improve rail transit opportunities for residents (ha!). Thankfully a community outcry changed his/RTA's minds.. And Lee Road is not getting 1 but 2 elevators for both it's east and westbound platforms. I like Lee Road's design, but it's not fair. Why should disabled people in the inner city zig-zag up and down long ramps like they're in some bizarre hamster slalom? And E. 116 on the westbound platform, though saving patrons a long ramp, instead forces disabled riders to enter/exit the station away from E. 116 toward mid-block on Shaker where, seemingly, the City will have to install a traffic light to make the pedestrian crossing safe. The expense of this traffic light could have gone toward at least 1 E. 116 elevator; preferably 2, ... similar to Lee Road. RTA could have easily put in elevators at Woodhill... they spent an added expense of "art" with that weird looking giant metal microphone which is bathed in blue light at night. I think patrons would rather have elevators rather than strange art and a station, though modern looking, is of absurd, ridiculous design. Just my two cents..

I'm kinda surprised the Red Line would be so empty at that time of day. Maybe the airport station itself would be sparse, but usually trains are pretty busy/full by the time they reach downtown ... at least, that's been my experience flying in and using the Rapid. I can understand difficulty reaching the Westin. It's fairly distant from Tower City -- actually the WFL's North Coast station is closer; I used it coming from Shaker, and it was a snap -- and with Public Square blocked off as it currently is, it makes it even more confusing. Seems like the CMworld planners could have done a better job directing meeting participants given these factors but, of course, I'm not privy to what actually was provided.

This is unfortunate. Do you know what time these ladies caught the Rapid? What hotel they were staying in? ... I always follow the New York subway late night rule of riding in the first car, preferably close to the motorman or woman. ... btw on Saturday we rode the Red Line over the river to Ohio City where he flea market was going on in Market Square. The trains were busy and, of course, OC was packed... On the train, we also noticed the AC sweat that was dripping on the floor right near the front door... There was also water on the floor on the westbound Tower City platform where there were cones and yellow tape surrounding it... On the Health Line last night to The 9 from TC 4 RTA cops got on at 2nd street and surrounded the front and back doors. However none of them checked tickets, they just stood around looking menacing... I question RTA's deployment of its cops. Many of the Rapid stations you'd expect them at are not there, and on and on...

YT's at Shaker Square is one of the best restaurant/diner-type place that I know of anywhere and has an amazing neighborhood following. If it does half as well in Halle's, it'll be a hit.

^^^Despite the ugly Powerhouse parking lot in the foreground, the photo shows an excellent perspective of FEB south of the new footprint, esp the Old River Road buildings that need to be developed for mixed use.

This is great news for a Miami transit network that suffered a huge blow a few years ago when it's plans for extensive Metro rail expansion died due to transit agency mismanagement. This new Tri-Rail terminal will wed Amtrak, Tri-Rail, Metro and the Metro mover which I wish they would extend across the Causeway to ridiculously crowded Miami (South) Beach... But I understand planners are looking at LRT or a streetcar for South Beach instead.

^Very good news... Back in the late 90s, if you took the Rapid (WFL) into the Flats, you could use your pass or ticket and pay only $1 on the Water Taxi, which was normally $4-5. Great way to reduce traffic down in that tight district. It would be sweet if that could be reinstituted with the new (much better) Water Taxi the Metroparks is starting this fall.

Went to check out Flats East Bank last night and every venue open was jam packed (this includes the older Phase I Aloft venues as well as the newer Phase II spots, including the newest one, Crop Stix). It honestly reminded me of the good old Flats days of the 1990s ... including the traffic jams. One limo driver complained that it took him over an hour to get from Ohio City to the Aloft -- perhaps an exaggeration, but with the jammed nature of traffic along E. 11th and Front Streets, one could believe him... It just made me think how great it would be if people started using the Waterfront Line like they did on weekends during the old Flats heyday. So far, both Aloft's management and it's guests totally ignore the WFL (with the Aloft even running parallel shuttles to Tribe and Cavs' games). I was really glad RTA reinstituted 7-day/week WFL service 2 years ago when Phase I opened. Unfortunately WFL trains stop at 10:30p every night. RTA should really consider the late-running weekend service (until 2p) instituted during summers in the late 1990s. If last night's jammed situation happened with only some of the Phase II apartments and venues online (Note: the huge Punch Bowl Social is still finishing construction), imagine what traffic will be like when Phase II is fully open, not to mention Phase III which may start digging before the end of the year.

It's amazing this small country (pop. 35 million total over a land mass larger than the USA) is building all this electric passenger rail, including HSR, and we here in the USA are only in the infancy of planning such ... California seems the farthest in the lead, but conservatives are fighting Cali’s plans just as are conservatives fighting the private HSR investors in Texas... As MSNBC's Chris Matthews has asked: why can't we have HSR in the USA when it's being built all around the world (even in South Africa). Matthews further laments that we in the USA don't seem capable of constructing hardly any major public works project these days because of all the partisan bickering, including fixing the worn out infrastructure that currently exists... Re the latter, I actually heard a conservative radio host actually comment that talk of infrastructure is just the Left trying to win contracts for their union buddies. Oy!... but that's another story entirely.

It's all very impressive... To add, I'd sure like to see that proposed apartment building (proposed a year or so ago) built on the land of the current Market Square Plaza, 25th and Lorain, adjacent/tied to, the Rapid Station. The proposal and artist rending looked like an outstanding TOD. Any word on that one?

I agree, and Eton is also kinda mentally wrapped into that "Beachwood" group with a lot of shoppers, even though it is technically in Woodmere. It still has that haute couture Beachwood-y air about it.

^^Good point. I'm wondering, though, since this route has been rolled out as Bus Rapid Transit (albeit BRT lite), and there are the very visible capital costs of the handsome brick shelters throughout Edgewater and Lakewood plus the long, twisty brightly-CSU emblazoned buses, whether the lanes should be bus only 24/7. Just sayin'...

If there are no pavement signs or grooves, then this BRT-lite project was poorly executed by RTA.

I hate this constant East Side store poaching. Nobody wins ultimately. The damn store is literally moving just down the street. Big victory for S. Euclid at the expense of its neighbor, University Hts? Really?? ... TJ Maxx's bolting University Square is yet another major dagger to this 15-year-old complex that nobody seems to like. The idea of grouping a bunch of stores under one roof with garage parking wasn't a bad one... It sits at a major retail crossroads for the Heights with historical significance. Oakwood Commons may be the new kid on the block but, really, it's just another typical car-oriented, off-street, big box, strip mall. We'd be better off if the old golf course had remained there imho. Why do we need so many shopping centers within a few miles of each other in an area of population decline?

Thomas is solid with the updates... not a bad host, either. He's likable.

Bull can be a little overbearing at times but is generally fun, especially when he picks fights with Dustin Fox calling him a nimrod.

^I don't like Kiley either and I despised his creepy, oft-bigoted ex-cohost Chuck Booms and was thrilled when The Fan canned his sorry arse. Kiley and Carman are a bad match. Ken's better off doing his own thing.

I like B & P. Both are homers and have a longstanding friendship (since Kent State?) that makes them naturals... As for Cleveland boosters, none is bigger than Anthony Lima, though he can be a bit of a prick at times... He's devoted whole segments of his show to pumping the developments in downtown... UO'ers would have loved the segment he did, back during the Cavs playoffs, where he literally read some of the negative comments from Cleveland.com following every positive development news. He, like me and many others on this board, was amazed at the constant negativity of so many residents toward Cleveland. Lima's a proud Tremonter.

Ken Carmen is perfect for the evening show. He's hilariously raunchy enough that he can say things after 10 p.m. that he couldn't get away with in the morning slot. I like the idea of two 2-hour midday shows. I agree. I much prefer Ken Carman in his original 7p slot for which he is a natural... I really like the guy. He's a uniquely talented sports observer and a natural entertainer. He's very funny (does he/did he do stand up?). The proof of Carman's strength is that he's the only weekday host that could easily carry his own show without the usual buddy-buddy sidekick. And his view of sports, esp locally, is generally spot on. The problem I had with him sometimes is that after the first 1.5, 2 hours, he always seems to devolve into pop-culture silliness and raunchiness. I'm no prude by any stretch and sometimes the pop culture stuff can be entertaining, but sometimes it wears on me, particularly when one of the local teams, esp the Cavs, were in the thick of an important juncture of their season... When Carman's in shtick mode, he seems like he's groping for a pop-culture topic and, of course, as boys-will-be-boys, the topic usually centers on the physicality of some female celeb, typically with a lot of banter with his producer Kenny Kidd; Carman and Kidd are naturals together; seemingly good friends even off the air ... I once caught Carman doing the CBS national gig on a Sunday evening, as Adam The Bull often does. Ken was equally adept at speaking to, and entertaining, the national audience, and callers from around the country took to him right away... Dude is talented.

I felt the same way during my first visit to Detroit. Another crazy thing is how wide some of the main streets into Detroit are, the lack of density along those streets, and the enormous setbacks of major buildings. It gives you a feeling that you need a car to go anywhere, which I guess makes sense, given the city's history. I agree. Even Midtown, which is a truly up and coming area, seems spread out along very wide Woodward Ave. There are some very nice, lively nodes along the Midtown corridor, but it's easier to drive from place to place in Midtown than it is to walk. Detroit's transit system is horrible of course (the M1 LRT is a start), but if there is one Detroit non-downtown neighborhood that's reasonably transit friendly, it's Midtown -- Because many bus routes are funnelled along Woodward, it seems there's a bus coming every 5-8 minutes throughout the day. Of course, Midtown borders downtown. Those super wide streets and often set-back stores and commercial strips in much of the City do indeed really hurt density. People talk about Corktown like it's a big deal -- one Detroit guy I know who is knowledgeable about Cleveland, often compares it to Ohio City and Tremont... I'm sorry, but I just don't see this by any measure. I know Slows and a couple other Corktown bars are somewhat popular and there are a couple adjacent streets with rehabbed Victorian homes and small apts, but overall, Corktown seems dead to me -- a tiny island amidst a sea of decay. Even 10-15 years ago, when Ohio City was struggling and looking for some kind of life beyond the WSM, it was preferable (to me, at least) than Corktown -- the big reason: Ohio City's walkability and excellent transit access... Nowadays, of course, OC has much foot-traffic and lots of density in its core... Some people make it seem like the MGM Grand Casino is right in the center of Corktown and really rejuvenating it-- I've seen Detroit promotional literature which says this ... neither of which is true. The most activity I used to see in Corktown was before and after Tiger's games in/around the old Tiger Stadium before the team moved to Comerica Park and TS was demolished. And then you've got that weird bricked portion in of Michigan Ave but there's hardly any traffic... Then just a a block or so west is the hulking, spooky Michigan Central Station (which thankfully is getting sealed with the new windows which should at least perk up this old forgotten beauty until Detroit finally decides what to do with it). If Detroit isn't the poster child/city of everything wrong the automobile can wreak on an established, major metropolitan city, I don't know what is. Hats off to Dan Gilbert for rolling up his sleeves and, practically, single-handedly breathing life into his old hometown. He's still got a big job ahead of him.

^I'm curious to see. Love the Rock 'n Roll theme. Schimoler is all over Cleveland these days. Obviously he's not afraid to try new things, which is great. He's obviously super committed to FEB. Hope this place is a hit.

Attached residential would have a much better impact on retail than a casino. The casino has provided good business for the Renaissance and the Ritz, which often comps players. From my talking to people and reading travel sites, like TripAdvisor, apparently the word-of-mouth bad reputation of TC keeps gamblers and other hotel visitors away. I tend to believe the negative image of TC crime is way overblown, but it is what it is and FCE, or whoever eventually buys the mall, is going to have to work overtime to correct this... As the famed psychologist once noted: perception is reality.

Nice set, Eridony... Haven't been over to Motown in a few years, but it's nice to see downtown getting some TLC and is coming back nicely... There's still how a loooooong way to go, esp in the decimated neighborhoods... As for downtown, it's amazing that mid and high rise office buildings have sat vacant for nearly 40 years! Glad to see these getting repurposed... I still can't imagine how any city could allow office towers not only sit vacant that long, but to allow them to defaced with such hideous graffiti for such long periods as well. I remember driving through with a girlfriend being repulsed at the silent corridors of defaced office towers that echoed the desperation of Detroit’s burned out residential areas… Cleveland has had its share of vacant office buildings, but nothing anything like that, esp in the core CBD.