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^Progress!!

^You're right, this new station is definitely L-like -- and those 1920s-era steel girder Rapid bridges enhance the old-time-y feel... As we know, because of the freight-rail adjacent to most of the Rapid, the opportunities for this type of dense urban massing near Rapid tracks has been few and far between. Probably Superior, a mile or so NE, is the only other place where the elevated-Rapid has been integrated into the urban fabric (on the West Side, the open-Cut Rapid is generally better situated in this sense). Of course 2 regressive events occurred: East Cleveland surrounding Superior collapsed into unspeakable urban decay to the point where there are practically no people or businesses adjacent to the Rapid and, of course, CTS' failure to complete the Mayfield Station the Van Sweringen's had started, when the original Red Line was built in 1955... Thankfully Little Italy residents kept their dense little neighborhood intact and viable and RTA is correcting CTS' 60-year-old miscue. ... and with the growth of both Little Italy and Uptown, and the prospects for Intesa, this could become one of RTA's busiest stations.

edale's reporting was honest and unbiased and I agree with him on all points... Hopefully he'll return next summer after the RNC to see all the improvements in place by then, esp at Public Square.

More evidence of anti-train bias? No, just evidence that Shaker Heights let its usually high standards guard down when RTA rebuilt the Rapid 35 years ago. City officials apparently were so enamoured of getting the (then) brand new cars and replacing the WW II-era PCC trolleys, that they didn't demand better than ugly bus shelters which were built, and unfortunately they remain to this day... I'm hoping that if RTA finally does get wise and junk Blue/Green's ancient, confusing pay-on-board fare system for POP, a more substantial, and hopefully more attractive, station building type will have to be built ... just to protect the fare vending machines, if anything else.

^Thanks... Looks nice. Glad to see that formerly vacant section now active. Uptown gets greater every day.

^Very nice. Does Inchin's have a significant presence on the Euclid side?

^These new lines has definitely created a strong identity, from the new stretchy buses plastered with CSU logos to the very handsome brick 'n glass shelters along Clifton (I'm jealous; why can't the Blue and Green Lines replace those ugly bus-like shelters with these!?) and the fact that the routes are very well identified connecting the far west suburbs through downtown directly to CSU. The 55s were popular, but this new system has taken things to a higher level without the crazy costs of the HL... This project was done right.

RTA reports nearly 20 percent increase in western suburb riders since Cleveland State Line debuted By Chanda Neely, Northeast Ohio Media Group Email the author | Follow on Twitter on July 31, 2015 at 4:36 PM, updated July 31, 2015 at 5:10 PM CLEVELAND, Ohio — Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority reported a 19 percent increase in riders from the western suburbs since buses began driving the Cleveland State Line in December. More than 132,000 people rode the Cleveland State Line on Clifton Boulevard during the first quarter, compared to 115,000 who rode the now defunct Legacy No. 55 route there during the same time last year. RTA reported a 23 percent increase in the second quarter, with nearly 119,000 riders in 2014 and more than 146,000 this year. See the RTA report below. RTA's newest route travels from Westlake, Fairview Park, Rocky River and Bay Village to downtown Cleveland via Clifton Boulevard. After passing through Lakewood, the route ends on the Cleveland State University campus. http://www.cleveland.com/rocky-river/index.ssf/2015/07/rta_reports_19_percent_increas.html#incart_river

Leon Bibb wears his Cleveland Pride on his sleeve, which is why I've always liked him... He's right, the word "magical" is the word I always used to describe University Circle. Like him, I've always felt it from childhood, it's a special place...Now with Uptown, it's magical on steroids.

Make that 2 non-NEC region, non-Chicago commuter rail electrifications (the 2nd after Denver) in America -- the 1st 2 all-new such installations since the Depression. ... Things are slowly, steadily looking up for this country transit-wise.

^Nice... btw another big difference from the old Flats: I notice a lot of jet skiers these days, no doubt thanks to the rental behind the Rock Hall (among other spots).

Well the Alley Cat is not nearly as sexy looking as its concept drawing(s) -- too much metal and not enough glass -- but it's not terrible. At least Bruell was forced to remove those ugly upper-deck support pillars from their proposed structure by the CPC. The joint will have killer views, esp from the upper deck and once people are milling about the Alley Cat and the boardwalk, it'll look even better.

An hour? Really!? When I took the Expo Line from it's current terminal into it's terminal at 7th St/Metro Center, it was only about 20-25 minutes, and this extension surely couldn't be another 35 minutes. The distance from the current Culver City terminal is less than 7 miles and is mostly grade separated.

L.A. is truly becoming a dense, pedestrian-oriented mass transit city in many of it's core areas... It's got a ways to go, but the improvement over even 10 years ago is stunning. 20-years-ago? Let's not even go there. Suffice it to say the old freeway-city LA moniker is a thing of the past... With the Expo-Line extension to Santa Monica, you can cross off another LA hotspot you can't reach by train. Awesome.

^Ground-level retail? Restaurant(s)?

^^Paul's sky shot gives you an excellent perspective of the Circle... In particular, you can see what a cold, sprawling, people-unfriendly mess CC is compared to UH... While I've been critical in the past the way UH had gobbled up and bulldozed so many historic properties, particularly apartments and homes, it is visually obvious that it is much better integrated, cheek-to-jowl, with the City than is CC, and much denser and more vertical. And with both the Red Line and HL surrounding it, much more transit friendly by a long shot.

I honestly think the Cavs will bring him back for the $6.4M that he turned down. Because we didn't really find that stretch 2 we were looking for this summer and because the summer bidding is pretty much closed, JR has a stronger hand than when he thumbed the deal. Also LeBron said he wants him back which, as we know, might as well be from On High as far as the Cavs are concerned. Plus I tend to get the feeling that the Cavs will refrain from sticking it to the guy. Yes, the world knows that he blew it and he's been publicly humbled/humiliated in the media as a result, but I think Griffin/Gilbert will let him save face and bring him back for the $6.4M. We've got most of last year's gang back under contract with Delly's signing today, and we need to get them all back ... happy.

Siegal Lifelong Learning to address land use and sprawl from a Cuyahoga County perspective By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer Follow on Twitter on July 27, 2015 at 10:22 AM, updated July 27, 2015 at 10:52 AM CLEVELAND, Ohio – Of all the issues facing the city, Cuyahoga County and Northeast Ohio, land use may be the most important and least discussed. Land use is how people interact with geography. It concerns the type of activity, the density and the intensity with which we use land at specific locations across the map. Recent research shows definitively that Cuyahoga County and Northeast Ohio as a whole face serious challenges thanks to their current land use pattern, in which the combined effect of sprawl development and population loss are creating a more costly and less sustainable way of life. http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2015/07/siegal_lifelong_learning_forum.html#incart_2box

I don't like losing any restaurant but I never thought Toby Keith's was a good fit for Cleveland demographic-wise, esp for such a new, high-profile location, so it's no great loss imho... Also thankfully this building is away from the water, kind of shoe-horned adjacent to where the Rapid crosses over the NS tracks so the empty building won't be as visible as it would have if it were along the boardwalk like, say, Alley Cat. So if we had to lose any of the new tenants, this establishment in this building would be the one I'd pick... Plus I doubt it will be empty for long anyway; even though TK has no doubt designed the interior motif, I'm sure another establishment will move in fairly quickly since the building's pretty built out as it is. FEB's going to be sizzling hot so the line of suitors is already forming, I'm sure.

All we really needed to do is bring back the guys we had and we'd be the odds on fave to return to the Finals, and quite possibly win if we're healthy... But we've done much better than that with the additions of Mo and Jefferson... And really, getting Andy back will be like getting a brand new player because Andy's never played with the core group we acquired mid-season (Shumpert, JR and Mozgov) so he will an added bonus and really make our frontcourt very deep. Griffin was smart and clearing away dead-wood guys like Miller and Haywood, and the trade exceptions we got back can be usable to grab a guy midseason which, hopefully, will be an insurance championship LOCK guy... All good with the Cavs now; just let's ink Tristan and JR and we'll be done until the season opener.

So he took the qualifying offer... just a little bit smaller than the 2 years, $8M he wanted.

Okaaaaay, so, you can't/won't name any pro-transit "leaders". So that means, I guess you're saying Cleveland is pro-rail expansion ... right?

This is simply not true. RTA's rail ridership in 2014 was no higher than in 1996 (the earliest year of data in the on-line APTA archives). Red Line ridership was up 20% over that span, which is great, but light rail ridership dropped by 28%, wiping out all the Red Line gains. We probably have one of the the worst performing rail system in the country in terms of ridership, ridership/per route mile, ridership per service hour, ridership growth, you name it. http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Pages/RidershipArchives.aspx Greater Cleveland RTA among leading gainers in U.S. for heavy and light rail use By Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer Email the author | Follow on Twitter on January 16, 2014 at 1:11 PM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Use of public transit is up nationally, with Greater Cleveland among the leading gainers in heavy and light rail ridership, according to findings of a national advocacy group for public transportation. Ridership on RTA's rail Red Line was up 5.7 percent in the 2013 third quarter compared with a year earlier. The July-September period is the most recent for which the American Public Transportation Association has complete counts. The Cleveland gain in heavy rail use trailed only the rate of increase in Miami, where heavy rail ridership rose 11.1 percent, due mostly to an increase in the number of trains deployed during peak hours; and Los Angeles, with a 7.5 percent increase for the quarter. Ridership on Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's light rail Blue, Green and Waterfront lines increased 4.6 percent in the third quarter, compared with a nationwide gain of 3.1 percent. RTA has compiled its year-end figures, too. The agency said customers took 49.2 million trips on RTA last year, up 2 percent from 2012. "We have increased service while other cities have been forced to cut, our fares have remained the same, parking rates continue to rise and people are making economic choices to drive to a rail station, park for free and ride the rapid," spokeswoman Mary Shaffer said Thursday. Train intervals of seven to 15 minutes during peak commuting times are very convenient, she said. "People are starting to realize there is additional value-added to riding," Shaffer said. "You can do things you can't do while driving, like reading, sleeping, texting and relaxing." http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/01/greater_cleveland_rta_among_le.html

No, you missed my point ... entirely. Where did I mention RTA in my post, other than to say the problem is bigger than Joe C? My post stated the community has an anti-rail mindset, and that it goes beyond 1-man (or agency in this case). I addressed you statement about "without private philanthropy," noting that private philanthropy has been the route some cities are going with the shrinking public dollar, esp in a stingy state like Ohio toward transit; but that unfortunately you're not going to rail expansion, not even with private dollars, unless this community changes its mindset. Please reread my post. Which community has an anti-rail mindset, specifically? As opposed to a general skepticism towards public transportation. You raise a good point... I was wrong. It can't be the whole community, because more and more citizens are riding rail (Cleveland has one of the fastest growing rail ridership); and a developer here and there (Ari Maron, for one) are actually motivated to build TOD -- hopefully Intesa will be the next TOD... ... better stated would be too many leaders in our community are either anti rail or, more commonly, just plain indifferent to it; and that's a problem. Not only that, but the people who are skeptical of public transportation are less skeptical of rail. With regard to riding public, I would absolutely agree... With regard to (many) who hold the purse strings are in are actually position to advance a rail expansion agenda, I'm less inclined to agree... ... I come back to Dan Gilbert (who I tend to like, btw)... We have some 50-odd-miles of a working passenger railroad into Cuyahoga county: the CVSR, that some people have discussed extending into downtown Cleveland, but it's kind of languished in recent years because of, as I understand it, cost issues and the headache of dealing with track rights and insurance issues with freight rail carriers who own the last 8 miles of rail into downtown (from the current CVSR Valley View terminal)... And yet, Gilbert, who could have some 60 miles of casino customers cruising into TC -- right to the basement of friggin' his casino -- from as far away as Canton, has said nothing... And with his money, he could finance the CVSR-to-Tower City extension himself, as he's practically doing with the M-1 LRT in Detroit... at the very least, he could be a part of a P3 (public-private partnership) team to develop this project... It's being done in Detroit with M-1 and it's being done in Denver, with its massive FasTracks project, in a very, very big way. But Dan's just one example; there are others.

^^OK, I'll turn it around on you: name me the leaders who have spoken out in favor of rail or really advocated for rail like, say, when the OC advocated and pushed for the roadway saying transit/TOD would be key but then, after the OC was green-lighted, would have allowed for 2 Rapid stations in the area to close (the 2 E. 79s) while, at the same time, ODOT would only fork over about $1M for the expansion of E. 105 to accommodate the OC there -- which official called them out (other than the much-despised Angie Schmidt? - who spoke up to include a connection to the NCTC to the new convention center when the Rapid goes right by there? - which was the last Cleveland mayor to speak up for transit expansion (rail or bus)? Can you name him (or her)? Can you tell me what they said? - Has Mr. Calabrese ever spoke out or advocated a rail expansion plan (actually, the answer is: yes; he's behind, publically at least, a plan to possibly extend the Red Line into Euclid), so I guess he's not on the list, huh? I could go on, but you tell me... (hint: there are some 'leaders' who have, but the list ain't that long)