clvlndr

I totally disagree -- the situations are absolutely comparable. Who cares whether the chicken came before the egg? The bottom line is that Philly planners got it done. Why? Because they had the good sense to develop on the site of the old Reading head-house/train terminal (and legendary Reading Terminal Market beneath)... they did located the new convention center where they did because it was at a major transportation hub. And the end result has scored huge dividends for Philly. In the later 80s early 90s before their CC opened, that area of Philly was dumpy, rundown and dead. The Reading Terminal Market and the then still new-ish, but mainly underground Gallery shopping mall (cue MTS to hate on Tower City all over again) were about the only things going on in that area. Now it's teaming with hotels (including Philly's 1,200-room anchor Marriott, with several spin-off Marriott properties nearby in several then unused office buildings, including the 1893 mothballed/deteriorating aforementioned Reading RR head-house), restaurants and clubs, galore -- and even more quality hotels not named Marriott (like the Loew's in the 1932-built modernish Art Deco PSFS bank HQ). Philly planners get it; they highly value Philly's large transit infrastructure. Cleveland planners, meanwhile, are still stuck in Albert Porter World; that of 1950's societal genuflect to the mighty automobile: parking lots and freeway off-ramps for the suburbanite to access downtown's assets and then leave as opposed to those who either live downtown or in town, or close in, who would just as soon walk, take transit and not be bothered with cars. The RTA Waterfront Line goes literally right in front of the newly-rebuild Convention Center; the CC's giant windows toward the Lake literally look out onto the WFL's tracks. When the CC was being rebuilt it would have been a golden opportunity to develop the NCTC directly adjacent to the Convention Center with access to the Waterfront Line, Amtrak, Greyhound, Megabus ... and even others, like LakeTran whose buses pull off the Shoreway at E. 9th and roll right by the site. But no, our planners are more interested in pretty pedestrian bridges over the tracks to North Coast Harbor and even an analyst like Steve Litt, who I greatly respect, talks of shielding the public to 'those ugly railroad tracks.' Bridging rail transit (or walking next to it, like the Red Line Greenway project underway now pegged to cross the Red Line Cuyahoga River viaduct) are deemed more important than transit itself... Welcome to Clevo-World!! So Cleveland in my mind is still an oddball fish. We've got a very good transit system but, yet, our planners don't do transit. As I've said before, until the powers that be around here can yank their heads out of the paradigm that cars are desirable because they represent the privileged and desirable demographic planners crave, and transit is the domain of the poor and minorities (and a few college kids ... many of whom are temporarily deemed 'poor') who planners would rather ignore, things aren't going to markedly change for the better. Other cities that are embracing transit -- even those late to the game like Detroit -- will move forward embracing TOD and connectivity while Cleveland has it's collective head stuck up its arse; HUGE gaffes like the non-connection of transit to the Convention Center are going to keep happening and only AAO and a few UOers are going to be the only ones who will even care.

Thanks.

I agree totally with this cleve.com-er. I know $$ was an issue, but the phrase 'penny wise, pound foolish' comes to mind: What's the rationale for studying only the east side of East 9th Street and not the west side where the current Amtrak station is? The west side is closer to the new convention center, could be connected with the new proposed pedestrian bridge and is more pedestrian friendly in general. The fact that the convention center was built without a better connection to the waterfront line is a huge mistake, other cities such as Philadelphia connect their convention center directly to rail public transportation. The tracks are literally right outside the center but you have to walk to East 9th and cross shoreway ramps to get to the station.. what a waste. This project could be huge for Cleveland but it needs to be done right, in a way that connects everything and is desirable to walk to... http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/04/cleveland_moves_forward_with_design_of_intermodal_transit_center.html#incart_m-rpt-1

Is RTA really serious about this? We've heard mixed signals between, RTA is trying to find .$5B (or something) to finance the local share to, this is merely a ruse to expand BRT. I fear the latter but was at least heartened to hear there was at least some momentum behind the former... Any updates?

^^ Those shelters are really nice looking... I can only wish that we had shelters of such quality on the Blue and Green lines along Van Aken And Shaker Blvds. Those circa-1980s cheap aluminum & Plexiglas bus stop shelters have GOT TO GO.

^^This really sucks. I really thought we were beyond this in University Circle; that is, UCI, CWRU and UH and their voracious expansion appetite (often parking garages), destroying the unique, historic and beautiful residential fabric of this great neighborhood. Hopefully a groundswell can reach CWRU to change direction on this one. Losing this lovely old home would be a very bad loss.

^I just don't know why they couldn't work out an agreement for ODOT to do this work at night. ODOT does major bridge construction on its interstates at this time -- like the Warrensville Road bridge rebuild over I-480 a couple years ago, at night. They closed I-480 from about 10p till 6a, and like the Inner Belt, they moved in the major beams under the roadway into place -- no doubt, the biggest move in road construction; and they got it done easily and within the timeframe. I just wonder why, when it comes to the Rapid, they work during the daytime on weekends and shut everything down on the East Side. It just seems rail transit has a lower priority in Cleveland. I also believe, if Joe C. wanted to exercise some strength, he could negotiate this with ODOT. There are just FAR too many total rail shutdowns on RTA. Far more than on any system I've seen or experienced.

^I certainly consider Back Bay in downtown Boston ... If we consider CSU part of our downtown, then Back Bay makes an even stronger case for being within theirs. We're used to having office buildings and no people living in downtown, but East Coast Colonial cities (as well as Chicago and San Fran further west) have, for more than a century, at least, had residential neighborhoods considered downtown... The ONLY reason I wouldn't necessarily consider Ohio City or Tremont downtown is the huge gulf the river and Flats area create physically separating them from the CBD. However, I've heard some planners and others, in recent years, refer to Ohio City as downtown. This is no doubt driven by OC's strong growth as a restaurant/retail district that happens to be nearby, and with it's strong bridge and superior mass transit connection to our Public Square downtown core, I can see an argument for this thinking ... just sayin'...

Interesting and not bad ... if all those additions were built, I'd love it... ... a couple things though - The Blue line through Shaker Square to Univesity Circle. a. I believe this line should grade-separate after Fairhill into Univesity Circle. I do get why you'd have it divert to Cedar-Fairmount; b. I think many would agitate that the Blue Line continue on to a terminal within the Cleve Clinic complex (somewhere near E. 93rd & Euclid. - I've never been a fan of completing the WFL loop because I just don't believe there's a large enough market to justify a slow, surface line along E. 17 or E. 18, ... BUT at least your route seems that it would submerge somewhere under Huron Road to connect with the Van Sweringen-built, still existing turnout from the extant Ontario-Huron (Red-Blue-Green) tunnels into Tower City. --- Going back to your Blue Line Extension to U. Circle (which I would extend from there to CC), I'd extend it even further westbound along Euclid replacing the HL (and utilizing only 1/2 to 2/3rs of their existing stations, then heading into the Huron Subway into TC (perhaps connecting with the WFL loop, if need be, at CSU) ... These LRTs could use the still existing Shaker platforms from yesteryear, then extend westbound via the Detroit-Superior subway surfacing after W. 25 out Detroit to Gordon Square, Battery Park and, perhaps, Edgewater and/or even the Lakewood Gold Coast. - I'm not wild about your round-about Green Line route to Beachwood Place. To me, it would be better to complete the old extension planned to I-271, then a 90-degree turn North in 271's median with stops near Beachwood Place/Legacy then terminating (in the median) between Golden Gate and East Gate shopping/residential areas (with perhaps and infill stop serving the sprawling Progressive Insurance and UC Seidman Cancer Center campuses). The rest of your fantasy extensions -- including the Red Line Euclid Square and (long ago NIMBY'd) Berea extensions -- are all cool.

... by foot? trolley? HL? Rapid? or (egad) automobile?... just curious.... btw, I share your pain about the WHD's open space/surface lots. As a non-WHD resident, I have hoped upon hope this area would see some kind of major infill project to fill those (many) voids (including the infamous 'hole' on Public Square), but alas, downtown priorties are currently centered on Gateway, the Flats and Civic Center districts -- all of which, ironically, have considerably less surface parking area viz-a-viz their buildnig densities than does the WHD... So it goes.

^You may be right... I can't speak with total authority on downtown Boston on weeknights these days -- my aunt, who lived in Back Bay, sadly passed a decade ago... I've since then been to Beantown once 3.5 years ago, but it was on the weekend, and the sidewalks were packed (there are times when Boston feels like a mini-Manhattan, esp with all the density, heavy foot traffic, and the old-school T-subway system) esp in the Newbury Street-Copley Square area with all the trendy shops, restaurants and 19th Century brownstone apartments... One thing that's very weird in Boston, even on weekends, is that the streets totally empty out by 11-11:30p; the restaurants and bars shutter and downtown literally becomes a ghost town. And Sunday morning in downtown Boston, much like in downtown Cleveland, is pretty quiet (although ours is quiet-er, except on Browns' Sundays) ... But on weekend nights, Downtown Cleveland at least keeps things lively until 12:30-1p ... with some joints over in the WHD going strong even till 3p -- like Panini's IIRC.

Boston writer Dan Shaughnessy misses mark about Cleveland By George M. Thomas Beacon Journal sports writer published: April 21, 2015 - 02:07 PM | Updated: April 22, 2015 - 09:41 AM I’ve never met Dan Shaughnessy. I believe I have seen him milling about Quicken Loans Arena. I recognize him, but I suspect he won’t want much of Northeast Ohio to do so, given the column he wrote in the Boston Globe that essentially makes the area sound as if it’s filled with a bunch of desperate mongrels howling for scraps. In essence, Shaughnessy wrote that Cleveland, and by osmosis Northeast Ohio, has been suffering since Moses returned from Mount Sinai. “They come downtown and they see a diminished city where commerce and activity once thrived, before the foreclosures and rampant unemployment,” he wrote. He went on to say that “LeBron and the Cavaliers are important because Cleveland is dead or dying, and there hasn’t been a team to make the city feel good about itself since Lyndon Baines Johnson was in the White House.” http://www.ohio.com/sports/cavs/boston-writer-dan-shaughnessy-misses-mark-about-cleveland-1.585171

I agree. Yes, despite the tremendous growth we've experienced downtown in recent years, there are times, esp some weeknights and on Sundays, where entire blocks are empty along Euclid and Prospect while most E. 4th St. restaurants are chairs up. (It's interesting to note that Ohio City, esp. Market Sq, often seems to have a more 24/7 presence than downtown). But we know that as it gets warmer, activity will intensify -- as for Friday and Saturday nights, Shaughnessy is nuts, because downtown street life is very vibrant... No downtown Cleveland is not comparable to Boston -- but how many cities are -- we still more than hold our own. But to belittle working families, particularly his stupid casino comments, was despicable and, even though I hate it when Clevelanders are too thin-skinned at the usual river-burning ribbing, this article merited a rebuttal -- I applaud Armond Budish and others for responding. To me, Shaughnessy's haughty, condescending mindset is parallel to (despicable) ESPN's disgraced Brit McHenry's.

Tell that to the umpteen number of Aloft guests who bitch and moan about it all over the internet. ... The difference, of course, is that hotel guests are short-term tennants who, in most cases weren't aware of the trains until the arrived. This is especially true since the Aloft is still new (not yet 2 years old), so there are not likely a ton of repeat visitors (aside from those, of course, who are business travelers to E & Y, Tucker Ellis and other tennants in the office tower).... But to opt to live in a high-end apartment building, one would absoulutely have known about the train noise (and rumbling), and still opted in for the rent Fairmount is charging. For you it's ambiance, but that's not the case for most people. (personally, I love the sound of train horns/whistles in the night ... but when they're miles away, not a few hundred feet from my window) Better put would be that future FEB tennants will tollerate/get used to that level of noise and vibration, becaue I seriously doubt few will actually like it. ... and don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE this project and can't wait till it's finished. It's quality new construction -- a substantial luxury, multiunit residential building, with balconies to boot, is a rarity in downtown Cleveland, and for that reason alone, should be a major asset. Who knows, I may surprise myself and move in there ... someday...

I wonder how much the nearby train noise affected rental rates.

It's absurd that RTA couldn't coordinate better with ODOT to not have (once again) a whole East Side shutdown on the night of the RRHOF induction ceremonies that only come to Cleveland every 3rd year. One of the few nights the Waterfront Line could have been made extremely useful to Public Hall (esp given the Public Square mess), we have this. Another Joseph Calabrese "I love rail" production. And please, I don't want to hear that RTA was helpless and that their hands were tied... If they were assertive enough, they could have coordinated better with ODOT. After all, although ODOT has it's job to complete, it is affecting (and wreaking havoc upon) RTA's service. I still believe middle of the night work could have been done to prevent these shutdowns of which there are far too many.

^^Lionel Richie!!?? Gotta be a joke.

Let's be frank, there is this certain pernicious group of white people in this country who, under the guise of "conservatism," see high-quality mass transit, esp HSR as enhancing travel, and hence economic opportunity, of minorities and the poor and, therefore view it as a threat ... This case is particularly odious, as with this excellent Dallas-to-Houston proposal, a private (let's repeat, private) company proposes to build the route entirely themselves, taking away right-wingnuter's biggest argument against HSR: it's a waste of precious taxpayer dollars... So what do the wingnuts do? They come up with bullsh*t, supposed legal rationale not to build: in this case, private landowners, especially those all important rural folks, will supposedly have their rights trampled upon when eminent domain is used by the private rail buildings for their track ROW. This is beyond a reach, legally, but it's unfortunately where we're at in this Country. ... but let's pull the covers off the root of this nonsense and call it what it is: racial prejudice and fear. I don't see that at all in this case. There won't be train loads of poor people trekking from Dallas to Houston and back. The light rail in Dallas, yep they are fighting that. But this HSR project is all about big business. Southwest Airlines, auto companies, highway contractors, they all have a stake in defeating it. I do. I also don't think that many of these conservative opponents even really think about why they are against it... they just react; it's a gut reaction. It makes no sense, but they look at all things transit, and they use terms like "social engineering" and "socialism." ... Why? Where does that come from? Yeah, if they look at the NEC and see how much Amtrak, especially Acela charges -- usually much more than discount airlines in the NEC -- and they'd realize that even middle income individuals can't afford the trains... Even a number of my professional, 6-figure income friends and associates opt for Peter Pan buses, or the Megabus, for travel in the corridor because they'd rather not pony up for the expensive trains... But that's the problem with America right now and why we're declining as a superpower ... people don't THINK, they REACT. Yeah, I agree that airlines like Southwest do oppose project like this, but I don't believe that their as motivated as conservatives like Big Oil and people like the Koch Brothers, who love to throw red meat at people who know these conservative suburban and rural whites will react. And as much as I believe in the parallel backward, anti-poor/minority reaction to urban rail transit, I don't think it's relevant ... even in Texas, because, as you can see by national and local political maps displaying how polarized this country is, most cities are populated and controlled by Democrats ... even in the South and even in conservative bastions like Texas.

Let's be frank, there is this certain pernicious group of white people in this country who, under the guise of "conservatism," see high-quality mass transit, esp HSR as enhancing travel, and hence economic opportunity, of minorities and the poor and, therefore view it as a threat ... This case is particularly odious, as with this excellent Dallas-to-Houston proposal, a private (let's repeat, private) company proposes to build the route entirely themselves, taking away right-wingnuter's biggest argument against HSR: it's a waste of precious taxpayer dollars... So what do the wingnuts do? They come up with bullsh*t, supposed legal rationale not to build: in this case, private landowners, especially those all important rural folks, will supposedly have their rights trampled upon when eminent domain is used by the private rail buildings for their track ROW. This is beyond a reach, legally, but it's unfortunately where we're at in this Country. ... but let's pull the covers off the root of this nonsense and call it what it is: racial prejudice and fear.

Transit leaders tour aging Tower City track, then on to station groundbreaking (photos) by Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer Email the author | Follow on Twitter on April 09, 2015 at 3:32 PM, updated April 09, 2015 at 5:36 PM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Asphalt-patched, unstable track beds were the star exhibit Thursday when transit leaders gathered at RTA's Tower City train station to urge Congress to pass long-term transportation funding. Since 2009, Congress has passed short-term transportation bills 10 times, leaving local planners to grapple with uncertainties in paying for multi-year projects, said Valarie McCall, chief of government affairs for the city of Cleveland. "We need a minimum of six years," said McCall, also vice chair of the American Public Transportation Association, which designated April 9 "Stand Up for Transportation Day" in cities nationwide. The current transportation bill is set to expire May 31. From Tower City, McCall and other transit and political leaders took the Red Line to the Brookpark Station for the groundbreaking on a $16.5 million station reconstruction. The last stop on the Red Line before Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is RTA's busiest rail operation west of Tower City, with about 1,400 customers boarding daily. http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/04/transit_leaders_tour_aging_tow.html#incart_related_stories

Elevator at RTA's West 25th rapid station to be back in service after 10 weeks By Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer Email the author | Follow on Twitter on April 09, 2015 at 2:18 PM, updated April 09, 2015 at 3:09 PM LEVELAND, Ohio -- The elevator at RTA's busy West 25th Street Red Line train station is expected to be back in action Friday. A hydraulic leak that caused the elevator to stop working Jan. 30 created an oil buildup in the elevator shaft, and much of the elevator had to be rebuilt, an RTA spokesman said. The repair by Kone Inc. took 10 weeks because parts couldn't be shipped until late March, RTA said. A note on RTA's Web site gave customers other options, and announcements were made on Red Line trips. If customers weren't able to go up or down the 48 stairs at the West 25th station, and were able to get to adjacent stations, those have elevators -- the Lorain Rapid Station at West 65th Street and the Tower City Station. http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/04/elevator_at_rtas_west_25th_rap.html

Exactly. There is no video of the conclusion "incident" that we've seen. Obviously RTA knows better than we do about what actually happened, otherwise they wouldn't be so quick to throw him under the bus (pun intended). If this was a black woman, I could see their haste to go public to avoid Al Sharpton from descending on Cleveland. But it was not, so their quick response tells even more. The irony is, based on her documented views she almost certainly believes there is such a thing as "white privilege". Guess not. Wow, really? That's pretty serious. Was it her "treating my like a criminal" comment? Do tell... Follow-up. I just scanned Jessica Ferrato's Facebook page and, happily, she doesn't impress me as that kind of person at all; the exact opposite of a "white privilege" crybaby. Much of her page is devoted to the Tamir Rice shooting plus issues involving the Sierra Club's fight against coal... she comes as pretty cool to me; my kinda girl --- er, lady. That she was even on the Rapid to begin with -- in car crazy Cleveland -- says something positive about her as well ... at least, to me. And she attended CIFF -- mainly cool people attend CIFF (yes, I'm biased!)... ... Seriously though, it all boils down to a terribly unfortunate situation that probably could have been handled better by both sides. But, as a poster noted sever pages ago, it's the responsibility of the cop/RTA to tamp down and escalating situation... It's the same reason I felt the RTA bus driver who hauled off and slugged the spitting/out-of-control female passenger in Beachwood a few years ago, should have been fired (and was), and perhaps prosecuted for assault & battery. There are certain protocols in dealing with the public and RTA failed in both instances. Anyway, back to all issues transit. This cop/woman situation is making my head hurt.

^^^^ Wait, ... is that Joe C. actually riding the Rapid!? ... frame that puppy for posterity cause historians would never believe it.

No, I'm certainly not hating on this woman. In fact, my initial reaction is sympathy for her because I don't like cops... I recognize most cops are decent people, but there's obviously a rouge element that tends to smear all cops with a bad name... I'm just trying to see both sides here.

I'll have to check out her Facebook page... I'll have considerably less sympathy for her if that's the case. I'm no cheerleader for cops, but from the little evidence that I'm seen, she was pretty damn obnoxious and probably escalated the situation exponentially... Also, (and forgive me if it's been addressed; my eyes have glazed over with the 2, 3 solid weeks of posts on this one incident) ... what about her pulled-down-panties allegation? She was silent on it in the TV interview I reviewed. Is she sticking to this story or was it a lie ... in this case, a little white lie is probably apropos.