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Transportation town hall focuses on bikes, peds and public transit By Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer Email the author | Follow on Twitter on November 25, 2014 at 7:00 AM, updated November 25, 2014 at 2:45 PM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The transportation experience in America is changing, but the way we build transportation is stuck somewhere back in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, when the country was creating a massive interstate highway system. That's according to the keynote speaker at a town hall Monday night in Cleveland that examined Northeast Ohio's transportation networks and how they might be shaped to create more livable communities. "If you want your kids to stay in the area, you are going to build neighborhoods where people can get around both inside and outside of their cars," said Beth Osborne, former acting U.S. assistant secretary of transportation and now a vice president of the advocacy group Transportation for America. http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/11/transportation_forum_talks_int.html

Nice to see James Jones actually play -- and true to form, he swished a 3-pointer. Brendan Haywood only played 6 mins, but had 3 blocks, including one on Oladipo, (but had no rebounds). Amundson looks like he can give us some quality minutes as does Cherry. None of these guys are stars, but given the chance, I think they can at least keep the lights on while the stars rest (and Blatt now says that, unlike his earlier miscues, he will now have a star on the floor at all times save junk time of course). I refuse to believe Haywood and James are washed up simply because David Blatt's not playing them, because up until recently Blatt's been trying to sell us on Mike Miller, who clearly seems to have hit his career wall... And as bad as LeBron has been this past week -- and he was bad by his standards -- that during the losing streak we had an 18-point lead against the Eastern Conference leader and an 11-point lead against the World champs.

Great news.

NuCLEus will be THE BLOCK downtown. The retail will almost be gravy... And the fact that it will be steps away from E. 4th, Tower City, the new Public Square, the Q, the Pro, the RTA transit hub, Heinens/The 9, Schofield/Kimpton, etc, etc...

^Definitely CMA-like, just not quite as sexy -- no curves and no 1916 Building.

I think a lot of the problem is Blatt's lack of consistent rotation; something Jason Lloyd (and others) noted he had issues with at Macabbi Tel Aviv.... I think LeBron's inconsistency and, sometime, lack of leadership has certainly hurt the team, and when he plays poorly, we usually loose. But I can't put it all on him. These are big boys and certainly more talented than the team LeBron left in 2010... Also, note the fact that specifically in 2 recent games, San Antonio and Toronto, (in the 2nd and 1st quarters, respectively), the Cavs were cruising along with double-digit leads, then LeBron sat down and, in both cases, we immediately collapse and either get caught or fall behind which, suddenly, puts us in panic mode. I thought this team was supposed to be deep ... then we're forced to have LeBron come back in and rescue bail us out. Yes, he's the greatest player on the planet, but this shouldn't consistently be his role. He's older now and we have more talent; it shouldn't all be on him 24/7... We got away with this style in Chicago and Denver and even with New Orleans, here, but it's not happening now. Yes LeBron isn't quite as explosive and has some ball handling/turnover issues he usually doesn't have, but this team is not supposed to be the LeBron-aires. And I think a lot of this because of Blatt's inconsistency in rotation along with a) his general reliance on a short bench and not getting the most out of potential guys (James Jones, Brendan Haywood) who he never uses , b) his over reliance on severely-struggling Mike Miller, c) his jerking around young guys like Waiters and Harris, the latter who looked good last week, looks totally confused now. Also, I don't like Marion at the 2; he should be backing LeBron at the 3. Although Shawn's offense comes and goes, his defense has been stellar. Blatt really needs to figure it out. Yes, much is indeed on LeBron, but I think Blatt has a lot of fingerprints on this current collapse.

Yes I have, at least to the extent that the projection is in the ballpark of the final costs. Of course, there are almost always hidden costs and cost overruns. But the point in this case is that, even to non-experts as me (and perhaps Glenville), to peg this massive project as $300M is extremely conservative given the costs of recently completed large-scale projects.

I've been thinking the same thing. A project of this scale would seem to run from at least $750M to $1B, esp in a dense, urban major downtown... IIRC, FEB's Phase I alone (the E&Y 21-story tower plus the Aloft Hotel) was around $300M.

^Stop it, you're scaring me.

Saw Sam Amico's chat today... I'm glad I'm not the only one who is totally befuddled as to why David Blatt isn't playing Brendan Haywood at all... Makes no sense esp given our near total lack of a rim protector (except those few times when power forward Tristan Thompson steps into the role). I know we're only 9 games in, but Blatt's rotation is really starting to bug me.

^As far as I know, Betty White is still going strong; could probably work another 6 years if she wanted to. People are living longer. But she's got to be in the Guinness book of World Records ... for sitcoms.

"Hot in Cleveland" is a cute show, and for the first couple seasons, I was a regular. It kinda ran out of steam, though, and the laughs weren't quite as strong. ... Nevertheless, it was very likable and generally well done, and the characters were memorable and funny (Wendie Malick's wacky "Victoria Chase" stole the show, imho, although Betty was, of course, no slouch either ... at the tender age of 90-whatever!). One of Victoria's great in-character lines: "... and they'll also be featuring the Clevleand Browns, whatever that is."... I enjoyed the exteriors from around town, esp their favorite girl's night out bar: GLBC (I know Great Lakes LOVED the national visibility). I also, of course, enjoyed the local references: like Wayne Knight's character being an editor for the Plain Dealer... ... HIC had a live broadcast which, unfortunately, I didn't see. I was hoping they would do at least one show on-location in Cleveland, but I guess it was not meant to be... Still, the show was good pub for the City as it depicted the town in fun but respectful manner. It had a nice run -- I'm sure HIC will be sorely missed by all those older, less/non-working actors from yesteryear who were able to show his/her faces ... and earn a fast paycheck to boot.

This was like a mirror of opening night: we absolutely took Denver lightly. We were sloppy (15 turnovers) and unfocused at both ends of the floor. And this time, Denver had All Star caliber PG Ty Lawson who ran our D ragged, penetrating and hitting (wide) open guys for 3s. And just like with the Knicks, when we finally did decide to play sometime in the 4th quarter, it was too late... We've played this rope-a-dope ball more often than not this season; it took a HOF level performance from LeBron in the 4th, plus some consecutive 3s by Kyrie, to stage a miracle comeback against Boston... Otherwise, we seemed really bored for much of the night. And it cost us dearly, as San Antonio, Washington and Toronto are next up on the docket.

That's more perception than reality. Dion shot 42% on catch and shoot 3s last year. The coach should absolutely force him into more of those shots. The Coach shouldn't force anything... Yes, Jason Lloyd (an anti-Dion guy) noted he shoots a high percentage of 3s from the catch and shoot... I have no problem with him shooting some shots from this position... But I also think it's foolish to deny his natural slashing ability to the hoop. That's not a talent that comes around every day, and it would make no sense to clip his wings. Like I said, if he's hotdogging it or hogging the ball and not playing within the flow, then bench him if he doesn't stop. As for his lack of defense, yes he should pick it up... But Dion's far from the only one who lapses at the D end. I think Kyrie is weaker than Dion defensively. We've seen quality PGs (Damian Lillard) and even just good ones, or slice and dice Kyrie... And after a good start defensively, Kevin Love has been showing his D warts of late.... And you saw last night LeBron chew out Tristan when Thornton drive to the hoop untouched... While I'm not saying Dion is perfect by any means, it just seems like he's been made the whipping boy too often on this team. I'm sure the fact that he doesn't speak the King's English, grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and, now it's been revealed he's Muslim, doesn't help matters either.

Joe needs to start so Marion can relieve LeBron and, hopefully, begin curbing these 40-minute nights of his. Marion's more of a natural 3 anyway, who plays close to the rim defensively and offensively. I've felt from the beginning that Harris has poise and toughness, esp for a 2nd round rookie. He's a bigger guard- 6'6" and can stick the 3... I think this can also free Dion to lead the 2nd unit and get more PT, esp in the 4th Q, which he hasn't been getting. Plus I think it will help him to be paired with Marion on that 2nd unit. At this point Mike Miller is totally useless. Not only isn't he shooting -- he usually takes 1 or 2 shots per game -- he misses them when he shoots them. And last night, he even threw in a key turnover... To me MM is the odd man out of this lineup, not Waiters, as many in the media are saying.... I also want Blatt to let Waiters play his game. He's not a natural catch 'n shoot guy, but is most comfortable in the open court. That's not saying he shouldn't play within the team concept, because he shoot ... and sometimes, doesn't. But Blatt shouldn't try and shove a square peg into a round hole... Plus, in a pinch, Dion can play the point. Last season, there were games were he out-assisted Kyrie.

^It's truly amazing, these days, how fast large city residential projects like this go from conception to design to financing to planning/landmarks approval... This is truly a new Cleveland.

I believe they're completely removing the old point of entry. It's gone.

I think the cable-stayed design is rather sexy, but Urbanophile raises a good point about the snow falling from the cables. The cable-stayed (suspension) design probably works best for cars instead of people, but I'm not yet prepared to rule it out without full information.

Ghoulardi! Awesome...

^can we start with a Jimmy Dimora statue?

... and Josh is set to return to the Party when we play Atlanta on Nov. 23rd. I understand Ray Farmer's comments re Gordon, which predated last night's Cincy beat-down of course... who would want to mess with THAT offense!? ... Nevertheless, having a Pro Bowl WR-- one of the elite pass catchers in the League, can only be gravy for the stretch run of a team that's gaining momentum with each passing week. And the D looks at times, like last night and against Pittsburgh, like a 12-foot high wall -- I'm sure Andy Dalton sure thinks so (and was that really Buster Skrine out there?). Suddenly it's looking like the playoffs are not just doable but, at this point, darn near expected.

^Thanks for the report Zak... ... for us "old-sters", the implementation of the Trolley from E. 34th connecting Tri-C is essentially Back to the Future, as the old Loop Bus system was implemented connect with E. 34th Street when that station was built in the 1970s. That's why it's still often called "Campus Station" even though the Loop connection (and of course, the Loops themselves) are long gone. Glad the Shaker Rapid conversion-to-bus Q was put to Joe C. Good to hold his feet to the fire, because I still refuse to believe the "rumor" just materialized out of thin air.

KJP's proposal of relocating E. 79th (Red Line) to Buckeye-Woodland makes perfect sense... One note: with RTA's budget cuts of a few years ago, the old Woodland-Larchmere bus (the #13 IIRC) was cut so that, now, people who live in the immediate area of E. 79th & Woodland have no direct transit route to downtown -- they must either take the crosstown E. 79th route and transfer to a radial bus route ... or take the Red Line, and once the latter is gone... I guess they can walk south to the Blue-Green Line rail stop but that's pretty out of the way.

In minor defense of Kyrie, when you have LeBron James on your team, there are many times when LeBron handles the ball, brings the ball up the floor and runs the offense as a "point-forward" would do -- even though he posts-up way more than during his previous Cavaliers tour. But Kyrie has ZERO ASSISTS over the past 6 quarters where he has hoisted 70-odd shots, which is inexcusable. We are only 4 games in, but given the training camp and preseason, you'd have thought Kyrie and Waiters would have begun to ease out of those old bad habits, esp given the extreme talent level on this team (with LeBron and Love) and with LeBron acting as teacher -- well, at least attempting to do so. Contributing to this car-crash of a season roll-out are David Blatt's horrible rotations. For some crazy reason he has decided to shorten our bench as though we are heading into the playoffs, and guys like Harris, Haywood and Jones aren't getting on the floor at all (we did have a very brief Haywood citing at the tail end of the 1st half of the Portland game, even though, honestly, I don't think he played even 30 seconds -- but there's no evidence at all that he's hurting). As Jason Lloyd pointed out, Blatt's attempt to enhance the D by starting Marion at the 2 failed horribly, with the young, inexperienced (and Lottery-bound) Jazz shooting nearly 60% in the first quarter... I would much rather use Marion to spell LeBron at the 3, because even though Marion's shot isn't what it used to be, he's the best fundamental defender on the team at the moment... Let Dion stay in and let LeBron take him under his wing. If he doesn't listen to No. 23, ... then bench him. Otherwise Blatt is just hurting both Dion and the team by dog-housing him... Also, with Delevadova unfortunately out for probably 1 1/2 months, I'd really like to see Joe Harris get some PT and, thus, experience. Harris has shown he has a super sweet shot. Unfortunately Delly's injury should force us to use him, but fortunately this is all very early, so Blatt should take advantage of it and get Joe in there...

Very exciting; I'm cautiously optimistic that this one's going to happen. It seemingly came out of nowhere, but that's the way development's been happening in C-Town recent years as opposed to the bad-old-days when it took decades to plan developments which ultimately failed ... Also, I'm curious and interested that TIF will be sought to finance this project, which could make this a pilot program for other new downtown development.