bizbiz

OK, so then what you are saying is very important for us to acknowledge! Their standard of what is acceptable IS MUCH HIGHER. How can we raise OUR STANDARDS across the board? So that we are shunning Bullet Buildings and not Aldi's stores.

I know this is way off topic and rather irrelevant, but please go further with your belief that nothing shitty is ever built in London. You will have a hard time convincing me anything in Central London in the past 50 years is uglier than the Aldi's on Euclid.

You can't be serious with that opening sentence. Yes I am very serious. And when I speak of London, I could add 50 more cities (Europe or not!) in the same boat. Now, obviously London and every city in the world for that matter, has a couple black sheep, but there is no such thing in London as an entire street, district, or neighborhood where every significant structure has been torn down, is dilapadated, vacant, rotting, boarded up, or vandalized. In Cleveland, every single street that runs along E. 55th is the victim of that. St. Clair, Superior, Hough, Chester, Euclid, Carnegie, Cedar, Quincy, Kinsman, Woodland, and so on. My point being, I love Cleveland but I am not going to be superficial and pretend MidTown is beautiful because it's not. MidTown - the location of the most recent demolition, the Euclid Corridor, and Cleveland's "Business District" is a victim of the past 50 years. Sadly, it's the single most important link between downtown and University Circle/Cleveland Clinic. In London, or hell, in any other city, this area would be the main dish on every investor's plate for the next 10 years. But instead, things are getting torn down and nothing is being built or developed. Major infrastructural work was done to Euclid and it's showing major benefits to all parts of Euclid EXCEPT MidTown. The Baker Motors building being the only exception to that. This is not acceptable! In this case, Cleveland needs to turn to other cities in the USA or not, that have overcome the problem. I too want to see MidTown recover but it seems that not even a standstill can happen, as demolition after demolition keeps taking place. E. 55th and Euclid once was and still should be THE MOST IMPORTANT INTERSECTION AROUND but of course it's the ugliest and most bombed out! As for demolishing pieces of history, let us not forget the horrible plan bring down Marcel Breur's only highrise and a piece of Brutalism history. Like I said then and I'll say it again - anywhere else it'd be sacred. Here, we like to call it ugly. We like to think of shiny 3-story office buildings with fertilized lawns as pretty. Granted, "we" is the majority of Clevelander's, UO'ers being the mass exception, I hope.

Oberlin, my favorite college town! Fitzcarraldo, a movie by my favorite director! A street named Fitzcarraldo Way in Oberlin, that's funny but doesn't surprise me. I would have welcomed the name.

Or howabout a city like London for example where nothing shitty is ever built and nothing beautiful is ever neglected. Guidelines are in place to prevent anything from ruining or disrupting the beauty. Right now, we have guidelines or none, that allows for anything to be built, just as long as it's something being built. That is why an Aldi's stands where it does the way it does. The structure is up to the curb (good) but the entrance is in back (bad) and the front of the store is basically lifeless and faceless (very bad). Getting back to topic - this building being demolished a few blocks down on Euclid was one of the best remaining structures and now it too is history, like Millionaire's Row. I think we're currently in a lose-lose situation on Euclid.. build shitty things or create grassy fields of nothing. Neither is good and neither is better than the other. The real solution isn't "don't tear it down", it's re-adaptive use and marketing these old CHEAPLY PRICED properies to developers with creative minds. The law firm next to Agora being a perfect example of how an old building was saved from being demolished. The next one we'll be talking of is the dual warehouse that is falling apart across the street from Gust Galluci's - currently a large Healthline sign is covering the entire south facade of the first building.

How backwards can society get? The good stuff is being torn down and is being replaced with ugly stuff, meanwhile, the average to ugly existing stuff remains and gets uglier. That describes that end of MidTown. Granted, there are gems and masterpieces still standing and mixed in, such as Ingleside Manor, but I mean come on - what's going to happen in 10 or 20 years when MidTown does make a comeback and we're permanently stuck with crap like a windowless Aldi's?

The building came down today. I have to say, I am disgusted but at the same time, I would be willing to accept it if they ALSO tear down all the rubbish nearby (e.g. the U-haul store on the corner of E. 55th and Chester and the Rockcliff Market caddycornered to it) are so ugly. When will those come down? They are dangerous, they are dangerously ugly and disrupting to the rest of MidTown.

This is welcome demolition! I have pictures I have been taking of the pre-demo and post-demo that I will upload soon. According to SE's economic dev. dep't, this project is moving right ahead, and as you will see when driving by, the entire site is almost flat, other than the largest building that will take more skill to tear down since it stands right up against Starbucks parking lot.

My eyesore list: 1. The shutdown and falling apart gas station at E. 105th and Chester. The block that connects Cleveland Clinic to University Circle. 2. The corner of Coventry and Cedar (Cleveland Heights) - such potential and it's a field of dirt and grass. 3. The used car lot on Detroit and approx. W. 45th. More prime land AND views wasted. 4. All the surface lots in the WHD including Stark's building, "Titanic Tower" I believe it's called. Underneath it is the real building, but that facade is ugly as hell. 5. The Goodyear building at Prospect And E. 14th. Probably the biggest damn eyesore in town.

I hope this one is solved soon. This can and does happen in every big city but that is no excuse for this sort of sick thing to have happened here in Cleveland. What does Portland do differently? That is the solution. If it means more police, then do it. If it means less CMHA, then do it. If it means better security at Scorcher's, then do it. It's great we're talking about this being a problem area now, but what happens when someone is executed somewhere else in Cleveland. Will we just talk about the CMHA and how the area was a trouble zone? Let's react NOW so this shit doesn't happen again. This is directed at city leader's, the police chief, councilmen, and activists who are reading wondering what could be done.

The Cedar Center project is about to begin demolition. I spoke to the South Euclid Building Dep't head honcho in November and he said demo work will be the first phase, beginning in Jan. 2009. They had to remove asbestos which took a while I guess. As for South Euclid, thanks Dan for posting this thread! I missed it when it was originally posted, probably because I lived in Lakewood back then. Well, now I live in South Euclid and it's a very cool and interesting thread. I am contemplating doing a S. Euclid pic thread as well - not to one-up you, but to complement your committment to sharing what S. Euclid is all about to the others. It's one of those cities I knew little about before moving here, but now I think it has just as much of a rich history as C. Heights, S. Heights, U. Heights, Lakewood, and Parma. It's an inner-ring after all! And plus, a lot has happened since this thread began, including the new watershed that has been restored, the new dorms at Notre Dame, Francis Court, the demo of the old temple on Cedar, and of course, the forthcoming Cedar Center, which will have 4 stories of living, office, and retail. It will also bring a 3rd parking deck to the intersection IN THE SUBURBS!

Well, I haven't posted in a long time, but thought I needed to get a few of these pictures up on Urbanohio. Now, I'm sure most of you know about the University Hospitals construction, but here is some of the other good stuff going on in UC and Midtown that you may not know about: The new Juvenile Justice Center. This is a very large construction project. It is probably the biggest thing going on in Cleveland right now, visible from Little Italy, and in my opinion, bigger than the Heart Center at Cleveland Clinic. FYI, this is only the front of the project, the final product will be a dome shaped building: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9221.jpg"> The new parking garage at the Cleveland Clinic, now finished and open to the public. I believe it's the biggest parking garage in Ohio, that not necessarily being a good thing: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9224.jpg"> 11-15-08, the construction never ends at the Clinic: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9225.jpg"> Now the second crane has been raised at UH: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9228.jpg"> Euclid Avenue's newest resident: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9230.jpg"> Wade Park and 105th, nicely built: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9234.jpg"> VA now under construction too: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9236.jpg"> Chester 82, the same guys behind Battery Park. Update: THIS PROJECT IS STILL ON! <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9238.jpg"> New opportunity on Carnegie. Too bad people don't scoop these lots up like they do in Solon and Strongsville's industrial parkways: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9241.jpg"> Carnegie and E. 82nd, this is something big, I hope, right across from MOCA and behind the new drugstore on Euclid: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9242.jpg"> Payne and 55th, will this one happen? Does anyone even care? This is a blighted area that has become a true nomansland, but good LORD, this is a great looking church compared to the rubbish churches that have been built in Cleveland in the last 20 years. Let's go back to the days of quality cathedrals: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9243.jpg"> Baker Motor Building, nothing new, but still under renovation: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9239.jpg"> A better idea of how big the Juve center will ultimately be: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9218.jpg"> Juve: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9219.jpg"> Rear view of the new Speech & Hearing: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9231.jpg"> An amazing picture on my camera.. a preview of Circle 116: <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/bizbizjohn/IMG_9232.jpg"> Well, I am working on posting a part 2 of the Quadrangle and Midtown west, but the snow needs to melt first.

But is this "news" since we already know how damned poor Cleveland is, since the PD reminds us every week? I think I have read 20 times this year alone how poor, dangerous, deadly, dying, and rotting Cleveland is. Shrinking populations, unemployment rates, dying cities, polluted cities, dirty cities, poorest cities, lowest per capita, homicide rates, deadly cities. It's week after week of the same garbage. It's not news. There is so much in the national news spotlight to write about, but if you want local news, where is a report on the Ingenuity Festival, on the status of the Euclid Corridor, on the latest with the county corruption probe, or the status of the Flats East Bank. No, instead, that is not news, but another "Cleveland's poor list" is the news AGAIN. Every article that Steve Litt writes includes a mentioning of this stuff. Every week we get a huge news headline about how bad off Cleveland is. Why don't they talk about how homicides are down 30% in 2008. Because that's not news... The poverty rate increasing .5% is more important.

These 2 "news" posts aren't "news", so therefore, why did you re-hash the PD garbage here on Urbanohio? I think a fine line needs to be drawn: Urbanohio is smarter and better than the PD.

Sorry Pope, not everyone can afford CWRU.

The BP gas station at E. 29th and Chester, I was filling my tank when this guy comes up and starts washing my windows on the opposite side of the vehicle I am standing. When I saw him, I said "no thanks" 3 times and he walked to the next car. I was surprised the BP staff didn't do anything about it. Oh wait, the BP staff is the worst of the worst at this particular station. A LONGGGGG TIME AGO, When I was starting off in college, young, poor, not so "bright" and into drinking and partying, me and some friends had a hotel party. We ended up leaving the hotel at 6am on a Sunday morning for whatever reason or another. It was very cold out and we had a bottle of grey goose that was still 3/4 full. We wanted to save it, because it was worth "a lot to us" but it was an open container. So I had been carrying it under my winter coat as we walked out of the hotel to our cars on Euclid. This homeless guy approached us. After a long discussion between my friend and him about how religion is all that matters to him, he finally got to what he was looking for: ask us for money for food. My friend argued with him for about 10 minutes how he really wanted money for booze and drugs not for food. And the homeless or scammer kept saying he just wanted a hot meal. So, I intervened and offered the bottle of vodka since "we know that's what you really need money for and we don't have any money anyways." He gasped when I pulled a bottle of booze out of my coat. He took it and wandered off happily down an alley between E. 4th and Public Square. Oh how I miss the 90's, nottttt....

imnotjason, Being a regular at SYC, let me tell you how I feel about the whole place!! While I am no fan of suburban stripmalls OR big box stores, this happens to be the only place I'm tolerant of both. While most of my shopping in SYC is work-related, I will admit that I am fascinated by other criteria down there. The setting: in the Industrial Valley with views of factories, downtown, and MetroHealth, all underneath a busy doubledecker freeway makes for a quite unique location. The towpath, interesting facade's, and the history signage also makes it more welcoming to those who want more than a stripmall experience (e.g. people like us!) The implementation of a roundabout, the fact that my tax dollars are going to Cleveland, and the fact that most Clevelander's don't have to leave the city to shop at a big box stores now all make me think SYC is a great asset. To the naysayer's - if SYC was never built, the suburbs as usual would be where the business and tax dollars went.

I thought that portion of Euclid has been re-shut down to traffic again.. it was not open on Monday night at 7pm when I drove thru.. detour took me down E. 6 -> Vincent.

Damn, if that mix shows up, I'll be very happy indeed. I want to see Noodles & Company, one of my favorites that is not yet in Cleveland.

Well, the thing is, Cimperman's not a scumbag politician. He may be a politician but he's an alright guy at the end of the day. He helped my business out last year very quickly when I had a problem and in 1999 when I was a freshman in the CSU College of Urban Affairs, he came to my classroom to be a guest speaker about Cleveland. He had nothing but good things to say about our city and it was one of the inspirational speeches that led me to be a huge supporter of Cleveland. Okay, so I'm off topic - what else is new!

lewarctj, I hope you know I was totally joking around!

^ Yes indeed, that is one gorgeous building in the making!

Well, yes, actually it has. NCB is in a real crunch because of Woodforest inside the new Wal-Mart. And Target's parking lot is half empty whenever Wal-Mart's is half-full! :)

There was a post on the random Cleveland developments thread about the possibility of developing the land behind the Carl B. Stokes Courthouse. While the developer has backed out at least once before, I do think this may finally see the light of day if the Medical Mart and Convention Center does take foot, since it would be directly adajcent, possibly even connected underground, as is the case with Tower City being linked already to the Courthouse.

Lyndhurst wants the tax dollars that neighboring Beachwood swallows daily, so Legacy Village was the first step. I'm certain that the city will do all it can to make this move forward and be the second step to financial independence. It's what this land is developed into that has me nervous. On one hand, most anything big would be considered a setback to downtown Cleveland's emerging renaissance, whether it's retail, residential, or commercial. However, on the other hand, I'd rather see it happen in Lyndhurst than in Solon, or god forbid, Twinsburg. I live right by Legacy Village and I'm not exactly a fan of the damn place, but I'm glad that it was built there instead of Hudson or Twinsburg. I'll always support the county seat first, followed by the inner rings, followed by the in county suburbs before I ever support drudge like Twinsburg and their "proposed" "luxury lifestyle center". What this all boils down to is the "lesser of the many evils".