NEOBuckeye

^Two stories = too short. Maybe I've just been spoiled by the development along East Exchange, but this building should be at minimum 3 stories, though 4 or 5 would be better still. I guess you have to take what you can get sometimes, but I am disappointed that this building will not be taller for what seems to be an important starting point in UPA's revitalization of East Market.

Nothing against quality charter schools, but the hotel proposal would be a far more suitable use for this property in conjunction with the newly renovated convention center. With the law being structured the way it is, I'd be concerned about some kind of less reputable operation benefitting from this.

^Perhaps as the economy picks up, these projects could become a reality. I would definitely love to see the streetwall restored in front of Lock 3 park with some kind of an alley/gateway entrance on Main St. Perhaps it could be incorporated into the building design as a tunnel gate of sorts. Townhomes here would be nice, but really only a few people would benefit from them. A multi-level mixed use building with space for additional shops and restaurants and a rear view of the park would make the entire project more appealing.

For as long as I can remember, Cleveland has primarily defined itself by the success or failure of its pro teams. Ironically though, at a time when all 3 teams are languishing in mediocrity with no legitimate hope for a title run in sight, the city seems to be reviving and is poised now to make a genuine turnaround and comeback for the first time since the Industrial Collapse. Maybe that's a sign of some kind? I'd say it's long overdue for Cleveland and Clevelanders to stop being perpetual sports victims and start embracing the many things that are actually going right around town. Who needs South Beach?

^The property itself sits on the Tuscarawas River and has easy access to the State Rt. 21 and Rt. 30 interchange in Southwestern Stark County, so the location is a very good one for industrial/manufacturing use.

^Actually, the original Arena District proposal was for something more like this than Dan Gilbert's Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland. It would not at all have fit the character of the buildings within the Arena District.

^I remember this now. The house in the amphitheater-looking place on the left-central side of the diagram was the old Painted Lady that was torn down due to extensive damage caused by repeated vandalism. A real shame because it was a genuine cultural asset in Northside. I suppose they could still create the amphitheater without it though. I am curious about those townhomes in the diagram lining the other side of Howard Street from the existing ones, as well as the ones along Ridge Street behind the Northside condo tower and site of the future hotel. I am assuming they will eventually be built out when housing market conditions improve, although they could consider building them for rentals also.

^Green sees itself like so many suburbs around Akron-Canton still do, as a self-contained entity disassociated from the larger region for which it owes its existence. They'll keep building more sprawl because they can, regardless as to the long term maintenance challenges it will create and the excessive drain on area resources. What's so bad is that they have no discernible downtown nor a desire to build one that doesn't rely on automobiles. Even Stow, Akron's most nondescript suburb has at least acknowledged that it could benefit from more planning, including a walkable central business district, and less sprawl.

^I pretty much thought the same thing when I read the article. Lofty ideas, but no wherewithal to see them through. It'll likely remain a park with a shop at best. Northside could definitely grow further along Furnace Street, though, with the vacant land further east down the street providing room for additional mixed use development. Perhaps with bars and restaurants that could use up those additional liquor licenses. My one wish for Northside is that it could be better connected with the Main-Market arts district. Having MLK Blvd run between them both as a four lane highway certainly hasn't helped connectivity and the growth of either towards a critical mass of vibrancy. Maybe a tunnel could be built that would connect the two underneath the road, but that's a pipe dream.

The answer: They won't. Not the current crop, at least, including such political visionaries such as our very own Gov. John Kasich whose first act before even officially taking office was to dismiss funding for the 3Cs rail. When the Baby Boomer generation that grew up in the 1950s "Happy Motoring Society" and now occupies most political offices finally retires, is ousted en masse, and/or bites the Big One in sufficient numbers to allow the younger generations to take over, that's when we will see a shift in policy on transportation. Until then, get used to projects that will add more lanes to I-71 and the like and seeing that touted as "progress."

Very nice photos! Also agree regarding the rail comments. There's no reason why Cleveland and Pittsburgh, given their proximity to each other, shouldn't be better connected by rail running through Youngstown. All three cities would benefit immensely from it and not simply by having an alternate method of inter-city transportation available. A rail line would also encourage more tourism and stronger economic associations between these three cities. On a related note, one thing I really liked about Pittsburgh during each of my travels there is how walkable the central city is, from Downtown, to Oakland, to the Strip District. For one trip I even left my car at home, took the Megabus and backpacked it. It was an all around rich and enjoyable experience. Cleveland has come quite a ways over the past decade, but could definitely still learn much from Pittsburgh in this particular regard.

Actually, the area east of Rt. 8 including East Exchange has been included in UAPark's feasibility studies and is also clearly included in the UA Park district according to the maps on UA Park's website, one of which I have attached below. Also, if you drive by Dave's Supermarket and the Middlebury Plaza, there are UP banners hanging from the poles adjacent to the plaza. UP is claiming this area as part of its redevelopment district. How soon they get around to doing anything serious with it is another matter, however. I do agree that it will be a couple of decades down the road before they do a whole lot with it. My guess is they will eventually split off the area east of Rt. 8 and relaunch it with/as part of the old Middlebury District. It's not difficult to see this happening eventually, particularly once the Goodyear HQ/"Riverwalk" project is maxed out. Middlebury will be a lynchpin in connecting Riverwalk, UP, and Downtown. But again, this will all play out over decades rather than within a few years.

A valid observation, Gramarye. But nonetheless, I suspect at some point further down the road, the City of Akron is going to seriously look at providing incentives for this businesse to relocate to a designated industrial zone elsewhere in order to support what by then will be a flourishing East Exchange Corridor in need of more prime space for mixed used residential and commercial development. Besides, by that point, the business itself may very well be looking for the additional space to expand their operations and even seek the aid of the city in finding it. There are other parcels of industrial land in and around UA Park that will also eventually be reclaimed for residential use, parks and green space as Akron's core neighborhoods are reborn. From another angle, if Akron is going to rebuild itself and attract and retain more residents, the city is going to have to do some substantial re-zoning and beautification work. UA Park developers will likely be able to create several vibrant corridors, but the impact of their efforts will be greatly enhanced if they aren't beholden to upholding and working around the city's industrial legacy.

^It is a great statue. I almost wonder if McDs placed it there for that very reason, hoping UA/UA Park developers would pass on seeking to acquire the property for additional development convinced that it was "cool enough" already.

^I always wondered why McDonalds built a suburban-style restaurant at that spot when they relocated from the parcel that UA bought to build InfoCision Stadium. Even back then, UA was discussing plans to massively densify East Exchange so the franchise owners had to have been aware of what was eventually coming. Once the other parcels of land around it have been fully developed into multi-story mixed use buildings, it is going to stand out along East Exchange like a sore thumb. That could be exactly what they are hoping for, but I have to guess maybe they are hoping to sell the land to a developer that wants to build a multi-story building with ground level retail and maybe they would move into one of the new storefronts.

Regarding the proposed name change for Polsky's, I think UA should just go with something like Summit Technical College or Akron Technical College. It's easy to see shorthand casual references like ATC or "Akron Tech" catching on and spreading quickly. Keep it simple and to the point.

From the tone of the article, it sounds like Ted Curtis would be perfectly happy with the third option he proposed of renovating/adding space to the JAR. Purely from a utility and clustering standpoint for UA, it may well be the best option. However, given that the university is trying to stretch the boundaries of its campus and act as a force for community and economic development in Central Akron, I think UA would be missing a huge opportunity by passing on the other proposals that would better connect it to the surrounding community. Personally, I like most the proposal to build a new arena adjacent to InfoCision Stadium on East Exchange and Spicer as I think it would not only keep a key facility within UA's athletics cluster, but it would also support the ongoing re-development of East Exchange and a key section of UA Park. surfohio, as you noted, Rt. 8 does seem to act as a barrier to growth beyond the Spicertown District into Middlebury though, but I think that could be addressed if the properties immediately east of the overpass were redeveloped into hotels, shops and restaurants. These would then draw people through the tunnel to the other half of East Exchange before and after games and possibly lead to further redevelopment into Middlebury. Downtown would have its own advantages, as you noted uastudent12. And as anyone who has lived in Akron for more than a year or two knows, Mayor Plusquellic has been pushing UA to build a new arena downtown for years now. It isn't as convenient for UA from the standpoint of maintaining an athletics cluster, which is why they might be reluctant to move forward with this option. But if the City of Akron and Summit County are able to allocate supporting funds, this is most likely the deal that gets done. As a side note, they could still incorporate some small shops and retail into the arena streetwall along Main just like they did with Canal Park and Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

The building needed a refit, but the end result doesn't appear to be quite as impressive as I thought it might be. Maybe they are still kicking around the idea of moving the HoF and Fawcett stadium to Downtown Canton in a few years' time and so decided to hold back on going all out for the current HoF location?

^I could see Kohls opening a store there maybe, but no way Target will move from Howe Ave over there or build another store so close in this area. They are just off Rt.8 and the location they have is one of the highest grossing in the Akron-Canton region. Why give that up? Also, Portage Crossings is going to be too isolated to really become a regional draw for people like Summit or Belden Village Malls (or like Chapel Hill once was), and it doesn't help that CFalls still enforces ridiculous 25 MPH speed limits on their roads. It may do okay as the equivalent of a suped-up strip center, but unless they are going to build a ton of new housing and apartments around it, it won't be much more than that. The days of State Road being a shopping destination are long gone.

I don't think UA would necessarily care nowadays. They seemed in favor of a regional "University of Northeast Ohio" merger between UA, Cleveland State, Youngstown State, and Kent when it was first discussed a few years ago. UA would likely have become the flagship campus with Proenza presiding over the entire university structure. CSU and YSU seemed warm to the idea, but Kent balked at it. Kent has never been too keen about any threat to their identity.

^I remember back when President Reubel said UA would eventually pull out of Polsky's in the late 90s. How much times have changed. Whatever UA's reservations have been about moving downtown, with the emergence of student housing in the Quaker Square and Canal Park districts, it seems to be happening anyway out of sheer need for student housing if nothing else. I can't imagine that this isn't having an impact on student opinion. As more students live, work, and socialize downtown, I have to believe UA's culture will shift to accomodate Downtown Akron more fully into its influence and campus reach, even if it takes the current generation of campus admins moving on to get to that point. As far as UA not being comfortable in its present spot, that was always easy to see and get a sense of as a student. Kent was the direct opposite, a school that was very certain about itself and knew what and where it wanted to be. I remember hearing about how there were plans long ago to relocate UA when it was still Buchtel College out to the Fairlawn Heights area of West Akron onto what is currently the Fairlawn Country Club golf course. I try to imagine now what a different future that would have meant for the city and for downtown in particular. Would Buchtel College even have evolved into its present form, or might it have gone a different route, becoming something more akin to Hiram, or perhaps Case Western Reserve? Downtown Akron would certainly be less fortunate for not having UA's presence now, and it would likely be in a similar predicament as Downtown Toledo, the CBD of another mid-sized city whose own university is located on the outskirts of town and has no other major drivers of revitalization and growth present downtown. I still say rail will come. That time may not begin in earnest for a few more years, but we will see it in our lifetimes, and early enough to enjoy it.

Nice. An additional 10k students will put UA in the top tier of state universities in Ohio for enrollment. It also means the city will soon be dusting off some of its other older and nearly forgotten districts like Middlebury and South Main near Firestone's old HQ.

I more or less agree. I do think things are happening now that could make it very possible to not need a car in Central Akron within 20 years. I'd probably still need one regardless, but lots of other people like future UA students not even born yet will probably benefit from the decreasing importance of car possession for getting around and getting what they need. To a large extent, this is already happening without regard for the convenience factor in walking/biking/riding the bus as opposed to driving.

^ I also thought redevelopment was the plan as opposed to demo. Oh well. It will be interesting to see what takes its place.

Downtown to Howe Ave? Wow, that's dedication! But it is also striking that there aren't really any better options for him and other students between UA and the distant north end of town. I agree with you, this definitely needs to change for the heart of Akron to grow and attract more people.