blinker12

Thanks for posting JE! Yes, this is good news. I'm curious about OTC's designs, but just about anything would be better than what's there now -- a drab cement building set well back from the street.

"Tremont" is a nice, sturdy neighborhood name. "Ohio City" (where I live) is kind of cool, but sounds less like a neighborhood than a separate city (which of course it was about 150 years ago). "Buckeye" is kinda cute. And "St. Clair-Superior," while rather technical, has a very nice ring to it. Others I like: Edgewater Shaker Square Cudell Collinwood Old Brooklyn Fairfax You're right, "The Flats" is amazing.

Sales office officially open... January 13, 2006 Avenue District Progress Dear Friends, The interest and participation in The Avenue District since our announcement in September has been truly amazing. We have received hundreds of great suggestions and comments that our team has been researching. This input from you will shape not only The Avenue District, but Cleveland for years to come. In an effort to offer you the best real estate opportunity at The Avenue District, we’re still working on pre-construction pricing. With the progress we have made recently, pricing and all floor plans should be available in the near future. On Tuesday, January 10, 2006, The Avenue District sales office opened its doors in the Galleria at Erieview Tower across from the food court. Since the interest in The Avenue District has been so positive, our sales manager Frank Lalli will be taking reservations for the individuals that would like to have first choice at their unit location. To set up an appointment or for office hours, call Frank Lalli at 216.589.8524, or you can reach by e-mail at [email protected]. Thank you for taking part in shaping The Avenue District, and if you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We look forward to seeing you at our sales center. Sincerely, Don Picciano, Jr. Director of Sales and Marketing Zaremba

Thanks, CHJake. Any update on whether they're going to demolish the Breuer?

KJP, thank you for these fantastic articles. I come away with the sense that Stark is truly committed to making this project happen -- at least Phase I. He talks just like a young planning student, which is unusual for someone his age. As I said before, I can't shake a slight feeling of unease about his not yet having acquired the two parcels in the main WD lot. I know he says he will "partner" with those owners if they won't sell, but I see that as unlikely. The other two options I see are: 1. Build around the parcels. They represent only a small fraction of the total site. Of course, it would affect the overall design of the project, but only marginally. 2. Eminent domain. Despite the moratorium, we can still use the "old-school" eminent domain practice of declaring the properties blighted (as Wolstein has done in the Flats). Anyway, like others I breathlessly await updates! Thanks again!

I wish Detroit Avenue (like middle Euclid, Carnegie and Chester) had a form-based zoning overlay that would prohibit an Applied Technologies-style suburban monstrosity from being located on this land. As MGD notes, it is just a couple blocks from the West Boulevard rapid station, and whatever gets developed here should be transit-oriented. I'm not opposed to industry at the site, but particularly if it's clean industry let's also incorporate retail and residential in the plans, and have the buildings right up to the street. It's all about mixed use folks!

Apparently. And it's depressing, because I thought we as a city had finally gotten over that mentality of "tearing down to build up." The legacy of urban renewal -- i.e., speculative demolition -- is a sea of surface parking in the very heart of the city. And frankly, I don't have much more hope for the newly empty lots on Euclid. Uh oh, somebody call the doctor -- my Clevelanditis is kicking in. ;)

Except for the Free Times and Scene, of course!

Yeah, though the Heart Center is still going to look like it flew in from Solon. Cleveland Clinic architecture = puke. Bizbiz, check out http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5235.0 for a discussion of the E. 55th demolitions, and some photos I took of the buildings shortly before they were ripped down. What a crying shame.

Doesn't the Edgewater neighborhood have a lot of these houses too, especially along West Boulevard, Lake and Clifton? I could be getting my styles confused.

Wow, those are gorgeous. Thanks! :clap:

... And not to rain on any parades, but aquariums, much like state-of-the-art convention centers, are a dime a dozen these days. It seems every city feels an obligation to build one. I'd like to see Cleveland focus on projects that can't be found in other cities, setting the pace instead of trying to catch up. What would those projects be? I'll have to think about that when I have more time!

I vote for the East Bank. I think it could complement Wolstein's plans well, and increase the area's draw among non-residents. Also cool that they're reusing the old Sea World stuff. Thanks for posting MTS! :wave:

Cleveland's Chinatown is geared much more toward Asians themselves than to tourists and people of other races, which is probably why more people don't know about it. That's a mixed blessing; it keeps the area authentic but limits the customer base. As the district matures and continues to expand, I think you'll see it get greater "mainstream" publicity.

Edited to include a couple photos of Tink Holl.

Hey, just a quick note that the new bar by the Treehouse owners will be on West 65th, north of Detroit. If you walk/drive/bike down the street, you'll see an old storefront building near Herman that appears to be undergoing major restoration. That's the site. I heard they're spending $1 million on it. Also, closer to Detroit on W. 65th is an old, very cool one-story brick building that's becoming a wine bar. Not sure of the details on that, but I'll keep you posted as I hear more. Exciting stuff -- this area really is taking off...

Yeah, and the fact that it's right next to the glorious Keith Building makes Levin College seem especially puny and suburban. However, you have to consider that it was built under the regime of CSU's last president, who was apparently as anti-urban as they come. At least we got an entrance right onto Euclid -- the first CSU building in 40 years not to be set back 50 feet from the street. If Michael Schwartz had been president when the plans were drafted, I'm sure he would have sent them right back to the architects.

To KJP's list I would add a few neighborhoods on the city's oft-forgotten South Side: Old Brooklyn and Slavic Village. Yes, Slavic Village has had lots of trouble with crime lately, but it's retained a solid retail base and has seen some new development and renovation (the most interesting being the Hyacinth Lofts). Old Brooklyn has solid old houses and corner pubs galore. Also, the Clark-Fulton neighborhood (south of Ohio City) isn't gentrifying, but it does have an enormous and vibrant Latino community and is represented by the city's first openly gay councilman, Joe Santiago. I also hear the Buckeye neighborhood on the city's East Side has a stable mix of Hungarians and African-Americans, though I haven't had a chance yet to explore it much on my own.

Wait a minute -- this shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the Euclid Corridor project. Nowhere in RTA's plans are parking garages shown "at the stations." In fact, Midtown Cleveland Inc. was recently successful in pushing legislation through City Council that *requires* transit-oriented development along a significant portion of Euclid, Carnegie and Chester avenues, to complement the new bus rapid transit line. The legislation imposed new zoning that requires buildings to be constructed right up to the sidewalk, at least 3 stories high and with office or retail on the ground floor along those three avenues between E. 40th and E. 79th Street. CSU, meanwhile, is building on its surface parking lots between E. 18th and E. 30th in a long-overdue effort to create a walkable campus. The East Side Transit Center is not a station of the Euclid Corridor project. It's a bus hub for the near east side.

Regional thinking taking baby steps Plans are mostly talk but it's getting louder Monday, January 02, 2006 Thomas Ott Plain Dealer Reporter Regionalism in Northeast Ohio continued to be mostly talk in 2005, but the conversation grew louder and far more serious. Discussion, spurred by economic strife, swept the grass roots, as the still-unfolding Voices and Choices campaign brought everyday people together to plan development strategy for 15 counties. The buzz reached the top of Cleveland city government, with Mayor-elect Frank Jackson announcing he will name a point person for regional issues. More at cleveland.com http://www.cleveland.com

I was glad to see the PD do this story, and to see that they gave it such prominent placement (A1).

Nice to see the PD being positive, though Machaskee seems to inaccurately conflate the Innerbelt project and Opportunity Corridor. New hopes stir in Cleveland and the region Sunday, January 01, 2006 Alex Machaskee Plain Dealer President and Publisher As we enter the New Year, I am re minded of my column published last January, in which I posed the question, "What's next for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio?" Although that question still remains largely unanswered, positive signs on the horizon give us hope and reason to "believe in Cleveland." Our region has been plagued by tough economic times, but we are learning to pull together as a community. And collectively, we are fighting back to save Cleveland.

LOVE, PASSION & PRAGMATISM Spotlight will disperse the fog around Jackson Sunday, January 01, 2006 Joe Frolik Plain Dealer Reporter Perhaps the only spontaneous moment of last year's mayoral cam paign came during the City Club of Cleveland's Nov. 1 debate. After a questioner accused Frank Jackson of indifference toward a deadly wave of youth violence in his neighborhood, Jackson stared back at the man and in a voice equally icy and edgy declared, "You don't know me." More at cleveland.com http://www.cleveland.com

Definitely true about household size -- an important factor. Still, I doubt it accounts for all (or even most) of the estimated population drop of most cities in Cuyahoga County. Parma, for example, went from about 85,600 people in 2000 to 82,600 in 2004, according to Census estimates -- a drop of 3.5%. Seems too rapid to be explained purely by family demographics, though I suppose it's possible. Regardless, the ability of Cuyahoga County cities to regain population depends on how well they can build new housing -- or better yet, adapt old housing -- to meet the needs of contemporary households (including single people and couples without children). I think the City of Cleveland is doing that better and in greater volumes than any other municipality in Cuyahoga County. Lakewood and Cleveland Heights are starting to catch on too.

These bar owners might as well throw in the towel. The momentum is too great to stop this from happening. The most they can hope to do create delays. Ohio bar owners challenge petitions for statewide ban Friday, December 30, 2005 Associated Press Columbus -- Backers of a statewide smoking ban have collected enough signatures on petitions to place the issue before the Legislature, but first, they must fight a group representing bar owners that has challenged the petitions. The bar owners say the people collecting some of the signatures violated state election laws. The statewide ban would prohibit smoking in public places, such as restaurant, bars and offices. SmokeFreeOhio submitted about 165,000 signatures to Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's office. Blackwell said Wednesday that 117,026 of the signatures were those of Ohio voters and that the proposal was forwarded to the Legislature. The Ohio Licensed Beverage Association said Wednesday that it has challenged petitions in 10 counties. It says the circulators came from out of state, listed the wrong employer or committed other violations of Ohio election law. SmokeFreeOhio, a coalition of the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and other health groups, thinks it will prevail if the challenges go to court, spokeswoman Tracy Sabetta said. More at http://www.daytondailynews.com