blinker12

I wouldn't be surprised to see the seven-county CMA and the City itself show increases in 2010. However, I'd be very surprised to see Cuyahoga County as a whole show growth. Most Cuyahoga County suburbs are now entering the phase Cleveland was in 50 years ago, where people abandon obsolete housing and retail options for newer stuff. Ironically, a good share of that newer stuff is now being built in the City (as well as in places like Medina, Lake and Geauga counties).

I agree with unbriacone that Tower City suffers from its own stagnation and obsolescence, more than from something being "wrong" with the city (as the Ratners would have us believe). Tower City is a mall, malls are obsolete, end of story. It made sense for its era (early 1990s), but times have changed. If TC ever closed, we might stand a better chance of having street-level retail downtown again. That said, I think it would be a big blow to the region's self-esteem if the complex were to go dark. Ideally, we could create enough new population downtown, through plans such as Stark's, to sustain both a mall *and* street-level retail.

Cool story, TwoSense! Thanks for posting.

The City of Cleveland has about 50 CDCs (community development corporations), but as far as I know they all deal with a range of issues -- retail, workforce development, housing, etc. I don't know of any that deal only with housing, or that are located in an exclusively residential area. Is that what you're asking?

Punch, those projects you mention are all being headed up by different entities, using different funding sources. And they're all very well planned. In fact most of the ones you list are already underway. So no, I don't think we'll have a problem getting them all done. (Though I'm pretty sure Euclid Corridor will end up going online later than 2008 -- just because of the enormity of the project). Also, the "lack of jobs" issue isn't as big an issue as we make it out to be. Jobs aren't as location-specific as they once were, with telecommuting and freelance on the rise. Today people choose where they want to live first, and then worry about finding (or making) work. That's why it's so important to make the city a more vibrant place.

Oh good, that makes me feel better. Those unacquired parcels are the one part of this plan that make me a bit uneasy. And with the Port likely to use eminent domain for Flats East, I can see them balking at using it as well in the Warehouse District. They'd start to look like real land-grabbers. And in the current political climate, eminent domain is a sensitive issue anyway. So the partnership idea sounds good. KJP, thanks for all your hard work on this exciting story!

Great, KJP! By the way, can't wait for your Pesht story to appear tonight or tomorrow. :)

OK, this is probably only of interest to the true Ohio City/French food nerds of the board, but here ya go. ? Last week I met Trad Burns, the new owner of Le Oui Oui, the fantastic little creperie on Fulton in Ohio City. He and his partner just bought the restaurant from the current owners, who are I think one or two steps removed from the Frenchwoman who founded the place. They are taking over in January. Because Le Oui Oui is so popular, they're planning to move to the old laundromat space, two doors down, by March. They are looking into keeping the old space open as a coffee shop (which would be great, because the space is adorable, and we recently lost Metro Joe's). Trad, who's also a theater production chief in Cleveland and around the country, said they would be returning to fresher ingredients -- apparently the current owners cut some corners. That's all! Bon jour...

Cimperman is very committed to blocking this project as it now stands -- and I'm so grateful to him for that. What concerns me more than the bridge are ODOT's proposed plans for the downtown trench, which would hurt downtown business and further devastate the city's remaining urban fabric through takings.

All seems like pretty good news, though it irks me that no mention is made of live-work in the discussion of industrial space. Joe Cimperman and a coalition of artists are working hard in Columbus to revise building codes to allow artists and others to live and work in Cleveland's myriad old industrial buildings. This should be considered the true future -- and best use -- of such buildings.

There ya go -- Bob Stark. His plans haven't exactly been a secret (see http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2591.0), but I have a feeling KJP is going to reveal some great new details! :)

KJP, you are such a tease! ;)

OK, I'll be the first to actually say it. Gated?? Ewww....

It's great that the local media are keeping the heat on ODOT. This is the kind of aggressive coverage (bordering on activism) we don't normally see from the PeeDee.

Gotcha. Thanks for the explanation.

In a way, though, I see Stark's point. And I don't think he plans to "go it alone"... I believe he's talked about building a coalition of developers to help execute the grander plan. And that makes sense because things can be better organized that way -- we'll have developers working together rather than competing with each other. It's like regionalism for downtown development! ;) CornerCurve, thanks for your well-written synopsis of the show and welcome to the board.

That is key. Many people I talk to don't even know it's there!

I'm curious to see who they pick as the architect! Now, I don't know about referring to the Triangle as "a moribund part of the city," as the PD does above. On the contrary, despite the drab buildings, this is one of the city's densest and most bustling areas, especially when the universities are in session.

Pittsburgh firm to pick bridge for Inner Belt Thursday, December 15, 2005 James Ewinger Plain Dealer Reporter The state has chosen a Pittsburgh firm to pick the type of bridge that will be a key element in the massive Inner Belt project. Michael Baker Jr. Inc. beat out two other finalists. He is affiliated with Dr. Christian Menn, a Swiss bridge designer responsible for innovative spans around the world...

Wow, I haven't heard of some of this stuff. Could anyone provide background on the medical merchandise mart? Is that a space that already exists at the convention center site, or would it be new construction? Also, the Stonebridge Technology and Innovation Center -- I'm assuming that's related to the Stonebridge condos in some way, but what exactly is it?

Good for Lola, and for Cleveland! The attention certainly can't hurt.

Great username, downtowndreamer. And thanks for the info on the sales office. :wave:

Thanks MGD. :)

Weren't they supposed to open a sales office this month? Anyone know the status of that?

As someone else mentioned, a lot of the new Asian commercial construction in the neighborhood is very car-oriented, which inhibits the area's walkability (and therefore its "coolness" factor) somewhat. Yet I would say the continuing loft conversions more than make up for this. Heck, if I can afford it in a few years, I'd look into buying at the Mueller Building. That location is simply superb, and the building itself is gorgeous. I'd be within a five-minute walk of just about everything in this thread -- a full-service grocery store, Asian markets galore, and a five-minute bus ride to downtown. Oh, and X, thanks for the info about the pizzeria. I'll have to drop in there sometime!