urbanlife

is the new BRT vehicle going to be on display during the nba finals? seems like a good time to park it out on euclid, or around the Q and generate some interest.

until the region regains the growth mentality, everything, including RTA will be viewed as a cost. is there a way to cut this cost? absolutely. service levels. now, if the system were being deployed to increase total ridership, lessen duis, offer later night transit to jobs, etc. we need to change the focus of RTA to economic development and not just basic transportation for the 25% of cuyahoga county who don't have cars.

the commissioners should be voted out (the ones pushing demoliton). only in cleveland would this type of situation occur. build on a surface lot. build in the suburbs. don't tear down another building. thx.

the real story, imo, that the article glosses over: how did this get approved in the first place when the plans don't meet city codes? they touch on it (plans just showed parking), but there should be some accountability in the city depts as well to make sure that things are built to code. does anyone have any more pics of the "X" structures or other pics of the garage space? and is the garage currently full? i assume that all units come included with 1 space, penthouses 2 spaces?

this was proposed years ago, but there were concerns from the fire department about getting equipment in there, so they developed some training for all employees to remove tables and some movable pylons/bollards so the trucks could get through. but then, there was still some opposition so it hasn't happened. i'm not really opposed to traffic on this street - especially off hours. anyone who thinks this is a real "through" street has something coming to them while they wait behind the d*mn valet line. are there any plans to change this?

there were gunshots down at mirage on saturday night as well. definately seems like an interesting crowd.

i don't like the fact that this is put as a "competition". even if newark offered to pay $30 million to expand or update the facilities, it doesn't solve the main issue: delays in the new york airspace. imo, CLE has to be a logical choice for at least some expansion. the fact that continental won't commit to that worries me a little bit. on the otherhand, they may just want to get as much $$ from the city/state. i'm still optimisitic, but this can't happen soon enough and it seems that they would want to coordinate this with the expansion of customs and the mall build out plan.

well, we should *hopefully* see an announcement later today from the city and continental. continental execs have been in town since wednesday night and in meetings today, supposedly about the service increase, but who knows.

there is a continental flight from beijing on the ground now. a rare chance to see a 777 in cleveland.

free times had a blurb that zocola won't open until late summer.

instead of relocating manholes where they conflicted with the new roadway alignment, they opted for public art/manhole curb cuts. this was expected to save quite a bit of money, as there are more than 20 manholes along the entire route that are now in the middle of the curb.

when i say "improvements" i don't mean new buses. i am talking about restoring service cuts to the number, length and frequency of routes. it is almost impossible to get places in cleveland after the "normal" business day using bus transit. I'd also like to see transit environments that encourage ridership by providing schedule and route information, lighting/heaters, etc. Since as a region we aren't "booming" right now, we have to encourage and create ridership in other ways. some of this could be new construction, but i think a lot of it is getting the current operation to a new level. i'm not content with this investment decison on the ECP by the leaders in this region, but it is being made, so i'll let it run its course and try to focus on other areas where rail could work - extending red line south of airport, extending blue line east toward euclid, and extending green line west under detroit superior and onto new shoreway or down detroit. i think rail can and should be in these areas and i'd much rather spend the money to make it happen than to re-engineer the ECP in the next 20 years.

in theory, any subway construction would be completed by some sort of boring method, so it would most likely be below all of the existing utilities, and there would be very few disturbances at street level except for station construction, air vents, etc. i don't think we'll see a subway on euclid though for a long time, and in the near term, i'd rather see significant rail and bus service improvements to other areas of the city.

yep. ECP bus is in town for the next 60 days. look for it to show up at a cavs or indians home game and on public square, in addition to other media events. this is the first one built. the other 19 will be built at the end of the year/ first part of 2008. they are still tweaking a few things with this one before they go to full production.

i walked the route about a week and a half ago. i agree with some of his criticisms. the trail itself is very nice and there are some plantings along the way, but there is an 8 foot chain link fence on both sides. i can certainly see why for the train track side, but not sure if this was absolutely necessary for the back of the buildings as well. if nothing else, it would be nice if there was an exit or 2 off of the trail. as it is now, once you enter you have to finish or turn back.

i think it is dangerous to unilaterly dismiss any city in ohio. they all have pluses and minuses and appeal to people with different needs, skills, or ambitions. although i don't particularly identify with this article or brunswick in general, it is a city in northeast ohio with reasonably priced homes, a decent school system, little violent crime, and is relatively convenient to amenties that many people use for work or pleasure - cleveland, akron, airport, other suburbs. if your job was on 303, would it be better to live within walking distance or a short commute or drive 25 minutes from the westside of cleveland to get there?

looks like continental CEO and other top executives are in CLE Thursday May 24. Rumor is: - announcement of expansion of domestic flights to/from CLE. potentially doubling existing traffic over the next year. - that customs facility will not be done in time for CDG launch in 2008, and no other international expansion will take place until this facility is online. apparently the city hasn't signed off on the customs facility yet.

i think these are the stamped concrete pads for new benches. there are a few off of euclid as well.

I like the "others wary" title - i think that 99% of people are pro-this type of development. The PD needs to work on their titles. Maybe "Poor customer service workers worried" would better reflect the situatuon. http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1179131408228010.xml&coll=2 Pittsburgh's Airmall is model for Hopkins' plan Travelers like ease of shopping; others wary Monday, May 14, 2007 Susan Vinella Plain Dealer Reporter Cleveland Hopkins International Airport expects to soon model its terminal after Pittsburgh's Airmall, which includes 100 retailers and restaurants and boasted the highest sales per passenger of any airport in the country in 2005. This week, Cleveland officials are expected to invite companies such as the Westfield Group, which manages local shopping centers including Westfield Great Northern mall in North Olmsted and Westfield SouthPark mall in Strongsville, to bid on a 10-year contract to manage the shops and restaurants at Hopkins and to develop new ones. [email protected], 216-999-5010

i hadn't heard about a crown. they are replacing the roofing though, the crown makes some sense though as the "temporary" elevator is pretty substantial on the north side of the building.

Customs To Expand It looks like the $$ saved on the runway are being put into the customs facility. here is the quote from another forum: "I got a chance to see the blueprints for the new CLE customs facility. It will be a three level building located between C-4 and the main terminal. Gates C-4,C-3, and C-6 will be connected to it. The nice thing about it will be local passengers can collect their baggage and walk directly to the parking garage or taxi stand. I think this may be why the city didn't extend the runway to 11,000 ft, The are going to replace customs and the concessions area with that money. And CO agreed." http://www.opshots.net/forum/index.php/topic,1124.0.html EDIT: C and D Concourse Diagram Added, with proposed customs area in RED.

vault reconstruction.

don't watch. 19 consistently has low ratings, especially for the 4, 5 and 6 pm telecasts. if people don't watch during sweeps, when advertising rates are determined, advertisers don't pay, and 19 changes their operating model, stories or on air talent.

it is may sweeps. what do you expect - even the "normal" stations have all sorts of hyped up stories on.

maybe its not a big deal for RTA, but i think it is a big deal for downtown businesses, workers and residents. basically, RTA is now saying "don't worry the bus line will open on time and on budget, but the area in front of your store/home/business will be torn up until the summer of 2008." i find that aspect of it unacceptable. this is the middle of our city and region. what few businesses that still remain in this stretch will certainly suffer. i understand that "things happen" in construction, especially with old infrastructure, but to see this section down to 1 lane in each direction, with no noticeable work going on is aggravating to me. if you want to get the real story and see if it is a "big deal" i suggest talking to the small businesses in this stretch and see if they think it is OK for the street to be under construction until summer 2008.