urbanlife

i don't mean to suggest a "reduction" in sidewalks from current state, but more along the lines that if we are truly "planning" for the future and not the "now", then euclid is a prime area where larger sidewalks may be needed to support pedestrian traffic. my bottom line is this: there are hundreds of streets in cleveland that could use new trees (or their first trees) and efforts to improve their appearance and function. many main drags in cleveland proper are tree-less or extremely under-treed. i would spend the limited city dollars on these areas - many of them leading to the avenue district, first, before i would tear down things that aren't that old. on another note, why doesn't cleveland require raised planters on the streets - i'm not talking about the large "flower" bowls for trees, which is crazy IMO, but stretches where the curb is raised around the tree plantings. the most successful downtown trees and plantings seem to be in these areas. i suspect that the small grates at sidewalk level allow far too much salt into the soil and that it retards growth.

some of the medians may be BRT specific, however, this rendering shows what i consider to be a 'cosmetic' median, at the expense of larger sidewalks. this is a very CAR focused statement for a supposedly residential neighborhood. trees and landscaping provide a far more nuanced role than just shade for the street (urban heat island, shielding street noise, calming traffic, providing wildlife areas, purifying air, etc.) and if shade on the sidewalks was the "city standard", then almost all of downtown cleveland would fail. in the current configuration, i actually think the median makes it more inviting for pedestrians to cross, as it provides a safe stop in the middle. i'm all for taking the median out between st. clair and superior. i just think that it serves some purpose, and is not a barrier, in front of reserve square. also, i think that the parking issue is being glossed over. it seems everyone is down on INCREASING street parking downtown, which is exactly what this proposal is doing, with the diagonal parking. if they save the old trees or actually plant some mature trees, maybe this will work. but renderings that show 30 year old trees are often VERY different that what we get when 8 foot honey locusts are planted everywhere. i just hate to see an area that is actually one of the greenest areas downtown, taken down. if volpe has some kind of history saving trees, that's great. but i have never seen one tree saved downtown, for any kind of project - street work, ecp, building construction/demolition. not one.

^that's exactly my point. if this is not a public wifi network (regardless of how valuable this actually is), then we are talking something completely different than a "wireless cleveland." many cities already have vaired levels of wireless access for city employees/departments. i'd be happy if cleveland was pushing this envelope as well, BUT this sounds completely different from the 10 or 20 cities that are giving residents some form of free wifi.

looks like a new rail car and maintenance vehicle. http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/summit/1156840832113880.xml&coll=2 Cuyahoga Valley railroad receives federal funds $900,000 for rail car, maintenance vehicle Tuesday, August 29, 2006 April McClellan-Copeland Plain Dealer Reporter Peninsula- The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad will get $900,000 in federal grants to buy a handicapped-accessible railroad car and a maintenance vehicle. The popular excursion railroad, which runs through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, also will use some of the money to design new signals and fix rails.

i hate to lose the mature greenspace though. the city has other areas where there are medians (superior) and they are putting more in (euclid). i don't think that this makes much sense - except that they want to create more street parking for the street level merchants. the walk down e12 is nice now, and with the exception of the stop signs which you can't really see, the traffic seems pretty calm as is. it seems that they could eliminate one street lane in each direction and provide more street parking and more sidewalk plantings.

and for county the talk about "green" building and perhaps obtaining LEED certification, keeping the tower and renovating (as opposed to demolition) would provide a significant boost to that effort and offer some credits.

not expansion related, but relating to operations and cleanliness in toronto: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1156592170984&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home Howard Hughes would be so proud TRANSIT | New products to shield germaphobes from bugs on a (subway) train. By Andrew Chung Aug. 27, 2006. 01:00 AM ANDREW CHUNG Oh, woe is Emily Wang when she boards the subway. All those gleaming steel bars, beckoning her to caress them, hold them, lest she be thrown around as the train lurches ahead. But no, she will not. The possibilities are endless: traces of blood, urine, excrement, nasal spray, saliva, parasites, bacteria, viruses ... well, she'll do anything to avoid the bars. "They're just gross," says the 18-year-old high school student. "I don't think they clean them at all."

i'm all for this institutional network, which OneCommunity is already doing with the fiber network and connections, but i really want to see more from the wifi cloud/mesh - especially if there isn't even a dedicated space for public users to log on. has anyone heard how the city's test of the wireless at playhouse square and e55 for city workers has worked out? any innovations? cost savings?

it is another example of a website that is not updated properly. i have emailed a few times over the past year - not one response. go rta public service. here is a photo i posted in another thread a while back. i believe that these will be the new street lights for the corridor - but that the poles will actually be painted silver.

the PDs interactive crime map breaks down violent crime by district. it is usually a couple of weeks behind, but it shows a good comparison of y-t-d comparisons of crime in cleveland. no aggregate numbers - you have to add up the districts manually. http://www.cleveland.com/pdgraphics/interactive/crime/ according to this site, there were 70 murders in cleveland through 8/5/06. this compares with 61 murders ytd in 2005. the 70 doesn't include the recent rash.

yeah, especially if the expansion would involve some canned goods, more fresh food choices, etc. it is a perfect place for wine, prepared foods, cheeses, milk, beer, and picking up some random products. but, there isn't a whole lot of overall product selection. i wish that the reserve square market was run and was kept up like constantinos, and i wish constantinos had a liitle bit bigger selection of foods overall.

Police investigating West Side shooting 7:30 a.m. Cleveland - Police are investigating the shooting death of a man on West 25th Street. The shooting happened about midnight, police said.

this article is part of the free content on crains.... http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060823/FREE/60823006/1008/GOV The Regional Transit Authoritys planned Silver Line or at least some part of it may indeed be open in time for the 2008 Republican National Convention the city of Cleveland is trying to land, despite a report yesterday that it wouldnt be ready. ..........

^if they are actually doing their job, they should still manually count you as you board. i have seen it both ways though. if there is a line of people with monthly/all day passes, the driver will wave them on and then manually enter how many people got on. many times though, i don't see (or hear) any inputs...

July Ridership Numbers --------------------- Overall: July 2006 was down 1.5% from July 2005 (4,258,100 vs 4,324,700) YTD 2006 up 1% (33,183,800 vs 32,869,400) Bus: July 2006 down 2.7% from July 2005 (3,502,400 vs 3,599,700) YTD 2006 up .8% Rail: July 2006 up 4.6% from July 2005 (714,800 vs 683,500) YTD 2006 up 2% (4,734,800 vs 4,641,500) Trolley: 31,442 rides in July Bikes: July 2006 - 3,793 (10% increase over Jul 2005) YTD 2006 - 16,700 Other News ----------- Trolleys are now operating M-F, 7am - 11pm.

but, there are more people that live on the e12 corridor now than all of warehouse. WHD may have more restaurants, clubs, and surface parking lots - but there are more total people living on e12 between superior and prospect than all of the warehouse (unless you want to count the jail), which is one reason why the only full service grocery is in this corridor. what i'd REALLY like to see is a crane building something with NO publicity, and then find out that there was a new residential/mixed use building going up - in any section dowtown. even i can afford to go to fastsigns and have some flashy signs made. i want to see progress, not propoganda.

so, 6 weeks later and the downtown cleveland partnership is still highlighting that the alliance website is coming soon! i can't wait! i'm also still super excited about parkworks renovation of perk plaza that is starting in 2004! these updates are internet 101. get an intern, local company, high school student to update the f'in sites or take them down. it is a real disservice to the residents and makes cleveland look bad. the web is one of the cheapest methods to get your message out and many local organizations seem aloof. come on cleveland!

what about deposits? nevermind, i looked at the chart.

10 to 15 stories? the skyline is going to have a nice missing piece. nothing like destroying what we already have. now, if they were building on a surface parking lot, then maybe i'd be more supportive. plus they have had control for over 1 year and are now saying another 4 before anybody moves in? i wish the county would at least display these proposals in the windows along e9. liven things up a bit.

^i think that the north part from innerbelt to e55 will be done by labor day. the portion in front of csu is another contract segment. and the light poles aren't stainless - they are painted silver. in the dark last night they looked to be stainless.

the new poles for street lights are going up around e30. looks like an all stainless steel operation...

has anyone driven the new w14 roundabout at steelyard commons? i was through the ridgewood rd one on saturday. looks great, would like to see more of these go up instead on more traffic lights.

my guess is FCE is just happy to have an excuse not to pay the lighting bill. this has to be a huge expense, and would look better in someone's pocket instead...

give me a break. this is bizzare. if you want to get something done, you do it, especially with this kind of money. it sounds like they are playing with inherited money and didn't make it themselves.

i diasagree. there is a huge profit margin here, that is why the developers are undertaking the projects. however, to keep their returns in line, they are focusing on higher end units to start with - much more room for error and cost overruns, etc on a 400k unit than on a 200k unit. but it also shows you how hard it is to develop. even a seasoned developer with deep pockets, huge contact list and lots of experience, can't get financing unless over half of the units are presold.