urbanlife

June ridership numbers were announced at the Board meeting this morning. Quick recap: Rail: up 7.8% over June 2005 - up 1.6% YTD over 2005, with 4 million rides. Bus: up 6.5% over June 2005 - up 1.3% YTD over 2005, with 24.6 million rides. Trolleys: 45,400 total rides, or 2100 each weekday. Bikes: 3,586 (up 36% from June 2005). 12,900 total bikes YTD. Full report: http://www.riderta.com/pdf/ridership_reports/2006-06.pdf

Financing. You can't finance most of these developments as you would a residential property, with 10% or 20% down and a good interest rate. Just doesn't happen. So, you need more cash to get 30% or 40% down (using creative methods and other financing) and then you still are going to find a higher interest rate. And, almost any property that is zoned commercial will not qualify for a residential rate, no matter what you plan to do with it (ie make it into a 3 story penthouse loft for yourself). My guess is that fantasy is all privately financed and once they started, their $100,000 budget went quick, some of the investers balked at putting more cash in, contractors didn't get paid...and...you have what you have today...a halt. Unfortunately, a lot of the "old money" in Cleveland is sitting on the sidelines, building office parks and malls and other sprawl development near where they live. We need to convince this money to get off the sidelines and actually support these projects, residential especially. What is cheap (relatively)? Printing out some nice color drawings and hyping your project, in hopes that a few more investors will jump on ship, or pre-sales will skyrocket so you can build your project. That's again why I like stonebridge: no hype, just building after building.

did anyone see the ingenuity related exhibit in the Tower City station? Any comments on how it worked out? Any realistic improvements or was it all art focused?

^ i know that all the flex fuel vehicles have an additional sensor to change engine timing or something when E85 is used. Also, fuel line components are different. don't know why. if E85 does indeed cause this "damage" to regular vehicles over time, it would be nice to have a different level...E10 is fine for everyone. What about E50? this would have an significant impact, but maybe not hurt non modified fuel systems?

no expert here, but there are a few comparisons out there on different scooter engine types. here is one that shows an un-retofitted 2 cycle to be pretty bad, but that 4-cycle competes very well with other modes, besides just mpg. http://www.bajajusa.com/emissions.htm

I was there 2 days: thursday night and saturday day and night. i don't think lower prospect works as well as lower euclid. however, 2 of the venues this year were amazing. 1) may co. building. unbelievable space and so many varied performances. the building itself is amazing and sad at the same time. i stared at the holes in floor/ceilings where the escalators used to be. there has to be a better use for this space. I especially like the way the exterior was lit up at night. this section of prospect had the most life in a long time. 2) E.5 alley. acoustics, atmosphere and entertainment here made this my favorite outdoor venue. I also think they should have explained pricing better. there were some discounts (if you had tall ships wrist band), but there still appeared to be confusion. and did anyone see what the GM hybrid bus did? i saw it parked there but everytime i went by it was closed. i had hoped there was some sort of demonstration on the technology or a band inside or something.

another interesting takeon economic development issues, http://edpro.blogspot.com/

it looks like it continues to Boeing Field King Co., departing 7:46 from CLE and arriving in Seattle @ 9:23 PDT. Must be a fuel stop. Tail reads N193F.

I tried this last night, and it didn't work. We were with people watching the opening on the square, then went over to prospect and flannerys. remembered that we had left stuff behind, came back 30 minutes later, and couldn't get back through to flannerys. wtf? so today to go to house of blues for lunch i have to buy a ticket? it's not a problem for me (i have a weekend ticket), but others aren't interested in paying $10 each day to grab a bite to eat. should have kept it like last year and at least allowed people to walk through the street, charging only for specific entry into events.

I don't think RTA has actually decided what payment system to use. Early talks were for proof of payment, and i think it might still lean that way. I wouldn't expect ANY fare collection changes until the silver line goes live. They just approved some expenditures for maintenance and parts on the existing machines for the next couple of years. hopefully, rail and silver line can go POP ASAP, and then figure out the rest of the buses, although there would then be transfer problems most likely.

Clinic presented to Mayor Jackson on Monday RE: Closing Euclid through campus area except for ECP vehicles. Expect article in PD soon. RTA apparently supports this as long as there are no impacts on the construction schedule for this segment (tentatively set for next spring start).

RTA ridership system wide up 6% in June. Some drop off expected in July due to fare increase. who knows.

If someone reads this from DCP: Please update website and provide an email address for communication. It is July 2006, not 1996. Thanks.

why can't they at least paint the exposed particle board and say "Coming Soon...Apartments...Bowling..." the exposed wood looks terrible.

Here is a graphic. I wish that while the land was waiting for development, that someone would begin to clean this up so that it would be a relatively easily to develop when the time comes. http://cpc.cuyahogacounty.us/cpc/map.asp

yeah, map room is pretty cheap all around i think for downtown. i had some miller lite bottles last week for 2.75/ea. that seems pretty cheap for downtown on a friday night. my vent: downtown street lighting. i've never seen so many burned out bulbs before. the downtown cleveland partnership ambassadors should be marking these and turning them in to CEI/CPP to get this back online ASAP. nothing like walking on a downtown street with zero people and zero light at 10pm.

good figures KJP. On the traffic preemption, i agree with you 100%, however, I don't believe that any lights in cleveland currently have preemption (eg, for fire or ems). there was an article in the PD this winter talking about how all of the suburbs have adopted different systems because cleveland never set a standard, and surprise surprise, ems and fire trucks traveling between jurisdictions cannot preempt sometimes.

^ there is a nice interactive map of the lakefront vision. http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/lakefront/ basically, the port would move to reclaimed/new fill land north of whiskey island.

^i'm all for closing burke - eventually. but as long as there are surface parking lots, and underused buildings all over downtown - the lake and river areas included, then a functioning airport should stay. there are actually quite a few take offs during the day, and although they may be small planes, it is still getting used. that's why i like jackson's approach here. let's not argue about what the airport land should be in 15 years - it is worth discussing - but how can we better use the area around the airport now.

I'm always surprised when I see a link to an urban planning type blog or website and many times wonder why I didn't know about it sooner. So, I'll throw out a few of the ones that I have come across and read regulary. I'm interested in any other off the beaten path or widely known blogs/websites that everyone else frequents. http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/ http://planetizen.com/ http://www.cyburbia.org/ http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Urban-Studies-and-Planning/index.htm http://flightaware.com/live/airport/KCLE http://www.dataplace.org/

^ exactly. university square looks urban, but it is designed so that you almost have to park multiple times or wander through the garage to get to another store if you plan more than 1 trip. there needs to be better internal walkways here.

i agree that pollution and contamination is a huge problem at this site. there was a thread started on realneo.us the other day that has a lot of interesting maps, pollution discharge information, and some rants. it is a little out of control one-sided, but i believe the figures quoted are accurate. I don't think you'll see much demand for housing here in the near future, especially with other abandoned land in cleveland proper. http://www.realneo.us/independence-of-the-day-may-the-people-of-neo-find-freedom-from-air-pollution as for a costco downtown: bring it on with leed certified plantinum status and sustainable construction. add a bit of mixed use, a few thousand housing units downtown. there is demand. when i can't buy any household goods downtown without getting into my car, i am dissatisfied. i'd also welcome mom and pops to come back downtown and sell me what i need - clothes, towels, pots, pans, and other random products. right now, the only store that seems to fit this is the dollar store in tower city.

The RTA ECP project is using "92% local companies." So, if the total project is around 200 million, there is 180 million of mostly federal dollars being put directly into cleveland companies and employees pockets. I don't know how "local" is defined, but I know that they wanted to infuse the local economy, but couldn't explicitly require the companies to be local, unlike some of the DBE requirements. This is obviously good for future development and attraction of new residents and jobs, but it also has a direct and immediate trickle down effect as they workers buy goods and services near the job site as well as consume in other ways do to their employment. as a person who grew up here, and lived outside the area for many years, i think one of the biggest problems in the entrenched leadership in the city. In many ways it still feels like an old boys network and is more about who you know or how long you have been in your position rather than a meritocracy where govt/business/non profits are looking for "the best" person for the job. Other successful regions have either moved past this stage or never had the level of cronyism that cuyahoga county seems to have. When you get a bunch of people together that have ideas and dreams and want to invest in the region (whatever that may be), you want leaders and businesses to say "we'll figure out" whatever the challenges you have, rather than saying "we've never done it that way."

^ thx. apparently the page was cached or something (maybe recently updated), as it kept giving me a floor plan link with 1 -12.jpg that didn't work.

^ does anyone have access to the floor plans? the links on progressiveurban.com don't work and the stonebridge website doesn't have any, either.