urbanlife

i assumed so, but the website is dotted with © 2001 © 2002 and a lot of press and articles from 2003 and before. I don't see much current information. http://www.parkworks.org/home.html Examples: Perk Park/Plaza: Construction will begin early 2004. Obviously, this isn't the case (anymore), but maybe an updated timeline? where are we in the process and why the delays? Huron Point Plaza: Only renderings available, even though park has been completed for at least 6 or 8 months. Future Projects: coming soon... Parkworks Playgrounds: only lists 1999, 2000, 2001. Has this program stopped or are there no updates for 5 years? How about the "Education" section that lists the Summer 2004 Events? I like the mission and the way the site looks, but if we are serious about actually using our parks for education, a 2004 event list isn't going to help.

does parkworks even exist anymore? their website it very outdated.

Here's a summary example from Milwaukee: How Fuel Efficient are Buses? If you compare a bus to a car, you may be shocked to see that an average MCTS bus gets 4.5 miles per gallons of diesel fuel. Yet, with just six passengers, a bus can be significantly more fuel efficient. If a car averaged 25 miles per gallon and traveled five miles with a single occupant, it would still average 25 passenger miles per gallon. If a bus traveled the same five miles, it would need 1.06 gallons of fuel. But once a bus had six passengers traveling the same distance, its fuel economy changes to 28.3 passenger miles per gallon. All MCTS buses run on diesel fuel and require over four million gallons of fuel annually. Who wants to figure out RTAs numbers based on last year's ridership numbers? I'm sure that on an overall basis, the bus is much more efficient. However, on an individual route level, there are still routes that are underutilized overall or at certain parts of the day. On another note, does anyone know how much energy it takes to operate the rapid?

but the basic statement has some merit, that if "mass transit goes largely unused, that wastes a lot of fuel." i'm not defending shell by any means, but i think it is a common misconception that mass transit is hugely energy efficient all the time. it obviosuly depends on what type of bus/train/fuel source/age/etc and loads, but even many of the new "clean diesel" buses only get 4 mpg. So, if the bus is full of people, this is great. If there is 1 person on the bus, then the fuel used to move that person isn't that effective. similarly, the rapid takes the same amount of electricity to power one car, whether it is standing room only or empty.

I ate here 2 nights ago. The food is good and seemed to be doing a brisk business at 6:45pm. The limited hours are no good and neither is the delivery area. I was told that they only deliver between E.9 and Ontario and Prospect and St. Clair. There isn't much residential in that big block, so i guess this place is planning on doing more corporate business, as the hours suggest.

check out: http://cpc.cuyahogacounty.us/cpc/map.asp and choose layer control in top right and change to "brownfields". Not a pretty map, especially when you zoom in.

the land bank is the most important thing the city can do now. clean up as many brownfields as possible so new and expanding companies can build in the city without having to wait for site demolition/cleanup or having to take the risks associated with it. what goes on the former industrial sites? most likely not housing as some of the sites are severely polluted, but light manufacturing, heavy manufacturing, biotech, whatever... there has been talk of increasing funding, but i think that this has to happen on a grander scale soon.

here is a link to the audio from the broadcast this morning. i still think the best point being brought up is that the stadium is not used for anything now, regardless of the weather. http://www.wcpn.org/podcast/audio/2006/05/0517nine.mp3

just like ... that. overnight window was open and no problems and mid morning my place was full of these things. they are all over...

are there going to be 10 ride tickets?

everyone seems to agree that the stadium needs to be used more. i'd like to see some intermediate steps to begin this realization, NOW, while the dome discussion can continue. there have been numerous problems with using the stadium for other events - the browns don't like it during the season, it doesn't have a track, to open the stadium at all (even just the lower level) requires $$ that most smaller events (high school sports, community events) can not afford. i'd like to see the numbers on the table. if we can show increased use from 8 to 10 times a year, to 20 times a year without a dome, then i think the dome analysis comes in to show how with expanded convention center, dome, etc., there could be 30 events a year, and oh by the way, perhaps 1 or 2 big events (superbowl, NCAA). why can't we start using the stadium this summer? maybe to fully utilize the convention aspects, the field needs covered, but there should be some other events that we can start putting here.

My point was not that I think this is the way to go, but that the free market generally determines what gets built. I'm also pleased that regional benefits have been worked in to this private developers plan. Here is a brownfield 2 miles from downtown and a private developer put together a plan to turn it into some use without any assistance from the local government. I also think that this location, a brownfield located next to major highways and a still functioning industrial area is the type of place for a strip mall if it has to exist. Not church square at E79 or the strip mall at W25. I'd much rather see this (or any) type of retail downtown. but the national chains have shown reluctance to embrace downtown and not much local money has poured in to fill in its place. Cleveland has 8 or 10k living downtown. Chicago has 150k.

^ OTOH, this is one of the few new developments that hasn't asked for major subsidies. the developer is taking the risk and has lined up what makes market sense today. and it is incorporating the towpath, cvsr, and innovative water runoff techniques. i agree, that the easiest development is not usually the best. if cleveland could agree on what should be built and what the city should look like in 30 years, then they could support projects with public dollars that fit the plan. good luck getting this to happen on any major scale. there seems to be a big divide between established residents/businesses that are used to losing, doing things the 'old' way, etc. what we need is an influx of new residents of all ages that understand what it feels like to 'win' and be part of a successful city/region - not necessarily a growing, sprawling region. otherwise, at least one brownfield is being turned to some productive use and the towpath is that much closer to the lake.

^ I wouldn't hold your breath. I sent an email through the website almost 9 months ago asking them to replace 10 burned out lights in the Ohio City Rapid station. Got the same reply, except that it was forwarded to facilities. I was in the station last week and guess what...lights were still all out. GO RTA!

Here is a graphic from the PD: http://www.cleveland.com/news/wide/wind0506.gif

I don't see why they can't save the tower and connect lower floors with new construction of whatever goes on Huron & E.9 and the new parking garage they plan to build where the existing building is on Euclid. It seems with some creative design work on the lower levels, the tower can be incorporated into larger floor plates, maybe even cutting out floors in the existing building to create a grander center area. The upper floors could then be used for smaller departments requiring smaller floor plates or for other uses, where departments could de divided among floors. The other thing was that this building was always designed to have the 2d tower abut the Euclid side with no windows. Some creative work here could incorporate a smaller, 'lighter' tower on this side. I think that Cleveland has to learn to appreciate what it has architecturally, and tearing things down that still have significant useful life, doesn't make much sense to me.

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad - http://www.cvsr.com/ It currently runs from Cleveland (southside) to Canton and has a number of partial and themed runs through the Cuyahoga Valley National Reserve. It is also the line that could provide future commuter rail service into downtown Cleveland.

not a lot of excitement, but here is how it looked this afternoon:

After reading both reports, one thing in particular bothers me: RTA is not innovating, but only operating. What is RTA doing around environmental air quality? Cleveland continues to not meet air standards (i realize some of these have been revised downward). But although this is one of RTA's 5 themes, it doesn't seem that any time is spent analyzing what the RTA fleet has done to reduce air pollution in north east ohio. There are the normal "the new ECP buses will be emit 90% fewer particulates" statements. But, 90% fewer than what? a 1998 diesel bus? CNG? How about a chart showing how much each new "clean diesel" bus is actually saving vs. the bus being replaced? Why does RTA continue to buy SUVs for supervisors? Cleveland needs to get aggressive on this front and this is one area where RTA could lead, but it seems that the only consideration is upfront cost. A diesel bus costs less, lets go with that. BRT is cheaper upfront, so lets go with that. I'd like to see a better cost/benefit analysis presented to the public on these projects/purchases. Also, are there any plans to utilize biodiesel in the fleet?

^ i've seen a bunch of them. After the tribe game on Thursday, there was a ford escape parked in the shady section of lower prospect. I've also seen 1 man crews with trashcans and brooms and 2-man crews on bikes. Seems good so far, but there have been a lot of people downtown this week with tribe, spiderman, jazz.

^ i'd take reduced headways during the day and at peak times running the current configurations. there may be some system limitations to adding any more peak frequency, idk. i'd also think that RTA would look more closely at diversifying their fuel sources. All of the new buses are clean diesel, but what happened to CNG? Electric? Hybrid? or expanded Rail electric? RTA has never mentioned if their electric operating costs have gone up. Anyone know?

I rode the E-line today to check it out. I think it's pretty good, although a bit slow when going down Euclid and picking people up and hitting the traffic lights. In good weather, some of the trips would be just as efficient by walking. I was happy to see that there are 4 cameras in each bus, er, trolly. Although I don't think this route needs any security cameras, I think RTA should be incorporating new technologies / best practices into all new purchases - including their long bus fleet and train rehabs.

These buildings only go halfway through the block. There is a service alley between these buildings and the Huntington Buildings that front Chester. I suppose that anything is possible, but I don't think there is enough space to have any viable parking on the 1st floor and retail fronting Euclid. The Statler deck can apparently support a few more levels added to the top, but this would be costly. I'd love to see it get to a point where you didn't need a car in Cleveland, but with the current location of many employers and access to public transit, I don't see this coming soon. I think the developers will find this out as they try and get approvals for this. I always thought these buildings would make great 1 floor condos at around 3500 sq feet per floor, they would make some amazing spaces. As is, the back of the buildings overlook dumpsters and a 20 foot wide alley.

^ I know everyone hates to talk about parking, but i'm not sure how this will be able to support ample parking for 160 units. There are a few surface spots behind the buildings, and it is possible that they could do a ramp into a basement, similar to Barn Ct. (behind Huron). The Statler garage is pretty full between Statler and CAC, and I would think that there would have to be at least 100 or 120 spots minimum to make this development viable.

^ it looks much better. i'm a little disappointed that they didn't install window-doors, that could open in the summer. this whole e.4 corridor would be much better connected if flannerys, hob, pickwick had windows that could slide open in nice weather and connect with the street.