Mendo

People outside of downtown don't like living within walking distance of amenities? The property values near West 25 in Ohio City and Professor in Tremont say otherwise -- both of which flush with historic renovations, btw. I guess it was okay to walk there when it was a church. The neighborhood doesn't know good development when they see it.

Agreed. I wonder who the first major tenant they sign for the office building (and when).

Are you serious? It's a gym. Not a strip club. I love walking next door to Titans gym downtown. It's something I'm going to miss when I move. The 5 people on Lake adjacent to the church can continue to live next to the building that's been there 100 years.

We need to get passed this notion that razing historic buildings for additional parking is "progress". 6 townhomes plus a gym inside a restored church. Or 11 townhomes and larger surface lot. Both proposals include sufficient parking for the Giant Eagle Express. One of them has the potential to be a neighborhood and regional draw. The other is just a larger surface lot. I have to admit, the attitude of the neighborhood association and Matt Zone disappointed me. I, perhaps stupidly, thought they would have the foresight to look at other commercial districts in the area. Every one of them is comprised of renovated historic buildings.

The arches and circular supports are big and brightly colored. I showed the picture to my wife and she couldn't tell it was a chandelier. The renderings show more crystals hung around the outside so maybe it will look better when it's done. The scale on the street is impressive. The structure looks big. It partially blocks the views of the buildings near the corner which could bother some people.

The county never designed the sin tax to be punitive. That is why it's such a small percent on each bottle/smoke sold. It does nothing to address any of your issues. It's a straw man to distract from the fact that we are taxing a minority that is easy to demonize.

The sin tax paid for the stadiums in Cleveland. You would not be watching the Cleveland Indians without the sin tax. You would be watching the Reds or Pirates all summer. The sin tax affords you the luxury of sitting down in front of your TV and watching every Indians game. Not one cent of the TV revenue goes to Gateway to pay for the stadium debt service. Conflating the TV revenue (which goes into the owner's pockets, not the municipality's) with the sin tax makes the issue 7 proponents look selfish. Everybody in the region should pay their fair share. Direct revenue from the stadium and TV subscriptions are the most straightforward.

And they pay for those vices with higher health and auto insurance. How does the sin tax prevent any of those things anyway? The money is diverted to a sports complex -- not to insurance companies. People that drink and smoke are an easy target and it's pathetic that people would impose a tax on somebody else under the false pretense that it's a sin. "But they shouldn't be doing those things anyway... but secretly I hope they do so I can have my sports team."

Alcohol and tobacco aren't sins. Taxing a minority for taking part in a legal activity to fund a sports complex? What vices do you have that we can tax? My opposition to 7 is based on the inequity in who pays. Instead of taxing something tangentially related, how about finding a revenue stream based on (A) who goes to the games/arena and (B) watches them on TV.

I actually like the scale at ground level. It feels big, like one gigantic first floor. I don't like the materials choice for the non glass siding. I thought we were getting a stone facade to match the other group plan buildings. Instead it looks like more precast concrete. Hopefully it doesn't look as cheap as the Medical Mart next door.

On that point we agree. (( ps - So are mine, btw. I've been sharing a set of season tickets since the Browns came back)) The county doesn't see one cent from the TV revenue. How is the county going to generate enough revenue to pay for debt service and maintenance on the stadiums they own? And the multi county region gets to benefit from having a local sports team without paying one cent for it. That is asinine. The sin tax is flawed because it levies a tax on the vast minority. But it at least covers a larger group then just those going to games. I don't like either the sin tax or your increased facilities fee idea. Everybody should pay. How about putting the games behind a pay wall. Put the televised games on a paid subscription service.

If that's the case, the people that attend the games (and consequently pay for the stadiums) should be the only ones allowed to watch it on television. Bars and restaurants are no longer allowed to show the games on TV either. Under your plan, my season tickets are paying for the stadium. Why do you get to benefit if I am spending all the money?

Is our emotional attachment to architecture cyclical? From what I see it goes from loved (new), hated (somewhat old), and back to cherished (very old). We view architecture from the 50-70's as horrible, just the same as they viewed pre-war buildings. Imagine, in another 20-30 years we'll have people protesting the demolition of the Justice Center. :-o You are starting to see it already with housing. Isn't mid-century modern the trendy house style now?

That little segment of the skywalk was done last year as a test when they started construction.

Hopefully not Cleveland (GE Lighting).

I don't know anything about the Yale houses referenced above, but these houses are pegged at $500k+ each, according the proposal. You can do some quality construction with that coin, even today.

Looks like the Maltz family increased their donation to Case for the Temple renovation and expansion. http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/04/case_western_reserve_universit_26.html#incart_river_default

The Brickhaus proposal is incredible. The proposal says the stone exterior and balustrades on the front deck will be reclaimed from the church exterior. If you have to demolish the church, this is the best option. The Sanctuary proposal needs those townhomes to have any chance of getting accepted. The proposal said "If desired by the neighborhood and the City administration, the developers are prepared to build several townhomes above the garage." The throw-in rendering for the townhomes is pretty swank though. We don't have nearly enough of this style of house in Cleveland. The City Architecture proposal sucked. Two unrelated observations: (1) Why does every rendering from Dimit depict some weird ivy growing down walls and balconies? (2) And why are so many townhomes built stair-stepped to the street. The asymmetry drives me crazy. Just build them perpendicular to the street.

^ Probably a lot of workers that are downtown already that would stop on their lunch break.

^ Kind of interesting how Chief Wahoo evolved. The early versions were actually very subdued and realistic. http://webpages.charter.net/joekuras/wahoo2.htm That 1947 version only lasted 5 years before they changed to the current one we know - arguably the most cartoonish and least realistic. Does it being more of a caricature and less resembling of Native Americans make it more or less insulting?

^ Nobody was yelling at the Native American. The photo that has been circulating shows the idiot in red face trying to shake his hand. http://deadspin.com/cleveland-indians-fan-in-redface-meets-a-native-america-1558499738 The whole issue reeks of white guilt. I don't associate Chief Wahoo with native Americans. I see a baseball team. The caricature is no more an insult to Indians than a leprechaun is an insult to the Irish. Maybe we should change their team name too? I thought somebody decided "Indian" was derogatory.

^ This is your third (?) not so subtle hint about a possible streetcar down Detroit. You must be busting at the seams with secrets.

^ $370k for the 3 bedroom units. They have been on zillow about a month. And a real estate agent sent me info about 2 months ago. Last I heard only a couple of them were left. But that was a couple weeks ago. They may be all sold by now.

I am looking for a house in the area. I love these, but are too expensive for me.

^ Look up a few posts. Those are the townhomes designed by Maker. The renderings look nice. Too rich for my blood though.