DM4

They had good rail ridership with 70,506,800 riders in 2012. Cleveland had 9,095,700. They also do pretty well with ridership per mile, beating out San Francisco, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. I might have missed something, but I don't really understand the title of the thread.

^ that brings up a good point about shaker square. Most of the apartments are owned by one company, which I've heard bad things about. I think that is one of the biggest things hurting the area. If Shaker Square had more modern apartments with good owners I think it would be alot more popular with the younger crowd.

Except that Canada in general and Toronto in particular shows that when you draw immigrants to your city, they create their own jobs. It throws on its head the argument that you have to create the jobs first. I need to double check, but I remember hearing Toronto (Ontario and Canada) actually has a very selective policy and only accepts the best. I believe you must be sponsored, have a job, or be attending University. Im not 100% on that though so Ill have to look once I get more time.

Maybe if he actually road it he would realize everything is not perfect. The busses need some work. Some bars are coming loose, the ramps dont work, the horns don't work on all busses (dangerous!!!), the exteriors are scratched up, etc. And I know its winter but a cleaning wouldnt hurt every once in awhile. And ignoring all of the other performance issues I wont bring up in this post, the busses do get extremely overcrowded. Its been so bad where people cant get on and have to wait for the next bus, which is just as packed. Maybe if it was his primary route he'd think it was a bigger concern. Instead he goes around painting a golden image of the Healthline while ignoring the real issues. BTW, the healthline has higher per mile ridership than all Cleveland rail lines combined. It needs a higher capacity.

So Joe Calabrese was at RTA Transit Series (whatever that is) and was talking up BRT. Some transit guy from North Carolina was tweeting what he was saying and GCRTA was retweeting him like crazy. Here are some of his posts... :roll: Joe Milazzo II ‏@RTATriangle #RTATransitSeries session three underway, Joe Calabrese @gcrta providing an overview of the #Healthline #brt pic.twitter.com/n35BXy8LC1 In Cleveland, BRT stands for "Better Rapid Transit." HealthLine is a combination of both bus and rail #RTATransitSeries "It's not a bus, it's not a train, it's the future." - Joe Calabrese on @GCRTA #brt #RTATransitSeries Current economic development as a result of the @GCRTA #HealthLine is more than $5 billion #RTATransitSeries Q: How is BRT so much cheaper than rail? Calabrese: Major factor is flexibility of BRT, work around utilities etc #RTATransitSeries "You can wish for rail forever or build BRT in 3-5 years." - Joe Calabrese, @GCRTA #RTATransitSeries Q: Would the HealthLine ever convert to rail? Calabrese: Cleveland population would have to double or triple. #RTATransitSeries

I'm on my phone so this won't be a full response, but I saw 18 in a couple of news articles. My bad. Still very low though for a city that size.

The Greater Toronto area has 5.5 million people. Etobicoke is a part of the city of Toronto and is included in the population/homicide numbers. Mississauga is not, and is not included in any statistics. so it wasn't really a fair comparison of murder rates between Cleve and Metro Toronto. That said, yes, the rate in Toronto is still ridiculously low. I added to my last post the population of old toronto. You must have quoted it before I added it. Even so, the difference is not much between Old Toronto and Toronto. Cleveland 21.49 homicides per 100,000 Old Toronto 0.81 homicides per 100,000 Toronto 0.64 homicides per 100,000

The Greater Toronto area has 5.5 million people. Etobicoke is a part of the city of Toronto and is included in the population/homicide numbers. Mississauga is not, and is not included in any statistics. Old Toronto (37.51 square miles) where the core of the city is, had 6 homicides. In 2011 the population was 736,775.

^ Is there going to be more added to that facade? Because right now it is looking pretty ugly. Worse than the renderings IMO.

I've never been, but I've heard good things. Why do you say that? I love Montreal and Vancouver, but I find it hard to believe that 3 Canadian cities have better reputations globally than all but NYC. San Francisco? DC? Miami? I have to completely disagree with you eastvillagedon. Toronto is an amazing city. Not only is their downtown great and growing, they have a ton of great neighborhoods, all connected by streetcars and subways. Biking is huge there as well and the city is extremely pedestrian friendly and active at all hours/days. Not sure if you have ever been there, but check out Queen St West, St Lawrence Market, The Distillery District, Chinatown, Koreatown, University, Bloor St West, Yorkville, Rosedale, Young st, and Kensington Market (a neighborhood, not a single building market) just to name a few. Toronto has a lot of amazing old architecture, and their commercial streets are largely, if not all intact. Their storefronts are full and diverse, and ethnic communities can be found all over the city. In addition to the old, Toronto is growing rapidly, with new glass condo towers adding to an already great skyline. It has more high rises under construction than any other city in North America with 130 currently under construction. 48.6% of Toronto's population is foreign born, which shows how much the city attracts immigrants. It really is a global city and one of the most multicultural cities in the world. You can pretty much find anything you could possibly want within the city. The neighborhoods are full of local small business which offer endless sorts of shopping as well as food. The city also has a lot of high-high end shopping which is found on Bloor Street, many major department stores, and chains you'd find at beachwood place and other malls located on lower Yonge street. Add in the fact that it has extremely low crime, especially compared to US cities and it is on the top of my list. The "ghetto" of Toronto is at the edge of the city which is developed like sprawl, and even that is nowhere close to the "ghettos" of america. In 2013 Toronto had 18 homicides. Chicago had 415. Not even close, and Toronto is the larger city. Cleveland had 84 and only has 390,928 residents. Toronto has 2,791,140. At that rate, if Cleveland was the size of Toronto, it would have 599 homicides.

Cool! They should open it up for tours. Call it the mansion in the sky. That would get people interested.

Hotel more so with 1,787 new rooms coming online by 2016, a 50% increase. The Convention Center hotel kind of worries me. If these occupancy rates remain, or get worse, the CC hotel could fail or suck the life out of existing hotels putting them out of business. Overall I think the apartment occupancy is still positive. Its not down by much and well located projects will most likely fill up easily.

If a combined station was to be created, would one connected to tower city work better since it has better connections and is already a transit hub? Perhaps Amtrak could be rerouted which would allow for a second station located in University Circle as well as an indoor station(tower city) connected to downtown and other transit routes.

I usually agree with you but not on this post. You don't know where those bus stops are because you don't use the service. People who use the service and live in those surrounding counties do know where those stops are and use the one most convenient to them, just like any other transit rider. They arent any different just because they live in a different county. For the most part, the only stops/routes I know are the ones I use. I think this is true for most people. And what suburban resident is afraid of downtown but is completely comfortable with taking a BUS to DOWNTOWN?! There is nothing scary about either but I bet it would be hard to find someone who thinks downtown is a "big bad city" but still goes downtown and takes the bus to do so. And then feel more comfortable to go to a further away station and walk longer distances within the "big bad city" People who use the bus know the stops and look ahead of time. The lakefront station would probably have extremely low use to due to its location.

You need families. Trying to build a cycle of young people living in the city, moving away when they have children, and moving back when they are 50 wont work. Obviously they are not the majority, but they are a crucial group. What are families attracted to? Good housing, strong schools, safety, youth sport leagues, and community amenities (pools, playgrounds, parks, etc.) Now what do we lack and what do we strive in? Housing - poor. Most(Clearly not all!) of the housing in the city is old, run down, outdated, and filled with lead paint, etc. New for sale housing IS needed and we have seen some on a small scale in very few neighborhoods. Schools - poor. Although there are a few options, at a city wide level the schools are in terrible shape. Safety - poor. Youth Sports - ? ? ? ? Im not familiar with? Are there a lot of programs in the city? Can you easily sign your kid up to an active soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, football, etc. league like you can in the suburbs? Amenities - ? ? ? Im not too familiar with this category either. Downtown obviously lacks, but do the neighborhoods have good parks? I know Tremont and Little Italy do, but what about the rest of the city. And yes, Cleveland has more that 4 neighborhoods which some seem to forget. Right now there is not a lot to attract families to the city, and that is why we are struggling. What we are good at (IN A FEW NEIGHBORHOODS) are restaurants and bars. This mostly attracts a younger crowd and arent on the top of many families lists.

I think they are bunting but think they are hitting home runs. In reality what the city views as singles are actually home runs. Avoid major fix all projects such as the medical mart/convention center/hotel, stadiums etc. and instead invest that money in developments that actually promote population/job growth. If all of that money was used to help fund projects to fill in the warehouse district parking lots, convert buildings, and increase residential and Class A office space development downtown and in the neighborhoods we would see a much healthier city IMO.

It has 30 - 60 minute intervals. With those it will never serve as a viable transportation option for those who can choose. An elevated rail line with 5 - 15 minute intervals would do much better and not only serve rush hour commuters but also shoppers throughout the day. It would be the best routed line in the system.

Ive been wondering the same thing. The sign has been there for awhile though so nothing to get tooo excited about.

They were finished a few years ago and have been sold out and even resold for awhile now. I think when they say they are the only "for sale project" they mean currently under construction and for sale for the first time. Once a project has been completed/sold out it is no longer a "project", just like the 100 year old houses are no longer "for sale projects".

Another cell phone company? I vote Apple Store :) Although it was only Verizon, I do hope it stays retail/amenities. Completely unlikely but would be awesome for the area. And would make more sense now that Apple moved further out east towards the edge.

Another cell phone company?

Wow! 1900

Market rate? This property would be a great opportunity to not only extend University Circle north, but to create new market rate housing along Rockefeller Park and the Cultural Gardens. It could even lead to the renovation of several of the apartment building just north of it.

She always seems to be wrong. On twitter she has been really bad. I cant remember the exact situation but one time she tweeted something and literally 5 minutes later something came out basically showing she was completely wrong. It was hilarious.

I do not think the walkway connection is needed since the stairs are right near by. People complain about them but they work perfectly fine. I believe the rounded pathway connecting to the walkway wouldn't work due to the topography over there plus it would require taking down a lot of trees which is a huge negative. Honestly I do not think the garage is needed. A lot of the residents would be students. University Circle has one of the largest percentage of walking commuters, and a lot of these students come from out of state/country and do not bring a car with them. Additionally, biking is HUGE in University Circle. The amount of bikes at a bike rack is ridiculous over there. Also parking for residents could be better handled with smaller garages under the buildings.