TPH2

Here are some pictures of Progressive Field from a couple days ago: New signage at the left field gate and ticket area The new Great Lakes beer garden Behind home plate

As of last week, the Huron side of the building is now lit up

^ The PD reported on the rail outage around 1pm this afternoon: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/03/repairs_to_east_side_rapid_lin.html

Yes, exactly. Since only buses can traverse the square, car traffic on Superior to the east and west will be significantly less than before (as it has been for the last year). There's no reason that those few blocks of Superior and Ontario adjacent to Public Square need to remain as wide as they are.

To be fair, Andrew Tobias tweeted this at me the other day when I was complaining about the RTA RNC article. So, we'll see what happens... @AndrewJTobias Mar 9 Hi Tom: I parachuted into this topic to address my lane. Something is coming out about the larger issues facing the RTA soon.

^ And narrow Superior as well?

^ I was told by someone at city hall that the Jacobs' lot was indeed on S-W's radar

It was on last night

^ Music to my ears!

Dates and locations have been released for public hearings on the fare increase/service cuts:

Since you're already a transit user, you might not be the best person to ask this of, but HOW, exactly, should that marketing be "upgraded", or "approached differently"? I'd be curious to hear specifics. There's lots of good, super creative filmmakers in town. You should hold a contest where filmmakers create a 30 second piece on how convenient it is to use RTA and how to use the fare machines. Anything to get non-riders more familiar with the process will help. Trust me. These short clips will be all over Youtube and Facebook in no time. And, as KJP and I have mentioned multiple times, using media to show the RTA working on its infrastructure. Need to tweet out about a slow zone? Great, include a picture or short video of the tracks and why it's a slow zone. Part of the rail line is closed because of track work? Fine, but have some media to accompany the announcement so riders know why they're being inconvenienced. Trains or buses are delayed because of ice or other weather event? Show a short video as to how this impacts vehicles. People tend to be a lot less upset about service disruptions when they know why it's happening as well as being reassured that RTA is taking steps to improve things. You can say so in press releases all you want, but paragraphs of words have much less of an impact than pictures and videos.

This is tomorrow at CSU for anyone interested:

The base fare for the bus is the same as the Rapid--both $2.25

Sad news to report: it looks like we've lost another counter breakfast/lunch spot downtown. I went to grab breakfast at the Huron Square Deli this morning and found this

I've been staring at the picture of the bathroom trying to figure out what it is that was so offensive to you guys. So it's just the color?? Sheesh. I think they look nice

Set aside a whole day. You wouldn't think there's enough rail lines for that but there is. I've done it a few times to show people from other cities, yet they set aside only a morning or just an afternoon and we didn't get to see everything. Now imagine if we actually had some good TOD along those lines

Cleveland Metroparks to fix historic Coast Guard station By James Ewinger, The Plain Dealer Follow on Twitter on February 26, 2016 at 7:07 AM, updated February 26, 2016 at 7:09 AM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Talk is cheap, and there's been a lot of talk about rescuing the Art Moderne-style Coast Guard Station on the lakefront. Well, the cheap part may be over –- with judicious spending supplanting idle talk. Cleveland Metroparks CEO Brian Zimmerman said the park system will oversee full restoration and also will manage the facility. ...The hope is to have it complete in time for the park system's centennial next year. http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/02/cleveland_metroparks_to_fix_hi.html

Likewise

^ It's not just that Joe thinks it's his own burden to take up, he doesn't trust the constituents to make a positive impact. He thinks that it could be counterproductive if they are viewed as just a bunch of crazy radicals.

What else is new?

No, needing to walk through it does not mean the same thing it did before. It's not about the length of the walk, it's about the quality of the walk. Going from Tower City to the opposite side of the square will be a much nicer walk than it ever has been. And thus more people will be willing to do that walk and thus downtown will begin to feel more connected

^ Because it was an unpleasant place to be. The quadrants were not well designed and it was not comfortable. Then there's the obvious point of having to wait for a pedestrian signal and then cross massive expanses of concrete to get from one part to the next. My negative feelings increased for Public Square once I got older and started traveling more and saw great public spaces in other cities that were people friendly and nice places to be.

I get the idea it will be pedestrian friendly but a "place to be used in all sorts of ways"? How so? A place to sit and hang out, eat & drink at the cafe, play in the water feature, ice skate, go to a farmer's market, maybe listen to live music or watch a movie on a big screen, etc etc

For everyone who says that Public Square was fine the way it was, I invite them to spend some time in Campus Martius in Detroit or Fountain Square in Cincinnati. Both of those squares also happen to have a transit center a block or two away. I know no one has the money for such a project right now, but I think a west side transit center just west of Public Square is the answer.

I'm quite a big cheerleader for public transit and RTA is my primary mode of transportation as I do not have a car. I agree with much of what KJP has said, but I am also torn. When I lived in Collinwood for a few months I caught my bus on Public Square every day. I found the experience to be less than pleasant and the station areas were usually filled with litter. Almost every day I would see multiple people throw wrappers, pop cans, plastic bags, etc on the ground, even though there were trash cans just feet from them. I on multiple occasions saw fights break out, both physical and verbal. Now with Public Square being closed, whenever I pass Ontario Street, I can't help notice how the sidewalk on the west side where all the bus stops are now located is, quite frankly, disgusting. I'm a believer in transit. We need to have more of it and have more people use it. We as a region need to invest in transit and view it as a integral part of the life of the city. We need to get rid of the stigma that surrounds transit. We need to use it as an economic tool that can help impoverished people reach jobs. But I also completely understand why some people don't want buses on Public Square.