TPH2

It's official: Heinen's is moving into the old Giant Eagle space in the Chagrin Falls Shopping Plaza. The store will open this fall http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/01/jeff_heinen_confirms_chagrin_falls_heinens_fine_foods_store_is_opening_this_fall.html

Jimmy John's move into D'Vine spot signals changes for Cleveland's Warehouse District By John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer on January 20, 2016 at 10:20 AM, updated January 20, 2016 at 10:21 AM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A new Jimmy John's opening is hardly groundbreaking news. The franchised sandwich chain has more than 2,400 shops around the country. But its arrival to Cleveland's Warehouse District is noteworthy because of the location: the former D'Vine Wine Bar spot on St. Clair Avenue. http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/01/jimmy_johns_move_into_old_dvin.html

Yes, it is cheaper to live there and the apartments are all a few decades old. Speaking completely anecdotally, every "millennial" that I know who lives in Mayfield lives there because either rent is cheap and/or it is closer to their job located in the suburbs. They all have expressed their preference for living in the city or Lakewood.

I was wondering what caused the Red Line single tracking and WFL shutdown. Looks like the WFL is back up and running now though. I fear we may be seeing more rail issues in the near future at Tower City, and this morning was just a small taste of the headache that it will create.

It's where many, many apartment complexes are located -- Gates Mills Towers, Gates Mills Place, Arbor Court, Marsol Towers, Coppertree, The Drake, The Drury, Pepper Hollow, need I go on?? As someone who spent part of their childhood growing up in Mayfield Hts, the thought of living there now at this point in my life sounds real depressing. Although, if I were to pick a suburb to undergo a "suburban retrofit", I'd pick Mayfield Hts. This map reinforces that idea. There are evidently a good amount of young people there, it is relatively dense, and has a lot of dining and retail options. It could be a walkable and transit friendly place, but the current built environment there isn't conducive to that.

From Indianapolis: Opposition to Red Line Bus Rapid Transit route accelerates John Tuohy, [email protected] 9:39 a.m. EST January 18, 2016 No cement has been mixed or dirt turned over, no construction money secured or engineers hired, but pockets of resistance are bubbling in the first section of the city’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit system. Northside residents who live near College Avenue have attended meetings and circulated an online petition to voice concern about the Red Line electric buses that would run as often as every 10 minutes from 66th Street in Broad Ripple to the University of Indianapolis on the Southside. http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/01/17/opposition-red-line-bus-rapid-transit-route-accelerates/78307660/

From the latest report from CSU's Center for Population Dynamics: Cleveland ranks 8th in U.S. in growth rate of college-educated millennials, study says By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer on January 19, 2016 at 8:05 AM, updated January 19, 2016 at 9:22 AM CLEVELAND, Ohio – The city ranks eighth in the nation in the growth rate of college-educated millennial residents aged 25 to 34, placing it in a three-way tie with Miami and Seattle. That's just one of the findings in "The Fifth Migration," the latest report from the Center for Population Dynamics at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2016/01/cleveland_ranks_8th_in_us_in_g.html

Supposed to be one downtown, commemorating MLK and Tamir Rice. I walked by it on Ontario St about an hour ago. The group was less than 20 people How many of which were reporters? I didn't notice any, I'm sure there were a couple. Props to them though, no way I'd spend more than 5 minutes outside today.

Supposed to be one downtown, commemorating MLK and Tamir Rice. I walked by it on Ontario St about an hour ago. The group was less than 20 people

There's no consistency as to when the announcements are played on the Red Line. Sometimes they're there, sometimes they're not. And when they do get played, it's only for a few stations on the route. And then the announcements get all cluttered with the listing of nearby "attractions." RTA should find a person with a pleasant and distinctive voice to record simple station stop announcements for all the rapid and brt lines. That "voice" can then become part of the identity of RTA's rapid transit system.

I couldn't agree more with this. There are many things that need to change with city council, and the vacancy appointment process is just one of them. Appointed Cleveland City Council members should have to face voters sooner: editorial By Editorial Board on January 14, 2016 at 10:14 AM, updated January 14, 2016 at 10:31 AM Joe Cimperman plans to quit Cleveland City Council in March, but -- given council rules allowing him to choose his own successor -- that hardly makes him a lame duck. As is tradition, Cimperman will be allowed to recommend his replacement and have that person approved by City Council without objection. http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/01/un-elected_cleveland_city_coun.html

To address this one point, yes, RTA does have plans to fix up the area under the freight tracks. From what I heard, there were issues with working with CSX (big surprise) on getting it done. I was told a few months ago by someone from RTA that the goal was to do it this coming spring. Not sure if anything has changed since then.

Fantastic set of pictures! I'm excited to see parts 2 and 3. Baltimore has long been one of my favorite cities. It is definitely an East Coast city, but there's an industrial grittiness there that reminds me a bit of places like Cleveland. And also, the first time I was ever in Cincinnati, my first thought was that it reminded me a lot of Baltimore. It's a shame that most people's opinion of Baltimore is typically based on only one or two things: 1) The Wire/2015 riots 2) The Inner Harbor. There is no doubt that Baltimore faces a huge problem with poverty, segregation, and violence, but there are many positives to the city as well. And the Inner Harbor is a pleasant place to walk around and most people I know enjoy going there, but it lacks authenticity and you don't get a good feel for the city there. Any place that has a Ripley's Believe It Or Not next to a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company loses points in my book. I also like Baltimore's Charm City Circulator. The buses are clean, its easy to use, and the system is very extensive (and best of all, it's free). The Light Rail and Metro Subway have their uses, but as a visitor to the city, I did not often find them to be useful to getting to various points of interest around the city. Having used the MTA frequently, I know firsthand what a blow the Red Line cancellation was the city. The Ravens still suck though.

I wonder what took them so long to publicly open. They looked pretty close to being finished when they opened the place up during the Feast. And every time I've gone by there over the last few months, there have been people sitting at the bar with the TV's on.

Has anyone noticed NextConnect being way off lately? I've only really used on the HealthLine recently, but have not seen it be accurate at least once in the last couple weeks. The stop survey has already been completed for the HealthLine, so I thought it should be showing accurate real time data. And for some reason the HL has also been absent from the Transit App?

Here's a good thread with the history of the Cleveland Union Terminal with some pictures of the old right of way: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,11674.0.html. MU2010 is correct that it was used by the intercity passenger trains coming in and out of the Union Terminal in Cleveland. The Rapid was built next to those tracks, but today, it is obviously only the Red Line that survives. I'm excited to see how the Red Line Greenway eventually incorporates those historical pieces into the new park.

I was just looking at old pictures of this building from the '00s to remind myself of what it looked like. This renovation is really pretty amazing. It better win some kind of award.

These were from a few days ago. Since they were taken, all of the scaffolding on the sidewalk has since been removed. It's the first time that corner is open and free from scaffolding in at least 5 years! Almost all of the lighting turned on

Public restrooms at transit stations are a rarity across the country, with a few exceptions.

^ I've never seen that picture of Prospect before. Imagine if those homes were never lost. It's a shame that our best residential architecture was just obliterated.

Looks like the light rail was struggling a bit this morning

Here's a little write up Freshwater did on them a couple years ago: http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/features/hiddencleveland010914.aspx

New upscale steakhouse coming to Pinecrest! .... Oh wait, no, just another establishment relocating from across I-271. http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2016/01/11/red-the-steakhouse-to-close-in-beachwood-open-in-pinecrest

The same could be said of W 25th, W 65th, West Blvd, Triskett, West Park... I wouldn't be surprised, maybe I went too far with the red headed step child thing but either way it could use some work. I understand that RTA is slowly fixing their stations and Superior will have its turn, it may be a while because it isn't in the worst shape so it may not be the highest priority. After Brookpark, the only Red Line stations left to be rebuilt to be ADA compliant are E 79 and E 34th. The problem is that RTA rebuilds the stations and they are nice for a time, but then get neglected in the following years and their condition deteriorates.

The same could be said of W 25th, W 65th, West Blvd, Triskett, West Park...