TPH2

Welcome, MikeyB440[/member]! Here's the link to the Crain's article: http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150523/NEWS/150529922/another-round-of-apartments-is-on-the-way-via-118-flats-oval

Planners seek to avoid lining Opportunity Corridor with payday lenders, other undesirable uses CLEVELAND, Ohio – Planners are gearing up to use a new kind of zoning, a new design review district and other tools and techniques to realize the economic and aesthetic potential of the $331 million Opportunity Corridor boulevard scheduled for completion in 2019. The goal is to avoid lowest common denominator development that might otherwise occur along the three-mile, 35 mph roadway, designed to connect the stub end of I-490 at East 55th Street to University Circle. "Pardon me but we don't want a street full of payday lenders and Popeye drive-throughs and gas stations," said Marie Kittredge, executive director of the Opportunity Corridor Partnership, the project's 35-member steering committee. http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2015/05/no_payday_lenders_wanted_by_pl.html

Is it just me or does there feel to be considerably less excitement about entering the Finals this year as opposed to 2007? Perhaps it's because that was our first time and it was something that was almost expected this year? I was looking at a picture of the crowd at Gateway Plaza from game 6 against the Pistons in '07, and I don't feel that same vibe this time. But maybe I'm wrong and I'm the odd one out.

Im a little concerned about this...only because Dredgers Union is still in my head. Heinens was considered a risk, and People NEED food. I love that they are trying, but they will have to adjust to the market and get people down in their store True, but the profit margins in retail are higher than those from grocery stores and the amount they would need to spend on labor is also considerably less than Heinen's.

Damn, those are going up fast. Toby Keith's was just a shell of steel support beams just a couple weeks ago.

And here's the Crain's article: http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150526/NEWS/150529893/clothing-retailer-geigers-plans-a-downtown-cleveland-store

Sorry, that came off way more snarky than it should have. The picture really gives you a good sense of the scale of the CUT footprint in relation to the rest of downtown. And it's neat to seat the site pre-Higbee Building

Wait, are you serious? That's the Landmark Office Towers. Still standing today...

Normal draft is $7 (yikes!), but during happy hour its $4. I believe happy hour goes from 4-7pm

^ That wasn't even humorous

Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights plan to designate outdoor drinking areas CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio – The Cedar Lee District bustles on weekend nights, as couples and friends flock to its movie theater, restaurants, bars and patios. Now, the district has expressed interest in a new state law that would allow adults to walk outside with alcohol, Vice Mayor Cheryl Stephens told City Council this month. She said she was not recommending which, if any, Cleveland Heights district the city should designate as an outdoor-consumption zone but wanted council to be aware of the new state legislation that creates "outdoor refreshment areas." Continued

There have been times where I had to take the Metro from my home in DC to Union Station to catch the Marc to get to the BWI rail station then take the shuttle to the BWI terminal, go through security, board the plane, fly to Hopkins, wait for my bag, then take the Rapid back downtown....and all in all it took longer than the six hours it would have taken to drive.

CEI was originally at 75 PS before they moved to 55 PS in the 50s.

^ The story is about him being charged in the county court of common pleas, which is located in the Justice Center. Perhaps not the best choice of picture, but I think it's unfair to say it has "zero" to do with the story.

^ It's a cool skyline pic, but kind of an odd choice considering that the view of the building is completely blocked by the City Club building from that angle

I'm assuming they mean they found the link to Urban Ohio via a Google search for views from the Key Tower

This is a fun topic. I'm sure people on this forum can give some more informed and thorough insights than me, but here's my opinion on them all: Terrell Pruitt - Don't really know much about him at all. Zack Reed- You probably don't need anyone to tell you about him. His big claim to fame is his history with multiple DUI convictions. He loves to grandstand and almost always berates the administration for caring more about downtown and business interests than about the neighborhoods. He gives a long speech at almost every council meeting about this and how the city needs to do more to bring down crime. He also does not posses a college degree (not that that's a criticism, just giving context). Joe Cimperman- People have lots of opinions about him mainly because he's likely the most visible member of council. He's constantly a huge cheerleader for Cleveland, almost to an excessive degree. His big issues lately have been marriage and transgender equality. I've always had positive experiences with him when talking to him in person. He's generally a big supporter of the administration. I'll leave it to others to provide any of the negative critiques of him. Ken Johnson- Big thing with him is that he's currently "double dipping." A few years back he "retired" in order to collect a state pension and then was reappointed back to his same council seat. Nothing illegal about it, but it obviously ruffled a lot of feathers. Other than that, I don't know much about him. Phyllis E. Cleveland- Don't know too much about her other than that she's the majority leader. Mamie Mitchell- Again, don't know a whole lot. From comments she has made in meetings though, I've gathered that she's not very intelligent. That could be an unfair assessment, but I've yet to be proven wrong on that. She rarely speaks at general council meetings though. TJ Dow - Took over the seat of the long serving Fannie Lewis. He seems to be a bit of a firebrand, but also seems to have a relatively good head on his shoulders. I don't know too much about him. Mike Polensek- The "Dean" of the council in that he has served longer than any other member. He gets a lot of publicity as he is often seen on the news and is a frequent guest on the Triv Show to talk about city issues. He's often critical of the mayor and the administration, especially when it comes to snow plowing and street repairs. My grandma lives in his ward and she loves him, mainly because he always responds to her phone calls, emails, etc. And yes, my grandma loves Judge Judy, Bill O'Reilly, and Fox News. Kevin Conwell- Let's also put him in the 'not very intelligent' category. He always talks about job fairs going on in his ward and how the biggest way to get rid of crime and poverty is to give more people jobs. That's all I've ever really heard him say. Jeff Johnson- God, he's awful. Johnson was once a member of the Ohio Senate and was seen as a rising star in the local Democratic party...until he was convicted of three federal extortion charges and spent time in prison. A court restored his ability to hold public office and he was reelected to the council seat that he held back in the 1980s. He's right up there with Zack Reed in his love of pointless grandstanding. His conduct is an embarrassment to the city of Cleveland (particularly his verbal altercation a few weeks back with the council president over the budget that he "mistakenly" voted for even though he opposed it). He also criticized Mike DeWine when the AG released a report blasting the city and the police department, but then embraced the DOJ report that said the same thing. Divisive, racial politics is his game. Dona Brady- I've only ever heard her whine and complain about things. She also has been a vocal voice in the downtown vs. neighborhoods chorus and is often critical of the administration. She has gone as far as calling members of the administration liars. She also loves a good grandstanding speech. Her husband is the president of the Cuyahoga County Council. Anthony Brancatelli- I really don't know much about him other than that he took over the council seat of Ed Rybka when he left to join the Campbell administration (Rybka is now the Chief of Regional Development for the city). He seems to be one of the more level headed members of council, but I'm open to being refuted on that. Kevin Kelly- Took over as president of council from Martin Sweeney. I generally like him and he is a reasonable guy and seemingly intelligent. Sometimes though I get the sense that he doesn't command the respect of some of his colleagues and he is not very authoritative in running meetings (I sympathize with him for having to deal with all the yahoos that he has to deal with). Other than that, I don't have too much insight. Brian Cummins- Probably one of the more progressive members of council and has often been a vocal critic of the administration, especially regarding the recent issues with the CPD. Matt Zone- Often very soft spoken and often tries to calm tensions if meetings get heated. It's quite evident that he and Zack Reed have a bit of a tiff going on. Brian Kazy- The new guy. Was appointed to fill Martin Sweeney's vacant seat (using council's suspicious and controversial appointment process). I don't know really anything about Kazy. Martin Keane- He's not often a very visible member of council and you rarely hear him speak at general meetings. Not very knowledgeable otherwise. Wow, we really have way too many council members...

This past weekend I biked from downtown to the Rocky River reservation for the first time. Getting to Lakewood wasn't too awful (but it could be a lot better). The worst stretch was Detroit Ave in Cleveland, and at least that part had bike lanes. I came back downtown from Kamms Corner's via Lorain Ave...now that was indeed treacherous. Edit: Speaking of Lorain Ave, it is being resurfaced from W 150th to W 117th, but the part from W 129th to W 117th was not going to include bike lanes. Apparently Dona Brady was opposed to having bike lanes in the stretch that ran through her ward (even though the part in Ward 16 will have bike lanes). Does anyone know if there was any change with this? I know Bike Cleveland was pushing to have special lanes added, but I haven't heard anything lately.

I do think it's too soon to jump to that conclusion. But you're right in that renovating a ballpark alone without having a good product will not draw in fans. For what it's worth, average per game attendance so far this year is 15,822, which is 1,646 higher than it was at this point in 2014.

Man, it's real hard for me to not throw in the towel on this team right now. I consider myself an above average Indians fan (substantially above average probably) and I've watched/listened to less than 20% of their games this year so far. I went to the first two home games and haven't been back since. If I'm not invested in this team, I'm not at all surprised that no one else is.

This is starting to get concerning.... Latest Tremont armed robbery triggers high-speed chase, but no arrests http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/05/latest_tremont_armed_robbery_t.html

Not that I've seen

Has anyone heard anything from any Cleveland elected officials regarding this? It seems that most the talk has centered around Cincinnati and the only thing mentioned about Cleveland has been PD reporters giving E 4th St as an example of where this could happen. Let's just say I wouldn't be totally surprised if Cle City Council voted down a proposal to create one or two of these in the city. It's something new and different, and we all know how that makes leaders around here nervous.

I didn't realize this was part of the law, but apparently Franklin and Cuyahoga Counties now join Hamilton County as being able to grant F-8 permits. This is a nine-month long liquor permit and DCA plans to use one for Public Square after the renovations are complete. This would be the same arrangement currently in place for Fountain Square in Cincy. http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/04/liquor_law_change_would_mean_m.html#incart_m-rpt-1

I'm not sure if this is the best thread for this, but I figured I'd post here since the organization is primarily concerned with increasing immigration to CLE: Joy Roller resigns as president of Global Cleveland http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150414/FREE/150419927/joy-roller-resigns-as-president-of-global-cleveland