ML11

It's just such a silly use of money. People act like all these amenities are absolutely necessary to "keep up", but the reality is that at least 50% of the people attending Browns games are annihilated by the time they reach their seat. The NFL gameday "experience" does not rely on being surrounded by modern luxurious stadium features. Keep the beer lines moving, build a few extra bathrooms and you're good to go.

Just need to do something to make West 65th less of a death trap and we'll have a fantastic near-west-side loop with the Red-Line Greenway and those trails.

lol this is some example of "public engagement". Throw a largely pointless survey up in a tweet for 48 hours... (call for a paper copy!) I am guessing they are just looking to cherry-pick some survey results to justify whatever they end up doing. I, for one, demand that the lakefront "Inspires Hope and Healing for All"

Great news - I am starting to think that the W50s will be rejuvenated on Lorain before they are on Detroit.

The Rochester team didn't make it long: https://www.rochesterfirst.com/sports/rnyfc/rochester-ny-fc-ceases-operations-will-not-play-in-2023/ I would be surprised if this gets off the ground in Cleveland. The main attraction of MLSNP is that it's relatively cheap to get into for an owner. It is not a compelling competition IMO. I think CLE is better off pursuing a NWSL team as a first priority, although those are getting pricier every day.

Re: 45th and Lorain: "The landmarks commission suggested that Kertesz and his team rework the project and come back with something that is more appropriate for the site while also achieving the density needed to make the project work for the developer." So it's too tall, doesn't have enough larger units, too expensive, doesn't have enough parking, but come back with something that works for you!

There was a plan for townhouses on this site a few years ago, but that developer walked away. The latest plan is the 3rd different developer to propose something in the last 5 years. They have made it the furthest by actually demo'ing the buildings that were sitting on the site, but now it's just a vacant lot with a fence surrounding it, and no other signs of movement.

Attery Park did have a nice ring to it though.

The lot on the corner of 69th and Detroit with the Subway and Georgio's Pizza would be a nice little spot to build up with retail on ground floor and apartments above.

The Erie Street Cemetery would be an appropriate place to prepare for a Browns game

USLC would be a lot more fun from a fan perspective. You'd have built in rivalries with Pittsburgh and Detroit, and the rest of the league is filled with independent clubs with real fan bases, etc. The likely problem is that USL requires a higher expansion fee (I think $5M+ is last I heard), and a stadium being in place with requirements that none of the college venues in town could meet. MLS Next Pro might grow in the future, but the MLS Reserve teams will never draw well, so you are limited in terms of building any rivalries. NWSL is bigger news than either MLSNext or USLC though (IMO). That is a league full of some of the best players in the world, and we'd be competing against genuine top-tier markets. Hopefully the ownership group is serious about pursuing it.

I don't think you need a cavernous 13K seat arena to grow the basketball program. I think having a smaller arena will actually make the atmosphere better which will hopefully attract more fans. There are plenty of examples of urban schools with smaller arenas that have successful programs. (VCU in Richmond, Butler in Indy, Drake in Des Moines, etc.)

Terrace Club outdoor terraces look cool. I understand the Dugout Club is a way to make the most expensive seats more desirable, but watching the game on a TV when you have seats behind home plate makes no sense to me. If they had some kind of premium / restaurant-quality food option there then maybe that can move the needle.

I did a quick check, and could fly Wednesday 5/24 to Memorial Day Monday round-trip for ~$450 👀

The amount of vacant land around the Detroit/Lake intersection is crazy. I hope something materializes soon for any of those lots (WattersonLake, 74th/Detroit, 75th/Detroit, Burger King, Happy's Pizza.) For all the progress of the last 1-2 decades, it's pretty amazing that you still have these huge swathes of empty land in the middle of one of the more in-demand neighborhoods of Cleveland.

Needs more residential for this to be worthwhile. A bunch of empty grass lawns next to the lake aren't a 9-figure improvement from the current swathe of empty parking lots (IMO).

The reality is that we do not have the downtown population or transit ridership to make many sustainable improvements to Tower City. Hopefully we can continue to build downtown population, and maybe RTA can reverse its trajectory eventually.

This is a tough call... I don't think football stadiums are a good use of land, even when they have a roof and can host 20 events/year instead of 10. I'm also skeptical of any benefits of spurring surrounding development. So part of me thinks the best way to go is to simply find the least intrusive area within the city to put the stadium. The Post Office site seems to accomplish that. I'm not afraid of social media posts of blimp views... there are more important priorities than hoping to drive positive sentiment among internet trolls. The east downtown site would be fine too, but seems more complicated, and I'm a little concerned about a football stadium simply promoting/entrenching surface parking lots in this part of town. At the end of the day I assume the Haslams will go for whichever site will make them the most money, and once again Cleveland/Cuyahoga County will be left paying the bill for the whole region to watch the Browns.

Any word on outcome of the Planning Commission meeting today?

I agree with you. There is still a big economic mix in the legacy areas of Gordon Square, and that is not going to evaporate overnight, regardless of how many apartment units get built on surrounding parcels. The median household income in Cleveland is around $30k and it's not much higher in the wider Ward 15. If we're missing economic diversity in Cleveland, it's because there is a below average number of middle/higher income households in the city.

I agree that it's fairly easy to poke holes in these arguments, but I do have a little bit of sympathy for the long-time homeowners on West 73rd. There are 10-15 homes on the west side of the street in the "legacy" neighborhood, and another 8-10 townhomes in the BP section. West 73rd used to be a sleepy street, but since the city pushed it through to Edgewater and the Shoreway, it has become much busier, especially on summer weekends, and it gets its fair share of moronic drivers going to/from the beach. Now I think overall the neighborhood has changed significantly for the better, and it's very convenient to have the Shoreway connection available, and home values have certainly risen over time, but I understand why some people would push back against more change/activity on the street, even if it doesn't make sense in the bigger picture. I have a lot less sympathy for people who don't live on 73rd and simply want the neighborhood to exist exactly as it is today (or was yesterday) for the rest of time.

Here are the complaints, roughly in order of how often stated: Parking (140 spaces proposed for 210 units) "Not fitting the neighborhood" next to smaller single-family houses Traffic volume/speed on West 73rd Prefer For Sale instead of rental Do not want a neighborhood full of "luxury apartments" (seems to be a mix of anti-renter sentiment along with desire for "economic diversity") People want single-family housing or nothing, ignoring the reality that the land (and demolition cost) is probably too expensive to build single-family houses at a reasonable price point. (Not to mention the pending cutback of the 15-year property tax abatement, which will make high-dollar new houses less attractive than they've been previously.) There are issues with speeding on 73rd and they will need to do some traffic calming regardless, but that feels like something that can be solved regardless of the status of this parcel.

I missed the end of this Far West Review meeting, but it sounded like it was headed for recommended disapproval. A group of neighbors and Jenny Spencer spoke in opposition to the proposal.

If we close Burke to build a world-class golf course, where will all the golfers park their private jets? In all seriousness, sign me up for this pipe dream. Burke has a massive footprint so there's plenty of room for other uses, and if it somehow came together, a destination golf course would bring in high-dollar tourists at least 6 months a year, even without a big tournament.

Really hope this happens, and that is leases/sells well enough to spur more development. There is a ton of land in this triangle between Lake, W78th and and train tracks. Interesting to see this labeled as Cudell as it's east of Lake Ave, and close to Battery Park. I'm sure the developers will use Gordon Square or Edgewater, or some new made-up neighborhood name to promote it :)