PHS14

Under the County Executive website regarding committess/boards etc is the following" Soldiers and Sailors Monument Board of Trustees Richard T. Prasse, President Contact info: Timothy Daley, Executive Director 216-698-2461 (both gentleman have same # listed) soldiersandsailors.com Disclaimer: last posted Meetings are the period 10/2011 - 10/2012 ( go figure) so who knows how accurate this information is.

Most likely, which is why it's not being lit properly. I recall C Ellen Connolly making a statement at, I believe, the City Club forum with James Corner, reminding everyone that the SSM was county owned and not to make plans that would interfere with county ownership. I was thinking ''uh oh, here we go with another Cleveland political wall''... This is why it's not lit properly. Makes sense to me. Old County politicians not working with the PS redevelopment so while the rest of the Square is gleaming, the SSM sits basically dark at night while it should be the centerpiece, especially at night. C Ellen Connolly, while a nice woman I'm sure, is part of the old Cleveland political baggage department. She is a professional politician, ran for lots of different elected offices as part of the overall team that let Cleveland collapse and now the county has joined in the decline. Who knows, maybe the SSM will be lit in the near term.

I expected the column to be soft-lit and Lady Liberty atop the column as well. Lady Liberty used to be lit, I want to say with blue-hued lighting. Could have been back in the '90s when the Flats bridges etc were all lit for the Bicentennial in 1996. All that lighting faded out years later.

I wonder why it's not properly lit up at night.

...and south.

Nothing wrong with the station, just the neighborhood.

You use it at night to go clubbing?

Anyone visiting Cleveland/downtown would never know Cleveland has a rapid transit system, unless, of course he or she used the rapid to get downtown. While this is true, there are arguably only two places the rapid goes that would be of major interest to visitors who didn't already come in via the airport, W. 25th and Shaker Square. Oh. And the waterfront. But I'm not suggesting we start that again [emoji2] University Circle? Little Italy? Yep; double yep... Soon we can throw in the soon to be built, end-of-the-line Van Aken Center... The Shaker Nature Center on the Green Line also could qualify... People don't realize it, but you can actually hoof it to clubs and restaurants in the Edgewater neighborhood from the West Blvd station (or simple ride the #26 bus from there a few blocks down Detroit if you don't feel like walking. That martini bar, among other joints on Clifton, at W. 104th street is very walkable, as is the western portion of Edgewater Park... Unfortunately some consider West Blvd/Cudell to be "dangerous" and won't use it. Me personally find such fears to be unfounded. You seriously would promote using W 98 Station to go clubbing in Detroit/Shoreway/Edgewater? No one is or should be doing that currently.

Anyone visiting Cleveland/downtown would never know Cleveland has a rapid transit system, unless, of course he or she used the rapid to get downtown. Again, having one truly downtown station, buried in the bowels of a mall, set in the old Union Terminal Building, with no outside signage indicating RTA, is ridiculous. It's not convenient to get to from a large section of downtown anyway.

Notice the buildings on the west side of the Square, back in the days when it was fully enclosed. Been a vacant lot since 1990 or so...long time, some 26 years. Expecting that lot to be the home of a modern structure of some sort soon.

Most likely the cost of relocating and then distancing the station from the parking lot. The station dates back to 1958, part of the 1st expansion of the line, and parking lots were needed to accommodate not only suburban but West Park residents as well. The parking lots were quite full until the 1980s; downtown declined, as did RTA use. I've stated many times the Red Line has a bad route generally and station placement in particular.

Until the neighborhood demographics change, this redevelopment is fantasy.

Wonder if Gilbert will promote RTA? Now that he owns the Tower City Mall (The Avenue) it will be interesting to see how he uses the train station to promote his businesses. Obviously the train station didn't help the mall and arguably, may have hurt it in the long-run given The Avenue's initial high-end retail base. If airport passenger traffic picks-up enough it would be nice to have a shuttle train between the airport-Tower City. One can hope but Cleveland is seeing a nice increase in visitor/tourist traffic; not sure what the numbers are at the airport though.

Forest City did not want to advertise for RTA and its riders; the fewer the better for its mall.

Single-digit numbers is still an improvement though. This station used to have -0- passengers especially during its pre-renovation years. I've noticed more passengers using this station now and expect it to only increase in the future. I think it's a good location with great street access, like W 25th Street. Stations like Triskett, West Park and Brookpark don't have good street (ie. pedestrian) access and I think pedestrian access is crucial to building ridership.

Since you called me ''Beavis'' in another thread...It's a business newspaper But*head, commenting on the vibrancy of downtown CLE on Cavs parade day. Using this day, the commentary hopes to see general vibrancy downtown which is generally considered to be a population of 25,000. Increasing the city's taxpayer population translates into business, which creates taxes, which create city services etc, which creates visitors-tourists-business meetings-conventions-sporting&special events that fill hotels that create employment, which creates stability, which creates better schools...get the picture? Increasing the downtown population can contribute to a nice multiplier. Downtown is a place for everybody, so your point is misplaced anyway. "Beavis" was in response to you typing out "LOL," which in context was similar to saying "get the picture?" in the sense that it's inappropriately hostile. It's not at all clear that downtown population is required for any of those other goals you list. One could even argue that different goals involve different types of amenities and investments, so there is a degree of mutual exclusivity in play. I found Marinucci's statement to be very odd, given that the parade was so distinctly visitor-oriented. Odd enough to point out, but not important enough to fuss about in this particular thread. So I bid you good day. Too bad developers turned all those empty or minimally used buildings downtown into residences. Downtown is for all people that stopped going downtown the past several decades. Of course the parade was visitor oriented, Cleveland's population is below 390,000 and there were 1.3 million people downtown. It's all about residency because CLE needs taxpaying residents. Typical CLE area responses (or at least those living around the City of Cleveland because no one lives there) as soon as more than 10,000 people live downtown, the anti-something starts. Cleveland did make another top 10 poll of the worst cities to live in; the good is that were up to #9 on the list. What is everyone going to do if CLE doesn't make the top 10 on these lists? I bid you a good day as well.

True, but I don't see West 65th as "woefully" underutilized anymore. Before it was renovated, it definitely fell into that woefully category. Goes to show that even a station located in a pit with nothing around it to generate ridership can be rebuilt to feel more secure and the neighborhood can be rebuilt to generate some riders. I know it was a ghost stop before the renovation, but what are the user numbers today?

Since you called me ''Beavis'' in another thread...It's a business newspaper But*head, commenting on the vibrancy of downtown CLE on Cavs parade day. Using this day, the commentary hopes to see general vibrancy downtown which is generally considered to be a population of 25,000. Increasing the city's taxpayer population translates into business, which creates taxes, which create city services etc, which creates visitors-tourists-business meetings-conventions-sporting&special events that fill hotels that create employment, which creates stability, which creates better schools...get the picture? Increasing the downtown population can contribute to a nice multiplier. Downtown is a place for everybody, so your point is misplaced anyway.

Meanwhile, back to on the ground nuts & bolts transit stuff, there's still been no explanation as to why RTA was running 1-car trains on the Shaker lines, and mostly just 2-car trains on the Red Line during Parade Day. Simply hiding behind the extreme crowds excuse doesn't cut it especially since RTA was encouraging people to use transit beforehand. Meanwhile, the quality of employees in leadership/management and an otherwise lackluster City Hall liason, has a direct bearing on how RTA functions generally. Makes sense to the caliber of RTA hires in leadership/management roles: inform the public to use RTA as 1.3 million people pour into downtown without providing the corresponding transit service.

Interesting that Scene does not mention that he likely got the job because his dad is a former prosecutor and is politically powerful. At least when Kerry McCormack got appointed they mentioned his dad in passing. Children of powerful parents are incapable of getting jobs on their own merit? Not in, especially, this type of job. It's akin to the misinformed voters you called out for just voting for Irish sounding names, with an initial or so being the difference. Here we have RTA, just going with the names connected to politicians or the otherwise power players. That's how Cleveland works. Surprised you, of all people, find this surprising. The powerful keep their friends, allies and kids employed.

While it may not be up close and personal, this is a great aerial video of downtown Cleveland and the Cavs celebration.

No transit I'm aware of offers discounts based soley on residency. D.C. for example charges by the length of a trip and I think BART in S.F. does as well but otherwise it's a flat fee. The plan proposed is a penalty tax for using RTA and not being a county resident. Just attract residents and visitors with $$ whether they use RTA or not to spend money in the city and county.

You're one of those that abandoned the ''urban core''. Just sayin'. Consider that what are now called ''inner ring'' suburbs offered many of the same incentives and reasons to move out of Cleveland. Now, these same suburbs are the victim of sprawl. Keep in mind that many people outside the county have little reason, if ever, to use the RTA. Consider as well the tax revenue created by these same individuals visiting the city, spending $$, most never using the RTA, thereby not taking advantage of the RTA yet contributing to its tax.

Hope so. This project needs to get going ASAP.

I'm really glad that public transportation supporters have no problem with those that have abandoned the central urban area get a free pass. RTA probably deserves its lack of funding if it really isn't willing to explore alternative options to pass costs along to other users. But nah, I won't try that hard to change things, because it's low on my list of priorities. I'll just continue to use the system a half dozen times a year and be more aware next time RTA funding issues arise, including making sure that others have all of the facts about the current funding situation that screws county residents. Make the City and County more attractive so people want to live in either. I know you blame ''social forces'' and those that abandoned the urban core; btw, there was a good reason for this, eventhough you live in a suburb yourself. Regardless, the city, county and region needs job growth. It's pretty simple. Employment growth will retain the existing population and attract new residents. I just read the manufacturing employment growth for cities 2015. Of the 70 ''large cities'', Cleveland area ranked 50th. Grand Rapids, MI #1, with Detroit and Warren MI in the top 10. Cincinnati was #11; Columbus ranked higher than Cleveland. Cleveland was a manufacturing hub and is now a laggard in this sector, the base of its economy. The Midwest is seeing many metros in the top ranks of manufacturing growth; not Cleveland. It's nice to have a diversified economy but with Cleveland's manufacturing history and alleged infrastructure, the region is not pulling off growth in its bedrock industry. In fact, the Cleveland metro rank dropped by 10 over 2014. Instead of complaining about the occasional outside the county residents using RTA (St. Pat's Day, Browns games etc), the focus needs to be on attracting residents to the region, county and city. The RTA sales tax might not have to be raised then; raising the tax will result even more people relocating out of or provide an incentive to purchase outside Cuyahoga County. The population is sprawling outside Cuyahoga County and those residents in the suburbs can easily cross the county line to make purchases, and they will.