cadmen

Just glad to see someone is still trying to help enervate the place.

I could be wrong but it does seem to me that there is enough room for a walking/bicycle path along the river and connecting to the Towpath Trail. We want more life down there. Creating a ribbon that encourages that is a no-brainer.

Oof.

We keep trying to create spaces downtown that will attract people and encourage them to hang out. For the most part it hasn't been successful. Is the problem due to the design of the spaces, lack of people passing by, something in our culture that prevents us from just hanging out in a downtown spot, or some combination of them all? I don't know what the problem is here but l do know that when l tried to sit and stay it didn't feel right so l got up and left. There are a bunch of small parks in NY city where l just want to sit and people watch. My favorite parks in the U.S. are some of the squares in Savannah and Rittenhouse Square in Philly. What do they have in common? Mature trees, varied landscaping, interesting backdrop of urbanity and plenty of people which encourages others to linger. So what comes first, the space or the people? Chicken or egg. We have some ok places. I love 4th street, Perk Plaza has some promise and l think Huron does have great bones and could be the best. IF we do manage to pull off an urban spot that has all the components of a great little city park l think that feature can help separate us from the list of just another town and sneak us into the pantheon of a great American cities.

I can't think of a more precarious time in the office market climate. It's not just hard times for a singular company or a paticular city or even region. This seismic upheaval is nationwide and probably worldwide although l haven't read about that. This affects everything from city taxation numbers, city businesses that depend on those workers for their livelihood, the firms designing new buildings, the construction workers building them to the overall feel of a paticular city. We often overuse the term "gamechanger" but this time it is appropriate. There's still a massive need for residential so that mitigates the problem somewhat but still... Technology has always upended the status quo and now that many, many jobs can be done from home society will look a lot different in the years to come.

^ Just don't want it to fall by the wayside. I want as much traffic up river as possible and l was pleasently suprised to see a kayak launch as part of the plan. Worry about who is going to manage it later, just make sure there is a cutout when the project gets built upfront otherwise it may not get added later.

Yeah Nashville is booming. Seems like much of the foot-traffic downtown is from visitors too. As much as I want to see local growth I am really intrigued by out of towners livening up our sidewalks, hotels, bars and other sundry establishments. Love getting that free money.

I'm agnostic but l do appreciate these magnificant old school churches. Not just for their architecture but what they meant for the neighborhood in their day. Oh well, another place, another time.

Oh man! That pic with a lot of people walking down Euclid sure did remind me when that was a normal sight. Miss those days.

I think it's reasonable to say that in the vast majority of America cars are a necessary evil. Parking garages too when density reaches a certain point. That's unlikely to change. It's our culture. Personally, l'm a train guy, not much of a car and certainly not a bus guy. But l am also a realist. If our popular urban neighborhoods continue to grow in both population and attractions we are going to have no choice but to build parking garages. Of course, we're not there yet but that density seems to be coming. So while l agree with those who would rather design those neighborhoods around transit, biking and walking that's a minority position in most of America. IF we continue to get that growth without a place to park our cars we're going have a problem. If people can't park they won't come. If they don't come we will limit the growth in density. So unless we become New York or Boston overnight or we want urban density we're still going to need some garages. Now let's demand we get some built with residential over them. Some with shops and businesses facing the street. And the rest at least with facades that blend in.

Not qualifying for TMUD (and the mid-rise iteration not getting built) will go down as a huge missed opportunity IF the current nondescript version is built. Terrible waste of a prime location.

Nailed it.

I think that's absolutely the case. Look around. All the popular areas in other cities around the country have had to build parking garages. And like @TDi said best case scenario is a garage with retail facing the street. Next best would be a facade that looks like a building.

^ l think it's because most developers automatically default to neutral colors because they are afraid to stand out. Developers (especially in Cleveland) are inherently conservative. Projects cost a lot of money, there's less risk in looking to hit a single or a double. They don't want to risk swinging for a homerun but striking out.

What a great idea Ken. Having the parking ticket double as an all day RTA pass. Is that an original idea or did you read about it being used in other cities? At any rate, l think it could be a great way to encourage people to use public transportation.

I was thinking Cleveland Bagel is the one on Carnegie by the Clinic. Is that Cleveland Bagel? That's the one l like. I For some reason l always l forget about the bagel shop on Detroit.

Well, well. I have been waiting for a westside Cleveland Bagel for a while now. Excellent.

That's really odd looking infill. A horse designed by committee kind of thing. Community pushback doing its thing again.

When l first read about this company buying the building l was concerned about their desire to maintain or, god forbid, actually try to make improvements. But after reading Ken's article it sounds like they will seek to manage it in a positive way. Talk is cheap though. I guess we'll have to wait and see how this turns out. It's such an important and highly visible building. We don't want to see it become an eyesore because of a cheap management philosophy.

Oh, right. It was reported on. I remember reading your piece, and then l forgot the story. So much development going on, l can't remember everything.

Thanks for the article Ken. At this point, l'm hoping Millennia gets the nod. As much as l want to see a shiny new courthouse tower l think saving the old Union Commerce building at 9th and Euclid is the way to go. That building and location are so important to the urbanity of downtown and because of it's unique lobby l think it will be very difficult to re-purpose. Like all of us here, just waiting for a decision.

Seems to be pretty busy at the Port. Almost a ship in town every day.

Went through Playhouse Square yesterday and was suprised to see scalfolding up on the building housing the State and Palace. I had no idea work was being done or how extensive it is. Either l missed it or the UrbanOhio forum has let me down lol.

This could turn out to be a great thing for cities if generation Z wants to live close in. They could turn out to be a major catalyst to turn downtown and inner ring suburbs back to what they were before sprawl hit. Just imagion - walking to stores and taking light rail for work or entertainment. Love it.

He's like Trump lite. Does all kinds of crappy things and yet for some reason gets little pushback.