j73

On a related, but happier note... Cleveland and the surrounding areas seem to be adding jobs. I've pasted in total employment in Cleveland city proper and the Cleveland MSA for the last few years along with the change between 2004 and 2005 and 2006 and 2005. Note that this data isn't seasonally adjusted, so the safest comparison is to look at a month in one year vs. the same month in prior years. What you see is that around July of 2005 things started to get better, the city and region made very small but steady gains, with November being an aberration (and at least it wasn't job losses - in 2004, the typical month was 4000 lower than the year before). In 2006, though the city and region have seen some pretty strong gains. Maybe Cleveland's finally starting to see at least some of the job gains the rest of the country's been seeing for a year or two now. Obviously we're not talking Phoneix-like growth, but at least we're seeing positive movement. Cleveland City 2003 2004 2005 2006 05 vs. 04 06 vs. 05 Jan 177,800 173,700 172,300 173,800 -1,400 1,500 Feb 178,700 174,500 173,000 176,200 -1,500 3,200 Mar 179,900 175,400 174,500 -900 Apr 181,300 176,900 176,400 -500 May 181,700 177,700 177,700 0 June 183,100 179,100 179,000 -100 July 184,400 181,100 181,200 100 Aug 183,600 180,000 180,400 400 Sep 180,500 176,800 177,200 400 Oct 180,700 176,900 177,500 600 Nov 180,600 177,300 177,000 -300 Dec 178,900 175,200 175,400 200 Cleveland MSA 2003 2004 2005 2006 05 vs. 04 06 vs. 05 Jan 1,019,400 1,013,600 1,005,100 1,014,000 -8,500 8,900 Feb 1,025,700 1,018,000 1,009,100 1,028,100 -8,900 19,000 Mar 1,032,700 1,023,500 1,017,800 -5,700 Apr 1,041,500 1,032,200 1,029,400 -2,800 May 1,043,100 1,036,600 1,036,500 -100 June 1,051,000 1,044,900 1,044,300 -600 July 1,058,400 1,056,800 1,057,000 200 Aug 1,052,500 1,050,300 1,052,300 2,000 Sep 1,036,300 1,031,600 1,033,900 2,300 Oct 1,037,300 1,032,300 1,035,300 3,000 Nov 1,038,800 1,034,100 1,032,700 -1,400 Dec 1,028,100 1,022,100 1,023,400 1,300

^I really wanted to like Fat Fish Blue. I really like cajun/southern food and they have a great space. Sadly the night we went the food was really subpar.

I attended two films on Saturday, "Dark Horse" and "Quo Vadis, Baby?". Both were really good (esp QVB)- and completely sold out (they actually had Quo Vadis on two screens simultaneously and both were sold out). Before each film, someone from the Cleveland Film Society (who puts the event on) gives a litte intro. Before "Dark Horse", the staffer said they've already sold more tix this year (by the middle of day 3 of the fest) then they did all of last year! And if I remember correctly, last year set an attendance record. When we were there the place was a total mob scene - far more people then we've seen in past years (as we exited the Cleveland cop on duty was arguing with a staffer to get the mass of people out of there since it was a pretty clear fire hazard - sort of pointless though since they were trying to exit as it was...) They added a 5th screen last year, and added morning and midnight movies this year. Wonder if they'll add a 6th screen next year...

^Hadn't heard of the MLK Corridor Study (but that's not saying much - you guys are far more plugged in than I am). What's it supposed to study and to what end?

A few more: Third Federal Savings is the largest S&L in the country, I think (most went away in the mess in the 80s). If it were a bank it would rank 94th in the country in total assets otut of more than 1500. Developers Diversified Realty (Wolstein) FirstMerit Bank (Akron) RPM Paints (Medina, although at least DayGlo is in Cleveland) Steris (Mentor - health care supplies) Nordson (Westlake - coatings, adhesives) Applied Industrial Tech (mfg parts distributor) PolyOne (Avon Lake - polymers) Westfield (Medina - Insurance) Swagelok (Solon - fluid components) Some smaller bio-tech ventures/start-ups (some have 1-2 employees, some have 100 or so) Athersys Arteriocyte (adult stem cells) Cleveland Medical Devices Copernicus (gene therapy) Interventional Imaging Inc. Osiris Therapeutics Cleveland Biolabs (cancer drugs - going public) For a much more complete list of biotech startups in the area, check out http://www.bioenterprise.com/companies/index.html

While gas may get much more expensive per gallon, I don't see it necessarily being the death of exurbia. Most likely people will just shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles - even shifting from the 15 mpg land freighters like the Ford Excursion to a crossover SUV will double the MPG. And as hybrids become better, cheaper, and more widely available the mpg could increase by 50-100% again. So gas prices could go from their current $2.50/gal to $7.50/gal and still leave cost/mile unchanged. This all assumes people are willing to accept a slightly smaller car - history would suggest they are given the changes in buying behavior after the oil shocks of the 1970s. Like Eighth & State said, in the long-run the exurbs might not be able to withstand the changes, but that long-run might be many decades away. Think of how much things have changed in the last several decades - there are going to be a lot of factors (some predictable, like the aging of the population, some completely unforeseeable) that are going to determine the shape of future development.

On another urban ohio thread there was a discussion of a survey from the Project for Public Places about Cleveland's Public Square's appearances on the groups list of worst US squares. The website also has a list of the world's best squares http://www.pps.org/info/newsletter/december2005/international_squares?referrer=newsletter_contents One the squares on that list is Piazza del Campo, or just Il Campo, in Siena, Italy. Thought you might enjoy a few pics (from a vacation this past September). This is my first post of pics, and I can't figure out how to put comments in between the pics (anyone want to educate me?), so here's an index for you: 1) General shot. Notice the grey pavement to the right outside of the posts. This rings the entire scallop-shaped square and actually serves a purpose: it's the track on which the Palio is run twice a year. The Palio is this crazy horse race between 10 of the 17 neighborhoods in the city. The square (both inside the posts and along the outside) is packed with people and the horses run 3 laps, after being blessed inside the neighborhood churches. First horse to finish, with or without its rider, wins glory for their neighborhood. Notice the image on the building right in the middle: it's of a rider on a horse, celebrating the Palio. Also, b/c of the d-shape of the square, some of the turns are really tight. Normally a horse or two ends up in the stands, after missing one... 2) Another shot of the square - about the same number of people as in Public Square on your average Sunday night... 3) Gives a good look at the brickwork 4) View of Il Campo from above from Siena's Duomo (Cathedral), some of the rooftops of the city and the surrounding Tuscan hills. Tall building in the shot is Siena's City Hall (more shots of that in 5 & 6) 5) First shot of City Hall 6) Another shot of City Hall (one of my faves). Notice statue on lower right of a wolf on a pedestal. It depicts the she-wolf that nursed Romulus and Remus (who are somehow linked to Siena's creation) and is the symbol of the city. It's even depicted on the floor of the Cathedral and is the nickname for the city's soccer team (Robur). 7) We stumbled on this street parade. These are all folks from the neighborhood that one the last Palio, which was their first win in something like 40+ years (at 2 a year and 17 neighborhoods, that's a pretty long drought although they didn't have anything on Cleveland's sports teams) Once a nieghborhood wins they have parades over the next year until the next palio, complete with drummers, flag-wavers, and singing. Notice the little bandanas around their necks - they're the flag of their nieghborhood (each has its own flag) and are tied around a pacifier, symbolizing their rebirth through the victory in the Palio. Hope you enjoy!

One other reason to be optimistic: the Silver Line (BRT) in Boston (which also replaced a traditional bus line) has seen huge growth in reidership with a similar improvement in service (8 minutes shorter vs. Euclid Corridor's prmoised 10 minute improvement). Boardings were up 87% on the Silver line between Winter 2000-2001 and Spring 2003 compared to the old bus line, while ridership on the heavy rail lines was flat to down over a similar period. Hopefully we'll see a similar improvement on our Silver Line.

I'm (perhaps obviously) not in the design/architecture/planning field. It's one thing to hear about some of the things you don't like about the current place, but what would a good example look like? I.e., if Applied Tech came to you however many years ago and said, "We have this plot of land here next to the Masonic Auditorium and want to build a HQ. What should we do?" what would you have had them do? I'd love to hear something more specific than "work cohesively with the neighborhood" - I mean what might that look like in practice? (hopefully this doesn't come across as antagonistic - I really am curious. Thx)

Yes, because if urban means just anything anyone wants it to be, then it means nothing at all. For a building to be "urban" it should, at the very least, be a part of the larger urban ensemble. This building seperates itself from that ensemble, not just in style, but in siting, massing, and orientation. It is built to be a stand alone building. It is alienated from its surrounding context. That is the antithesis of urban. I'm mainly making an aestethic statement, much like blinker's ("b/c it's butt-ugly") comment: I think it's an attractive building. No point in arguing aestethics. I agree with with many of the complaints about the design of the site (although I think we have a tendency to over-blow some of those concerns, e.g. how much the design really discourages the employees from venturing out...whether the place has a cafeteria or not probably plays a much bigger role.) The question I asked above (does something need to look a certain way to be urban?), and X's (and others' responses) intrigues me: Are you saying that the building needs to be in a certain architectural style? That is, if a block is largely brick colonials, then any addition should also be a brick colonial? If so, I pretty much completely disagree. Yes, it can be nice when the architecture plays off its surroundings, and the scale matters (a 20-story building will look out-of-place) but fundamentally, a good-looking building is a good-looking building no matter where it is and no matter how its style contrasts. That's one of the things I especially like about urban spaces - they aren't completely planned and one style sits next to another (as opposed to all the suburban house farms). Matching the scale of the neighborhood and doing somethings to encourage folks to move between the nieghborhood and the bldg are obviously good things and this bldg doesn't do that (although that part of town doesn't seem to offer to much on that front anyway...), but some of the comments here seem to go beyond that to say it's bad bldg or not an "urban" building b/c the author just didn't like the style of the building (e.g. a relatively modern-looking structure). I'm just saying that the architectural style of the structure shouldn't determine if it's urban or not...

^The fact that one has to specify *which* parking lot says a lot, doesn't it? :-(

Agreed, although the summers here are fantastic, IMHO. Not too hot, not too humid, generally sunny. Sort of the payback for the long, gray winters.

I really like a lot of the ideas you guys have thrown out there, especially the ones about the roads going under the square. Seems like you just close off all the streets around the square (E 2nd, Euclid, and what looks like W 2nd and Frankfort, although I'm not sure what the last 2 are technically called there...) and just worry about Superior and Ontario. Ohter places have subterranean intersections (see lower Wacker in Chicago), so it should be feasible. Although I seem to remember hearing that there's stuff under the Soldiers and Sailors monument (anyone else ever heard this?) Not sure if it would be out of the way or moveable. I also agree with the comments about the square being 4 little mini-squares. The whole place doesn't feel cohesive between all the roads criss-crossing and surrounding it and the inward focus of the quadrants. To me, it just doesn't work as it is. And while programming would help, it's an awkward space for that to happen with it carved up so much. For instance, during the Cleveland Orchestra's 4th of July concerts, you really can't see the orchestra unless you're right in front of the Terminal Tower, b/c all of the low-rise trees in the quadrants block the view. Also definitely need to fill up that parking lot on the western edge. One other thought (utterly infeasible, I know) would be to move the monument to the center of the square (where Ontario & Superior intersect today). It just feels a little awkward with it off in the corner. I'm willing to bet that's not really an option, but it's nice to dream...

I was speaking more from a straight architectural point-of-view: I think it's a bold, attractive, and hopeful (last term is more of the feeling it engenders) building. I understand your objections from the urban design side, but I don't agree that it looks like it belongs in a suburb. Does a building have to look a certain way to be "urban"? Does it discourage workers from walking out on to Euclid? Perhaps, although how hard is it to walk across the lawn? And a patch of green in the city (sorry X know you like 'em built right up to the street) is a welcome sight. Are there some things they could have done differently in terms of siting it? Probably (biggest issue I have is that access road to the main entrance, rather than having it face Euclid or Chester). If it were built that way in the middle of downtown, I'd have more issues, but as it is, it's in a lower-density area where it works better.

Sounds like I"ll be in the minority, but I really like the Applied Tech building. I grant that it's set back from the street, but I like the architecture of that building quite a lot.

There was a show on WVIZ I saw around the holidays, although it was much older (maybe called "Cleveland Memories"?) That show had a segment about the chef and his Cleveland history. Here's a link to the WVIZ site: http://www.wviz.org/features/1212ourtown.asp Presumably they can get you a copy.

While it's certainly not 1990, some of the businesses down there do ok, and one group was willing to pay $1.6MM in June. It's not like the Flats has gone down hill a lot since then... Even 2004 wasn't too long ago and long after the Flats really turned down. Even if the area isn't booming, the properties are still worth *something*, especially since many of them are functioning, if not necessarily thriving, businesses. Still, blinker12 is right: no need to flip out yet...

^Just FYI, average lease rates in Cleveland are currently lower than that. I know that really wasn't your point, but since I had it handy... Per CB Richard Ellis, Q4 looked like this: Class A: $20.25 with a 16.6% vacancy rate Class B: $14.97/32.24% Total $16.73/23.8% They don't list a class C. Not sure if they don't call anything in the city Class C or ...?

^^PGR owns outright a bunch of buildings in Mayfied at this point and is starting to work on a 3rd campus, also in Mayfield. A move downtown seems really unlikely.

Here's a recent Crain's article that gives some background on Imalux. Subsequent article mentioned that they receied a $500K loan from the state " to buy machinery and equipment for a project expected to bring 35 jobs to the region within three years." Imalux shifts focus to putting its product into practice Imaging company works to build demand for early-stage cancer detecting device By SHANNON PETTYPIECE 6:00 am, December 5, 2005 Imalux Corp. of Cleveland is facing the last, and one of the biggest, hurdles in the long journey to become a successful medical device company — trying to convince people to use its product. After working for 10 years and raising more than $10 million in venture capital to develop an imaging device that uses light waves to detect early-stage cancer, 12-person Imalux is finding out whether doctors will buy into the fruit of its labor. Peddling the $65,000 product during the past 18 months has been a challenge because there is no existing market for what Imalux is selling, said CEO Lloyd Breedlove, who will step down at the end of the year to take a job closer to his family in North Carolina. The company is searching for a replacement. http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20051205/SUB/512050309

I was playing around with Google Earth and some of the different layers available on www.googleearthhacks.com the other day and thought it would be cool to create layers that showed the projects underway in Cleveland. You'd be able to see the new buildings in the Avenue District, Flats East Bank, Stonebridge, etc. rise and become part of the skyline. Essentially you'd get a preview of what Cleveland might look like in a few years. Could also imagine a different layer or different color for buildings depending on the year they're likely to be done or coding renovations of existing buildings or how certain the project is to move forward. I'm pretty sure I won't get around to it, so I thought I'd throw it out here - maybe someone's crazy enough to put it together. (Note: I think you need to buy some more advanced version of Google Earth (Pro?) for like $20/yr in order to add new buildings, etc.) Any takers?

^Can't disagree with you re:E185/Collinwood. As for Slavic Village, I can't remember too much about Union/Broadway. Some times when I go there, I get the impression it's just about to turn the corner. Other times, it feels pretty crappy. In the end I'm not entirely sure which way it'll go. They've had a few developments (mentioned above), but nothing like we've seen in OC, Tremont, Downtown, etc. Speaking of Tremont, it always amazes me that in spite of all the progress that neighborhood has made, it's still not hard to find boarded up or dilapidated homes. If you want to take the glass half-full view, it just means that this already cool neighborhood has even more upside. Still, it also illustrates how far urban living in Cleveland has to go. When you think of some other major cities, they all have a neighborhood or two that people in the city and burbs roundly agree are great (and the prices reflect it). I'm thinking of Beacon Hill/Back Bay in Boston, Chicago's Gold Coast, Georgetown in DC, etc. (maybe mrnyc can help out and provide the NYC parallel - I'm not familiar enough with it). To give you a sense of comparison, newly renovated 2000 sq ft condos in Back Bay routinely go for 7 figures(!) Not that I'd like to see anything in Cleveland get quite that expensive, but right now nothing's remotely close (to hit figures, you have to buy a penthouse in the Pinnacle - I shudder to think what a similar condo in Boston would go for...) Will any neighborhood in Cleveland ever get anywhere close? (Maybe the lakefront area of the Edgewater neighborhood comes closest?) (To be clear, I'm not hoping that folks get priced out of anything urban, just that I think the city should have a variety of housing and neighborhoods available).

For most folks I know it comes down to schools first, and then housing type (new or older). Being able to walk to something was not even a remote consideration. I chose to live in Cleveland Hts specifically because of the walkable neighborhoods (and the beautiful old houses). When I mention that to friends, some acknowledge, that yes, having a walkable neighborhood would be kind of nice, but they don't get why it would be that impt. They also suggest that if I had kids, a walkable neighborhood wouldn't matter very much and that I'd pick mainly on schools. That said, I've never once felt any of them picked their neighborhood b/c of status, regardless of how chic a name it has. Perhaps this is b/c most of them moved here from out-of-town and so didn't grow up with all the biases about one town being a higher-status place to live. One other interesting story: a friend moving back to Cleveland was looking for his house. His parents (who live east of 271) were mortified when he suggest he might look at Cle Hts/Shaker Hts, b/c of perceived safety issues. Fortunately, he looked for himself and talked to others and ended up in Shaker. Not exactly downtown urban, but not house farm land either...

Just to put some numbers to it, the 15-year 100% abatement is worth a ton of money. If I remember right, Cleveland's tax rate is about $2800 per $100K in value. So, on a $200K condo, assuming just 2% annual appreciation (and just assuming they re-assess every year, which isn't quite true and the tax rate stays the same, which is also unlikely), and a discount rate of 8%, the abatement adds about $50,000(!) to the value of the house. Obviously the developer takes some of this by pricing it higher, thought they likely don't take all of it. 10-year 100% is worth about $40K, 10-year 80% is a little over $32K. I think Cleveland Heights has given 7-year, 50%. That's worth about $15K using the same assumptions as above. It may be worth considering a change ($50K is a lot of money...), but going to 10-year 80%, seems pretty dramatic (a 40% reduction in the value of the abatement). Something in between would seem more reasonable. Any chance they'd vary it by part of town (smaller abatement for Tremont/OC/Downtown, bigger for Detroit-Shoreway, huge for anything south of Cedar)? That would make for some colorful city council meetings...

^Doesn't FCE own like 90% of Scrantion peninsula? There was an article on it in the PD a few years ago, I think as part of the convention center chatter...