Vulpster03

No, not quite yet, but I know what you mean. At this point I still like the press about people making the move to the city and I'm glad their story is being told since we haven't reached that critical mass for downtown yet. Despite the fact that we all have heard these stories before, a lot of people still haven't heard the message. Once we do start reaching that critical mass, I think it will be time to stop reporting on these affluent people making the move into the city.

The second episode has finally arrived! CityProwl Cleveland: Episode Two - Cleveland's Arcades - The Diamonds of Euclid Avenue October 16, 2006 The second episode of CityProwl Cleveland features a stroll through the 3 downtown arcades: the Old Arcade, the Colonial Arcade and the Euclid Arcade. Cleveland stands alone among US cities for having not 1 but 3 of these building types, and the Old Arcade is admired around the world for its beauty, gigantic scale and cutting edge technology. Find out more about arcades in general, how Cleveland happened to build these jewels and their current status. The prowl lasts about 25 minutes. Meet in the Old Arcade, in front of the 1980 Coffee Shop, which is located under the stairs near the Superior Avenue entrance. Interviewed in this podcast are: Bill Gunlocke, Exec. Editor, Manhattan Media and former Old Arcade tenant John Hawkins, Doorman, Hyatt Regency Hotel Susan Berndt, Owner of Cleveland and Beyond store in the Old Arcade Tom Yablonsky, Executive Director of The Historic Gateway Neighborhood Development Corp. Listen to it here: http://media23a.libsyn.com/podcasts/a39e1703d5bb96a5f33d6a9bac13e2dc/45365eae/cityprowl/CityProwl__Episode_2.mp3

Downtown dream Doctor says farewell to suburbs, creates new showcase penthouse Friday, October 13, 2006 Melissa Hebert Sophisticated Home, special magazine section of Plain Dealer Usually, acting on a whim means getting mint chocolate chip ice cream instead of rocky road, or taking a different route into the office. Michael Wojtanowski's whim took him from the far suburbs right into a luxury penthouse with the city at his feet. "I decided I wanted to live downtown," says Wojtanowski, chief of plastic surgery at Fairview Hospital who also has a private Westlake practice. He'd always lived out in the suburbs and was living in Avon Lake in 2002 when he decided to make the change. He was figuring, put the house on the market, rent a place downtown for the weekends and see how it goes. Read More... Photos from Sophisticated Home/Plain Dealer Dr. Wojtanowski really made a big jump in his move. When he and his S.O. built their lakefront home on Lake Road - next to state rep Earl Martin - it was believed to be the biggest home in Avon Lake at that time. He's single now, and I'm sure the penthouse is still way larger than he needs, but I think this is a really good sign about urban living overtaking suburban living as the cool thing to do. Although why a gay man would want to live in Avon Lake in the first place, makes absolutely no sense.

Filene's to open in Harvard Park Shop for Charity event kicks off grand opening Wednesday, October 18, 2006 Kim Crow Style Editor, Plain Dealer Bargain hunters, ready your credit cards of choice. Filene's Basement, the discount clothier known for its chic label offerings, opens its first Greater Cleveland store Thursday, Oct. 26. More at cleveland.com http://www.cleveland.com I'm guessing that if they did open a store on the west side, it would be at the new Westgate. Both Chagrin Highlands and Westgate are Jacob properties.

This was mentioned on the random cleveland developments thread, but the porn shop on W.9th appears to be closing. It will reopen as the Style Lounge of Premium Denim. Also in regards to Warehouse District retail, I believe that Nabici Collection is closed on W.9th and the space was taken over by the newer Suite Life boutique next door. Nabici is moving from their Beachwood location to Eton and openning an e-commerce website that is overdue by a month according to the website.

I cant get the webcast to work!!

I'm not a hippie

From personal observation, there are many downtown workers. In fact, during the weekday downtown at lunch time is probably the most vibrant you ever see downtown. The problem is that they all leave as soon as possible for home when they get out of work.

Who is going to fund the arts and culture in Cleveland if you quit?

I doubt it. First of all, Macy's would serve the growing affluent downtown and near west population, but there are Macy's now all over the suburbs. Second of all, since Tower City has lost some of their anchor tenants and it has been difficult to recoup. Even though I think retail is due to rebound downtown, I don't know if retailers really trust Tower City as a good investment. Consumers have already become too disenchanted. I think Tower City will rebound eventuallly, but right now I think there is a better chance for retailers signing on to new projects downtown like Stark's. If all retailers new to the region open up downtown up right now, I think downtown retail will be successful. People seem to like to point fingers at Crocker Park, but I think the demise of retail downtown is really due to Beachwood Place. Saks openned in the 1980s? coinciding with the loss of Halles. Nordstroms openned in 1996? and Tower City really seemed to decline then. Beachwood and Legacy Village also really set the stage for an east/west polarization that made Crocker Park inevitable. I think Stark is providing a really good opportunity to bring retail back downtown. It is something new to market to retailers and consumers, building off a number of successful developments already in place, and including residential. Tower City isn't offering any of these things.

Statiscally - and I don't have web links - smoking is more common among lower-income people, foreigners, minorities and gays. I honestly believe people have developed a stigma against smokers, and it is just so convenient that it happens to correlate with socially marginalized people. I don't know how old you are Mytwosense, but I was in elementary and junior high school in the puritanical nineties. Anti-smoking edcuation had (and probably still does have) a strong presence in public schools. The problem though, is that a lot of the education I received really demonized not only cigarettes and tobacco companies, but people also people who smoked. We were told not to be friends with smokers, to tell them to stop (even if they were our parents or grandparents), and told it was not only an unhealthy thing but a very very dirty thing. Also the very emphasis on "health" reminds me of the popular political slogan "health is duty" that the Nazis used. I for one do not advocate Nazi policies or anything that resembles them. Middle-class suburbia is probably the least tolerant when it comes to smoking. Remember that these people generally live in a culture of fear. Afraid to go into the city, afraid of minorities, afraid to drive a small (fuel-efficient) car, afraid of pollution, and afraid of many other things. It isn't that unlikely to see how they would be more afraid to be near second hand smoke than those in cities. In fact, the places that have enacted bans (even in cities like New York) probably did so to appease these types of suburban people coming into their city. Growing up in suburbia I have noticed that fast food restaurants and public places in suburbia were among the first establishments in Ohio to go smoke free. Working and spending a lot of leisure time in the city, I've noticed a hell of a lot more people who smoke in the city versus the suburbs. Walk around downtown, and you see a lot more people smoking than you do at Crocker Park or outside a suburban office building. You claim that smoking bans are a progressive policy. History has shown that some supposedly progressive policies were not only a debacle, but also quite exclusive in nature. The Temperance movement grew out of the Progressive era in American politics, but in actuality had nothing to do with being progressive. The Temperance movement was about social control and exclusive policy-making. As a young adult who wants to live and work in Cleveland and values inclusive policy-making, I am 100% against the ban.

Reserve Square has furnished apartments and short term leases. You can certainly walk to Public Square from there. They're a little dated and nothing special, but for short term this might work out. I'm not familar with any other furnished apartments downtown. http://www.reservesquareapts.com/ I don't have snow tires on my coupe and I drive around okay.

So Lewis was serious when he threatened to take his money to CSU. That's nice.

I had my inaugural Chirstmas Ale at GLBC on Saturday in the cellar pub. $4.50 22 oz. pretty decent crowd outside too. Their new room is now (and maybe has been) open.

That traffic situation at Route 83 and I-90 is absolutely horrible. I don't think this bypass will help at all.

Cleveland is different than New York. I don't think New York's experience applies. They have an abundance of tourists, visitors, and new people all the time. I believe the smoking ban correlation to increased patronage of bars in New York is a stretch. There have probably been many factors that increased bars business in New York. In Cleveland we have too much of a tendancy to look at New York for everything, and I get sick of it. Toledo's experience is more applicable to Cleveland than New York's. Or maybe Columbus. What has the effect of the ban been on Columbus. Look, I'll buy the health argument, but I don't buy the business argument in the pro-smoking ban movement. And frankly, the pro-smoking ban has racist, classist, and suburban undertones. I don't believe anything they say.

In Crain's most reccent news I noticed a headline (that requires subscription) that reads 113 St. Clair Building bought by LA Parking giant. WHAT IS THIS? And what is that building?

Well I don't think this should be a local ordinance. Hell, I'm sure the Hamilton teen population could just go next door to tan if they wanted to. But maybe a ban should be considered statewide or nationwide. They aren't allowed to buy cigarettes, so I don't know why they should be allowed to tan. Cancer is bad.

Hotel concierege position might be a consideration too.

Glad to see that progress has been made on those buildings on Euclid! Huge difference.

Well I don't think a bar would be forced to allow smoking if the amendment passes. As I see it many are going smoke free on their own in places without a smoking ban. Down the road this will probably become more common. I bet a lot of bars in Columbus and other cities will stay smoke free, but I checked out the Smoke Less Ohio website. I found it interesting that a number of bars in their coalition are in Columbus. As a smoker and patron I would certainly prefer to be allowed the option. But as a Clevelander I'm really worried that there are particularly unique neighborhood bars that would be adversely affected. Let the smoking culture subside naturally so these bars won't have to close if a ban passes.

I am well aware that people could vote yes on both. I don't care. BARS ARE NOT PUBLIC PLACES! They serve no purpose other than personal pleasure. Insisting that bars be healthy is ridiculous. No one goes to a bar to be healthy. You're drinking alcohol. Deal with the smoke. I don't think the health argument holds up for bars. Shopping malls, government buildings, transit stations, medical buildings, educational facilities, stadiums, theaters, hotel lobbies, etc. Those are public places. No one goes to a bar to get healthy.

Well if they are coming to Cleveland and don't have much time, they should take the Lolly the Trolley Tour. http://www.lollytrolley.com/

Hey, don't be disappointed with me. Despite the fact that it is a nice restaurant, I'm not happy the owners choose to be in Avon Lake either. Ex-urban types will go there because they are afraid to go to W.6th, or people from out there might not bother to go downtown for dinner as much as they used to. It is pathetic. The reason I went a couple times is because I grew up in Avon Lake and my parents live there. Don't worry though, because in a few months i will be job and apartment hunting in the city. Swingos Celebrity Inn used to be a hotel and restaurant on Euclid Avenue near CSU that did in fact attract celebrities. I think Sinatra, Martin Luther King Jr., and touring rock bands used to stay there. In Almost Famous the characters talk about Swingos and stay there while on tour. The family closed it (in the eighties?), and then openned a restuarant on the lake in Lakewood. The Lakewood restaurant is still open. It is some kind of brother or son of the orginal Swingos that openned the restaurant in Avon Lake. This new Swingos is far more modern contemporary than the one in Lakewood; totally different.

I completely agree. Cleveland-style bars are way cooler and a rarity nationwide. Maybe they don't exist in other cities so much is because a smoking ban weeded them out. Too bad.