Vulpster03

I'm really ready to see the University Circle arts and retail district. It is way overdue. Going to Miami University and living in a college town myself right now, I just can't understand what the problem is with CWRU and CSU for that matter. Coming back to school, I stopped in Columbus to check out their downtown. I hadn't been there in a about year. High Street in Columbus is a lot like Euclid in that it connects downtown with the university district, and they are both essentially the main streets of the city. High Street looks great, especially in the past year. Now High Street isn't as long as Euclid, and OSU is much much bigger than CWRU so it is a little easier for them to pack High Street with new developments and make it vibrant in a short amount of time, but Euclid still has all this potential, and I think more so than High Street in Columbus. First of all downtown Cleveland employs a heck of a lot more people than downtown Columbus, and intuitively I believe all the institutions in University Circle and the Cleveland Clinic combined make University Circle a much more powerful force than OSU. You also have CSU and Playhouse Square on Euclid. Where are the developments to support all this in Cleveland? I don't think the city and developers are really seeing thee potential here. More emphasis is on the Flats, E4th, Steelyard Commons, the convention center, and other things which are all wonderful, but the fastest way to really pump more life in the city is on Euclid Avenue and I don't think it is being approached with much priority. I am really hoping that it is the construction of the silver line that is holding these developments back until it is finished. But it would be really nice to see things happen in simultaneously with the silver line instead of subsequentially. Has anyone else been to the Short North and driven down High Street between Columbus and OSU and have any thoughts? Now i still think Columbus is way overrated and not as interesting as Cleveland. In Cleveland we have numerous neighborhoods like Warehouse District, Ohio City, Tremont, Little Italy, Gateway and Coventry. Columbus' High Street is really just a combination of all these districts, and there isn't really a whole lot else in Columbus, but the result is a pretty vibrant and attractive thoroughfare.

I was killing time downtown yesterday, and swung by CSU to view some of the progress. A few projects appear to be moving along quite well, and when all phases are completed I'm sure it will be a huge improvement. I am most puzzled and concerned about the commercial buildings along Euclid Avenue. They are absolutely horrible, and I don't understand why it would be so difficult for the city and university to tackle this strip immediately. This space could very well be redeveloped to complement Playhouse Square which is right next door and to serve the campus better. To me it seems like a developer would want to jump on the opportunity to draw on a university market, because the market NEVER leaves. Students come and go, and the customers are revolving, and I see this as a benefit, because the market never really gets tired of the tenents. I witness this first hand at my university in a college town. I don't understand why it is so difficult for urban school's like CSU or CWRU to have their own "college town" districts.

Based on the renderings, this is one of the nicest looking mainstreet centers I have ever seen for Ohio. I wonder though if it perhaps a little too ambitious for Bexley. While Bexley is certainly nice and upscale, it isn't actually an ultra-upscale community. The median income for the city is $70,000, which is high, but not really considering that I can name plenty of other Ohio suburbs (especially in the Cleveland area) where the median income ranges from $100,000 to over $200,000. I wonder if the market is really there in Bexley.

In my opinion there is little that needs to be done to the actual square. I like it very much as is. I like that the three largest skyscrapers anchor the square, including the light rail transit hub, shopping center, and hotels of Tower City. I also think traffic flows well and doesn't really prevent people from crossing the streets to enjoy the park. What needs to be done to the square is more around it. For instance Lower Euclid needs more life. I guess the visitors bureau and Greater Cleveland Partnership are realocating to the Higbee building. It would have been nice to put retail here, but it might be a good place for these two organizations, especially if they allow visitors to walk on and get information. The May Co. Building should return to retail in some capacity. I think a bookstore would be great here personally, and intuitively I think it would be quite profitable. What is going on in the Warehouse District and E.4th should make Cleveland's Public Square more vibrant. I think Stark's plan is great and I think he explicitly mentioned the importance of his project to funnel pedestrains from the Warehouse District, around Public Square, and down Euclid by his proposed "superblock" between Public Square and the WHD. Once this "superblock" goes in, E.4th progresses, and hopefully the May Co. Building can be converted to retail (again my preference would be a bookstore/cafe), you might see more people on Public Square. Stark's plan still shows the parking lot directly off the square and across from the Renaissance vacant. Maybe someday the next skyscraper could go here. By then there might also be an effort to create some kind of piazza along the side of the square for dining, etc to capitalize on the foot traffic and views of the square. In terms of closing off automobile traffic, I don't think it would do much. Its more around the Square or what anchors its edges that is more important. After I studied last semester in Europe I saw a lot of these pedestrian streets and zones that were once open to automobiles. I saw some very successful ones, and some that weren't so great. I think they only really work well when the city is HEAVILY touristed with visitors without cars and are shopping, dining, and walking between all the historic sights. You also have to keep in mind that shopping malls don't really exist in Europe. And these zones have kind of filled this void. But with Tower City space available on Public Square, I don't see the need or practicalbilty in creating a strictly "pedestrian zone" street to create a mall outside. It also doesn't really work downtown because of our high concentration of businesses in skyscrapers. In Europe because everything is so medium-density they can get away with not harming commuters. The workers and employers downtown like Key Bank, Terminal Tower and BP tennants would just be inconvenienced and it would create this huge traffic problem.

/\ I remember an article a while ago where Stark said something LIKE, "I wouldn't be talking about it, if it I didn't think I could do it". I kind of believe him. I think it will happen. The project seems more than a proposal. he's already aquired some land. Once he finalizes his plan with the lot owners, I don't think the city will stand in his way. I would consider this plan is more than a proposal, less than go-ahead. It is progressing, and I think very nicely.

I'm not in favor of changing street names. I really like the numbered streets. Cleveland is so well layed out and easy to get around. Chicago is difficult because there are no numbered streets downtown. Cincinnati is an absolute nightmare to navigate (with its streets changing names every couple blocks, and all of its hills, nonconnecting roads, curving hill streets). You can learn your way around Cleveland very easily. Even if you haven't been somewhere in the city it is very easy to find places. If someone tells me St. Clair and E.55th, or Detroit and W.65th I would know exactly where that is even if I have never been there. I really love it. And I think the numbered streets and layout are appropriate to its big city status. I would like to see the old street names become names for districts and developments. Maybe E.9th-E.13th could be renamed as a city district and indicated on downtown district maps as Erieview. It would be nice to designate a name for this entire emerging downtown neighborhood the way the Warehouse District and Gateway all have names and boundaries. "Erieview" would draw on the historical Erie St. connection, Erieview tower, and the Lake. The Avenue District is okay for this development, but E.12th St. isn't an avenue, and I hope this neighborhood neighborhood that is encompassing more than the Avenue District development, won't become known as the "Avenue District".

I am really excited about the Avenue District, but I think I'd prefer to see more flagship retail development closer to Public Square in Tower City, Warehouse District and Euclid Avenue. I am pretty young, but I remember the Galleria as a child, and it was my family's Christmas shopping mall of choice, but Tower City makes more sense for a downtown shopping mall. I'd really like to see the Galleria and Erieview Tower become World Trade Center Cleveland (there was once a WTC Cleveland complex proposed for the lakefront). For both Flats East Bank and Avenue District (the two downtown "bracket" residential neighborhoods) it would be great if they focused more on neighborhood retail and didn't choose major chains. Maybe some of the area galleries, boutiques, and restaurant owners in Ohio City, Tremont, Little Italy, and Shaker Square could be persuaded to consider openning up another location with a slightly different concept here in the Avenue District.