Luke_S

ideastream: Cleveland Parks Ranked 24th In Annual ParkScore Index. "Cleveland's ranking improved significantly in a national nonprofit's annual assessment of park systems in the 100 most populous U.S. cities. The Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore index report ranks park systems on various metrics such as access, acreage and equity, which was measured for the first time this year. Cleveland placed 24th, a jump from being No. 29 in last year’s report. Part of Cleveland’s success was in the new park equity measure, said Sean Terry with the Trust for Public Land, as 83 percent of Cleveland residents are within a 10-minute walk of a park, well above the national average of 75 percent. And Terry said that stat doesn’t change when just looking at minority communities." https://www.ideastream.org/news/cleveland-parks-ranked-24th-in-annual-parkscore-index

Why are we talking about the last mile problem like its unsolvable? One would think that as Amtrak routes are improved in these cities and ridership improves, demand for public transit within the cities will increase, so cities will be pressured to improve their public transit systems. With a multi-modal system developed alongside a new central Amtrak station I think it would be a big lift for any city's transit system...

Sure! Lets do that too!

Would like to see a Toledo-Dayton-Cincinnati connection at some point too.

Not sure if this would be the right thread for this, but here it is anyway... Crain's Cleveland: Cleveland releases online map with land bank properties "The Cleveland Land Reutilization, or Land Bank, program launched an interactive, searchable map showing abandoned properties throughout the city with a link to apply for purchase. The map marks more than 13,000 vacant parcels available for public sale with sites cleared for new home construction or as side yard expansion (where existing property owners can purchase a lot that shares a border with their property), according to a Tuesday, May 18, release from Mayor Frank Jackson's administration..."

In part to provide natural light to the convention center below.

Not to suggest the request for inquiry shouldn't have been submitted, because it definitely should have for some pretty obvious reasons, but any ideas on how long this is going to set back the railcar replacement process?

ideastream: GCRTA Launching System Redesign With A Week Of Free Rides In June. https://www.ideastream.org/news/gcrta-launching-system-redesign-with-a-week-of-free-rides-in-june

$6M Red Line Greenway opens after more than a decade of planning https://www.thelandcle.org/stories/6m-red-line-greenway-project-open-after-a-decade-of-planning "Beginning at the eastern edge of Zone Recreation Center and threading through Ohio City before connecting to the Centennial Lake Link Trail, the $6 million Red line Greenway connects the near west side to downtown Cleveland while offering views of industry, nature and the city along the way. After more than a decade of planning and construction, fences were removed Monday, and Cleveland Metroparks is planning a press conference and ribbon cutting event on Wednesday, May 12th at 11 am and the trailhead near Abbey and Columbus Roads in Ohio City."

Thank you! Looks like another good reason to move Amtrak to Tower City

Do you have any of those handy diagram-maps drawn up for either of these alternatives? I'm curious where the station would be if keeping on the existing line and what that Red Line extension would look like.

With rumors that there could be an Amtrak station at Hopkins I'm interested to see if that is incorporated into the plan at all.

What caught my attention was the expanded regional rail transit plan. I would be for some of these additional, and if the Amtrak station is moved to Tower City I think expansion of local and regional trail becomes much more practical. However, the build out phase doesn't make any sense to me. Why start with the outlying suburbs in phase 1 then create the dense interior lines? Seems like that is going to continue to perpetuate sprawl, making transit less effective/efficient. The argument is that these are the areas where population is growing, but if living in the city or inner ring suburbs is more convenient than the exurbs because of an efficient rail system you might be able to flip the narrative of growing exurbs. Arguably it's already happening...

Cleveland.com "NOACA invites public comment on draft update of Long Range Transportation Plan, which strives for equity" https://www.cleveland.com/news/2021/05/noaca-invites-public-comment-on-draft-update-of-its-long-range-transportation-plan-which-strives-for-equity.html

When thinking about the cost of a new stadium I think there's a couple things to consider. (1) If I remember correctly a dome can be added to the current stadium, but it would require major renovations which will cost a lot of money. Not to say a dome is necessarily essential, but if we want to get more use out of the stadium then it is necessary. Assuming we get a domed structure one way or the other, its a sunk cost so then we should think about the incremental cost of a new stadium over adding a dome. (2) There were already some discussions of building a soccer stadium on the NS site anyway. If that's still the plan and a new stadium is going to be built why not build a multi-purpose stadium to host both the Browns and the soccer team. Already you're getting more use, even before you consider the additional events that can be held if its domed. I like the idea of having all three of the major league teams in close proximity. However, I guess I don't currently see the Browns stadium on the lakefront as underutilized space or holding back any development. Until connectivity with downtown is improved with the land bridge and the shore way converted to a blvd (and to a lesser extend Burke is removed) I don't see the area achieving its highest use.

Any rumblings on proposed relocation sites?

This is more me lamenting RT18 becoming shopping plazas from I-71 to I-77 than anything else. I grew in Granger not far off of RT18 and would rather have the corn fields than the parking lots. The old Toy's R Us is still sitting empty if I'm not mistaken, but that wouldn't be large enough either. To your point, I can't really think of prime spot in Montrose for them to build. Though, the old K-Mart in Medina off Pearl could have been a better location/building in an already developed area. Only competing with Home Depot there instead of Lowes and Home Depot in Montrose.

Slide 8 from the Downtown Cleveland Alliance's 2020 Annual Report shows that Class A occupancy dropped by 0.2% from 87.3% to 87.1% year-over-year, but overall occupancy increased from 80% to 81.1%. Not sure what the "natural" vacancy rate is, but I can't imagine its too much lower than ~20%. I get that this may be a lagging indicator as Company's are subleasing or may just wait to not renew their current leases instead of break them, but everything else I've seen here has been anecdotal at best. https://www.downtowncleveland.com/DCA/media/DCA_Media/2020-DCA-Annual-Report-1-1_3.pdf

So I get this deal is better than the one extended to states on '09, but that was still a good deal and Ohio Republicans turned it down. Why think they wouldn't do it again? Good news is Amtrak can expand service along existing lines through Cleveland, Toledo, and Cincinnati without input from the state, correct?

This is a shame. I'm pretty sure there aren't ready to build lots, and probably not lots the size that Menards needs, but its hard to justify further expansion down RT18 when there are stores sitting empty in Montrose. Just more needless sprawl.

There is a planned expansion of the Rock Hall and I believe an outdoor concert venue is included.

Not sure how much in here will be news for this group, but some nice interior shots. And always willing to give The Land some traffic (if that hasn't become clear already). https://www.thelandcle.org/stories/two-new-apartment-projects-on-fulton-road-add-to-vibrancy-of-ohio-city

The Land: One year after $8M Fulton Road re-do, car crashes are up 20% https://www.thelandcle.org/stories/one-year-after-8m-fulton-road-re-do-car-cashes-are-up-20-percent

Edit: https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2021/04/remembering-when-cleveland-union-terminal-served-as-railroad-hub-for-commerce-and-travel-photos.html

You can't? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-01/urban-highway-removals-could-get-federal-help