MVH

Mild improvement. Nevermind, I just realized this is looking West. The problem with Playhouse Square in general is the clown-show cut-through of the E 14th Innerbelt exit - to left on Euclid - to North on E 13th. The freeway redesign missed a golden chance to route all Innerbelt exits and entrances to E 18th.

Henrietta Homes are popping up everywhere in Hough. Continually surprised at how many I see. They seem appropriate for the lot sizes, intent and housing history, though they are, as a cost necessity I suppose, approaching an unfortunate cookie-cutter suburban look. I hope they're built well. I wish there were more party-wall housing developments, and some commercial spaces. But I'll take it over the previous recent decades, the new McMansion styles that were happening.

I'm guessing the return on investment for street crime has been falling in general, while online crime and one of our political parties offer so much more.

One of my favorite Euclid Ave buildings.

Is that Rodin's thinker wrapped up? For protection? There are zillions of Thinkers in the world, (Rodin cranked them out) but we have the best one, lol. Nevermind! I'm at the wrong end!

Hangin' with Hulk, huh? Friend of mine was just telling me about how "nice" Green Goat is. I'd pray that justice prevails, but like Bobby, I don't believe in prayer.

So while I'm on a roll. There have been some interesting property transfers along St Clair. The folks associated with the Southside Bar in Tremont have acquired several buildings on the North side of the strip, and I met a fella who swooped in and bought Azman's shop. They have met each other, are of similar age, and now they're also talking about buying Zagreb butcher shop. It's all talk at this stage but they, along with the current owner of Zagreb, want to train a young butcher to continue the trade at the location. You are probably aware that Anna from Boss K9 acquired the entire corner at E 60th for her business. Other more recent businesses include several barbers and salons, along with a cigar shop and a BBQ stand. And if you haven't been to the Wall Drug of Cleveland, you need to check out Sheliga. I hope they can hang on.

Yeah I tried to explain the whole idea of attracting a new community of people who didn't want to spend $15,000 a year on car ownership, but it was like I was from Mars. One even responded "good" when I informed them that Ohio just passed a new budget that included millions for new freeways. Also the rector(?) of the church proceeded to inform me of all the money the church had invested in the neighborhood, and the plans that St Martin De Porres High School have for the school. I said, "like tearing down perfectly good commercial buildings on St Clair for a basketball gym?" And he said it wasn't a basketball gym it was an "athletic center because these kids need something to do." So I said "yeah, a basketball gym. to be the St Ignatius of the East Side," which he also denied. And how they stopped the high school from taking over Kovacic Rec Center, which I agreed was a wonderful thing. Meh, he's a nice guy. It was good to see some passion for the neighborhood which I had assumed was totally gone. But then again, they seem to envision something other than a 'woke,' dense, walkable, mixed use neighborhood, that modern urbanists would understand. And I'm sure they're not moving back in anytime soon.

So I went to the Superior Ave Midway meeting at St Vitus. I went at the last minute, reluctant to hear more NIMBY whining. Well it turns out these people have a huge back yard. Most of the small crowd seemed to be parishioners from out of the County, though I was informed later that apparently 1 or 2 lived in the St Vitus Village retirement housing. These Village attendees didn't speak or maybe I simply missed it. I don't know who 'called' this weird 'after mass' public meeting in a church beyond the extent of the Midway project, but it indeed turned into a sabotage meeting. led by none other than Trump-o-lyte Lake County Commissioner and (tragic) NOACA "Assistant Secretary" (one of 4)John Plecnik. He seemed to have brought 3-4 people with him to complain about 'slowing down cars,' and other tired complaints. Lake County Guy John Plecnik himself got up at the end and twisted a short speech into a demand that Cleveland hire more cops with the money instead, which always plays well with suburbanites who don't live here. The presenter, to his credit smiled and informed Plecnik that they don't have any control over hiring police. They tried to shut down comments after that ridiculousness. I spoke up anyhow and expressed my true astonishment that folks from Lake County would be concerned about our street design. The two other actual neighborhood residents, (not in the Village) were the only ones pleased by that, let me tell you. The suburbanites didn't like my free speech rights. After the rest of the presentation, where the presenter felt he had to apologize for any 'woke' terminology, I was confronted by a couple of these suburbanites who assured me that, I don't know? It was 'their' neighborhood? I tried to get to know them, but the conversations digressed into talk about the 'horrible schools' after I asked them when they were moving in. I had a great time.

Exactly who manages and validates these income requirements, and for how long? It all sounds good on paper, but my experience tells me this is only where the 'game' begins. It's really to obtain the funding. Amirite? Eventually, it all becomes 'market rate' the only question is what is that market?

BTW, UC has already hired a consultant to redesign Euclid through UC and it's 'shockingly' more of the same. Yeah I know this should go in the UC section

Any threats to automobile dominance will be met with outrage by everybody, whether they use the area or not. I was curious how many on this thread will be using this along with me? I live here. The Tel Aviv layout is exactly what the city should do on Euclid Ave through UC.

Cleveland is accessible to cars on 100% of its public rights of way. And when that doesn't suffice, idiots park, and even drive on sidewalks and bike lanes no matter the design. Making every attempt to accommodate this expectation is the unmistakable sign of a failed, suburban tourist 'city.' Like every other city in the US. Gee, let's rescue Cleveland by being like every other city in the US rather than redeveloping in a manner that would be attractive to young people looking to dispense with their requirement to buy a car. I like the Midway simply because it communicates a future without car dependency, and also should serve to calm car traffic. We don't owe suburbanites a fast trip through our city or a fast trip home. Want to drive fast? Head to Chester! One of the greatest failures of Euclid Ave was the capitulation to the car. Drivers can't be bothered to walk an extra 10 steps from the parking cutout to get their "Subway Always Fresh", blocking the road instead. The road should have been designed as BRT - Bike - Pedestrian only. The capitulation to the automobile is the reason the BRT doesn't function well. All bus delays and inefficiencies are directly caused by other vehicular traffic, no matter the route. I repeat my proposal that the car filth businesses along Superior Ave such as the tire shops and Ohio Technical "Race Car " College be offered free land along the Opportunity Corridor where their business will certainly increase. This will clear up opportunities for human centered business, like in real cities. Then we won't need on street parking or parking lots. None of the car-oriented business owners live in the neighborhood, and few of them hire in the neighborhood. They are only there because Cleveland has made it easy for them to take advantage of the abandonment. It's tragic and ironic that old timers who wax nostalgic for their tight-knit old neighborhoods can't understand the destruction that the advent of the automobile wrought.

What the Hell is "after mass? 11 AM? That should be a "room full of support." Can't wait!

So that investment from UH is what the developers were waiting for. Mixed Income is very interesting. I can't imagine those four "market rate" units selling at market rate. Parking lot is horrible, as per code. The units planned for E 65th at Whittier, a little to the NW seem to have died, with one half-completed structure. I'd like to see more Townhouse development such as that visible on E 66th at the 1605 address range, just south of Fatima. Hopefully, redevelopment continues in a mixed, and mixed use style, with some small commercial ground units that don't include a huge parking lot. Will Cleveland ever recreate a dense, truly localized, truly non-car-dependent community again? If any city had the chance it would be Cleveland. I would think that would be attractive to many young folks from across the nation if marketed as such.