8ShadesofGray

Collinwood wins $200K ArtPlace America grant for 'Ballot Box Project" Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer July 13, 2015 CLEVELAND, Ohio – In a novel program, residents, employees and city staff devoted to the Collinwood neighborhood will organize a community "Ballot Box Project" to decide how to spend a new $200,000 grant from ArtPlace America. The Northeast Shores Development Corporation announced the grant Monday. It's the second big infusion from the ArtPlace program following a $500,000 grant in 2012 for the Collinwood Rising arts program, aimed at recruiting artist-residents to the neighborhood ... ... More available at http://www.cleveland.com/arts/index.ssf/2015/07/collinwood_wins_200k_artplace.html

That photo makes me want to SimCity a sliver of the KeyBank Building off so you have a clear sight line from Terminal Tower to the Malls :)

So, now I'm feeling all nerdy and decided to look at census tracts ... I would have gone down to the block group level to get to the Hingetown level of data I mentioned above ... But that's just too much. Haha. The 5 Cuyahoga County census tracts with greatest rate of change in residents (25 or older) with a bachelor's degree or more, 2000 Census to 2006-2010 ACS Estimate (note of caution ... There may be some margin of error here) - #5, Central in the East 30s, from 0.8% to 3.7% (more than four-fold increase) - #4, Glenville in the East 100s, from 1.1% to 5.8% (more than five-fold increase) - #3, South Collinwood in the East 140s, from 2.1% to 11.4% (more than five-fold increase) - #2, Central in the East 20s, from 1.8% to 11.2% (more than six-fold increase) - #1, St. Clair Superior in the East 80s, from 1.1% to 12.1% (an eleven-fold increase) So these are all predominantly low-income city neighborhoods who largely saw the biggest rate of change because they started with such incredibly low percentages of college degree attainment. Nonetheless, some really dramatic gains in neighborhoods that aren't generally on the UrbanOhio radar. The 5 census tracts with the greatest change in % of residents (25 or older) with at least a bachelor's degree, between 2000 Census and 2006 - 2010 ACS Estimate #5, Asiatown, north of Superior ... Where 8shades lives :D, from 6.7% to 25.0% (an 18.3% increase) #4, Buckeye, south of Shaker Square and adjacent to Van Aken, from 13.9% to 32.3% (an 18.4% increase) #3, Berea, west of Baldwin-Wallace, from 17.7% to 39.0% (a 21.3% increase) #2, Downtown, the northeast section including the CSU campus, from 28.5% to 50.1% (a 21.6% increase) #1, University Heights, in and around the John Carroll campus, from 57.6% to 81.9% (a 24.3% increase) So definitely appears to be some love in urban neighborhoods, as well particularly strong performance directly adjacent to college campuses. That's not to say that educational growth isn't strong in suburban communities - a Mayfield Heights tract comes in at #6, one in South Euclid at #7, one in Richmond Heights at #8 and one in Euclid at #10 (the West Bank of the Flats brings us back into the city at #9). ... And just to remind us of how much further that generational shift around urban living still has to go ... Cuyahoga County census tracts with the greatest % of residents with at least a bachelor's, 2006-2010 ACS estimate #5 is in University Heights (76.0% with bachelor's or higher), #4 is in Cleveland Heights (80.8%), #3 is in University Heights (81.9%), #2 is in Beachwood (85.0%) and #1 is in Shaker Heights (87.8%). The first city census tract to make the list is Little Italy, ranked #25 countywide. Downtown tracts make their first appearance at #44. Clearly a lot of positive movement around degree attainment in city neighborhoods; clearly a long way to go.

Pretty impressive shifts, even if from a relatively small base. And it's worthwhile to point out that even relatively small jumps in the number of degree-holding residents can have huge impacts at the neighborhood level, since these college-educated residents are of course not spreading out evenly across the entire city geography. So where they are, big changes are afoot. For example, I've been working on a research project in the northeast corner of Ohio City (aka the Hingetown area) and ran into this (mind you, not age-specific): - As of the 2000 Census, 10.8% residents of this part of Ohio City had a bachelor's degree or higher. - As of the 2006 - 2010 American Community survey, an estimated 42.1% of residents had at least a bachelor's degree ... Putting the area well above the national average, the state average, the Ohio City average (29.2%) and more than 3 times the estimated city average (13.1%). Clearly, some of this might be the result of existing residents going out and earning degrees in growing numbers. But even accounting for a pretty big margin of error, that's got to be at least a three-fold jump in college-educated folks in a small district in a ten-year span ... Some of that has to be in-migration. So if similar places across the city are similarly serving as magnets for attracting the educated, even an overall small trend that direction could have profound impact on individual neighborhoods' metrics - income, buying power, household size, home values, median rents, etc.

While maybe not luxury action, the Glen Cove brownstone at E 156th and Pythias is currently being rehabbed into pretty unique live-work units ... And there are fundraising efforts to similar rehabs of other properties along 156 :)

^ Sponsored by the neighboring Cleveland Foundation :D

^ Having lived car-free in both in Shaker Square and Asiatown, I'd echo this. I think the vast majority of people who live within a few blocks of any of the urban Dave's markets find it more convenient to walk to and from a grocery store ... Regardless of whether they have a car or not. At that range, driving starts to be more of a hassle than a help. Dave's in Ohio City, Shaker Square and North Collinwood all seem to have quite a bit of shoppers on foot. I think that driving burden is probably even higher downtown. Everyone I've talked to who live downtown (and quite a few who work there) seem to be SALIVATING over Heinen's opening.

Sadly, I don't ... Need to get out with my camera. It's looking really good, though ... Still some landscaping and paver work to be done, and I'm sure a lot of UrbanOhioans will be saddened by the number of unburied electrical still up. But still looking great :) Will try to get pics up soon.

as orange barrels fade, new businesses bloom on waterloo Erin O'Brien, Fresh Water Cleveland October 7, 2014 Last week, Collinwood's Waterloo neighborhood exhaled a collective sigh of relief when the barrage of orange barrels that defined a maze of closures, one-way paths and detours for more than a year was finally removed, marking the completion of a $5.5 million streetscape and repaving project. Area residents and businesses celebrated the milestone during the neighborhood's Oct. 3rd Walk All Over Waterloo, which is held on the first Friday of every month. In addition to showcasing a clear street, Cyclops Tattoo Studio, 16006 Waterloo Road, held their grand opening, while Waterloo Brew, 15335 Waterloo Road in the Slovenian Workmen's Home, opened its doors for a soft opening. "Waterloo brew is the oldest school possible kind of beer joint. It’s an old school nationality hall bar," says Brew Owner and Cleveland entrepreneur Alan Glazen, noting that two-thirds of his inaugural customers were from the neighborhood -- and they drank every drop of the pub's signature Waterloo Brew. "We sold out on the first night." A grand opened is scheduled for Oct. 10th ... ... More available at http://freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/waterloostreetscape100714.aspx

^ Or that if the offices here (and others that get displaced by recent renovation plans) get spooked by rising rents opposite tightening downtown availability, they look at options in adjacent neighborhoods rather than fleeing to the suburbs. I think this is probably my favorite building downtown ... Have always been in love with how slender it is :D

More great news for Waterloo ... As the $6.5 million streetscape improvement winds to a close, two new restaurants are both opening October 3, opposite a couple of new arts spots ... And now Mexican street food coming in 2015!!!! Crop Rocks Out of Waterloo Bank Building, Mexican Concept Inks Deal By Douglas Trattner, Cleveland Scene Aug 26, 2014 When Steve Schimoler formally opted out of his plans to open the flashy Crop Rocks in the former Key Bank Building (15619 Waterloo Rd.), it was a big blow to all the folks hard at work to make Waterloo and North Collinwood a destination neighborhood. Well, the building already has been spoken for. Eddie Galindo and partner Jessica Anter, who own and operate the original Luchita’s Mexican Restaurant (3456 W. 117th St., 216- 252-1169, luchita.com), will open a new Mexican concept in the dramatic building ... ... More available at http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2014/08/26/crop-rocks-out-of-waterloo-bank-building-mexican-concept-inks-deal

Here's the page for that specific campaign: http://www.vestor.co/Le-Meridien-Hotel An investment goal of $7,000,000 at $20,000 per "unit" with 350 units available ... So either that means no money has been raised to date or the counter doesn't update to reflect when units have been sold.

Also heard from a group of guys who had a passing car throw water on them as they were walking to Mean Bull. The overwhelming response I've heard (and overheard) has been tremendously positive, but those isolated incidents are a reminder that we have a ways to go before we achieve true equality ... Even in a generally progressive city like Cleveland. Also with the "fag" comment, I wonder what bus line it was. There's a clearly mentally ill man that rides the Health Line who uses that slur a lot ... He's used it with me twice on the bus and once when I crossed his path walking down St. Clair Avenue. Not to say that that kind of slur is excusable, but if it's the man I'm thinking of, he's CLEARLY got mental health issues, which further reiterates the point that he's out of the mainstream of attitude and behavior in greater Cleveland. That being said, on both incidents I had on the bus, no one on the bus said a word to him (myself includded). So even in the absence of people running around using slurs like that, there's also the complicity of inactivity and standing up against this kind of thing.

I also don't like the idea of right-sizing, for sure. But there are weaknesses to an unequivocal association between population density and pedestrian/transit orientation ... Both because the built form contributes so much to our concept of what's dense and household size contributes GREATLY to population density numbers from neighborhood to neighborhood, as other forumers noted above, and because population density considers only residents and not another patrons of neighborhoods (workers, visitors, pedestrian and cyclist through-traffic) that also contribute to both a feel of pedestrian orientation and the individual demand that leads to where transit, bike and sidewalk infrastructure investments are made. Despite its sizable population gains, downtown Cleveland only had 3,404 residents per square mile as of 2010 - just over a third of the residential density of the West Boulevard area at 9,918. But I can't imagine a world where people generally think of West Boulevard as being more "urban" than downtown ... Or doing a better job of serving their transit, biking or walking needs. And it's not the only example - As of 2010, the Hingetown block group in Ohio City had a shockingly low 1,579 residents per square mile, but that didn't stop a number of new retail establishments from opening up there, and recent community surveying I saw showed the vast majority of both residents and visitors thought the neighborhood was very walkable. Meanwhile, Tremont and Goodrich-Kirtland Park (Asiatown) were among the city's least dense neighborhoods, as of 2010, while Cudell and Mount Pleasant remain among its densest. That's not to say that Cudell and Mount Pleasant aren't dense, but I'd wager that Tremont and Asiatown draw disproportionately smaller households and disproportionately larger crowds of workers and visitors that don't get counted in what makes a neighborhood visibly and functionally dense.

Food is available, but not gonna lie, it's not great food, at least not within the Festival Village itself ... It's typical "fair food". There's a decent lo mein stand; outside of that, I personally don't think there's anything of particular note down there. I think this was a real missed opportunity to expose visitors to our culinary scene with more plentiful food truck operations. But you should still walk down :D

Have had a great Gay Games experience so far. We welcomed friends from Louisville and Boston, and I think they had a really good experience ... The highlight for the Bostonian weirdly seemed to be how cheap cookies at Presti's were. Our agenda has been Hal Sparks at Hilarities, AHA Pecha Kucha, Bounce, Cleveland Museum of Art pre-party, opening ceremony, Twist, Leather Stallion, Beachland brunch and the Waterloo strip, Edgewater, festival village on the Mall, the Renaissance after-party, Coventry and Little Italy. At some point, I'll hopefully see a sporting event :D I can't wait to see the autopsy on this thing, because people are spending money left and right!! Overall, the energy has been amazing, with the exception of a few out-of-towners I've overheard with the "Why Cleveland?" thing and more than a few grumblings about a certain gay bar charging covers that seem (at least per Facebook posts) to be a little financially exclusionary opposite many open and free evening events. Those complaints have been more than offset by a lot of positive comments and just a general sense of community and acceptance from Cleveland. The opening ceremony had some pretty powerful moments (at least IMHO) including an obviously moved Connie Schultz, a surprise video cameo by Obama and, most of all, a standing ovation for the HUGE Russian delegation. It's been really amazing to see the breadth of international visitors, even from one-person delegations from places like Nepal and Peru. I echo the downtown pedestrian vibe comments above and would encourage people to join in and come out to some sporting events or the festival village if you haven't yet ... It really does feel special for the Cleveland. Just drink less than me (and a lot of others) ... This is the first day in 5 days when I haven't been hungover :D

Great photos! I've been helping with a project in Covington, and I've really fallen in love with not only the urban form but the personality of the city. They're doing some pretty great things on the redevelopment front. The Awesome Collective is taking the traditional block club format of civic engagement and getting young people involved. There's some interesting approaches being employed on Pike and in the Mainstrasse area, and there's also a large-scale creative placemaking initiative in the Westside neighborhood, where an artisan/maker community is starting to pop up, including the redevelopment of the old Hellmann Lumber building (which is pretty epic!). Thanks again for the pics!

Zara offers a very particular style, and it's clearly not for everyone. But for people who are inclined toward that style, there's just not another great proxy (I'd say it's probably somewhere between our local offerings of Calvin Klein and J. Crew), they do a VERY good job of offering stuff with smaller, structured fits without being skin tight ... As a 5'7, 135 lb man, I find it incredibly hard to find menswear that even remotely fits me in the Cleveland market; I swim in J. Crew and Banana Republic clothes, and Express can only take you so far! If there was a zara in Cleveland, I would probably be wearing it everyday :) I think greater Cleveland is just a place with pretty limited menswear offerings overall, and that probably contributes to our drooling ... All the choices of LA or Toronto, and maybe Zara wouldn't hold the same appeal.

^^Any word on an opening date? I can't find a thing online ... Just articles from June that say "late July"!

I feel like something that also gets lost in this discussion is that rising office rents in downtown could also help to drive up office demand for old stock in adjacent neighborhoods (and even on the outskirts of downtown), which seems like it can only be a good thing for the core overall. There's definitely businesses that are willing to pay a premium to be near city, county, federal government (attorneys, title insurance, etc.), even as the downtown market gets tighter. Then there's a lot of businesses that want to be in multi-tenant facilities or newer facilities with relatively low rents, but don't have a particular driving need to be downtown, and we may see some of these get lost to the edge office parks. But there's a fair amount of companies that I have to believe want to be in an urban environment but don't necessarily need to be downtown and don't necessarily need to be in a high-rise ... GoMedia at 45th and Lorain, JakPrints at 24th and Superior, Skylight Financial in the United Bank Building at 25th and Lorain, DigiKnow in Tyler Village ... Just a few examples of seemingly thriving entrepreneurial companies that aren't in the core business districts of downtown but that also haven't been lured to the exurbs. So I definitely understand the anxiety about loss of downtown workforce, but I think the downtown core versus exurban office park dichotomy is probably an overstated one. With some planning, some assistance getting important historic designations for tax credit purposes and some additional city or county subsidy for smaller rehab projects that don't tend to fare as well with the state competitive grants, we could see some movement of existing downtown tenants (as well as prospective tenants that are priced out of considering downtown) into the edges of downtown ... East 30th; East 40th; Superior, Euclid and Prospect in the east 30s and 40s; a number of warehouse buildings around E. 55th and Euclid; St. Clair in the teens; Lorain Avenue in the 30s up into possibly the 60s, Detroit in the 30s through 50s; Scranton descending from Tremont; West 25th heading back toward MetroHealth, etc., etc., :)

No? :(

I have reason to believe that we're going to start seeing more afoot along East 185th ... A new thread or renaming this one to be more North Collinwood-inclusive? Hmmmmm :) Cleveland's East 185th Street could see 5 new business in 3 years By Amy Popik, The News-Herald July 13, 2014 East 185th Street soon could have new businesses, thanks to a new development initiative called ActiVacant. The program has hopes to open five new businesses simultaneously within the next three years and is offering special incentives for entrepreneurs. “ActiVacant came out of small-business development in North Collinwood,” said Brian Friedman, executive director of Northeast Shores Development Corp., a local nonprofit community development corporation. “What we do in small-business development is let businesses work on their business plans in a collective classroom setting ... (so) if it’s good for them to do business development, training and planning in group, then we think it would be interesting to see what it would be like to launch in a group setting” ... ... More available at http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20140713/clevelands-east-185th-street-could-see-5-new-business-in-3-years

Sorry to start a new thread, but I can't find my beloved Specialty Goods thread! A casualty to the Great Crash? Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone has any good leads on a good accountant in the city. I'm looking for someone that has experience or specialization for business start-ups, early stage development (sole propietorship stuff). Most of the recommendations I'm getting are for accountants and bookkeepers in the burbs, and for a number of different reasons, I'd really like to find someone good inside the city.

Waterloo District 'Project Light Switch' plans October debuts for Waterloo Brew, The Fillmore, more Joe Crea, The Plain Dealer July 14, 2014 CLEVELAND, Ohio -- More lights will be turning on in the Waterloo Arts District this fall. Waterloo Operation Light Switch will announce today that two new businesses will open October 3 on Waterloo Road in the Collinwood neighborhood. - Waterloo Brew, the much-anticipated microbrewery and restaurant that will feature four indoor bocce courts, a restaurant and bar area. Operated by restaurateurs Randy Kelly and Linda Syrek (ABC The Tavern, XYZ The Tavern and Ontario Street Cafe) with business partner Alan Glazen - a key player in the neighborhood's renaissance - Waterloo Brew takes over the bar and bocce portion of the Slovenian Workmen's Home, 15334 Waterloo Road ... ... More available at http://www.cleveland.com/dining/index.ssf/2014/07/waterloo_districts_project_lig.html

Time will tell whether the name Hingetown will stick, but I agree with yo to the CLE that we could use more district/sub-nabe names. Ohio City is about 2 square miles, so I'd say we could stand to have another level down to distinguish w 44 and Detroit from West 28 and Lorain, for instance. It's certainly not the first district identity that has been debated here but ultimately stuck ... We had similar discussions when both Asiatown and Uptown started to get tossed around. I think part of the desire to create new cultural identities at the sub-nabe level is our historic approach to naming places solely by combining the names of two major streets or other landmark. Not the case in Ohio City, but I'd argue at this point, Gordon Square probably has a stronger brand than Detroit Shoreway and Asiatown a much stronger brand than the city's official designations of the area as Goodrich-Kirtland or Payne-Sterling.