8ShadesofGray

^ Thanks! According to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Tremont was part of Ohio City before the annex to Cleveland and was known as Cleveland Heights, University Heights and then Lincoln Heights before it was known as Tremont. And the neighborhood is named after Tremont School (Tremont Montessori today). http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=T7

This is one of those things that I really hope the city is thinking about in advance of the Games. The difficulty, I think, is that the scene is split into several clusters ... A couple bars north of Asiatown (between St. Clair and Hamilton), several in Ohio City, particularly around W. 28th/Detroit, several bars in Edgewater (but spread out between Lorain and Clifton, generally close to 117th, and then, as mentioned The Center is in Gordon Square (although no gay bars). To me, the most appealing location from a visual perspective would be in-fill in the parking lots fronting Detroit and Church around Bounce, The Tool Shed, Man's World, Club Cleveland, etc. at W. 28 / Detroit. This may not be the case, though, if the street has been widened to accommodate new routing with the Shoreway conversion. If we're trying to locate near a density of gay population, it seems Edgewater would be a natural choice, maybe along Clifton (as I'm not sure the parking-in-front, huge setback style of 117th is really the visual story we want to tell about Cleveland), although it's pretty spatially removed from the hotels and sporting venues downtown. Of course, you could also leverage the event to have a "Pop Up District", maybe in the warehouses north of Asiatown, or maybe along lower Prospect? Who knows? Lots of opportunity, but this would require a great deal of forethough, and I haven't heard a peep about anyone even contemplating working on this concept. Has there ever been an update on the confirmation that the Games will definitely be held here? When last we posted, there was a lot of brewhaha about the diminished role of Synergy and the greater role of the Sports Commission, and the contract negotiations still needed to be ironed out before the designation was finalized ...

^ Cool stuff. Sent you a PM, but your mailbox is full! Here's what I said about our artist map for anyone who's interested: This map is from a huge study we recently completed called "Putting Artists on the Map". Due to the size of the study (a couple hundreds of pages!), we're releasing it in five installments over the next month. We've released two so far - an overview of the entire study (http://www.cpacbiz.org/ftp_file/10-11/PuttingArtistsontheMapSummary.pdf) and a breakdown of where artists are currently residing in Cuyahoga County (http://www.cpacbiz.org/ftp_file/10-11/PAMPart2.pdf). The next three installments include a survey of artists' preferences regarding buildings and neighborhoods, a regression analysis that predicts where artists will be living next in Cuyahoga County and an analysis of the type of building stock artists are currently living in. So stay tuned :) All of this is happening opposite the launch of Artists in Residence (http://www.cpacbiz.org/ftp_file/10-11/ArtistsinResidenceGuideline.pdf), a new program where we'll be investing $500,000 in one Cleveland neighborhood over the next two years in an effort to increase artists' opportunities for ownership of space and to increase their role in neighborhood affairs. CDCs are applying to host the pilot program, and we should have one selected by the beginning of July. You might also check out the thread "Cleveland and Its Artist Pioneers" (http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,25429.0.html), which includes more info on the Artists in Residence program and a bunch of articles on artists moving into the city.

Thought I would cross-post our "where artists are located map" :) Not limited to Cleveland, but it does tease out "artist neighborhoods" in Cuyahoga County ... The places where artists are particularly concentrated in proportion to the total number of residents.

The school is located in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood (http://www.stclairsuperior.org), just south of a strip of pretty (though largely vacant) storefronts along St. Clair Ave. St. Clair Superior is huge, running from East 30th almost to University Circle, and different parts have distinctly different feels ... St. Clair-Superior also encompasses Asiatown to the west (http://www.asiatowncleveland.com). The part of the neighborhood that St. Martin de Porres is in is, in my opinion, struggling considerably more. That's not to say that it doesn't have some great anchors ... Slovenian National Home (http://www.slovenianhome.com), Goodrich-Gannett Neighborhood Center (http://www.ggnc.org), Empress Taytu Ethiopian Restaurant (http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/16/201627/restaurant/East-Side/Empress-Taytu-Ethiopian-Cleveland) and Blue Pike Farm (http://bluepikefarm.com).

There are still pockets of Hungarian residents in the streets between Shaker and Buckeye in the E. 120s. Very large and growing Latino population (Puerto Rican being the large though not sole component) on the Near West Side, particularly in Clark-Fulton area. Asiatown does have a large Chinese population but also has a sizable population of Koreans and Vietnamese (hence the decision to brand as Asiatown instead of Chinatown).

Local group to receive $250,000 arts grant By Donald Rosenberg, The Plain Dealer Tuesday, April 05, 2011 Cleveland's Community Partnership for Arts and Culture will receive a $250,000 grant from New York-based Leveraging Investments in Creativity to build local artist communities. The grant, the largest project grant in the Cleveland organization's history, must be matched within a year, said Thomas Schorgl, president and CEO. Seven other arts groups around the country will receive money from Leveraging Investments, which is awarding a total of $1.25 million in grants ... ... More at http://www.cleveland.com/musicdance/index.ssf/2011/04/local_group_to_receive_250000.html

one lucky neighborhood to receive $500k support to attract artists Lee Chilcote, Fresh Water Thursday, April 07, 2011 From the Warehouse District to Tremont, artists have been harbingers of neighborhood comebacks. Now a new program aims to use artist-based development as the centerpiece for one lucky neighborhood's turnaround. The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) on Monday announced the launch of Artists in Residence, a new program that seeks to create improvements in one city neighborhood by offering incentives for artists who live and work there ... ... More at http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/artistsinresidence040711.aspx

Awww, this is the little thread that couldn't spark a dialogue! Those were two big announcements! ;)

Another issue is how we effectively and efficiently maintain quality levels of service for that handful of retired couples. Should we spread our limited police patrol capacity over entire cities, including areas that have rural-level populations within the city, or focuses our efforts on places where there is a larger density of residents? How about fire protection? Water maintenance, trash pickup, etc., etc., etc. In cities where tax bases are shrinking but geographic coverage isn't, that's one huge benefit of planned shrinkage ... Basically responding to the decentralization of population by virtually taking low-density/low-demand land off the grid. If we don't pursue that type of strategy, I think we have to think creatively about how we financially support base services citywide without raising the per-resident cost to do so.

I know it sounds semantic, but there's a difference between shrinkage and planned shrinkage. The fact is that cities like Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit, Essen, Porto, etc. ARE shrinking. They are shrinking whether you plan for that shrinkage or not. The question is really whether you serve neighborhoods that have already shrunk dramatically better by planning for growth or planning for shrinkage. I agree with forumers who are rightly pointing out that we're not talking about knocking down blocks of intact buildings like in mid-century urban renewal efforts. We're talking about knocking down the remaining three houses on blocks that once houses hundreds of people, with the end goal being creating something in its place that's either less infrastructure-intensive or that has community value for the larger neighborhood, city (parks, urban farms, etc.). It's also a little oversimplistic to suggest a city that takes on a shrinking city methodology is just throwing in the towel from border to border. Rather, what we're seeing is an effort to assemble land where the market has already destroyed density at the same time that we're increasing density in neighborhoods where there is more market potential. What I feel most cautious about is where we draw the line. It seems pretty common sense to me that an area like the Forgotten Triangle would probably benefit immensely from planned shrinkage, while infill is clearly a more appropriate strategy for neighborhoods like Tremont or Ohio City. It's neighborhoods in the middle like upper St. Clair-Superior or Glenville that are my biggest concern, i.e. In neighborhoods where we see considerable out-migration and high vacancy rates, but where the streets still feel relatively intact, which strategy is more appropriate? These are the neighborhoods where I would be most concerned about seeing urban renewal-like consequences.

For neighborhoods interested in applying to host the two-year pilot around artist-based community development, letters of interest are due April 25th at 5 p.m. Guidelines are available at http://www.cpacbiz.org/ftp_file/10-11/ArtistsinResidenceGuideline.pdf :)

Housing For Artists: Where Will The Money Go? Maude L. Campbell, Scene Monday, April 4, 2011 Come fall, one Cleveland neighborhood will offer artists more than inspiration and the camaraderie of fellow creatives. The Artists in Residence initiative announced Monday by the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture will provide loans for artists buying or renovating property, home ownership services, and grants for artists undertaking community projects. The winning artists’ enclave will be announced July 1, and the $500,000 committed to the two-year project will start flowing in October. Area community-development corporations competing to bring the project home should know that a bit of dilapidation could help ... ... Read more at http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2011/04/04/housing-for-artists-where-will-the-money-go

Here's one tidbit of that research ... A map of where more than 4,000 Cuyahoga County artists live, along with 24 "artist neighborhoods" that collectively account for more than 50% of all the artists we had information on. Keep in mind that this isn't all artists living in Cuyahoga County, but it's a pretty gigantic sample, so it gives us a very good representation. In the second installment of the research getting released next week, you'll also get to see where artists are at the discipline level (i.e. Are musicians living in the same neighborhoods that writers are and visual artists are?).

CPAC and NODIS just released a new study, "Putting Artists on the Map". It's massive - actually being released in 5 installments over the next month because it's so big. The groups were able to map the residential addresses of more than 4,000 artists living in Cuyahoga County, and from this, were able to identify 24 artist neighborhoods (that account for more than half of the artists in the sample) and describe the characteristics of each of these nabes. They also surveyed several hundred artists about where they live and work now and where they would like to live and work. They also ran a regression analysis that attempts to predict where artists are most likely to live in the future. Finally, they looked at the specific housing stock that artists are currently living in to give a really strong sense of the characteristics of these properties. The first installment, an overview of all four streams of research, is available at http://www.cpacbiz.org/ftp_file/10-11/PuttingArtistsontheMapSummary.pdf

If airlines or delivery services ran every 5-15 minutes, it would mitigate concerns about lateness of departure or arrival. Even if the system has some quirks that definitely do need worked out, I'm satisfied with the investment just in terms of what it's done to the aesthetic of the street, its encouragement of a pedestrian-orientation to infill, the frequency of service and the 24-hour timetable. Plus, I ride several times a week and have never noticed a significant departure from estimated times, except along lower Euclid ... It seems time is made up in Midtown that compensates for slight delays between Public Square and the Theatre District.

Yeah, definitely agree that better signage, some additional crosswalks, some traffic-calming measures on West 25th and on Lorain could go a long way. But I also don't think the parking concepts sound bad at all. First, they're talking about structured parking, which could actually open some of the surface lots around the market for potential development. Second, they're talking about charging a parking fee that might generate a couple hundred thousand dollars a year, which in turn could subsidize the building of a garage, and after built, could go toward capital improvements, special events, an endowment fund, etc. Seems sound to me.

Yeah, it was really good :) I also really loved the model that was employed, with editing and production assistance coming from students at both Cleveland State and Tri-C. Great to see a high-quality local film highlighting a high-quality local school providing skill training for local people interested in film careers.

^^ I agree Payne isn't a narrow street, but as someone who walks along both regularly, the difference between 7 lanes on Superior and 4 on Payne is palpable, particularly when Superior is currently flanked with treelawns where people park on the sidewalk!

I don't know ... I agree that there's not a feeling of street-fronting density. But I would say it's actually got a higher density of activity than most Cleveland neighborhoods, just not in an evident new urbanism/pedestrian-oriented way. - Tyler Village continues to expand a roster of business tenants; that island of activity alone would be the envy of many CDCs. - Huge, unfortunately inwardly-facing Asian "malls" ... Several businesses in Asia Plaza, several businesses in Asian Town Center (and more moving into this 115,000 sq. ft. behemoth), a handful in the Superior Pho / Just Like Mom's building. - 5 Asian markets (and three of these are quite large ... full-service supermarket large) on top of the original Dave's Supermarket. - Houses stacked double-deep, with very few vacancies, and many with large numbers of residents within a single- or two-family house. - At least a couple hundred artists and artist-based businesses scattered in industrial and nontraditional buildings throughout the nabe ... the 1400 building on East 30th, the Josaphat Arts complex on East 33rd, at Tyler, at Loftworks and other buildings along East 40th, in most of the industrial buildings around East 36th and East 38th and Kelley and Perkins. - A relatively healthy mix of intact, existing industrial/manufacturing/auto/etc. businesses sprinkled throughout the neighborhood. Sorry if that came across as Asiatown boosterism. I think the nabe does have a lot of urban design challenges. My main point is that the trick is not only how we recreate a feeling of density, intimacy and walkability at the street level (which we do need to explore) but also how we can create visual cues of all the activity that's already taking place in giant (sometimes setback) buildings. I think most Clevelanders would be astounded by just how much is going on in the neighborhood "behind closed doors".

Just saw the new documentary Facing Forward (http://www.facingforwardfilm.com/) at the film festival last night, which I thought was really good. This is a film that really delves into Cleveland's more troubled neighborhoods, i.e. it may not be the movie you want to show friends and family right before they visit. That being said, I thought it was both honest and optimisitic. Facing Forward follows one troubled student as he goes through two grades of E Prep (just as the school has come into existence). It highlights how Tyree, with limited literacy at 7th grade, proceeds through a very rigorous educational setting and the sometimes extreme challenges he faces in his home life. Definitely worth checking out, particularly if you have even a passing interest in the Cleveland education system or urban education in general.

I think that's the intent of the CDC in focusing in on Superior and on East 36th. I hope that Payne is next on the list, as the scale is much more intimate than Superior.

I agree. There is a sizable Asian presence in the residential blocks between Payne and Perkins ... With the exception of East 30th and East 40th, these blocks are majority residential. North of St. Clair, I can't think of too much residential stock at all. I agree that East 18th seems overly ambitious, unless it's just alignment with census tracts, but I think the western boundary of the census tract is the highway. In addition to the cost factor of building a new gate on the downtown end of the corridor, I also wonder if you would run into more headaches with ODOT on this end, as there is a major exit/entrance ramp immediately to the west of the downtown entry into the neighborhood. Personally, all things being equal, I would rather see them take the money it would take to build a new gate near East 30th and redirect that money into doing installations at the St. Clair and 38th, Superior and 40th and Payne and 40th railroad bridges ... three gates for the price of one :) But as of right now, I think the only thing that's being pursued is at Superior and 40th. That being said, it seems like the CDC is interested in other placemaking elements throughout the corridor, including decorative lighting, signage, public art and plantings that all evoke a pan-Asian feel. If the full plan gets carried out, I think the feel entering from downtown would be significantly different, even without an entry gate.

Really exciting news, although I find the idea of an overhead walkway to be really troubling. I'm not even sure how this would work with a below-ground conference center between the hotel and the convention center. An underground walkway I could understand, but surely we're not talking about a two-block long walkway above the mall??? :-/

My guess is that there is not anticipated money for building a big structure somewhere along the corridor, while the railroad bridge provides a canvas for a light installation, painting or sculptural elements. In other words, it would be a lot cheaper. But definitely see your point.