8ShadesofGray

Got to experience the new routes pretty extensively this past week, and the service route changes were all the talk on the bus. Literally, I heard probably 20 passengers talking about it ... which seems like a lot. I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm still a big fan of RTA and I understand the tough choices they are having to make in this economy and that the lack of substantial state funding is exacerbating the situation. That being said, this was my experience ... Most of my riding has been on the Healthline and the number 3 and 26. On the Healthline, I haven't experienced any problem with the changes, and to date, I haven't heard any complaints. There was an announcement reminding riders of the changes in route during rush hour (I know rockandroller ... more talking! I hear you on that one). All in all, not bad. The experience on the 3 and 26 were a little different. The 3 wasn't horrible ... was running about 5 minutes behind all three times I've ridden it, and it seemed a bit fuller than usual, but people seemed content, and we got to where we were going relatively on time. The 26, meanwhile, was a nightmare. I rode it three times on Saturday, and with the weekend cuts of the 55, it was packed. I mean the-Rapid-on-St.-Patrick's-Day packed. This is where I've heard all the complaints so far. People were absolutely furious about the route changes, and there seemed to be low understanding of the state funding / sales tax situation, despite RTA's solid public information campaign. The first time I rode it, we had a 5 minute delay between Public Square and W. 65th. The second time was freaking crazy ... It was again 5 minutes late by W. 65th, but it picked up 25 minutes between W. 65th and Westgate. Riders were intense, particularly at the West Boulevard station, as people crammed on. Several were rude to the drivers, all of whom appeared fazed, and somewhat understandably, were a bit rude back. One driver yelled at several complaining passengers to check the new schedule but misstated scheduled departure time by 15 minutes. To RTA's credit, on my third trip, there was a spillover bus that leaped ahead to try to split the ridership between two buses ... but the one I was on was still packed, behind schedule and full of angry riders. Former 55 riders, who had walked down to take the 26, seemed particularly irate. And I think somewhat understandably. Not only are the buses packed, but because many connecting buses are running on an hourly schedule, total travel times can skyrocket. I was on an ill-timed trip to the dreaded exurbs ... From Asiatown to Westlake took me round-trip ... drumroll please ... 4 hours!!! With the 55 place, it would have still been a challenging 2.5, but at 4 hours, it's just no longer feasible for me to leave the city/inner ring on the weekend ... Not that I should want to ;) I'm wondering how other people's experience has been since the route changes. Don't mean for this to be a "pick on RTA" topic, but I thought it might be helpful to let people (and RTA) know which routes are seeming particularly problematic. I, for one, am going to be avoiding weekend bus travel on the 26 for the foreseeable future.

And another good one: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=41.500928,-81.682009&spn=0,0.008433&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.500912,-81.682147&panoid=aIA9ybaT1n0ogoCULP6-Mw&cbp=12,228.49,,0,2.38.

Lots of good stuff along Euclid. Struck by 1. How I can understand people's frustration with the construction and 2. How worth it it was in the end. There's lots of activity captured ... old CSU Student Center v. New One + Collegetown, 668 getting a facelift, the Cancer Center going up at UH. I thought this one was pretty stunning ... the "after" almost looks like a rendering to me: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=41.503469,-81.621479&spn=0,0.002108&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=41.503463,-81.621677&panoid=jky5PYlE6WnIxoGAMa-sng&cbp=12,63.61,,0,-0.24.

^^ That's valid, but I'd counter that there's not a great deal of non-restaurant retail on the city's east side to pilfer. A couple of places on Shaker Square, a couple on Cedar-Fairmount, galleries in Little Italy, several (but kinda specialized) on Coventry ... dunno, if we're talking clothing, homeware, books, media, I would say your closest significant competition is Severance, Beachwood Place and Legacy; it seems like Uptown could capture a great deal of the existing University Circle, Little Italy, Case and western Heights household buying. I think it's smart to be wary, but if planned well (and the Marons' track record speaks to careful planning), I would argue that the chances of drawing in significant customer interest and thus significant tenant interest would actually increase as you add more spaces. It increases the likelihood of people doing "destination shopping" here, in addition to the most proximate residents doing most of their shopping here.

Yeah, it's sometimes easy to forget how pervasive these attitudes can get the further and further out you get. I have a friend who lives CAR-FREE in CROCKER PARK and confessed to me that he hasn't been downtown in five years! My eyes popped out of my head with that admission. Here's a single 20-something who's choosing a car-free lifestyle ... but from a lifestyle center ... and who's never seen the Avenue District or College Town or the Health Line or East 4th Street ... crazy. You just take it for granted that everyone's been down to East 4th by now!

The concept of the alleyway doesn't bother me, really. They are activating both sides of Euclid, but the idea of an alleyway means an additional corridor of activity on what is now surface parking. If it is built out how Michelle describes (with pass-through possibilities and high visibility of both sides, this could be a great way to expand the footprint of the project right off the bat. I think it also increases the likelihood that some more aesthetic improvements will be made to the lower parts of that existing retail strip, which would mean three strips of retail instead of two. P.S. Michelle Jarboe is the best thing to happen to the PD since Dick Feagler announced his retirement :)

I would love to see a centrally located Trader Joe's. But I do think this would be the death knell for the Cleveland Food Co-op, which would be kinda sad. I'm the first to admit that the Food Co-op could use some major aesthetic and product enhancement, but it is a full-service grocery and it's a 42-year-old institution in the neighborhood. I would rather see one of the foundations step up and provide a grant to modernize the Co-op in either its current location or in a new space within this development. There's a major opportunity here to create something local and distinct, particularly if you could expand the co-op to have more of a community supported agriculture component (like Fresh Fork in Tremont). In my dream world, I would love to propose to Trader Joe's a fused space ... a standard Trader Joe's connected to a local food section that would be operated by the existing co-op. Could be a great opportunity for the business to test-market how local food could be incorporated into their model and make it a more distinct grocery. Regardless, according to the Food Co-op's winter newsletter, UCI has or is extending a three-year lease to the co-op (since April 2009, the co-op was operating on a month-to-month lease and didn't know whether they would be staying or not). That means it will be operating in its current location for at least a year after the slated opening of Uptown. http://www.clevelandfoodcoop.org/newsletters/2010/foodcoop-connect-february2010.pdf.

Doesn't look like it made the Landmarks agenda, either. Sad ... face ... Oh well. From a PR perspective, it's probably better to delay the announcement for a couple weeks, as I have a feeling that the urban junkie crowd is going to be wholeheartedly focused on Uptown ... The reveal of this space's use might get lost in all of that.

I also find it disappointing that he would think of going out of market before opening up a location in the city proper. Obviously, he has to do what's best for his business, but I would think a Melt would thrive downtown ... Warehouse District, E. 4thish, College Town or Superior Corridor ... I could see this working with different models in all those place.

Walker and Weeks were condos initially, but they were not moving at all. I think just two of the units sold. They've had tremendous luck with apartment rentals, though, with a ton of CSU students picking them up ... even the largest loft suites, which are gorgeous, are pretty affordable when split 2-3 ways, which many of the students do. IIRC, there are only 4 one-bedrooms in the entire complex, so those move EXTREMELY fast (I saw one last summer and tried to lease it about 18 hours later, and it was already gone. Beautiful building, nice natural light, awesome history (headquarters to the architects who built most of the historic buildings downtown and some in University Circle) but a little removed from traditional neighborhood amenities. I'm sure this will change, though, as the Student Life Center comes back to life and the 380 new dorm units going up across the street, all of which is slated to open this summer. I will say that I was warned that Walker & Weeks can get a little noisy from the student population, but that this is less pronounced on the Prospect side of the building. There has also been some talk of CSU purchasing this building and officially making it a dorm ... and what a dorm it would be!!!

Without doubt, there is a more conservative streak in the Midwest, so that is something to keep in mind. However, I would say that if it influences your move at all, greater Cleveland is more "blue collar liberal". My congressional district (the one that stretches eastward from Ohio City across the city and into the eastern suburbs) had 8 registered Democrats for every 1 Republican the last time I checked and was the seat occupied by the late Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a member who was vocal on issues related to poverty and congressional ethics. Our congressional delegation tends to represent the progressive end of the Democratic party (Kucinich, Fudge, Sherrod Brown) and fiscal conservative/socially moderate Republicans (Voinovich, LaTourette). As mentioned, Cleveland is also on the edge of some progressive ideas ... it's aiming to be among the first to develop an offshore wind farm, it's examining feasibility of waste-to-energy conversion, it's doing some really fascinating things around re-use of vacant space (see Pop Up City and Reimagining Cleveland) and it's pioneering the concept of worker cooperative models for establishing green businesses. At the neighborhood level, I think you'll find that all three of the neighborhoods you mentioned increasingly are getting populated by 20- to 40-something progressives. Totally anectdotal, but Tremont and Detroit Shoreway seem to be drawing more of the artsy and hipster crowd, while Ohio City seems to home to a lot of the do-gooder / policy wonk set. Again, this is totally just the feel I get and not based on any hard data ... I would encourage you to feel out each for yourself :)

Haha. Thanks, M2S ... And a very happy birthday back atcha :)

Oh, also check out Tremont. Cute, urban, artsy neighborhood that's just south of downtown but has a bit of a village feel to it. And tons and tons of dogs.

If it's feasible, I would highly recommend scheduling a week or two to do a tour through Cleveland, western Pennsylvania and upstate New York. If you're planning on moving to a city based primarily on its feel, then I would definitely spend some time getting that feel. Just a couple Cleve-oriented things that haven't been mentioned yet. As far as nature stuff goes, we're pretty well-situated. The city is adjacent to Lake Erie, bisected by the Cuyahoga River (the infamous crooked river), surrounded on the county outskirts by a "necklace" of really lovely Metroparks and immediately north of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the 4th most visited national park in the country and the only national park in the Midwest. Over the next several years, municipalities are finishing the last few legs of the Towpath Trail, which will run from downtown Cleveland into the national park, to Akron and beyond (all told, 80 some miles of continuous bike path when complete). There's also a scenic, old-timey railway through the national park. The winters are much colder and snowier here than what you've likely experienced in the Pacific Northwest, and it can be really brutal, but it also gives rise to skiing (great cross-country, decent downhill), ice skating and tobogganing. The transit system is not perfect but solid. I've been car-free 5 of the 7 years that I've been in Cleveland, so it can be done; as of last I saw, it's the 9th largest transit system in the country. One final seller for Cleveland as a writer is the Creative Workforce Fellowship, which annually distributes 20 $20,000 fellowships to artists of all disciplines. You have to be a resident for two years before applying, but after that, you could compete for a literary fellowship. To the best of my knowledge, this is the largest locally funded artist grant program in the country. So there are definitely some great things about our city, and I hope you get a chance to check it out. When scoping out neighborhoods/suburbs to live in, I would take a look at Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, Lakewood, Ohio City and possibly Old Brooklyn. These are places where you'd have good proximity to all the urban stuff but still have a relatively natural, quieter setting for your husband. I think Cleveland is a really incredibly city, but I would also check out Pittsburgh. It's another city that I find stunning (bisected by three rivers, ringed by hills, compact, dense downtown, neighborhoods with a lot of character), and it's home to one of the country's strongest small press communities, which could provide you a little more opportunity to pursue publishing. Best of luck with your decision!

Hmmmmm. How soon do they post the agenda before the meeting? I think a working week would be a reasonable heads-up ... which would be today :)

I think everything that's been mentioned so far is sound advice. Just wanted to weigh in on neighborhood transit. Of the neighborhoods you mentioned, Tremont is the least-served by public transit (due to recent budget cuts, the community circulator that used to connect to Ohio City is no longer in operation). Two bus lines run through Tremont (although the further you move from W. 14th, the more likely it is that you would only use one or the other). They run at least hourly until at least midnight (maybe later ... I haven't checked them out beyond that). The neighborhood has a bit of a "village unto itself" feeling. Highways and the river valley separate it from other neighborhoods, which makes it feel quaint and charming (it's a really, really adorable neighborhood) but also makes it a pain to walk to either Ohio City or downtown. Detroit Shoreway does have a nice train station, but it's unfortunately a little removed from the amenities that are drawing people back to the neighborhood (with the notable exception of the EcoVillage, which is close to the station and which you might want to check out). While the station is a nice one, its access points are not along the main thoroughfare of W. 65th; during the day, it's absolutely safe and a 10-minute walk to the Gordon Square Arts District and 5 minutes from the antique shops on Lorain and probably 20 to Battery Park and Edgewater Park. At night, I would hesitate to recommend it to someone ... not that's it's necessarily dangerous, but its exit to the north spills onto a blocked portion of the street, so there's that sense that you're the only one around. Just my opinion; I would scope it out and see how you feel. That being said, if you're in the northern part of the neighborhood, you're far more likely to take the 26 bus anyway; it runs frequently down Detroit Avenue and the bus stops are in well-lit areas with lots of pedestrian traffic. Of the three, I think Ohio City hands down has the best public transportation offerings. The West 25th St. train station spills right onto Lorain Avenue across from the West Side market, and there are a ton of buses servicing Lorain, Detroit and W. 25th. As a car-free guy, my bet would be that it would be the easiest of the three to get around without a car. In Cleveland, I would say the easiest places for getting around car-free are Ohio City, Shaker Square, University Circle/Little Italy and downtown. And all of these areas have good lighting, pedestrians and automobile traffice, retail corridors, etc. that make them more palatable for riding trains and buses late at night. That being said, all three neighborhoods you're concentrating on are really charming in their respective ways, and we have a decent transit system, so you can do the car-free thing pretty much anywhere in the city. As others have mentioned, I would definitely just check out the neighborhoods on foot to get a feel, and then maybe do a nighttime drive-through of your top picks to get a taste of that.

Interesting :) My five absolutely uninformed guesses are: - This one's a bit weird, but a space where individuals can stop in and sample menus and see video feeds from each of the East 4th restaurants before heading to the respective spot of their choice. You can see what's offered, design elements and how busy each restaurant looks. - A temporary, small-crowd cooking demonstration site in advance of Tri-C's opening in the May Building and as a place where the various E. 4th chefs can show off their craft. - A partnership with Bazaar Bizarre to extend their alternative craft show concept over a longer period (they have previously held it annually, at least twice in the Chinato space, but this year they added a Valentine's event in the former Bang & Clatter space). - A collaboration with Pop Up City to host a number of different temporary events that highlight the versatility of vacant spaces. - Some kind of bike facility (in light of DCA's seasonal effort to rent bikes out and in preparation for the bike center a couple of blocks away).

Sorry to hear that surfohio, but I was hearing a lot of positive buzz about the film nonetheless. From what I hear yesterday, the film festival estimates that it beat its attendance record yesterday during the 2:00 round ... And with two more rounds of full theaters after that, I imagine the final numbers are going to look great.

I don't know, but it's gorgeous. I want to go there!

I don't think you'll have a problem with the walk, although as anywhere, whether it's light or dark (which will depend on the time of the year) may influence how safe it feels, and you should seek out streets that have more pedestrian / car / bus traffic. Hopping over to East 9th, for instance, you'd have a lot of people out and about at that hour. On a nice day, you can also walk up to Euclid and then down to work on 22nd ... would be about 20 minutes. I'd also check out the 12 and the 14 as potential routes ... shaves off one block by running from Prospect.

That IS really exciting! Dude had his hands on a TON of architectural projects that I was fascinated by in Germany ... the library building at Freie Universitaet Berlin, awesome residential in Duisburg's Innenhafen, conversion of a smelting plant outbuilding into the Red Dot Design Museum in Essen and the FREAKING REICHSTAG renovation!! As for master planning, he was also the man behind the concept planning around Duisburg's Innenhafen, which has transformed an inland shipping harbor into a really interested mixed use corridor ... I mean, REALLY interesting. If that's any indication of what he could do for the Clinic, then I'm speechless :O

I still think you could derive benefit from a dual program, but again, it really depends on your very specific career goals. Serving as legal counsel is a lot different than wanting to be an executive director or a city department director, for instance. Two other options to consider: If your interest in law is more cursory (i.e. if you do not intend to serve as a legal representative of either a nonprofit or municipality), you can still get classes within the MPA (or MUPDD or Urban Studies, etc.) that address legal issues. I want to make clear that these are not anything as rigorous as you would face in law school but would give you a "taste" if that's sufficient: Law and Public Administration, Introduction to Law and Public Policy and Law and Public Policy Clinic. These all serve as electives for the Levin programs, so you could pursue them and still complete a Master's program in two years. On the flip side, if law is your passion and the nonprofit/government/urban policy side is the more cursory interest, you could also consider a graduate certificate; these consist of only 4 classes (around 16 hours instead of the 34 required for the joint MPA), and there are several of them to pick from: Geographic Information Systems, Local and Urban Management, Nonprofit Management, Urban Economic Development and Urban Real Estate Development and Finance.

Lovely photographs. For the record, though, that is by far my least favorite day to be either downtown or on any form of public transportation. I'm like the Grinch That Stole St. Patrick's Day (aka Drunk and Bleeding at Noon Day).

I'm a Levin MPA, and I have to say that I thought the program was excellent. Law school will definitely be more of a challenge; many of my friends in the joint program recommended I NOT pursue the joint degree, as I had no desire to practice, and they didn't think the extra effort would be worth it. That being said, I never heard any JDs complain about any additional burden from MPA or MUPDD. As for MPA v. MUPDD, I found the caliber of students to be a bit higher in the MUPDD program, but an MPA in the Economic Development track ends up taking very similar classes anyway. MPA is very broad, which allows you to explore your own areas of research and develop a specific area of expertise. MUPDD seems to be a bit more structured, but the exchange is that the information tends to be much more specific and technical, while I felt like the MPA was a little "softer". That being said, I feel like both the MPA and the MUPDD serve students well. Most of my friends with these degrees have ended up in government or nonprofit, with focuses on arts and culture, community development, economic development, green building, parks, philanthrophy, planning, etc. And I don't think that number 2 ranking in urban policy is a bad thing either :)

Nice! Any update on the wine bar that was being developed on W. 65th catty-corner from the Capitol?