8ShadesofGray

As a note, a number of nabes have direct transit access, some from the train system, some from frequent bus service and a couple from Bus Rapid Transit. Ksonic's list is a good start, but I would definitely add University Circle to your list if public transit access is important to your decision. And the granddaddy of public transit in Cleveland remains Shaker Square ... IMHO, it is one of the few neighborhoods in Cleveland where living car-free is a relatively pain-free option (not that it can't be done elsewhere ... trust me, I know it can be done elsewhere ;)). But with trains generally running every 5 minutes and every 15 mins. at non-peak times (e.g. 12:15 a.m. on a Sunday evening), it doesn't get much easier transit-wise ... at least not yet :)

No ... it's more like 18 miles of hops, skips and jumps :) There's nothing wrong per se with Olmsted Falls, for sure, nor Berea. That's why we need a little more detail on your general housing and neighborhood preferences. From the initial sound of your current situation and what you're seeking, I would say that these suburbs are perhaps a little further out than you would desire. But we could be totally misreading your "wants" ... Olmsted Falls and Berea are perfect for some; not so for others. Give us more info! :)

Any number of factors could be causing this, such as a downturn in foreclosure sales or people holding property off the market or a summer uptick in sales (that might also disproportionately occur in northern cities, where weather differences between spring and summer are more pronounced and therefore more likely to cause prospective buyers to wait until it's warm). And it also represents only a snapshot of the change between two particular months; still, incredibly positive news. Go Cleve! U.S. Economy: Home Prices Rise, Consumer Confidence Declines By Courtney Schlisserman and Shobhana Chandra July 28 (Bloomberg) -- A gauge of U.S. house prices posted its first monthly gain in three years, providing some solace to consumers shaken by rising joblessness. The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index rose 0.5 percent in May from the prior month, the first gain since July 2006 and biggest since May of that year, the group said today in New York. A Conference Board report showed consumer confidence this month fell more than forecast ... ... For more information, please visit http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_VZ2C7gweKY

Good thread. - Maybe not for forumers, but for the general population, pretty much the entirety of Asiatown. One of our coolest nabes, and I would guess that at least 50% of northeast Ohioans don't know it exists. Koko Bakery = Particular Yum. China Merchandise Exhibit = Particular Kitsch. - As an overlap with the above, the relatively quiet live-work movement on the Near East Side. We now literally have hundreds of artists living between E. 18th and E. 55th. Some of the buildings are higher visibility, like Tower Press and Loftworks. Others are a little more DIY in nature, but artists have created STUNNING live-work lofts. If you haven't had an opportunity to check them out, take a look at Keith Berr Studios (in the East 30s; they're very private, and I don't want to identify location, but the inside of the building is absolutely STUNNING), 1400 E. 30th, Josaphat Arts Hall (E. 33rd), ArtCraft (E. 25th-ish on Superior), Hamilton and 53rd (where you can get a raw 1400 sq. foot space with 14 ft. ceilings for $450 a month ... http://cleveland.craigslist.org/apa/1276196729.html). And check out this BEAUTY of a renovation at St. Clair and E. 40th ... eat your heart out, Chelsea: http://cleveland.craigslist.org/apa/1290895814.html. These are just a sampling of dozens of buildings that have gone live-work. Not just an east side phenomenon (check out the sprawling W. 78th Street Studios, for instance), but St. Clair Superior definitely has the majority of the live-work market. - Tyler Village gets its own bullet. If you haven't visited, or if you haven't visited lately, you need to RUN over to the E. 30s. - The primarily industrial warehouses north of Lakeside, from E. 32nd-ish to E. 55. These are still primarily operational industrial buildings, but I know live-work has finally started to make the transition to this side of Lakeside. Stunning lake views. Intact, narrow corridors of buildings, with a weird ghost town feel. Amazing. - Not exactly hidden or secret, but the Euclid Avenue bike lanes. Truly exceptional addition to the city ... really beautiful bike ride that gives you time to stop and just really admire what an improvement the Euclid Corridor Project has made. And you end up keeping pretty good time with the car and bus traffic. Of course, if these lanes are so visible and useful, why aren't more people using them?! - Passport Project: This place, just south of Shaker Square is an amazing community-based arts center. You can take dirt cheap classes in Salsa, Hip Hop, Capoiera, photography, etc. Very diverse, very friendly, very hippie-tastic. - The lesser known Tremont-Ohio City connectors: I think most people think of Abbey and Clark when they think of getting to Tremont from Ohio City, but I've been having a lot of fun finding new low-traffic alternatives for biking between the two. My personal favorite is Willey Ave ... how did I manage to miss this convenient shortcut all these years?! East Sider! - Variety Theater: Again, forumers are probably in the know on this theater restoration project in Westown, but this a very cool building with a very cool history. It's admittedly a bit decrepit at the moment, but if they get some momentum going behind this, it's going to be one of the real gems of the southwest side. - The Streets and Alleys of Ohio City: When I think of meandering roads and random alleyways, I usually think of Tremont, and I think I've done a good job of exploring those. But I just realized how many cute random little streets there are in Ohio City! Again, maybe not a secret (at least for West Siders), but the back-streets in OC are adorable ... I'm particularly enamored with the area to the west of Fulton and north of Bridge. Mabel Ct. is quite possibly my favorite street in Cleveland, as of this Saturday :)

Welcome jday118! Look forward to you joining us here in Cleveland. I would highly recommend delaying purchasing property. Not because it's a bad idea; rather, I think you would benefit from observing the market and the options for a little while before making a purchase of that size. There are a tremendous amount of options within your price range, and as others have noted, this would be excellent time to experience a truly urban neighborhood without yet having to worry about school systems, etc. I would think about renting for six months or a year so that you get a stronger feel for what would be the best fit. One of Cleveland's East Coast aspects is that it is a collection of really distinct neighborhoods. Little Italy, University Circle, Fairfax, Fairhill and Shaker Square are adjacent neighborhoods, but each one has a very distinct feel separate from the others. The same is true throughout the city and the inner ring suburbs. So the best thing to do is to afford yourself time to look around and figure out what is the best fit. Based on what you've shared so far, my thoughts go to Larchmere, Tremont, and the Market area of Ohio City. In the suburbs (but only a few minutes from the city-proper neighborhoods of University Circle and Little Italy), Cedar Fairmount might be a good fit as well. All four have independent bookstores ... my favorites are on Larchmere and in Tremont. As forumers' comments indicate, a LOT of neighborhoods seem to work for what you've described. Any more details on what you both are looking for? What would be your priorities within walking distance? How important is park access, movie theaters, galleries, proximity to public transportation, grocery stores, etc.? What are your favorite urban neighborhoods, either in Louisville or elsewhere? Have you been drawn to a specific section of Cleveland when you've visited before? The more detail you provide, the more specific we can make our recommendations. That being said, I always advise that you allow yourself some time to come up and weigh 3 or 4 suggested areas for a weekend, or preferably a week, before you make any decisions. I think this is especially true if you want to buy a house.

It's been a while since I posted one of me, so here. Porto, Portugal. The first of about a bajillion I'll post of my year in Europe. The downside of still having an analog camera ... y'all have to wait until I get the film developed ... which will probably be forever. So relish this lone photo.

Can't wait to see the finished building, weepinwillow. Great work. As you noted, this section of Lorain is not entirely consumer-ready; whatever tenant you get for that space would have to be a magnet in its own right, not something that people tend to buy incidentally when visiting something else. As for use ... if you have difficulty securing a traditional retail tenant, me and another forumer were just discussing the lack of great yoga options on the Near West Side. I believe yoga was discontinued at Lemko Hall in Tremont, and I think No Place Like Ohm concentrates pretty exclusively now on naked yoga ( :-o). It seems like most advanced yoga classes are only offered in the suburbs, and with the influx of hipsters, it seems a natural fit. That being said, one has to wonder why it was discontinued in Tremont ... I think fitness stuff in general is sadly lacking in Ohio City, so any kind of limited-service facility of that type would be a great addition to the neighorhood. I think another great use would be something arts-based. Maybe like the West Side's version of Passport Project, where people can come in for different dance classes, etc. Perhaps partner with your neighbor MorrisonDance (Lorain and 42nd). Even if not a partnership of this size, I definitely think MorrisonDance is a great anchor right around the corner from you, so engaging them in some way would be great. Similarly, gallery spaces tend to be great draws, but it's sometimes hard for one to stand on its own without other similar places nearby. I constantly field calls from artists looking for temporary space to launch their own shows, so you could probably take applications from artists and have them take on the sapce for a month, then another artist the next month, etc. Probably wouldn't get rich doing that, but it's a great way to occupy the space until you get a more traditional tenant, and each artist would bring in their own respective groupies, so that would be some nice exposure. Given the history of the space, some kind of Friday / Saturday night performing arts use would be great. Maybe a Parrish Hall model? It was such a great addition to Gordon Square, and people are still talking about it. I also would love to see, whatever the use, just some documentation of what you guys did ... some historic pics of the building, some of the renovation and just some inspiring language about how Clevelanders should be stepping up to the challenge that you guys did. Generally, I think anything that would be community-oriented, like one of the city's tool and home repair centers or a CityFresh stop, would be great.

Thanks Tripspapa! I'm so at the cafe! And I think you'll find you just made several forumers happy about providing a vegan- and vegetarian-friendly menu downtown ... you might actually want to cross-post the news in the recently created thread about that very topic. Congrats again and can't wait to be a patron! Oh, btw, have you guys figured out hours for the cafe? I would love to get in the habit of swinging by after working out, but I wouldn't usually get there until 7 p.m. or so. Thanks again!

Wow ... quick reply ... and definitely not a form letter. I definitely am impressed by the response time, but "not correct criticism" is an interesting choice of words. Wait a minute....That is really not correct criticism. The moment our publisher found out about this yesterday — before one word of this was in any news outlet — he put a stop to it. The fact is, the letter was written by an eager advertising sales representative and sent to one person. It was obviously ill-advised, does not represent the views or editorial positions of The Plain Dealer and has been apologized for repeatedly and profusely. s.

Congratulations on the lease, tripspapa! This is truly exciting news, and we're happy to have you join us in the Cleve. Quick question: Will Titan Up Cafe (hey! I just got that!) have its own dedicated space and entrance, or will this simply be a smaller space within the footprint of the gym, like the juice bar at 1-2-1? I ask because I have an existing gym membership for the time being, but I (and I'm guessing other forumers) would love to support the project (and get access to healthy food, too). I'm just not quite clear as to whether this will be a full-service restaurant that is semi-automonomous to the gym or a limited-service snack bar primarily for members.

Dear Ms. Goldberg, For some time now, I have been gravely concerned with The Plain Dealer's seemingly slanted coverage within the city of Cleveland, coverage that quite frankly diminishes the great work that is taking place to transform this city into the amazing place that it can very well be. This, coupled with the strange absence of "Cleveland" from the newspaper's masthead and the general lack of staff reporters and editorial writers residing within the city, has led myself and many other residents to question the newspaper's dedication to its hometown. Over the past few months, however, I have been happy to see what seems to be a more fair and balanced tone within both the news and editorial coverage of the paper and an expansion in the number of stories that report positive aspects of our community, rather than solely focusing on dour population estimates. For the first time in years, I've been considering a subscription. But today's story in The Cleveland Leader has effectively canceled out what I saw as signfiicant improvements within the newspaper. Seeking to actively profit from an out-migration of Cleveland residents is, without need for further explanation, deplorable. I cannot think of a time within my 7 years of residing in this city that I have been more disappointed with a major Cleveland institution than I currently am with The Plain Dealer. I appreciate that the newspaper quickly released a statement announcing an end to the campaign, but had this not been written about in a competing media outlet, I wonder whether this policy would have been enacted. I am not seeking to vilify The Plain Dealer, nor do I hope to see the newspaper fold. But I cannot support a media outlet that fails to provide a level of integrity to its coverage and practices, and this integrity extends to the newspaper's role as a good citizen to its home city. Please refrain from similar advertising schemes in the future; consider adding the name of the city back into your masthead; increase fact-checking to ensure that quotes like "Cleveland, one of the nation's poorest cities" do not make their way into unrelated articles; and balance the writing staff, particularly editorial writers, with young individuals living, working and innovating within the city proper. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, 8ShadesofGray

Wow. Return. Reuse. Rejoice. You guys just made a grown man get teary-eyed at his desk for no apparent reason (granted, I am a sissy :)). Such a great marketing piece (with several familiar faces) that really highlights what it should ... that quietly, this has become Cleveland's most exciting development project. It's such a travesty that Tyler Village doesn't have the visibility in the general community of, say, Battery Park. You guys are doing absolutely amazing work. Please, please, please, please start building out a residential section ... I would SERIOUSLY move in a month if you guys would let me :)

Okay, agreed. And sorry if anyone feels I was using the term "elitist" in a derogatory way. I honestly wasn't. I simply mean favoring the interests of relatively wealthy and secure populations to the exclusion of those of relatively poor and vulnerable populations. Not assigning any negative connotation to wanting to focus attention on the "upper half" ... there are definitely some potential positives to wanting to recruit a group of people with means to this section of Euclid. But I do feel like the assumption that poor individuals equal noisy, littering and/or criminal residents is a little overarching. The success of this particular model suggests that these particular residents will not likely be "problem residents". And maybe many, many greater Clevelanders DO have these preconceptions and prejudices ... but I don't think that means we should cater to them. There are a variety of avenues for addressing problem residents if they show up ... avenues that are a little less far-reaching than redirecting the project elsewhere. As for the "good neighbor" program ... Ugh ... Presupposing that poor people need to learn about noise control and proper upkeep of facilities is pretty patronistic. Why people in affordable housing but not people who live in lower Euclid? Or at the very least, a student population that has a lot less vested in maintaining property or curbing their volume? Cleveland Heights tried to launch a very similar "Good Neighbors" program aimed at Section 8 residents (but overlooking the student population in the very same neighborhood) and it was quickly and rightly abandoned. These individuals will already have much in the way of training as a component of the housing program itself; I would recommend we not begin assuming they're going to wreak havoc on the E. 70s before they move in (or before ground is even broken on their building). I promise to try to be quiet on this thread now (at least for the remainder of the day :)). And sorry if I've hijacked it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion; I guess I've just been discouraged not so much by what people on here are advocating but more by 1. how vehement people seem to be about the projects' dire consequences and 2. how one-sided the discussion seems to be. I guess I'm just surprised is all.

I don't disagree with any of that. I am equally hopeful about a repopulation of the city. I guess my confusion lies in forumers' seeming belief that a mental health facility and SEVENTY units of transitional housing are going to deter development of a six-mile corridor (or even the one-mile section between E. 55th and E. 81st). I absolutely understand people's concerns that this will stigmatize Euclid Ave. (or the upper Midtown component of it), but it just seems like a disproportionate response to the scale of the project. 70 units of housing. To people who will be receiving significant support services and will very likely appreciate moving from shelters or the streets into new and clean units. Who will likely maintain the units and be good neighbors and citizens. 70 units on a street that could pretty easily accommodate a couple thousand additional residents. A fraction of the units that are going up in the Uptown area. A fraction of the units in the new apartment complex near CSU in Lower Midtown. A fraction of the units getting built out along Lower Euclid. About equivalent to the new luxury condos and apartments going up in "Collegetown". I wholeheartedly believe everyone here is welcome to their opinions on the topic; from my perspective, I just want to make sure that when we hear words like "mental institution" or "housing for the formerly homeless", we're not being reactionary or losing a sense of perspective about the development happening elsewhere along the corridor. It is and will be mixed-income. Given the current market environment, I applaud that projects are moving forward downtown and University Circle, let alone in a less-proven area for residential properties. And willyboy is right ... we don't have to worry about mass gentrification anytime soon ... barring some gigantic shift in demographic patterns, not in the next next several decades. But I continue to believe that this is the upside of the slow market growth of the industrial Midwest; we have the opportunity to plan for gentrification well before it happens and to ensure that low-income individuals are not pushed out of areas with the strongest potential for out-pricing.

When you say next week, what are your dates? If this coming weekend is included, you might want to consider stopping by Walk and Roll (major thoroughfares of particular neighborhoods are closed down to car traffic; pedestrians and bikers can get out and wander an urban setting without car traffic, and there are a variety of activities that take place too; event was launched in Cleveland about 4 years ago and now is being replicated in other U.S. cities; http://walkroll.com/specialevents/index.php). On Saturday, it's taking place from 1-4 p.m. around Gordon Square Arts District (about 3 miles due west from downtown ... running from the area around W. 65th and Detroit and continuing up through Battery Park to the lakefront). On Sunday, it's in Slavic Village (about 2.5 miles southeast of downtown) from 1-4 p.m. along Morgana Run, Mill Creek Falls and Washington Metropark Reservation and with lots of events (picnic in Washington Reservation afterwards. These are large-scale events ... we're talking 3 miles of car-free access in Gordon Square and almost 8 miles in Slavic Village. Definitely worth checking out. And if you go to Asiatown, I would recommend stopping by Tink Holl (1735 E. 36th ... one of the neighborhood's many Asian markets and perhaps the most impressive ... I believe there are 6), followed by Seoul Hot Pot (3709 Payne) and dessert and bubble tea at the AMAZING little Koko Bakery (3710 Payne). These are all located along Payne Avenue and are easily within a 5-minute walk of each other. It's not always visually obvious amidst all the industrial buildings, but this Asiatown has a big footprint that extends from E. 30th to E. 40th along St. Clair, Superior and Payne ... 2nd largest in the Midwest after Chicago; 4,000 Asian residents, the largest concentration of individuals from Asian backgrounds in Ohio. And overlapping this group, there are several hundred artists living in many of the warehouse buildings along Superior and Detroit between E. 18th and E. 55th. I heart Asiatown :) Hope you have a lovely trip, and let us know if we can help more.

The press release I got only says "The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland ('MOCA') will continue to operate out of The Cleveland Play House complex with plans to move to University Circle."

I don't think demanding good design is elitist ... particularly when that design has the interest of a cross-section of society in mind (thinking of the "Design for the Other 90%" concept). But there is a big difference between demanding good design and outright protesting particular lot uses. Everyone here is entitled to their personal opinions about best use and about best location for the proposed projects. But saying "Transitional housing doesn't belong on Euclid Avenue period" is not the same as saying "Said housing should front the sidewalk and be between 5 and 7 stories in height", etc. And yes, sorry, but I do think it's elitist to say, yes, we want a row of million-dollar townhomes here, but no, all people with mental health issues and who are homeless, go directly to Cedar Avenue, do not pass Go. I absolutely understand your points, and maybe you're right that your views are just in the best interest of the corridor ... but you can be right and still be elitist :) Frankly, I don't want another Millionaire's Row. The most successful nabes in Cleveland have wide income distributions, with wealthy people living in close proximity to people of VERY limited means, and that lack of pretention is one of the things I love about this city. The last decade has seen a steady investment in places in downtown, Tremont, Ohio City and Detroit Shoreway, despite the abundance of public housing projects, social service organizations and low-income populations; meanwhile, Bratenahl lost more than 5% of its population. I'm not saying that the presence of disadvantaged populations has made them more desirable. But I am saying that an area can still be desirable even with these residents, and that the absence of these residents hardly ensures success for the corridor. Personally, I would rather show off a main street that welcomes everyone, regardless of their background, than to hold land fallow with a dream of creating a Magnificent Mile or recreating a Millionaire's Row. As for being worried about design, I am too. We should definitely be demanding the utmost design standards possible, both to begin to build a contiguous corridor of mixed uses AND so that all residents, employees, etc., along Euclid Avenue enjoy the maximum benefit they can from the street and from other tenants.

I would also think about approaching Cleveland Colectivo: http://www.clevelandcolectivo.org/.

Nice words from local artists (and a model) about our beloved Cleve. Valerie Mayen is amazing! Cleveland fashion designer Valerie Mayen, jeweler Russell Trusso and model Shelly Marks get national buzz by Kim Crow/Plain Dealer Style Editor Tuesday July 21, 2009, 2:00 PM Common wisdom says that to succeed in the fashion world, you must live in a vast metropolis such as New York, Los Angeles or London. Poppycock, answer Russell Trusso, Shelly Marks and Valerie Mayen. These local folks -- a jeweler, a model and a fashion designer, respectively -- are creating national buzz for their work, right here in Northeast Ohio. More at http://www.cleveland.com/style/index.ssf/2009/07/cleveland_fashion_designer_val.html

Hey all, Just wanted to pass on word that CPAC is currently accepting applications for the Creative Workforce Fellowship from artists residing in Cuyahoga County. Earlier this month, $20,000 grants were given out to 20 local visual and design artists, and now's it's time to get money to performing artists (music, dance, theatre, interdisciplinary) and literary artists. At $400,000 per year, this is now one of the largest local grant programs for artists in the entire country. Read on and please help spread the word to local artists: Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) is excited to announce the performing and literary cycle of the Creative Workforce Fellowship. Five workshops will be held starting on Monday, July 27, 2009, through August, 15, 2009, to review application procedures and to address questions of potential applicants. In order to apply, an individual artist must have been a resident of Cuyahoga County for two years prior to applying, and must not be enrolled in any degree-granting program. CPAC would greatly appreciate your help in getting the word out. Please forward on the following information to your network of dance, interdisciplinary, literary, music and theatre artists. $20K fellowships for music, performance and literary artists The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) recently issued Creative Workforce Fellowship (CWF) 2nd Cycle guidelines and application materials for dance, literary, music, theatre and interdisciplinary artists. Individuals who meet eligibility requirements can compete for one of up to 20 fellowships. Each CWF recipient will receive a $20,000 financial award; membership in the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) Arts Network; a full tuition waiver for CPAC’s Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute (AEI); and inclusion in a publication of Fellows’ work. The program is made possible through the generous funding of Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. Register for one of five informational workshops starting Monday, July 27, and view guidelines and application forms at www.cpacbiz.org/business/CWF.shtml. The deadline to apply for the second cycle of CWF is Friday, September 25, 2009, at 5:00 p.m. EST.

I think you make some very good points, weepinwillow, and sorry if I understated development interest in that stretch. I realize that MidTown has done a good job of focusing attention on the neighborhood and drawing in interest for business relocation. That should not be underestimated, and I think we will see major holes plugged within that stretch, although I still believe, best-case scenario, we're looking at 10 years before it starts to feel like a wholly continuous corridor. Just two notes, and beyond that I more or less agree. First, I cannot for one imagine that the area between E. 55 and the Clinic are going to be the common meeting ground of Case and CSU students anytime soon. I could be absolutely wrong, and I would definitely love to see something mixed-use and student-oriented somewhere in that area, but with so many gaps along the streetscape, I doubt that the East 60s are going to be at the top of the list for a development of that sort, at least not yet. I just can't imagine Case students who choose Cedar Fairmount or Coventry over University Circle would be willing to move down to the East 60s or 70s unless the development was absolutely spectacular. At least not yet. I would be more inclined to focus our resources to build out residential in the 100s and 110s to try to lure kids down the hill and in the 20s and 30s to build the scant residential base of Cleveland State (and hopefully to fill the ugly surface lots on Prospect in the 30s to shore up the beautiful existing housing stock there). After that, the next most obvious connector to me would be to plug the upper 40s and lower 50s with mixed-use retail and residential and rehab some of the existing building stock; you could do a spectacular, HUGE-scaled project in a one-block radius from the Agora alone. Whatever we do, it makes sense to make it asset-based, and I am not sure if I see the assets that we would be building from in the East 60s or 70s. Second, do keep in mind that this is assisted living, not a shelter. This is not going to look 2100 Lakeside nor like Riverside or Lakeside. This type of development is usually not fancy, but the ones that have been set up in Cleveland have at the very least looked more like traditional apartment complexes than shelters or "projects" (check out http://www.socfdncleveland.org/OurFocusAreas/SupportiveHousing/HousingFirst/tabid/310/Default.aspx and http://www.edeninc.org/housingfirst.html). I work next to one downtown (1850 Superior), and it's actually a really cute building that was recently renovated. I don't think the average Clevelander knows that these are low-income facilities at all (let alone the suburbanites), so I don't think they defacto stigmatize a neighborhood (I certainly don't think the Famicos building is adversely impacting either the Avenue District or the Quarter). That's why I think design standards are key; advocating that they conform to existing zoning regulations and create some kind of ground-floor retail could be pivotal in how a passing suburbanite views them.

I still don't understand the frustration here ... The number of affordable housing units in the Gordon Square Arts District exceeds the numbers here; many of those units are directly over the storefronts, and development there seems to be anything but stigmatized. As X noted, this is a model that actually provides a lot of additional support services and transitioning individuals out of poverty; this is not Caprini Green going up on Euclid. This is 70 units for single people ... 70 residents are going to destroy development opportunities along Euclid? I know I'll probably get lynched, but I think this is a potentially good location for this type of project. Access to reliable frequent mass transit service that connects the two largest employment centers in town seems like a no-brainer when trying to transition people out of extreme poverty. The program already boasts a 99% success rate in moving people permanently out of homelessness; I can only think that access to mass transit improves the odds for these people. From a social services perspective, I think it's actually pretty spot-on. From a community development standpoint, I can't really say what adverse impact this will have on the corridor. You guys could be absolutely right. But the sheer VOLUME of frontage along Euclid that needs to be filled leads me to believe that this is not going to hamper the overall development of the corridor. Even if you had the rather robust development demand going on downtown, without a credit crunch or global financial crisis, and even if you focused exclusively on renovating buildings and filling gaps between Public Square and E. 55th Street, you're looking at years and years of work ... I don't think 20 years would be out of the question. Extend that development effort to the border of East Cleveland ... we have a TON of space to play with. The fact is, no one has really been clamoring for development opportunities between E. 55th and the E. 70s. And I can't imagine that fallow lots and crumbling factories were really going to attract developers in a way that new housing (albeit low-income) and a major healthcare institution (albeit in the over-stigmatized field of mental health) can't. Increased ridership, eyes on the street, daytime and evening population in a currently largely abandoned swath of land ... what am I missing? I think we should focus our efforts more on demanding quality design standards for the project and ongoing upkeep of the corridor. To me, advocating zoning conformity, inclusion of ground-level retail, avoidance of pointless dead spaces, an outright ban on surface parking lots fronting the street, etc ... these seem more reasonable arguments to make. Going in with guns blazing about why these projects are horrible for Euclid may just ring shrill for council leaders who've been around for DECADES where few wanted to develop anything in this area. Final point, to suggest that mental health and transitional housing services are good things but should be tucked away where they won't offend anyone with money ... well, that strikes me as elitist. Not trying to name-call here, and I recognize people's very valid concerns, but I do think we need to stop and think about who we're developing this corridor FOR ... a representative population of the city of Cleveland or a wealthy sliver of population who may be interested in living here in a decade or so.

I almost wanted to eat my computer. But it wouldn't taste like chocolate. - jpop, Cleveland: East 4th Street Developments thread.

Fresh back from Europe, I'm doing the completely car-free thing. I was car-free for my first four years in Cleveland, then had two where I drove EVERYWHERE, and now after a refresher course in Berlin, I'm back to the good life. I'm really enjoying how much money it's saving me, and it's been amazing how much more cycling I'm doing as a result ... and amazing how riding a bike or walking changes the urban landscape ... just have an opportunity to observe so much more and feel more immersed in it. It's totally doable in Cleveland, but my big difficulty is selecting an apartment, which is turning into a WHOLE LOTTA headache. Finding something with a really short commute to work and a really short walk to a grocery store is surprisingly difficult, and neighborhoods where I'd really like to live (a warehouse space in St. Clair Superior or Midtown or something in Detroit Shoreway and Tremont) raise large red flags about functionality of the plan come February. Ugh. I just want a perfect inexpensive, hippie/hipster, yuppie-free, mixed-use, retail-laden, TOD, loft-neighborhood ... is that so much to ask? :)

Nice! My update is that after a year in Germany, I've picked up an intermediate level of German (between B1 and B2) but have lost almost all of the sh*tty French I had. I've also developed the attitude that the lack of foreign language proficiency in the U.S. is pretty alarming. Several Germans told me that many Europeans believe Americans are incapable of speaking a foreign language ... literally incapable. While it's great to speak English and be able to use it almost anywhere you travel to, it feels almost shameful when you do. Ah, American guilt ... it's a beautiful thing.