8ShadesofGray

When those apples are some of the most marginalized citizens in society and are having additional barriers to service placed upon them in order to make the environment more aesthetically pleasing and welcoming for those oranges, I think that we should at the very least require a minimum standard that applies to both apples and oranges. Sorry, this article got me a little riled up. In five years of living in Cleveland, and hundreds of walks through three of the four quadrants of Public Square (less the Sailors & Soldier Monument), I have never seen any vermin ... including my most recent walk on Saturday eve. I really hope that there are documented cases of this occurring and that the administration will produce data, anectdotes, etc. that support these claims. Otherwise, the tactic reeks of fear-mongering in order to diffuse any negative reaction to moving the volunteer food providers. And if that's the case, then I've lost a lot of respect for a mayor that I was hoping would be more of an advocate for poor residents.

This would be a horrible loss, hopefully one that could be avoided even if they chose to relocate there. Personally, I think there's a lot of opportunity for asset-based development around the Marina, not unlike what's occurring in Battery Park based on tandem with access to Edgewater ... particularly given the relative success of high-end Quay 55.

I have to agree with this sentiment. Following any major sports game, I've found the major routes from the stadia to Terminal Tower to be littered with trash. And yet I've never heard that their refuse was drawing vermin.

Not sure about the gourmet part, but we have nationally-renowned covered. Slyman's on St. Clair (31st-ish) has served the likes of GWB (boo). On a recent visit, Rachel Ray said it was the best corned beef sandwich she had ever had, beating out all the NYC delis she'd been to.

Cuyahoga Art and Culture (CAC) Issues First Grants: 68 Groups to Benefit from $15 million Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) announced today that it is awarding $15 million in General Operating Support (GOS) grants to 68 arts and cultural organizations located in the district. These are the first grants issued by CAC, which formed in April, 2007. The organizations are from communities throughout Cuyahoga County and represent a diverse group of arts and cultural disciplines and budget sizes. CAC’s Board of Trustees approved the grants on November 30 a special meeting of its board ... ... More at http://64.130.4.120/cuyahoga.arts.and.culture.news.room.php?id=17

I've always heard there's a very large concentration of city workers in North Collinwood, though I don't know what percentage of these city workers are law enforcement personnel. But judging from their crime rates relative to other upper east side nabes, I'd say the hypothesis still carries.

If I remember later, I'll do a crime map by census tract in NEOCANDO ... I think that's the smallest area that we can retrieve info for through NEOCANDO. I'd actually anticipate more crimes (particularly burglaries and robberies) taking place in more gentrified areas of the neighborhood, as these would present more opportunities for financial return for a thief. In fact, I would anticipate that that's where you would see the highest theft rates in the city ... areas where relatively wealthy people are living in very close proximity to relatively poor individuals, rather than where we traditionally think such crimes take place (e.g. truly impoverished stretches of the city). Assaults, murders and rapes ... not sure if that hypothesis would carry over. I'd also anticipate that crime rates are lower in neighborhoods where there is the impression that a large concentration of police officers reside and/or that have relatively high levels of police patrol. To speak to Musky's point, it does appear that a number of West Side neighborhoods are equally, if not more, dangerous than the eastern neighborhoods we typically hear about.

Didn't someone mention ages ago seeing plans for an ESPN zone somewhere in the Terminal Tower complex on the ground level? If I recall, it sounded rather definite that something like that was being planned just a block southwest of May Co.

You guys did a great job with the space and the show! I was really glad to attend.

I assure you, it's a completely innocuous and platonic statement.

Thanks gorgeous.

^ Blinker, or anyone else, what stretch of Euclid is subject to form-based zoning? Are the requirements primarily 3 stories fronting the avenue? Does the height requirement vary based on what stretch of Euclid it is (more stories required as you approach the CBD)?

It also sounds like Chase did in fact submit information ... just not the information the city requested. Ergo, it seems like they'll have a hard time arguing they weren't aware of the request. You'd also think that at least one executive associated with their local operations would have noticed the media hailstorm last year when Chase was also scored (see the article critical of Chase at the top of this thread), and made a note to prepare for the following year's review.

Yeah ... everyone's a model west of the Allegheny :-D

To the best of my knowledge, no. That being said, the existing community groups along that route (Historic Gateway Neighborhood, Downtown Cleveland Alliance, Midtown, Fairfax Renaissance, University Circle, Inc.) all have revitalization strategies for their respective sections of Euclid, many of which are already gaining steam. It also looks like a lot of citywide efforts are focusing attention toward catalyzing revitalization efforts along the corridor, including the city's First Five intiative.

The Market Cafe is hosting a private party today. They open to the public December 3rd.

A Clean & Safe worker just told me "You look cute ... you should be a model." Now, I'm several flawless skin cells away from model quality, so I don't know if this compliment is part of the official DCA training ... but ... if it is ... good work :wink:

JP Morgan Chase loses city's business over poor rank in review Tuesday, November 27, 2007 Henry J. Gomez, Plain Dealer Reporter Cleveland will withdraw millions of dollars in deposits from JP Morgan Chase, which scored the lowest in a review by the city of how banks reinvest in the community, officials said Monday. Chase will lose the city's huge payroll account - valued between $420 million and $450 million - to Huntington National Bank, which offered lower fees ... More at http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/119615638599510.xml&coll=2

Out of curiosity, why is the Shaker Historical Museum the only property receiving state historical society funding in Cuyahoga County? It looks like they operate a number of properties in Columbus and Cincy (none of which look to be on their list of properties under consideration for "unloading") similar in nature to Cleveland's Dunham Tavern, Police Museum, Sailors' and Soldiers' Monument, U.S.S. Cod, Mather Museum, Women's International Air & Space Museum, Lakeview Cemetery, etc., etc. Not suggesting that they should be taking on additional properties, particularly given their current financial burdens, but are there conditions in Cleveland that are different from other major Ohio cities? Are historical sites in Cuyahoga County generally more of a local interest than in the other 2 Cs? Why are these typically already cared for by local nonprofits if similar properties aren't in other urban places? It seems like both Cincy and Columbus have a reasonable arts and culture infrastructure to be maintaining such historic sites on their own if Cleveland is doing so.

^^^ Ouch! That hotel clerk was very naughty. Had you gone about 15 blocks east of your most eastern photo, and a couple of blocks north, you would have been in Asiatown, the second largest Chinatown in the Midwest and one of the largest outside of the coast cities (well ... besides the North Coast). And, yes, we in Asiatown have some damn good Chinese restaurants, not to mention Thai, Korean ... and then the random Cajun, Soul, American deli (don't ask ... it's a strange nabe), etc. As MayDay pointed out, always ask an UrbanOhio'er before a desk clerk. And when in a pinch, I've found Wikipedia's list of Chinatowns to be retatively useful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinatowns. Nice pics!

Visitors was probably a poor choice of words. I may be totally off on this, but I think my point is still accurate. Downtowns with large daytime populations (whether because of visitation, or in this case, workers) but sparse residential populations would appear more dangerous than cities with equal daytime populations but larger residential populations (i.e. downtowns with a greater resident to worker ratio), even if the actual number of crimes was the same because FBI statistics examine rates per 100,000 residents (not workers). Example: City A has a downtown of 100,000 residents and a daytime population of 500,000 (50% of residents work in downtown, so 450,000 workers live outside of the downtown area and 50,000 are both residents and workers). 5,000 crimes were reported in City A downtown last year. That's a rate of 5,000 crimes per 100,000 population. City B has a downtown of 250,000 residents and a daytime population of 500,000 (50% of residents work in downtown, so 375,000 workers live outside of the downtown and 125,000 are both residents and workers). 5,000 crimes were reported in City B's downtown last year. That's a rate of 2,000 crimes per 100,000 population. So despite the fact that the two cities have equal daytime populations and equal incidences of crime, City A looks far more dangerous because more people live outside of the downtown district. Not sure where I'm going with this, other than I think it's an unfair comparison b/c workers & visitors likely make up at least some of the victims of those crimes, meaning it's not nearly as dangerous to residents as the crime rates might indicate in "suitcase cities". Just one more reason, in addition to what j73 mentioned above, that these kinds of comparative studies are confusing at best.

Last I heard, it was going to the city's Landmark Commission for review ... the project's in the Ohio City neighborhood, and there was some discussion of it in the Ohio City thread recently: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=9289.msg234368#msg234368.

No, Wonder Bar definitely didn't strike me as particularly shorts and t-shirt friendly ... more "hey, look at my striped shirt" crowd. E. 4th Street seems to be drawing very similar clientele to the Warehouse District. Not favoring either spot for nightlife, I haven't really observed, but has anyone seen any impact on the volume of people visiting the Warehouse District for weekend drinks, etc.?

^ Absolutely true ... Cleveland is full of exceptional CDCs. In addition to what you stated above, I would also point out that DSCDO also seems to be more aggressive with filling retail vacancies in and around Detroit & W. 65th than most CDCs. That's not a discredit to other CDCs ... in large part, DSCDO is able to encourage retail development based on increasing market attention in the neighborhood, as well as the resources they've captured by having one of the city's 6 Strategic Investment Initiatives. We do have a citywide storefront renovation program, but I would love to see citywide efforts to assist entrepreneurs themselves and to develop retail niches in a number of retail districts across the city.

^ http://www.discoverydive.com/Scuba%20Diving%20Schedule.htm