8ShadesofGray

For that matter, wasn't a transit study being conducted for W. 25th/Pearl? I believe, among other things, they were examining potential for light rail or BRT. Any update on that?

I saw Tastebuds' new dinner space, and it's kitsch meets swank ... definitely worth the $30 I'm thinking ... I totally have to check out the special dinners now!

As a solitary effort for fighting sprawl, I agree. But I think they can be a component. While their efforts are obviously limited in capacity, every parcel that they protect is a piece of land that can't be developed upon in the future ... incrementally moving us further toward a time when commute times make outlying areas less desirable to live in. But if that's our only strategy, we'll lose the fight, since employment centers are moving away from the city proper (shortening commute times for exurbanites) faster than we're combatting sprawl. That being said, I can't think of too many cities that are thriving that don't have some kind of geographic barriers to development, whether they be located on islands or in proximity to mountains, major rivers, lakes and oceans. Cleveland's got the lake, and the metroparks and national park provide another piece of the puzzle. Creating a ring of conserved properties is a step in the right direction, even if the conservancy can't accumulate enough land to serve as a defacto growth barrier. But you're right ... we need a more comprehensive agenda for combatting sprawl and a regional land use plan. Until that happy day ...

Whatever happened to talks of two housing projects on either side of the bridge?

Anyone have updated numbers for the Columbus CBD?

^ Again, I think that this study included incarcertated individuals and boundaries of downtown in that study that stretched from W. 25th to E. 26th, rather than the smaller footprint the city of Cleveland uses typically for downtown, which terminates at the east bank. If this is the case, we could add in everyone who's at the Justice Center, as well as everyone who's at Stonebridge, Duck Island, CMHA's Lakeview, CMHA's Riverview, Fries & Schuele, etc. Not exactly sure on these boundaries, but Chris Ronayne was featured in an article about downtown population when he was still city planner and I recall them noting these boundaries. I think at the time, which must have been 2002 or 2003, they were putting the number at approaching 11,000 with the boundaries of that study. Even with Stonebridge alone, we must gain another thousand residents.

Good points ... those are great occupancy numbers! I would add that the already underway new construction at the Avenue District should start adding incrementally to the numbers over the next couple years. We also have the Park Building rehab and additional units coming online on E. 4th. In terms of numbers, the state's new preservation credit should be a major boon in adding additional units, as it will incentivize development plans you mentioned between E. 9th and E. 14th, as well as in several warehouse buildings in the E. 20s along Superior, College Town, etc. So even in the absence of new construction, there are opportunities to add several hundreds if not thousands more units, as long as rehabilitation is incentivized with parity to how we incentivize new construction.

From what I understand, Cleveland's numbers fluctuate depending on who you're talking to, based on two factors: a) whether they include incarcerated individuals as downtown residents and b) the scope of downtown. When people talked about a downtown population of more than 10,000 a couple years ago, they often included everything up to the eastern side of Ohio City. I would love to have a more accurate number on this. As of 2000, the Cleveland Planning Commission's definted area for downtown had a population of 5,960. It's important to note that the census tract estimate for 1950 for the same area was 12,068; in 1970, it had dropped to a low of 3,844. If we're around 10,000 now, that's a major accomplishment ... we're approaching a historically high population downtown during a 50-year period when the population of the city overall has halved ... that's pretty amazing. Wikipedia, meanwhile, estimates that our population was 9,599 as of 2000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Cleveland#_note-0). I haven't found 2006 estimates yet. We're still a great deal away, however, from the Urban Institute goal of 2% of the MSA population living downtown. Based on the most recent census estimate, our MSA consists of roughly 2.2 million people, which means they would recommend 44,000 people live downtown. If we maintained our current high rate of growth (28.1% between 1990-2000), we would reach that goal somewhere between 2060 and 2070.

I'd also highly recommend Cleveland: A Metropolitan Reader. In addition to being a fascinating academic analysis of all things Cleveland, there's a great essay by Edward Miggins in it about migratory routes in Cleveland ... looking at where ethnic groups originally settled and how they've tended to move to the suburbs along particular migratory arteries, with the Irish moving out of the westside neighborhoods down Lorain, the Italians out of Little Italy down Mayfield and the jewish population through the east side neighborhoods down Cedar. Interestingly, the article also notes that the African American settlement tended to always reside just to the west of the Jewish one; as people from a Jewish background moved out, African American populations tended to take their place. It's a cool read.

Any updates regarding the downtown populations of the 3 C's as of 2007? I imagine we have a better idea of whether the downtowns will hit the 2010 projections by this point (for instance, I wouldn't be suprised to see Cleveland somewhere in the 14,000 to 15,000 range, but I'd be really surprised to see us top 20,000). Also, does anyone have these population numbers as a percentage of MSA population? I was looking at the Katz article thread, which talked about the need to set a goal that 2% of MSAs reside in the downtown of their primary city. Wondering, given current population trends, how soon any of the 3 Cs would achieve this. My guess is that not very soon for any of the cities but that 1, possibly 2, might hit that rate in another 10 or 15 years if they continued to grow at their present rate.

I think that's the direction they're headed strategically. It should be noted that the Chagrin River Land Conservancy was the best organized of the land conservancies and gathered most of the Geauga properties before the merger took place. Now those efforts are occurring on a much more regional level. As noted in the article three posts up, the recently conserved farmland in Lorain County was their largest single conservancy easement to date. This is an organization that should, in my opinion, be given substantial funding to try to stategically piece together parcels in contiguous lines, rather than relying primarily on scattered donations. Moreover, their efforts could be more robust if they were to collaborate with NOACA in a regional planning process to try to limit infrastructure expansions in proximity to protected parcels. These will only serve as true barriers to exurban development if the farmland and preserves are not surrounded by cut-through roads and highways. That being said, they should be commended to date.

Japanese transit is a money-maker ... that's pretty cool.

If you haven't already seen it, here's the map of existing parks and areas protected directly by the WRLC: http://www.wrlc.cc/media/images/gallery/WRLC%20protected%20properties1.pdf Obviously, there is a long way to go, and we would be wise to donate substantially to the organization to increase their capacity, but this is a great start in my opinion.

In my opinion, the Western Reserve Land Conservancy is one of the most important organizations in Northeast Ohio right now. Wish they had a higher profile, particularly in Cuyahoga County, as people should really be aware of the extraordinary work they're doing. Then again, maybe they'll be more successful if people aren't aware that they're preventing future exurbs by ... gasp ... preserving natural land. :wink: Lorain County farm sells permanent easement to Ohio Wednesday, October 17, 2007 Michael Scott, Plain Dealer Reporter Rochester Township- Jarvis Babcock's family goes back six generations on a 1,000-acre family farm in southern Lorain County. And the farming will go forward indefinitely following a preservation deal with the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Western Reserve Land Conservancy ... ... More from http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1192610697273970.xml&coll=2

... with the caveat that the housing component would appear over the next five to eight years. Still, good news. I wonder if this is the result of specifically secured tenants or the realizations that we might be moving toward a Pesht v. Flats East Bank type v. Jacobs tower situation.

You categorize items in ways that people can quickly navigate without a lot of existing information about a particular grocery store ... and you put the incidental purchase items at the checkout line on the way out :-) Seriously though, I personally just don't like the idea that people are going to see a link for "Amish Country" before they see one for Cleveland and well before they see one for Youngstown. The smaller cities are important to each of the regions in our state, to be sure, but they do not present the defining cultures of these areas ... their largest metropolitan areas do. I have a feeling, though, that we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. It's a pretty minor recommendation on my part ... it's an outstanding new feature, and I won't be tearing up my Urban Ohio membership card back in if they end up alphabetized :wink:

County weighs NOACA pullout Allison Wood | Staff Writer Medina County Gazette Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 MEDINA — Last week’s controversial decision to approve an interchange at Interstate 90 off Nagel Road in Avon — and what Avon officials had to give up to get it approved — prompted Medina County commissioners to talk about withdrawing from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency on Monday. The uproar arose after officials from Cuyahoga County refused to sign off on the interchange unless Avon agreed to a revenue-sharing deal, saying they feared the interchange in the fast-growing community would hasten urban sprawl ... ... More at http://wp2.medina-gazette.com/2007/10/16/top-stories/county-weighs-noaca-pullout/

And I wouldn't recommend excluding them from the list. Just a personal opinion, but I think (with no factual evidence) that the amount of interest in seeing a city of 300,000 is a great deal higher than the interest in seeing a town of 5,000. Not suggesting that St. Clairesville isn't important; just think that there are more likely web hits for the larger cities and that making the larger cities more visible increases exposure that Ohio is home to dozens of vibrant urban areas, including places like St. Clairesville.

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Retires 'D' Chord October 11, 2007 | Issue 43•41 CLEVELAND—The D chord, famed for its part in innumerable classic rock songs, including "Back in Black," "Bad Moon Rising," and "Don't Be Cruel," was retired Tuesday during a ceremony at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/rock_and_roll_hall_of_fame

Absolutely awesome. Great work! I'd consider maybe placing them in population order for each region. As a website that advocates for investment in our urban areas, it would be nice to highlight our most metropolitan areas. As another consideration (and this might be in the works), I'd consider doing the "Other Places" section by continent so that as people travel, they'll have an appropriate place to put their photos (e.g. as of right now, foreign travel looks pretty limited to Canada, France and the UK).

Tastebuds Restaurant (1400 E. 30th) has long been wooing over the lunch crowd on the eastern border of downtown, but now it looks like they're expanding to offer a weekly upscale dinner experience as well. $30 a pop, Friday evenings. I've heard the menu is absolutely incredible. They've renovated a space behind their traditional cafeteria-style restaurant that's supposed to look great.

Another goal I would have for the meet-ups would be to hit up different nabes (at least the transit-friendly runs). As much as I love Great Lakes, I would hate for that to be our every-other-month place ... hopefully, I won't go the way of DaninDC for that sacrilege. For the same reason, I would save Bier Markt or Old Angle for a later rotation. I wouldn't mind doing something downtown. If not E. 4th, maybe Bar One? I've been hearing generally favorable reviews there, and it's definitely central and transit-friendly.

I think dating's just tough all over in Cleveland, gay, straight, man and woman. I think that one of the primary reasons is that there seems to be more of a "coupled" atmosphere here than you might find in other cities. I think Cleveland is very relationship-oriented and family-oriented. Everyone you know seems to be throwing on rings at 25, 27, 28. Not only are 20-something friends all getting married, having multiple babies, etc., but in a city with a very low population turnover, a lot of 20-somethings are probably also dealing with parents nagging about when they'll get to have grandchildren. In that kind of environment, the dating scene is of much greater pressure. I can't speak for straight men in this situation, but I do know that for many gay men and women (either gay or straight), it's not enough to go out and have a fun time with someone ... at some point, even in the first date, one starts to wonder "Could I see myself spending a considerable portion of my life with this person?" If the answer is no, then seeyalatergottago. And when you go on 20 dates and there's not a single person in the group that meet the criteria on your checklist, you get discouraged and sometimes cranky or stand-offish. I find this is particularly true as people approach those two scary years to be single ... 30 and 35. Is this a smart way to approach dating? No. But it's an understandable result of living in a community where it seems that everyone is coupled. I know several lovely young women who are dying (literally anxious to the point of tears) to find Mr. Right ... but recognize that they're in a high-pressure situation and don't want to let any losers into their lives, eating up precious time on the clock before they turn 30 or 35. Just know that the situation's everywhere ... women bitch about not finding quality men. And I and most of my gay single friends spend a full 20% of my life talking about how few quality guys there are out there. We all know where the Mr. Wrongs are, though ... because there's thousands of them. As Sex and the City's Samantha reminds us, in this town, you can't swing a Fendi bag without knocking over five losers.

Today was the first day of adjudication of general operating support proposals. This will likely be the most substantial of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture's grant programs (although the CAC board has not made a final determination regarding how much to devote to each of the programs yet). Organizations that received a score of 75 or higher (based on average scores from a panel of out-of-state arts and culture professionals) will be recommended for three years of funding. Scores are listed on the website below. http://64.130.4.120/cuyahoga.arts.and.culture.news.room.php?id=13 The panel process will conclude tomorrow.

My impression was that the distinction is that Hispanic references the conquistadors' home country of Spain, while the term Latino is derived from Latin America, which of course, is itself derived from that influence. But the second term at least pays homage to home countries and home continents, rather than having no tie whatsoever to the people it is describing. I'm definitely not a scholar on this topic, so I could be totally off base, but this was my understanding.