8ShadesofGray

From the DSCDO Summer 07 newsletter Beginning this fall, a major transformation will begin to take place on Detroit Avenue from W. 58th to W. 73rd Streets, following several years of planning, community input, design review meetings, and collaboration with Detroit Avenue Merchants and other neighborhood community groups. City Architecture, along with Michael Benza & Assoc. Engineers and artist Suzie Frazier Mueller have created a ground-breaking design for the Gordon Square Arts District ... ... More at http://www.thedetroitstudio.com/detroit_shoreway_newsletter_summer07.pdf (page 5; includes a rendering and an overhead map of the improvement area):

Kitsch City now has a website up: http://www.kitschcity.com/.

You might also consider the Asiatown Scavenger Hunt ... interesting event that would expose you to what Cleveland Magazine has called Cleveland's Most Underrated Neighborhood ... plus some yummy Asian treats and southern cooking at a personal fave, The Town Fryer. More information at http://www.stclairsuperior.org/html/asiatown_scavenger_hunt.html. Saturday, starting at noon. You might also check out Cool Cleveland, which provides an overview of some of the events that will be taking place in Cleveland (often with some Akron and outlying events to boot). Visit http://www.coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.Current; the new one (which will include an overview of next weekend) will be available early on Wednesday.

This is pretty cool ... being billed as a way to directly connect the arts and culture community to sustainability efforts in the community. Can't believe I hadn't heard about this sooner! ZeroLandfill Celebration, a community wide material reclamation project, now in it’s second year, returns to downtown Cleveland this summer through September 27, 2007. Designed to divert from local landfills specification waste generated by architecture and interior design firms, ZeroLandfill is an effort to collect and redirect expired evaluation samples ranging from carpeting, upholstery and wall covering, to brick, tile and three ring binders ... ... More at http://www.zerolandfill.net/. And to see what was accomplished in 2006, check out http://zerolandfill.net/Results.pdf.

A link to the press release: http://www.bioenterprise.com/reports/2007/q22007vcactivityrelease.pdf. Among the more interesting additional notes, Cleveland alone had 16 deals financed, representing 25.8% of the deals in the entire Midwest. We were followed by Minneapolis (9), Pittsburgh (8 ), Columbus (6) and Wisconsin (6). Cleveland's $199.1 million also represents the leading investment in any community, representing 27.4% of the investment throughout the Midwest. We were followed by Minneapolis ($126.0 million), Indianapolis ($102.8 ), Pittsburgh ($85.4) and Detroit-Ann Arbor ($63.4). This is great news, and we should all be getting the word out on this to all the Cleveland naysayers. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time Bioenterprise's survey has showed Cleveland toppling Minneapolis, which positions us very well as a center for biotech / healthcare innovation.

Ohio takes lead in Midwest's private health care investments State bumps Minnesota, lures $244 million in equity Tuesday, July 24, 2007 Mary Vanac, (Cleveland) Plain Dealer Reporter Ohio is the Midwest's hot spot for private-equity investments in health care companies so far this year, attracting nearly twice as much money as perennial leader Minnesota. Since January, Ohio's health care companies have brought home $244 million from investors -- more than double the state's total for all of 2006, according to the quarterly BioEnterprise Midwest Health Care Venture Investment Report released Monday ... ... More at http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1185278109225010.xml&coll=2

Don't know if this is the most appropriate place for this, but it seemed most relevant here, where people have been most adamant about Jackson being more vocal. From the PD: Cleveland's mayor prefers working where it's quiet Quiet, please! Mayor at work Tuesday, July 24, 2007 Mark Naymik, Plain Dealer Columnist Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson has a PR problem. Eighteen months into his first term, pun dits, some busi ness leaders and citizens - if those who call talk-radio shows are to be believed - ac cuse him of being invisible. They de mand to know what he is doing as the city struggles to keep people, jobs and peace within its borders. There is great irony in such complaints, because a big part of Jackson's appeal to voters and community leaders in 2005 was his aversion to publicity. He easily swept out Mayor Jane Campbell, who was criticized for being as ubiquitous as a weather forecaster on the nightly news ... ... More info at http://www.cleveland.com/news/naymik/index.ssf?/base/opinion-0/1185266339130890.xml&coll=2&thispage=1

Asiatown landed a 65. As has been noted, a valiant attempt, but the methodology leaves something to be desired. No doubt, my old apartment right on the corner of Shaker Square was a little more walkable than my current pad ... but scored a 56.

No problem ... just pay it forward ... move here and remind lifelong Clevelanders that the city is far nicer than they give it credit for :wink:

Ludlow and S. Woodland are a little down from the Square (walkable but maybe not desirably walkable in the winter), but you'd be very close to a train station that would get you to the square in less than 5 minutes. Not too bad, although that immediate area of apartments (if I'm thinking of the right ones, the ones right at the bend of Van Aken) don't have quite as much charm as some of the ones along North Moreland, the northern section of South Moreland, along Shaker Blvd. or over by Drexmore. You might also check out Larchmere, which has a lot of retail and is walkable to the square but perhaps a little quieter in nature.

Welcome, Wolf6. Here are some quick thoughts on your criteria: - Quiet area (grad students/professionals): All of the areas described are relatively quiet. Among them, I would venture to say that Little Italy and Coventry are perhaps a little louder than Cedar Fairmount, Cedar Lee or Shaker Square (though Shaker Square can get a little noisy, as it is the densest neighborhood within the city proper), but none of them are overly noisy. All are inhabited by large populations of students and young professionals. - Character (Vintage Charm): All of the neighborhoods are certainly steeped in charm. Little Italy has a lot of street character and lies adjacent to the huge and beautiful Lakeside Cemetery. The building of this cemetery was responsible in part for the originally agglomeration of Italian immigrants who performed masonry work on the grounds. Coventry traditionally was once an ethnic enclave that then became a hippie haven in the 60s and 70s; today, it is a little more commercialized, but still has a lot of charm. Cedar-Lee is a traditional retail/mixed-use character with a lot of charm. Cedar-Fairmount has nice tudor features and an interesting street grid, with lots of quiet little mid-rise apartment buildings on the side streets. And Shaker Square is one of the earliest planned communities and planned shopping areas in the country, with beautiful 1920s architecture and an English town-square-inspired shopping district. - Left leaning: All of the neighborhoods are left-leaning; all our located within the 13th Congressional District, which is the second most liberal congressional district in the Midwest (there are 8 registered Democrats for every 1 registered Republican). Little Italy may have a reputation for being a little more parochial than the other neighborhoods, but I think this has changed significantly following a sizable in-migration of students and young professionals. Shaker Heights (adjacent to the neighborhood of Shaker Square) and Cleveland Heights (home to Cedar-Fairmount, Cedar-Lee and Coventry) both have reputations as being among the more liberal suburbs in the region. Shaker Square's shopping area has been home to both Kerry's Ohio Headquarters in 2004 and Strickland's Cleveland Headquarters in 2006. - Access to Public Transportation near CWRU: All are pretty accessible to Case Western Reserve University - Little Italy lies adjacent to campus, Cedar Fairmount is just up Cedar Hill from campus and Coventry, Shaker Square and Cedar Lee are all within a mile's distance, with Cedar Lee being the furthest away. All are serviced by bus lines, and there is also a community circulator that connects most of these neighborhoods. Little Italy lies adjacent to a train station at E. 120th, Cedar Fairmount is just up the hill from the University Circle train and Shaker Square has the best train access, with 3 train stops in a quarter-mile radius and service to downtown Cleveland every 5 mins. during rush hour (as well as bus service to CWRU via route 48). - Can walk to restaurants, movies, and "things to do": Again, all are pretty walkable and all are pretty proximate to restaurants, bars, coffee shops, dry cleaners, art galleries, etc. Shaker Square and Cedar-Fairmount both have grocery stores in walking distance (as does Cedar-Lee if you live in its northern section), and Cedar-Lee and Shaker Square are both home to movie theatres. Coventry has the best selection of clothing, if that's a consideration. - Not right in the middle of community events: This one might be a little harder. Coventry is home to an annual arts and crafts fair, Cedar-Lee occasionally has sidewalk sales and has a lot of programming just a little to the north at Cain Park, Shaker Square has a weekly farmer's market and an annual Holiday lighting celebration, Cedar Fairmount has an annual block party-type deal and Little Italy annually hosts the Feast of Immaculate Assumption. None of these events is overly crazy ... of any, I would say the multi-day Feast is probably the loudest and most prolonged of any of them. - Access to a workout facility: I would highly recommend the gym I go to, 121 (http://onetoone.case.edu/), which is the most comprehensive gym in that area and has a lot of opportunities for exercise classes, nutrition assistance and work with personal trainers. Best of all, it sits on the edge of the CWRU campus and is just down the street from Little Italy and just down the hill from Cedar-Fairmount. Based on everything you've outlined, I would recommend either Little Italy, Cedar-Fairmount or Shaker Square, with Cedar-Fairmount being my top recommendation if quiet and less "in the middle of things" is a chief concern. But all of the neighborhoods shared are great ... I lived in Shaker Square for five years and loved it and have friends who couldn't be torn away from their respective apartments/condos in Little Italy, Cedar-Fairmount and Cedar-Lee. And, as an aside, Shaker Square is a lovely and perfectly safe neighborhood.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat ... I have no expertise in film, but that's alright ... we just need to organize 18 filmmakers. I think it would be an incredible promo for the Cleveland International Film Festival.

Yep. Now just give me my independent board of oversight and I'm completely on board :lol:

From the PD: Convention Center sales tax would end in 20 years Posted by Joan Mazzolini July 20, 2007 13:09PM Categories: Breaking News In an effort to boost support for a sales tax hike to build a convention center and bring a Medical Mart to Cleveland, County Commissioners today put limitations on the plan. Commissioners Jimmy Dimora and Timothy F. Hagan announced that the quarter of a penny sales tax will expire after no more than 20 years and will be used exclusively for the center - no other county operations or projects ... ... More at http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2007/07/convention_center_sales_tax_wo.html

That is one of my favorite movies of all time ... It was so beautiful and so unexpected. I was particularly in love with the one about the American tourist lady you mentioned (it made me laugh, and then in the closing minutes, I actually got a little teary-eyed) and Gus Van Sant's gay guy hitting on the clueless American. And I've thought THE EXACT same thing ... 18 short films ... shot in 18 different Cleveland neighborhoods ... all about falling in love with Cleveland. I love it! Let's do it!

I think that totally makes sense. I for one am not suggesting any process that would be obstructionist. But when citizens do provide elected officials with latitude to make decisions and take stands, I think it behooves them to assure an adequate level of transparency and accountability, particularly when investing tax dollars into private endeavors. Frankly, and this is just one man's opinion, my belief is that the time pressure being applied by the Medical Mart folks is part of the overall PR campaign on this issue ... a way for the Commissioners to say "We had to apply the sales tax quickly. We didn't have time to set up standards of review or to provide additional analysis. If we didn't act fast, they may have gone elsewhere." It just makes me a little uneasy that numbers of visitors are being inflated without any publicly available research on how these numbers were reached, there has been little to no discussion of how the revenues would be managed and the commissioners are planning to vote on the topic less than a week after opening it up to public opinion. I'm all for strong leadership but hasty does not necessarily equal strong.

I'm not inclined to agree. Just because we don't have a lot of Republican firepower locally doesn't mean elected seats aren't contested ... they just get decided in primaries instead of generals. Just ask Tim McCormack, a Democrat, who lost his seat to Hagan, a Democrat. Frankly, I don't find this type of forum reassuring at all. I generally agree with the concept, I generally think the commissioners have good intentions for the county, but the more I hear, the more I'm struck by an exasperation from Hagan and Dimora for democratic processes, if not outright disdain. Maybe I'm selling them short, but dismissing opportunities for public input does not exactly make me more confident that these funds will be spent wisely or with any avenue for citizen review.

42 states are abbreviated ... Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah are not (the two states that are not part of the continental U.S. and the six continental states that are five letters or less). And even nationally, Cleveland and Cincy stand alone in stories ... but it doesn't look like Columbus does ... probably because of the number of Columbuses nationwide. Now that's too much information!

The location looks to be in Brecksville, just north of Snowville Road. It looks like the 77F is going to be your best bet.

I believe the 77F is probably the best bet for public transportation from Brecksville to downtown, but Brecksville is not an area I frequent, so some other people on the forum might have some better info. http://www.gcrta.org/pdf/77.pdf.

Hey now, I'm the Payne Avenue Pollyanna ... just trying to turn this crazy fight around with a smile

I think there also may be reservations about whether this money will be earmarked exclusively to the convention center and the medical mart. The Commissioners have been pretty clear that the funds raised by the quarter-cent tax increase (the minimum increment allowed under state law) will likely exceed the total expenses associated with bonds for the Medical Mart and convention center facilities. I, for one, would like to have a clearer understanding of where surplus funds will go. I would rather, for instance, see the funds pumped back into financial incentives for recruitment or creation of medical supplier businesses in the county or to pay down the debt service early, rather than to see it go toward demolition of the Breuer Tower or any other blank-check initiative the Commissioners would favor. It might also be nice to see an independent board providing some fiscal oversight of the project ... preferably one with members who do not have any kind of financial interest in the project. I'm sold on the concept of the Medical Mart. I would rather see them expend the energy they're spending on campaign marketing on solidifying a strategy for maximizing the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of the effort.

^^ Yeah, wonderful update ... can't wait for the pics. Where exactly is the patio garden? I can't believe I've somehow missed this.

it is reopening as Global Dish or something like that next week (may be the 24th?) I think it will be great-the menu is posted and they are usually there every day meeting/working and getting ready. I think the new owner or chef may be from the old Fulton kitchen... Righto. Global Dish will open in the old OPA site (they have a menu posted already), and Le Oui Oui is now Le Petit Triangle Cafe. I haven't been there since the change in ownership, so I can't speak to the menu or the yumminess.

... although New York might be in this election ... or at least has a better shot of being in play than it typically is.