8ShadesofGray

Housing bubble? We only fizzed Value of homes in Cleveland beat inflation, by a little (Cleveland) Plain Dealer Sarah Hollander, Plain Dealer Reporter Tuesday, October 03, 2006 Homeowners across Northeast Ohio can pat themselves on the back -- lightly -- for participating in the American dream. Their home values modestly outpaced inflation over the past several years, according to U.S. Census figures released today ... ... More at http://www.cleveland.com/census/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1159864430159270.xml&coll=2

I'm game for that. It's small and manageable. My first idea was to pair with the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition for a "Shopping in Cleveland" day, under the auspices of their Got It In the Neighborhood program. But that might be a little heftier. A neighborhood clean-up would probably be a lot easier to plan. Now are we going to have to arm wrestle to pick a neighborhood? :-D

The DVDs are selling for $20; Students, teachers and those ordering 10 or more copies get them for $10. I would anticipate CPL ordering these in the near future. There are also supposed to be local viewing parties and discussions, although none are posted to date. http://www.makingsenseofplace.org/cleveland/

The PD also provided some graphics for those of us who are a little, shall we say, science shy. http://www.cleveland.com/news/wide/index.ssf?/news/wide/csuwindmill.html

For those interested in participating in a service project, I have started a separate thread at http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=10660.0;topicseen.

A recent documentary highlights the legacy of sprawl in Cleveland, and by extension, urban areas nationwide. In the corresponding Urban Ohio thread (http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=10576.0), several forumers expressed enthusiasm for rolling up our online sleeves by doing something meaningful in the real world of Ohio cities. This thread is open for discussions of what kinds of service projects we might be interested in doing, protocol for getting one done and a general timeline that we have in mind. Do we want to volunteer with an established effort? Are people interested in doing projects in multiple cities? If so, collectively, or with only the forumers of each respective city? How can we maximize the impact and the longevity of such a service project? Is it appropriate to brand this as Urban Ohio efforts, or are we just a group of "concerned citizens"? Hopefully, by garnering the expertise and dedication of Urban Ohioans, we'll be able to have a direct positive effect on Ohio's great cities.

Any Vikings care to creep over to Schwarz's office and get a photo of that model?

I'd be happy to take the lead on something but couldn't devote a lot of attention to it until post-Election. October's gonna be a hella crazy month!!!! I'll create a post for this idea, if someone else hasn't already, later today.

Uptown, an online collection of ideas for redeveloping, redesigning, redefining University Circle, is now available: http://www.universitycircle.org/events/uptown.htm.

Old Chinatown (along Rockwell, off of E. 21st) is more of what you're describing David ... a single row of Asian-front buildings. "New" Chinatown, on the other hand, encompasses about 10 city blocks along three major east-west thoroughfares, so it is a pretty substantial chunk of land. It also has a large Asian population ... according to REDIS, within a one-minute drive of my place in Chinatown (roughly CSU to the lakeshore, from the east side of downtown to about E. 48th), the population is 32% Asian. There are 21 restaurants in the same area; many of these offer Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese fare. There are also a number of Asian-styled grocers, Asian beauticians, an Asian DVD store ... the list goes on and on. Cleveland's Chinatown is fo' real.

Absolutely beautiful lighting, MayDay. I'd say we have another month or so before the weather goes horrible, though. And even then, some of my favorite Urban Ohio shots have been winter ones (Blinker's winter Chinatown shots stick out to me).

As with many social documentaries, I think the film really preaches to the choir. That being said, if it incenses those of us who care to more action, and less talking (a Cleveland phenomenon I've never fully understood), then maybe the choir will at least be performing better. How about, for instance, an Urban Ohio Day of Service? Get out there and roll our sleeves up?

They had a website, http://graystoneproperties.com. A horrible, horrible website without any real info. It's down right now; I would imagine it's being redeveloped. Mainly, I think they coordinate move-ins face-to-face. The former real estate developer for St. Clair Superior works for them and has done an excellent job of getting tenants in there. When prowling around there a couple of months back, I was amazed at how many businesses were already there. Can't wait to see the residential component of this project to take off.

Hmmm ... No, I think Chiller is a little "drippier" and a bit more angular. I think that's Comic Sans, complete with the capital C's that hang a little to the left of the rest of the body text. Unless you're referring to KJP's post above and not the website ... I'm pretty sure that IS Chiller.

CVSR chugs toward downtown extension By Ken Prendergast The Sun Courier Thursday, September 28, 2006 Sixteen Northeast Ohio organizations agreed this week to support the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad's proposed extension of its excursion train route north to downtown Cleveland. Representatives of each organization signed a memorandum of understanding during a ceremony Monday at Tower City Center, held in conjunction with the triennial Canal Adventure ... ... More at http://www.cleveland.com/sun/suncourier/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1159462274246930.xml&coll=3

This is definitely somewhere I would consider buying, too. I've said it before, and I'll say it again ... Chinatown's the neighborhood to watch.

Yeah, there is. I actually love it. Loud, colorful but with just the right splash of Eurotrash sophisticate ... right up my alley. Unfortunately, the sizing is horrible for a short, skinny guy. The sleeves are always about four inches too long, forcing me to roll up any shirt I buy there. My dimensions are better for uber-skinny labels like Zara or Ben Sherman. There was also a very nice men's shop on Shaker Square last year but it subsequently shut down ... I don't think it reopened elsewhere, either :-(

^^ Yeah, good intentions, but they could use some graphic design intervention. Not only Comic Sans but gray text boxes. Looks straight outa old school PageMill (no offense to current designer Derik Higaki).

And they're at it again ... Personally, I could not care less about gay marriage, even as a gay man. But the fact that these imbeciles keep trying to distract the electorate from issues of education, workforce development, poverty, abandoned housing, etc., has got me riled up! Republican governors turn to gay issue Mark Naymik (Cleveland) Plain Dealer September 29, 2006 The Republican Governors Association wants Ohio voters to think less about taxes and more about homosexuals. While Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell has spent much of his campaign defining Democratic rival Ted Strickland as a tax-and-spend liberal, the RGA is re-introducing the social wedge issue of gay marriage into the campaign ... ... More athttp://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_openers/archives/2006_09.html#189666

MayDay did have his camera in tote. Patience, my friends, patience. It was a nice event. I thought it was really nice to see a number of people who did pre-sales there ... A lot of excitement in the air.

Ummm, yeah ... What good would that possibly do? Maybe he didn't get the memo that Le Corbusier's utopia didn't work out in the real world. Pedestrians add vibrancy ... why would you want to rob the square of that?

Thanks guys. It's gonna be tough. Mayday, we have a problem, as I most CERTAINLY seek out the small stuff at Flower Child. Don't make me start hiding prized items in the kitchenware section. :-D I agree that the documentary skirted the issue of ongoing fears among suburban white folks about both the poor and minorities. Ongoing patterns of economic and racial segregation are so key to Cleveland's revitalization problems. I was heartened a little by the white couple who talked about wanting to live in Hough and break those patterns down. Meanwhile, during the whole Crocker Park section, all I could think about is the rape that occurred a couple months ago in their parking lot. I guess I will always be perplexed by people who try to outrun crime. It can't be done. Instead of trying to find the most milquetoast community in your region, isn't it time that people say enough is enough. In my mind, pot luck dinners are a better way to deter crime than are gated communities.

Did anyone else catch it? I thought it was really good, although a little upsetting (lots of footage of exurban sprawl, brand-new cul de sac after cul de sac in Lorain County). It was beautifully shot and really looked at the cost of sprawl from a lot of different angles ... there was a considerable amount of attention on remaking the urban center in the cornfields of Westlake. The film was followed by discussions with Hunter Morrison, the head of St. Louis' Chamber of Commerce and Zaremba. Not bad, not bad. After seeing the doc, I've decided that a) I want to see it in one of the planned community forums and b) it's time to commit to keeping my retail dollars within the city of Cleveland (maybe the inner ring suburbs if I have to cheat) or spending outside of the MSA entirely. If we continue to go out to the outer ring for our purchases, it sends the message that we are willing to do so, while the exurbanites largely aren't willing to support Cleveland-based retail. So goodbye, Trader Joe's ... how I'll miss ye. Who's with me?! And meanwhile, who has advice on buying men's clothes within the City of Cleveland? I think this is going to be the hardest adjustment for me ... While I luck out in having a penchant for vintage, 60s overcoats will only get you so far. Any reasonable men's clothing options besides Gap and Kuhlman's? Is M. Lang reasonable?

We certainly could "get it" to a better degree, but I think both RTA and developers are starting to get it. It's certainly not up to the scale yet that it should be, but I think Cleveland is starting to move in this direction. A quick list of TOD "movement" over the last couple years (NOTE: I am neither in transportation nor development, so this list may not be exhaustive): - RTA's SmartCommute program, which expands the buying power of people purchasing houses within proximity to transit. - RTA hires Boston-based agency to help develop a transit-oriented development strategy. - BRT down Euclid, with specific attention to development opportunities that the bus route might create; some general rumblings about mirroring this development strategy down Clifton. - BRT/Light rail study of Pearl (or possibly State or Broadview), with heavy emphasis on how this could revitalize Old Brooklyn's retail corridors. This is perhaps particularly exciting because it is a neighborhood-driven process. I think CDCs recognizing heavy existing transit use as an asset is a crucial step. - Initial discussions of development opportunities near W. 117th Rapid Station. - W. 65th Station development. With heavy neighborhood involvement, have created a node of environmentally friendly buildings, as well as an environmentally-friendly rapid station; green principles may carry over to RTA's other transit station improvements. - W. 25th Station. Some discussions about mixed-income housing in close proximity to the Rapid Station. Definitely recognized as an amenity for nearby housing and retail along and adjacent to W. 25th. - Generates considerable foot traffic for The Avenue at Tower City. Some initial discussions of Public Square condominiums. - Flats-based stations remain an important element in plans to redevelop The East Banks. - Preliminary discussions of extending Waterfront Line along the eastern lakeshore, with specific attention to TOD potential. - Renovations at E. 55th St. stations coinciding with live-work community emerging in North Broadway neighborhood. - Discussions of renovating University Circle Rapid Station to help spur business and residential development. Buy-in from major University Circle players. - Discussions of realigning E. 120th station to catalyze development opportunities in the University Circle Arts & Culture District and Little Italy. - Formerly vacant housing replaced with new housing adjacent to E. 79th Rapid Station (Shaker Line) - Major in-fill housing project at St. Luke's Pointe; Proposed renovations of bordering E. 116th St. Rapid Station. - Shaker Square, Cleveland's premier transit-oriented neighborhood, which not mysteriously, remains the densest neighborhood within the City of Cleveland. I certainly think there are other TOD opportunities that are not being taken advantage of, that some of these projects have had considerable delays and that there needs to be more energy (and urgency) around TOD in Cleveland. But I think we do a disservice to this discussion if we don't note that there have been some considerable movements in the right direction lately. Maybe Cleveland doesn't "get it" enough, but I think it's safe to say that we get it more than we ever have before.

Opposition forms to cigarette-tax proposal Thursday, September 28, 2006 Carolyn Jack, Plain Dealer Arts Reporter (Cleveland) Plain Dealer Organized opposition to Cuyahoga County's Issue 18, a proposed cigarette-tax increase to benefit the arts, has emerged as a political action committee called Citizens Against New Taxes, led by local political consultant Joseph Rice. Issue 18, which will appear on county ballots Tuesday, Nov. 7, would raise the county cigarette tax for 10 years, generating about $20 million a year for county grants to artists and cultural institutions. Outside experts would review applications for the grants, which would have to be matched by recipients ... ... More at http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1159432371254700.xml&coll=2