8ShadesofGray

How great is that?! I for one would love to see the Cleveland Foundation invest in a high-visibility demonstration project, not unlike the wind turbine. How about creating a large-scale solar demonstration in Public Square, designed to power cutting edge street lighting around the Square? Benefits include a) moving toward reaching the 1MW goal in a highly visible locale, b) assisting the civic boosters who are currently interested in Public Square improvements and c) articulating Cleveland's historic (and hopefully current) role as an innovator; Cleveland was home to both the first electricity-generating turbine and the first electric street lights. To me, sounds like serendipity. Regardless of where the foundation concentrates its funds for this project, I'm very interested to see how it develops.

Anyone remember the "secret" codes you could use in the original SimCity to have crazy stuff happen? I don't remember the full range of catastrophes you could manage, but I do remember Godzilla rampaging across my beautiful city.

I'm on your side, Musky. Love that building. Definitely not my favorite downtown building (that honor goes to 75 Public Square ... a truly underappreciated little guy), probably doesn't crack my top five, but definitely worth renovating and preserving.

An update regarding the shooting ... the second victim, previously described as a maintenance worker, was actually another artist, a sculptor and painter by the name of John Jackson. A sample of his work, as well as a short bio are available at http://www.clevelandart.org/exhibcef/neo/html/7856693.html. Homicide victim was CSU professor and renowned photographer By Gabriel Baird, [email protected] (Cleveland) Plain Dealer August 18, 2006 One of the victims of last night's double homicide at an apartment building on Cleveland's West Side was a world-renowned photographer who had taught art at Cleveland State University for 24 years. Masumi Hayashi, 60, has won a Cleveland Arts Prize, three Ohio Arts Council awards and a Fulbright fellowship. Her work has been shown in New York, Los Angeles, London and Tokyo ... ... More at http://www.cleveland.com/newslogs/plaindealer/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_plaindealer/archives/2006_08.html#173519

Masumi was not only incredibly talented; she was also a really warm, wonderful person. I got an opportunity to work with her on a project where a bunch of local photographers were teaching Lincoln West high school students how to document their lives at school. She was great. I agree that we need to better invest in our neighborhoods, but not just on behalf of the Creative Class; I think all Cleveland's citizens deserve better than this. I'm sure the maintenance worker will be missed as well. So terrible to hear about stories like this, particularly in neighborhoods that seem like they're on the verge of something great. Such a tragedy.

Here's a cycling route that I've really enjoyed lately: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=374275 (warning: it's a little messy, as I take pretty much the same route out and back, so lots of overlapping trip leg numbers). This route gives you a great intro to Chinatown, jaunts through several of the East Side lakefront parks and a stark comparison between Bratenahl and Collinwood.

Okay, a couple blocks away, but one of my absolute favorites is the beauty in the background of this photograph - at 55th and Payne. Anyone know what the building's used for (definitely looks residential)? Sorry for the digression ... I promise not to post any more Payne Avenue questions in the Euclid Corridor thread :-)

Me too. But in the conversation I heard the other evening, it sounded like there was something more than just speculative going on now - that something was imminent for the area. I may have just misunderstood, as I think it would be unlikely that any substantial retail would move in before the ECP is complete. But my interest is totally piqued!!!

Blinker, I too have been curious about that "College Town" comment ... can't seem to find very specific details ... just that the University wants to increase students' street presence by facilitating adjacent retail hubs. The only specific info I could find was "The newest piece of the puzzle is 'College Town,' a redevelopment of the CSU area between E. 18th and E. 21st, that would include a new 2-story bookstore, a Hawthorn Suites hotel, and student housing." (http://pages.prodigy.net/karapaul/cleve.htm). But that website was last updated almost two years ago. Anyone have something a little more concrete about slated street-level projects on the south side of Euclid between 18th-ish and 21st-ish?

I just caught the IMDB list for Cleveland ... wow, that's a lot of movies (albeit, it sounds like a lot of bad ones as well). I would love to see some of those old silents from the turn of the century - especially the one of Public Square. But the one I'm really excited about is "Three Days of Rain": Six Anton Chekhov short stories set in modern day Cleveland during a three day rain storm. Anyone see it yet? MGD, this definitely sounds like it would fulfill your requirements - sounds like they focus on Cleveland, rather than convert it to another city. And drawing from Chekhov, and with Lyle Lovett in the cast, I can't imagine it will be quite as lacking in plot as Howard the Duck (but then again, it probably won't have a big snake thing coming out of the guy from Beetlejuice's throat ... I suppose no movie is perfect). http://www.threedaysofrain.com/

I totally agree with the assertion that Cleveland lacks retail options (and obviously, there is an absolute dirge available to us in the city proper), but I'm not sure I understand the methodology. He analyzed the 20 largest metropolitan areas and Cleveland was the only one without a few key retailers. But if he's basing market presence purely on number of residents (e.g. potential customers), then at #16, there are only 4 markets smaller than us and therefore only 3 markets that should be less likely to get stores than us. Granted, he did have #s for Tiffany's that delved into much smaller markets, but what about other stores? And obviously, companies base retail feasibility on a host of factors other than just number of residents. What about median age, income, density in a particular neighborhood (surely not all of the upper-crust throughout the MSA, even those that are particularly interested in the products) are going to travel to a single Tiffany's store, no matter how centrally located. We have to be able to show retailers some critical mass of people that fit their target demographics and live in relatively high density. If we really want to aggressively pursue national retailers, we should be running market and demographic analyses on dense pockets of Cleveland and inner-ring suburbs (W. 25th area, Lakewood/Edgewater, Shaker Square, the stretch from Cedar Hill to Cedar Lee and north to Coventry, etc.) and then pitching to those companies that a) don't have much competition in our area and b) whose target markets match up nicely to what we uncover. We even have a handy-dandy tool to do it: TeamNEO's REDIS (http://www.neogis.org/). Here, you can put in a Northeast Ohio address ("Search property by address") and then run a 2005 demographic profile, a 2010 demographic estimate, a consumer expenditures report and a business and workforce report, for an area as small as one radial mile. If you're an urban geek (and I assume most of us are), this is sooooo much fun (although, if you live in a rougher neighborhood, be prepared to get depressed). So, dude who's assembling all this data for Kim Crow, if you're an Urban Ohioer, share your full data set with us! Let's get somethin' started!!! I'm tired of waiting for Zara, Topman and Muji to show up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I certainly don't think it's a bad idea ... I'll even bake cupcakes if you organize a meeting. :-) I just think that the idea a) is going to be shied away from by our civic leadership, who doesn't want to rock the newly built "regionalism" boat and b) would require a great deal of acument and foresight from the far exurban/near rural elected leadership. It would require these individuals foregoing tax revenue, etc. in favor of protecting the natural amenities that drew many residents to these locations in the first place. I for one am on your page and think it's a worthwhile discussion to have, but I think we need some very savvy (elected) local champions, both in and outside of Cuyahoga County, before it would gain even an ounce of traction. So let's start educatin'!!! Blinker, I also agree with your assessment of the article. It actually reminded me of the 2004 presidential coverage, when the established media was shocked to learn that ... gasp ... exit polls are only estimates and can have substantial margins of error. Here's hoping for a 2010 upset, and in the meantime, here's hoping for some news coverage that offers a meaningful analysis instead of a rather trite examination of months-old Census data.

I agree that we need to have serious discussions about smart growth/development regulation in the region and am surprised that we haven't heard more about it, what with the civic old guard's being suddenly enamored with regionalism concepts. But most of those conversations hinge on making sure that the region as a whole has access to development, infrastructure, etc. Given our historical reluctance to cooperate across municipal lines, it seems that Cleveland's leaders are very hesitant to discuss anything that appears to draw resources toward the central city (whether those resources be education dollars, infrastructure dollars, residents or businesses). In all of the Voices & Choices discussions I've heard, I don't think development regulation has come up a single time. Meanwhile, I think smart growth strategies only get us halfway. It seems that property rights issues tend to draw strong emotions/visceral reactions from a lot of NEO'ites and Midwesterners at large (think eminent domain, residency requirements, etc.). Something tells me that there would be a citizen uproar if we set up an artificial line south of Lodi ... God forbid someone doesn't get to build a McMansion in southern Medina county. I doubt that this uproar would translate to people moving out of the region, but then again, who knows? While I'm all about creating a Cleveland-based smart growth strategy, I think our energies are best invested in strengthening school systems, business growth and amenities that will draw people back to Cuyahoga (or maybe some new people). Sigh. All and all, a pretty depressing article, even after seeing the data a while back.

Has anyone heard any news regarding Citirama? Have they announced the 12 builders (Google failed me)?

#2 looks like a detail of the Cleveland Public Auditorium/Public Hall/Convention Center. * Ooops. Just saw jar3232's post.

I know what you mean, MayDay ... this thread held lots of promise for the first few words. Oh well. Back to thinking about urban affairs. Well, the Cincy folk shouldn't have all the fun (and you know how us Clevelanders have to make it all about us :wink:) ... any suggestions for remembering the east-west roads that intersect with Ontario between 2 & 90 (memorizing our vertical streets seems a little ridiculous, given our numeric grid)? Lakeside, St. Clair, Rockwell, Superior, Euclid, Prospect, Huron, Eagle/Erie, Carnegie I wasn't feeling incredibly creative, but it at least seems timely: Let's Show Republicans Some Electoral Pollsters Have Enormous Concerns

Hmmm. I guess common experiences all around. I built streetscapes out of legos. I was also a fan of Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs. And I was a huge SimCity fan, and a little bit later, Caesar (building Roman communities, where you could actually see the townpeople walking around). I also have to credit being a latchkey kid; as a child of the 80s, I was raised by television ... I remember 227 pretty vividly. Others included One Day at a Time, Family Ties, Growing Pains, Gimme a Break, Mary Tyler Moore, Perfect Strangers, Laverne and Shirley ... not all equally urban, but when compared to my semi-rural community, they definitely had a city flair to them. And I was ALWAYS inclined toward The Jetsons; I would hypothesize that most urban nerds favored Jetsons over Flintstones as children (in retrospect, it seems like The Flintstones lived in a pretty dreary suburban subdivision ... just speculation).

Haha ... Not all of it, but certainly some of the stops. Cleveland's transit-oriented art is almost nonexistent, to date; a lot of the stops are completely void of any sense of connection to the surrounding neighborhood's offerings, history, etc. Meanwhile, I couldn't think of a lot of public art in NYC's system, and both Chicago and London's visual installments seemed largely tied to commercial advertising. So while the Metro has a long way to go, I do think it's done better than some of its counterparts. On an only semi-related note, I had heard some talk back in the day about opening up more opportunities for graffiti artists along the RTA line. In the same discussion, I heard that if existing graffiti/murals (not necessarily the taggers but the amazing and enormous graffiti art) were leveraged down the entire city-based corridor, it would be the longest graffiti installation in the country. Personally, I think that would be pretty cool.

From what I understand, just about every tax model imaginable was tested for amount of revenue raised, longevity of funding available and likely voter approval. Other cities, counties and regions have levied a variety of taxes to support arts and culture - everything from property taxes to bed taxes to rental cars. I for one hope this revenue really does shrink over time. Even as a smoker, I recognize that it is a habit I don't want to see other people take up or (myself included) continue. The good thing, however, is that tobacco tax revenue is very predictable from quarter to quarter and year to year. After a tax increase, there is usually a very short dip in revenue generated, then a large increase in revenue and then it plateaus, with a steady, very slow decline over time. The good thing about this levy is that a lot of the revenues are aimed at organizations' operating expenses. Instead of encouraging organizations to launch new programs, this allows arts and culture groups to invest in becoming more efficient organizations. Over time, investments in operations can lead to increased earned income and decreased expenses, meaning the recipients will not be as dependent on the tax revenues. I know this levy has gotten slapped around a lot, and I understand if people have ideological differences with it, but from everything I've seen, a LOT of care has been taken in reviewing these issues and in ensuring as much accountability as possible. And for those of you who are feeling like a particularly in-depth look at this process, you can check out the arts and culture investment models that the Board of Commissioners approved in 2004: www.cuyahogacounty.us/bocc/pdf/AC_Models.pdf. This will give you an idea of the types of things that might be funded and the competitive processes they would use.

Nice find, KJP. I hope they use that $80,000 public art allocation well. I know it's unfair to bring up DC's Metro (even though everyone in here does), but I've always been very impressed with their use of public art installations to really capture the histories, cultures and retail opportunities of some of the more prominent stops.

I've always liked that, too, KJP. It also is a great jumping ground for explaining Cleveland's history and why Northeast Ohio has historically differed from the rest of Ohio ... i.e. settlement by Connecticut rather than by Virginia. I also have to say that I've always liked the term "America's North Coast". Of all the slogans I've heard for Cleveland, I think this one gives Cleveland the most room to develop a brand image all of its own, rather than competing with the Midwest, other Rust Belt cities, etc.

Northeast Ohio to Make a Name for Itself Greater Cleveland Marketing Alliance Selects Agency for Regional Brand Development Greater Cleveland Growth Association CLEVELAND, July 31, 2006 - The Greater Cleveland Marketing Alliance, founded by the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland and Team Northeast Ohio (NEO), today announced that advertising and marketing firm Doner will help the Alliance brand the region to visitors, businesses, college students and young adults. Doner, the nation's largest privately held advertising and marketing agency, will lead the Alliance's brand strategy and implementation work over the next 12 months ... ... More at http://www.clevelandgrowth.com/News.aspx?id=920 _______________________________________________ Here's a look at San Antonio's CVB site: http://www.sanantoniocvb.com/ And here's Anaheim's: http://www.anaheimoc.org/ I'm not sure if these website represent the cities' "place-branding" campaigns; I do think it's odd, however, that I can't seem to locate a website for Doner ... one would think that the "nation's largest privately held advertising and marketing agency" would maintain some kind of web presence. All I could find was that BrandInsights previously worked on Jacksonville's branding: http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2001/10/08/focus1.html; while some of the language is still being used by the CVB, the city's logo has apparently changed since the article was released in late 2001 (http://www.jaxcvb.com/). Hmmmmm.

The Fund for Our Economic Future covers a 15-county region, so it extends pretty far beyond what we typically think of as the region and is well beyond the borders of our MSA. They conducted phone surveys and found that 98% of respondents living within these 15 counties identified their community as part of Northeast Ohio. The Cleveland Foundation is the largest funder of the initiative, but with 80 foundations from throughout the 15 counties, I think they're doing their best to avoid calling it Cleveland-based. I guess this is particularly importance as mid-sized cities like Akron, Canton, Kent, Lorain, etc. identify with the region but do not want to see their identity lost to "Greater Cleveland". Blech. The whole thing exhausts me to a degree. Perhaps the foundation community could galvanize the sense of regionalism in Cuyahoga County before launching a quarter-state initiative.

Yeah, I for one am going to be referring people back to that website. Beats most of the Cleveland marketing efforts I've seen to date.

Found this website that promotes to Cleveland to DFAS employees contemplating a relocation: www.clevelandsurprise.com. It's not too shabby (although the video looks a little cheesy, but still overall good). I was very pleased to see a) promotions of arts and culture amenities and b) promotion of some Cleveland neighborhoods as good places to live (instead of saying "Hey folks, move to Cleveland and reside in bustling Crocker Park).