Vincent_G

Thanks for this post, Rob. I never knew that that incident had occurred during the construction of Summit Square. I first saw the building when I was in Fort Wayne for a job interview in late 1989. I was dazzled by it, and it's been one of my favorite buildings anywhere ever since. I just happened on the West Central neighborhood later that same day, and all the visual excitement convinced me that maybe I could enjoy living in Fort Wayne after 13 years in Chicago. I ended up staying in Fort Wayne for just seven years, but my decision to move there is one I have not a single regret about. People think it's weird when they hear me say it, but I miss Fort Wayne easily as much--I think more--than I ever missed Chicago. I guess it has to do with where I was when I was there.

Thanks for the Elmwood pictures, Dan. I sure love that street. One of the best and most unusual friendships of my life started one summer night several years back right outside The Spot. You never know who you might run into there! The side streets off Elmwood also make for some great urban hiking and surprises. For example, I remember turning east on Bird one time and coming across that Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house that is, I think, one block, maybe two, off Elmwood.

Thanks, Rob. Your pictures make me homesick for Fort Wayne.

At the level of an individual family, fleeing to a school district shielded by various means from the effects of poverty makes sense, but a metropolitan system of have and have-not school districts certainly does not make sense.

I would love to have seen light rail along Euclid as well but am still excited about the transformational powers of the BRT line. As mentioned above, the section from E. 17th, where Playhouse Square meets Cleveland State, to E. 55th is more or less complete, and the No. 6 Euclid buses are using the new center platforms in that stretch. The other two buses that travel Euclid are still stopping at the curb. If you drive along this part of the street, the change from the potholed Euclid Ave. of old is startling, and I think that the dedicated bike lanes from University Circle to CSU will provide the best and safest route for those of us who are farther from the lake. For now, drivers are lining up with a stripe on the pavement to bring the buses close enough to the platforms. In the near future, an ingenious docking arm, designed specifically for the Euclid Corridor, will guide the 60-ft.-long vehicles of the Silver Line, as well as the standard 40-footers of the 7, 9, and 32 lines, into place at the stations. RTA is planning to open the entire line in October of 2008, which would be a few months ahead of schedule. There have been unexpected delays beyond its control west of Playhouse Square and on the Cleveland Clinic campus.

I think the peak for the cities you are talking about was a little later--maybe around 1930. Gary was not even established until 1906. I only think this point is worth making because many of our beat-down cities have exuberant hopeful-looking buildings that were still going up in the 20s. I've never been to Springfield but have always been curious about it. In these pictures, Springfield shows a lot of urban-renewal damage, but it seems to have held onto more than many other places.

I think that Dick Feagler is curmudgeonly, yes, but he is not closed off to new ideas. That disclaimer notwithstanding, what I found most disturbing about his article on Sunday was his view of women as people who are interested in nothing but shopping and eating. He mentioned one woman, whom he regarded as being very sophisticated, who said she'd be willing to live downtown, but then wondered what she would do when her husband was at work? Eat? Well, what about going for a walk, reading a book, volunteering at an animal shelter, going to school, or getting a paying job herself? And are conventions really attended only by men who bring along wives who do nothing but shop while they're attending conventions with their husbands? Don't a lot of women attend conventions on their own nowadays, and don't many of them stay home and attend to their own lives while their husbands are off conventioning? I would like to see more retail downtown as well, but not merely to cater to visiting droves of reckless consumers. Really, what kind of city do we want this one to be?

Today I was sitting by Market Square eating lunch when I overheard a woman, who may have been homeless and who almost certainly was alone in the world, ask two people she didn't know if she could have coffee with them, in the way she used to have coffee with her mother before she died. Her voice broke, and she said that nothing has been right since her mother died. All my standard defenses came into play, but today they were not strong enough to completely insulate me. I usually can't feel the emotions of strangers, but her loneliness was so profound that I felt it and still feel it in the pit of my stomach. The people she asked were polite to her but told her they couldn't help. I've been wondering what I will say to her if she ever approaches me. Today I didn't address her situation. I am grateful that we still have cities with public streets and places where all people are permitted to go.

I love the Big Apol.

It seems that almost everything is pink at Mizner Park.

Thanks to Westlake's having a thoughtful planning director and planning staff, as well as an enlightened developer, Crocker Park is much, much better than it might have been. Both comprehensively and in detail, the project has gotten a lot of attention, and that is apparent. Still, lifestyle centers chill me, partly because of the monolithic ownership and control and partly because they are so good at simulating and standing in for what they really are not. I will be interested in seeing what comes of Stark's plans for the Warehouse District in Cleveland. The Warehouse District is already very much up and running, and there is no danger of its streets being pulled from the public realm. There will be no choice but to interweave with the existing multifaceted neighborhood and city that surrounds the new development. Westlake, which is multifaceted but in a more limited, use-separated way, didn't have these kinds of connections to work with. I'm glad that Crocker Park is in Cuyahoga County. We have to keep that ship sailing.

It is sad that the building will no longer be open to the public, but its takeover by the university for student housing is certainly not all bad news. Having a growing university on the edge of its downtown is something that Akron should be very happy about. The newly expanded and recently reopened Akron Art Museum and the rebuilt and expanded downtown library are both within spitting distance of Quaker Square, so it is not only the university that is active in this district. Downtown Akron has a lot going for it, despite the many mistakes that were made there in the urban renewal era. It is only a few more good decisions away from becoming a happening place once again, which, one way or another, Quaker Square would still be an interesting part of.

Thanks for the post. I love this part of town. In my definition, Duck Island does not go east of the Abbey Ave. bridge, so I would say that all your shots from the square-headed townhouses on down are in Tremont or the South Side or Lincoln Heights, depending on what you want to call it.

That is a very interesting thread. McCook is somewhat similar to Cedar Center outside Cleveland, which is split between two municipalities and now being redeveloped. The era of gradual transition from streetfront retail to the massive-scale auto-oriented retail of today is a time we should give more historical importance to.

I just came back from a brief visit to SLC, where my sister and brother-in-law have lived for a dozen or so years. I find that, as with any city of any complexity, it is hard to describe Salt Lake in a few short paragraphs. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Moshe Safdie-designed public library which opened a few years ago. I find it to be one of the most spectacular public buildings I have ever seen. The views of the mountains from within are spellbinding. The opening of the TRAX light-rail system really changed the city for the better. The system is well used and convenient and adds an element to the public realm that just can't be found in trainless cities. Even though the suburbs that are spreading out across the valley floor are as disturbing as suburbs anywhere, the older SL neighborhoods are full of beautiful old houses, many of which seem to be miniature versions of houses you would find in the Midwest. The Mormon presence is obviously everywhere, though the church seems to be struggling to maintain its influence in the city proper, as immigration from other parts of the country and world have added remarkably to the region's diversity in the past few years. The wide streets and vast scale of the downtown are a little hard on the pedestrian, but there is a lot of interesting stuff happening there.

Instead, we see it here in an outer-city slum.

It has a bleak feel, but the bones look good. I've always liked the name of that town.