Avogadro

Oh, absolutely. You can certainly point to the proliferation of hydro-power, the state park system, and recreational facilities all over the city as being part of his positive legacy. Heck, you could look at the design of the parkways (though Long Island) and have to be impressed.* Do you think that the Caro biography was a fair one? *[EDIT: However, there is credible evidence to prove that the low clearances beneath bridges along the parkway were specifically designed to prevent buses from connecting the urban poor (read: minorities) to the state parks and beaches.] [EDIT to the EDIT: I think that MTS slipped in his last comment right as I was editing my own. Either that, or my special "IGNORE MTS" killfilter finally kicked in.]

I utterly second Robert Caro's The Power Broker. Anybody who wants to know how we got to this freeway-based society needs to read this. Regarding Kunstler, once you've read Geography of Nowhere, you need not look at his other books, which I consider to be lesser-siblings (annoying and louder mimics) of the eldest book. I have no idea how anybody can read one of Mumford's books, much less more than one. Again, although I agree with Mumford on many points, he too suffered the same syndrome as Kunstler to take one idea and pound away at it mercilessly. The horse is dead, Lewis: put down that cudgel. For something gentler and more pleasant, read Witold Rybczynski's Home and City Life.

If you haven't read The Power Broker, you really should. It wasn't that Moses was crazy; rather, he was masterful at manipulating the regulatory process, was appalled by the wartime and post-war condition of NY (which was vastly different from what you see today), and was utterly single-minded in the strategies that he used. Fella had the biggest hammer anybody has ever wielded to shape cities, and he used that hammer to nail highways, enormous public parks (mainly swimming pools) and anything big and concrete that he could build all over NYC, Long Island, and parts of upstate.

No, not you MTS. Reading a thread with you on "ignore" would be like driving cross-country without encountering a single Waffle House, "massage parlor", or outlet store mall. Even though you'd never in your right mind stop at one, you would still have the uneasy feeling that something was terribly amiss. :-)

The ignore mod hasnt been updated in over a year so it is not likely to be coming back anytime soon. That's really too bad. I'm missing being able to ignore others very much today.

You can still edit your posts by hitting the "Modify" link at the upper right hand corner of each of your posts. Relatedly, I just noticed that the "ignore" feature no longer exists due to the update. That's really too bad, but that's a discussion for a different thread.

According to Dante himself at my last block club meeting, Dante (the restaurant) was opening in May or June at the latest. Grumpy's is always a good backup to Lucky's.

I have a cat. But yes, the area west of I-71 along Scranton all the way from Duck Island south to MetroHealth is considered Tremont, and some part of it are rougher than others. However, if you are looking for the more walkable part of the neighborhood, I assume that one would look for the part of Tremont bordered by 490, 90, and the Cuyahoga. Based on police brevity reports and conversations with Second District officers, there is relatively little violent crime in the neighborhood, and a below-average (for the city) level of car break-ins. The latter can be taken care of (mostly) if you have a garage (which you should be able to get for the price you are mentioning). Tremont has gotten a bad rap regarding crime generally, but that is not to dismiss RnR's concerns or the concerns of anybody who has been a victim. Over my eight years in Tremont, I've had one house break-in (my bad: didn't lock the deadbolt) and one car break-in (nothing stolen, but a hassle to deal with the mess). My female friends in the neighborhood tend to be comfortable walking around at night by themselves. In fact, they tend to laugh when offered a walk or ride home. They could be hardened, but then again, I've not heard of any of my folks being victimized in the neighborhood for a very long time. There are part of Tremont that are less noisy; if you are a block from Professor, Starkweather, or Literary, you likely won't encounter any ruckus. Tremont Place Lofts is fairly off the beaten pub path, although units right on W. 7th may get some car stereo noise in the summer. I'm also available for messaging, if need be.

BK, where do you live and how is CH the "middle of the eastside"? I agree there could be strong draw for art movies and general releases in that area. Those theatres will spawn other restaurants, small shops and neighborhood needs. Ah, are you really arguing that the corner of Cedar and Lee cannot be considered the middle of the east side? That intersection is almost at the geographic center of the ring of highways circling the east side. Anyway, for folks who live out west (say, past Lakewood), I don't think that anybody can argue that it's a minor hardship to go to the Cedar Lee or the Cinematheque.

I usually loathe a conspiracy theory, but I believe that in some cases, congregations that were led by particularly activist pastors (those that buck the diocese party line) were targeted to lose their churches. Again, this is only based on my own observations, but out of the ten or so churches that I've attended over the years, the ones that did not stay in lock-step with the diocese were the ones eliminated (even against the suggestions made by the clusters to remain open).

There aren't that many folks there so it won't be complicated to find somebody who can give you that information; just call their direct line and explain what you want: http://www.downtownclevelandalliance.com/staff.asp

I'm looking at a Corps of Engineers map showing soundings and channel width throughout the navigation channel. The section where FC proposes to "straighten" the river is presently dredged to 23'-26' specifically for deep-channel shipping, and it lies within the federal designation for the channel itself. Punch, it would absolutely take 3 years for USACE to undertake studies, public meetings, and all the other regulatory fooferall needed to make this kind of change. And, let's pretend that FC could shorten the process. One of the reasons that Collision Bend is it's present size and configuration is to provide a margin of safety as the ore carriers make that starboard tack upriver (or port tack downriver). When the wind is whipping up the Valley and the current is strong (both conditions that take place during and after a particularly heavy storm), both forces act to push boats north towards the shoreline. Since there is a parking lot there, it isn't that big of a deal. If there was a large, multistory structure built on piers there...

Yet another library ranking system, and yet another set of wins for Ohio: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6635796.html Five star libraries (Ohio has 14 out of 85): Cleveland Public Library Columbus Metropolitan Library Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library Cleveland Heights-University Heights PL Shaker Heights Public Library Upper Arlington Public Library Worthington Public Library Way Public Library (Perrysburg) Wickliffe Public Library New Carlisle Public Library Perry Public Library Centerburg Public Library Grand Valley Public Library (Orwell) Wornstaff Memorial Public Library (Ashley) There are also several representatives on the 4 and 3 star lists, to give Ohio 31 out of 256 "starred" libraries.: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6635248.html

I'm assuming that's what's implied. Anyone that doesnt directly live in tremont. That's the implication: specifically folks who come in from the suburbs on the pub-crawl buses. Nothing quite like sitting at the bar in Prosperity's as the hired bus unloads a few dozen "WOO!ers". On a more pleasant note, Restaurant Dante is tentatively scheduled for a May opening, and it will feature a warm-weather courtyard in the back (you can see one of the entrances off of Literary), an all-weather gazebo in the courtyard, and a meat curer in the old vault (if I remember correctly). Price points will be similar to Lolita, and we seem to have yet another splendid Happy Hour option.

Shaq hasn't twittered anything about the trade, so I concur that the deal is nonexistent. Either that, or Shaq has suddenly developed his heretofore-nonexistent ability to not be chatty.

*takes a deep breath* If you had driven on I-490 while the Innerbelt bridge was closed, you would know what a nightmare it was for not only westbound motorists to go from the westside across I-490 onto one entrance ramp to I-77 north and then back to I-90 east, but you would also see that the detour effectively kept Tremonters from using the W 7th street entrance to the highway to go towards the eastside (one had to wait upwards of 30 minutes just.to.get.on.I-490 because you had to cross two lanes of stopped traffic to get to E 55th. Going up Commercial Hill to get to Carnegie and Ontario was likewise a burden since the Lorain Carnegie Bridge was also utterly congested. Then agan, your opinion on this topic is well known to us all.

I don't really understand this argument. Certainly cable-stayed bridges have been built in cold weather environments with few reported problems. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakim_Bunker_Hill_Bridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oresund_bridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhivopisny_Bridge

Scott Wolstein site on Flats east bank is second choice for medical mart Posted by Jim Nichols/Plain Dealer Reporter February 04, 2009 22:00PM Developer Scott Wolstein's plan for building a new Cleveland convention center and medical mart on the Flats' east bank has become the fallback site if the now-favored downtown mall location proves to be unworkable. The Flats site was a late addition to what had been a two-way contest to host the dual facility -- Wolstein proposed it publicly only last month. But it gained ground this week after the Moreland Hills developer traveled to Chicago to show his plans to Merchandise Mart Properties Inc., the company that will build and operate the facility. http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/02/scott_wolstein_site_on_flats_e.html

Odin bless that sweet woman who is singlehandedly saving the planet by shopping at Wild Oats and recycling amidst the rest of us non-Wild Oats shoppers and degenerate refuse non-separators.

Good decision! AAAAAA+++++++++ WOULD CHOOSE CURRENT SITE AGAIN!!111!1eleventy

I had a different reaction from my brother, who hadn't been in Ohio City since 2004, and he was really thrilled to see what was happening along W 25th. He nearly fell off of his barstool at Bar Cento when I told him about the impending addition of apartments to the United Bank Building.

I think that it might just be grading for parking; I don't recall anything other than a parking lot proposed for that site.

I have been texting significantly more recently, and find it useful for many of the above situations, but also for when I need to make sure somebody has fairly accurate information (a phone number or address or somesuch). It's also great for coordinating groups of folks instead of making lots of phone calls.

I see that those site plans include a cap over the Innerbelt at Carnegie, as well as a new E. 27th St. between Prospect and Carnegie.

I'd use the sidewalks, except that the walks are not wide enough for a cyclist to pass a pedestrian, much less pass a cyclist coming from the other direction. At least it's safer to use Abbey than it is to go down W. 3rd and up Commercial Hill or take Scranton (EEEK!). Remember years and years ago when ODOT briefly considered building not only an iconic bridge, but one that included crossings for pedestrians and cyclists? Good times...