Avogadro

That's a sweet ride you've got there. I especially like the sidepull brakes. Rivendell reader, eh? Regarding Joseph's:

Yes, but that still will require taking out or redoing holes. Bioswales and wetlands require land, and changing hydrology will require a change in the topography, especially since the Chagrin runs right down the middle of the course, and the entire course drains down into the River. Putting up narrow levees won't do the trick. [EDIT: Really, I don't mean to be snarky, but you can't argue with gravity. If the Chagrin ran alongside Fowler's Mill (similar to how the Rocky River runs alongside Big Met), then bioswales, retention basins, and buffer strips might work. But, the beauty and challenge of Fowler's Mill comes from having the Chagrin right in the freaking middle. Great for a golf course, hell on water quality.]

So, I'm going to treat this as a serious suggestion. Channeling and treating the runoff first means that you have create a wide buffer along the Chagrin River. That means taking out or drastically reconstructing no fewer than six holes, and that's with the assumption that a 100 foot buffer is sufficient (it's not). Would the course still be recognizable as a "gem of a course" or a "Pat Dye classic"? Fact of the matter is if there were enough golfers playing Fowler's Mill, it would not have been for sale either to the Township or to Peterson beforehand. Sinking $5 million into a underused course would be throwing good money after bad.

Dayton, Toledo and Akron get no love :( I'm sure that if Hts121 decided to list "5 things that make Ohio great", he would have listed Dayton, Toledo, and Akron instead of the Three Cs. ;-)

1: There are far too many golf courses trying to get business from far too few golfers; I can get a weekend morning tee time at most area courses on a day's notice or even as a walk-on). 2: Even with the best golf course maintenance practices, if you want a green, playable course, you will have fertilizer runoff. There is no getting around that, unless you use so little fertilizer that golfers begin to complain (and subsequently stay away). Money is not the limiting factor: biology, ecology, and chemistry are.

There is some understandable confusion. The historic towpath trail terminated at what will become Canal Basin Park; it never extended all the way to the Lakefront (and certainly didn't extend through Whiskey Island). However, for federal funding purposes, the Lake Link Trail (and the bridge that would span the Norfolk Southern line on Whiskey Island) is included under Towpath Trail funding. Regardless, there will be a Canal Basin Park that is connected to the Towpath Trail, and there will be the Lake Link Trail that will terminate at the Coast Guard Station.

ccars, you're a student (EDIT: or person in their early-mid 20's), right? I am guessing that you not only dig on Jane Jacobs and Andres Duany but also a little Richard Florida, based on your posts. Let me tell you something: not all development is about (or should be about) hewing blindly to what they say by throwing down streetcars and eschewing all single-story buildings or making all development geared to attracting "the creative class." Most of the time, you need to make sure development meets the needs of the neighborhood. I (and fortunately, most everybody who has a real stake in this instead of armchair planners) think this can meet the needs of the neighborhood. I apologize to you all for taking this thread off track.

No, the improvements are not all subsidized housing. There is a remarkable amount of market-rate housing, notably between E 30th and E 40th and between Cedar and Community College. Likewise east of E 55th between Cedar and Scovill. Most of the CMHA residences have either been recently (and substantially) renovated, built new, or will be razed and built new. Regardless, even (nay, especially) folks in subsidized housing need access to fresh food. Seriously, folks, before making assumptions about the neighborhood, learn a little something about it. Isn't that what Jane would do?

1: There is an undeniable need for fresh fruit, vegetables, and unprocessed food to be made available to this part of town. The market exists for that, but the retail space hasn't. 2: Anybody who has just driven through the intersection hasn't seen this block-by-block improvements that have and will continue to be made throughout the neighborhood north of Woodland. This is not a place that should be bulldozed or left fallow. 3: There is a need for a project that can lead to the redevelopment of the area south of Woodland and east of E. 55th. 4: You have incredible assets in the E 55th St. rapid station under renovation, the Food Terminal to the west, and possibly the Opportunity Corridor to the south. 5: Most all new development that has gone before City Planning in the last several years have been for buildings that are either right up against the right-of-way or have a single row of parking on the front. See: Arts District in UC, Midtown proposals along Euclid, Third Federal along Broadway, the CMHA HQ down on Kinsman, etc. The last "suburban style" development I can recall was Church Square and the Hough McMansions, and that was nearly 20 years ago. 6: The concept plan that Maingate has shows is consistent with an urban style of development, down to having the vast majority of parking in the back. 7: Jesus, people, you have to have some parking available. And, while there may be an oversupply of retail space and parking throughout the city (I think this is actually debatable, but not for this thread.), it doesn't exist here. 8: And, this is just a concept plan. It will be up to Maingate, City Planning, and a slew of other oversight entities to ensure that this will be an asset to the neighborhood and the city. (On Preview: The nhlink map is grossly out of date. WECO area has been subsumed by Maingate, Clark Metro and Stockyards (among many others) no longer exist. Famicos has absorbed many of the eastern CDCs.)

I for one would find it extremely useful to only have a single Downtown Retail Thread to monitor so that I can correct misconceptions, provide fact-based retorts to fuzzy-headed-wouldn't-it-be-grand-to-revive-Higbee's daydreams, and otherwise crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and hear the lamentations of their women.

The old St. Michael's/St. Alexis Hospital site is where the Fast Track Cycling folks want to build their velodrome. I don't know who owns the parking lot that you are talking about, but for a market, it is a significantly worse site. It's not on a major intersection like the intended site on 55th & Woodland, and there are fewer households within walking distance. By the bye, Burten Bell Carr CDC is working pretty damn hard in the neighborhood north of Woodland, and there has been significant reinvestment in the public housing on the part of CMHA. Let's not call that neighborhood "nothingness". Well... judging from the article, since there are no funds that have yet been dedicated for its development, it's kinda far, but since there seem to be the right folks involved, it could happen.

If you take a look at who goes to the West Side Market (especially near the end of the day), the folks who shop there look a lot more like folks who live near E. 55th and Woodland than those who live in Cleveland Heights. Now, imagine if there was a similar market at 55th and Woodland. Don't you think crossing a 5 lane street (but with improvements for pedestrians) would be a significant improvement?

Banyan Tree and Room Service are both great, but I don't think they have the cash to hire WRL, nor to pay the per s.f. costs for the space. I'm thinking of a consortium of museum shops which would act like a downtown annex to University Circle and draw folks to take the HealthLine down to CMA, CMNH, Severance Hall, CBG, etc.

This is what Crain's Book of Lists- 2010 tells us. Their geography apparently includes points west including Sandusky. Obviously, venues that host multiple events and park systems have a leg-up in the numbers race: Largest Leisure Attractions (ranked by 2008 attendance) 1. Cleveland Metroparks- 19,559,861 2. Metro Parks serving Summit County- 4,500,000 3. Cedar Point- 3,198,000 4. Lorain County Metroparks- 2,600,000 5. Lake Metroparks- 2,280,000 6. Quicken Loans Arena- 2,000,000 7. Nautica Entertainment Complex- 1,800,000 8. Kalahari Resort & Convention Center- 1,400,000 My guess is that Positively Cleveland would have the numbers you are looking for.

RTA says proposed Cleveland Warehouse District transit center would include residential and business development Published: Friday, July 16, 2010, 5:00 AM Updated: Friday, July 16, 2010, 7:25 AM Karen Farkas, The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio -- RTA hopes to build a Warehouse District transit center tied to retail, residential and business development. The project, which could draw on federal funds targeted for such developments, would be part of a new neighborhood promoting the use of public transportation to stimulate economic growth. ... For the rest of the article, see: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/07/rta_says_proposed_warehouse_di.html

MOCA Cleveland design by Farshid Moussavi of FOA calls for a multifaceted gem clad in glass and shiny black stainless steel Published: Thursday, July 15, 2010, 10:15 AM Updated: Thursday, July 15, 2010, 11:21 AM Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The new Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, for which designs will be made public today at a meeting of the Euclid Corridor Design Review Committee, is the latest manifestation of a familiar story: Yet another cultural institution is attempting to brand itself with an architecturally spectacular building-as-logo. At 34,000 square feet, the building, designed by the internationally renowned architect Farshid Moussavi, of Foreign Office Architects in London, England, is a variation on a theme that has included everything from Peter Eisenman's Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, to Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum branch in Bilbao, Spain. Moussavi's design calls for a four-story faceted gem clad in tinted and transparent glass and shiny black stainless steel, which rises from a hexagonal footprint at the base to a square-shaped gallery floor on the top level. ... For the rest of the article, visit: http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2010/07/moca_cleveland_design_by_farsh.html

ccars, let me refer you to McCleveland's sage advice:

Jesus, this isn't like shutting down point-source polluters such as industry; the CSO issue is a significantly more complex issue to deal with and it will take tens of years to solve. Fortunately, NEORSD is all over that stuff. As far as Akron getting its water from Cleveland, as you move upriver (and uphill) from Lake Erie, it gets significantly more expensive due to energy costs to pump water south rather than pull it from Lake Rockwell. Also, as you use more energy, you throw more pollutants into the air (including mercury from coal-fired power plants which, HURRAH, goes into the watershed). The More You Know. ------------------*

Zinc is indeed open for lunch throughout the work week.

Well, there are a plethora of choices along E. 4th and other places such as Zinc. Besides, Crop isn't going to the other side of the moon; it's a 5-minute (at most) drive or cab ride to Ohio City.

Look here, PR, don't make me open up this here can of whup-@ss on you. But, I can elaborate. Not all spicy is hot, and not all hot is spicy. Tex Mex (which I grew up with) is definitely as punch describes, and it is much heavier. Now, there are many varieties of so-called Mexican cuisine. Tex-Mex, for example, is derived from Jalisco-style barbecue, then it takes a crazy turn down Dairy Street. The old Boca had much more in common with Tex-Mex than most other places I've seen around here, so it would have more heat-based spice. I have no idea what Roseangel is going for, and the level and even type of spiciness, but Mexican food isn't generally bland. It should be spicy, but it doesn't have to be hot.

I forget how often folks visit Playhouse Square to watch sports, or University Circle to get falling down drunk, or the Towpath Trail and Wendy Park to hit on wasted chicks. Good thing all of the folks who work as planners and community developers are just sitting on their thumbs or bending over backwards to turn Cleveland into one big gin joint, offering nothing but booze and sports. Nothing personal.

Actually, it's about both. To wit: A huge part of the panel's job (if not its primary job) will be to round up private funding for the public spaces, and in order to get wealthy folks and corporations to open up their pocketbooks, you need folks on the panel with these connections.

Huh!

How cheering! It's good to see that the parking lot between the City Club building and 668 finally get the acclimation and resources it so clearly deserves. ;-) (Preview: Dammit, 3231 beat me to the snark.)