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Does anyone know what exactly they're doing along washington street in front of the Plaza building? I was really digging the fact that that they're fixing up the sidewalks and what not... then all of a sudden the whole street is torn up!

^ Ah, my bad. I'm not familiar with that territory! But I know what you're talking about.

I will also agree with everything KJP says, and the report is accurate. The one major thing I didn't see on that report, however, is the fact that this requires the NS trains to be run on the CSX mainline. Particularly, the part that goes over the cuyahoga valley. CSX has an equal number of trains, maybe more, than NS already has running on their tracks. The dispatchers and yardmasters in the area have the competence of toddlers -- they can't handle their own trains on time. To add to this mess, immediately east of that overpass that goes over the valley, the two tracks bottleneck into single track. It only lasts for one mile, and goes under five bridges that the railroad refuses to widen. Imagine best buy on the day after thanksgiving, but only one door is working. It's a combination of the aforementioned hard-headedness and the fact that the immediate delays would cost them millions. They can't see the big picture. In Ashtabula, CSX and NS intersect with each other. They don't even physically operate on the same tracks, there's just a diamond where the two tracks cross over each other. The dispatchers fight like children over who gets track time, and often times intentionally hold up each other's trains to spite each other. They obviously couldn't share 12.5 miles of normal railroad... let alone this 12.5 miles! Again. Impossible.

I wouldn't say I'm "captain railroad" haha, but I work for a class 1 railroad. The short answer is, the thought of relocating is impossible. The railroads have a very hard-headed approach to stuff like this -- their attitude is that they've been there for hundreds of years and they have no intentions of moving. I've seen trains derail because the tracks are built on top of a swamp and/or through a drainage area. The company will spend obscene amounts of money to rebuild, only to have another disaster in a few years. This is of course all aside from the fact that we're talking about a main line. This isn't a secondary route, and it's not that they don't have options to detour... It would just cost them millions of dollars in revenue because of delays. Here's an example... last year the average price to move one ton of coal was $67.50. That's actually pretty impressive (low) when you think about it. A decent sized coal train (130 cars) weighs in anywhere between 16,000 and 20,000 TONS. Each train generates close to/over $1M in income. Coal is almost the cheapest thing we ship! And when it's late to wherever it's going, the railroads pay HEFTY fines. Last fall there was a pretty major derailment in Painesville that shut down one of the railroads. It took them almost 4 days to extinguish the fire, evacuate the people from their homes, clear the mess away from the main line, and do a half-ass job of rebuilding it so they could move trains thru at 10mph. Rumors are that the delays alone cost the company close to $40M, and trains were parked as far away as Chicago because they couldn't handle them. Again, I'm not a professional on this subject, but I think I've seen enough of it that I can say with confidence that those tracks aren't moving!

Like the brilliant individual the other day, that parked a brand new land rover RIGHT in front of the P2 parking garage entrance on Washington. It made me want to start a riot... prolly could've flipped the thing over myself tho. haha...

I will agree that maybe I'm a little bit handicapped with my creative side when it comes to stuff like this... but I'm just remembering how when phase 5 was built, everybody bitched that it wasn't friendly or inviting on the street level. Just looking at this building, I'm having a REALLY hard time seeing how it could be made to have the retail stores, restaurants, etc. that we all know the neighborhood could use.

And not to be negative or anything... but after seeing it in person, if this building was to be rehabed, it would need a TON of work. And I'm sure the layout of the building(s) are nowhere near what the stonebridge developers have in mind. Don't get me wrong. It'd be cool to have something historic, but I don't think it's very practical at all. Just my opinion!

Okay, well, I took a couple from my balcony... they didn't turn out as great as I thought they would... so I got carried away a little bit. Sorry for the low quality pics (my cell phone is the only camera I have right now, my digital cam isn't here with me) Here we go... Front of the building on Center st. Washington Ave. side. Front, again. Awning/loading docks on the corner of Center/Winslow North side of building, I'm facing east towards Center. Around back. I had my arm thru the fence to take these pics. I thought about climbing over it but that's probably not a good idea wearing gym shorts and flip flops.

^ I will go take one, brb...

Yes, I RSVPed to go tonight, and I'll be there as long as work doesn't call me in. I should be okay. You can't miss me. I'm the 6' 7" guy with a goatee, if you see me down there intoduce yourself, I'm not shy! edit: My name is Jeff btw.

I got in and saw the place, and I think it was pretty cool. I'm not a huge fan of the Marti gras style masks on the walls, either... but I also think the 2 story pizza oven was kind of neat. I think the whole layout and how everything flowed from one area into another was really well done. I would definitely say that the 'diorama' style sculpture of Cleveland MORE than made up for anything that seemed a little bit tacky. When you see it, i think you'll agree. All the seats, bar stools, tables, countertops, and even the cocktail glasses had a VERY modern design. The place has a very comfy, casual feel about it. The prices were a little bit steep... but the convenience factor offsets that cost in my mind. If i was planning on partying down there, I'd probably pre-game it in my condo. I'm interested to see what the others think!

Haha... you probably could, there are so many more of you! And I didn't pick the 9pm start time, I'm just doing what I can to spread the word. That's bad news about those power outages... especially bad news for me. That salt water reef tank might have to be put on hold until the problem gets resolved. I'm not quite sure how I'll explain the empty 125 gallon fish tank to visitors... Feel free to swing by on friday. If it's not past your bed time, that is! :-D

At the risk of being off topic... After tonight's spontaneous "power outtage" party in the lobby, we've set up another one for Friday at 9pm. I know a handful of residents browse here, this is for them. Everyone is invited, bring food, drinks, or just yourself. Come see what all the noise was all about :drunk: :-D oookay... back on topic...

this is the first I've heard of it. I've got it set to record tonight...

Sad, but true. I feel your pain. I'm moving into my condo in a couple weeks :(