KJP

I don't see a future for Burke. Visit the peak oil thread to see why... http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2706.0 And unless we do something dramatic policy reform within the next 20-30 years regarding oil conservation and, to a lesser extent, the development of alternative fuels, I don't see much of a future for Hopkins either. That is, unless we're willing to ante up $10,000 for transcontinental or trans-oceanic flights.

Regarding Bratenahl, see also the first six listings in my earlier post: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=12575.msg178668#msg178668

Maybe they should change the name of the Quadrangle to the "Keg-n-Quarter"? (Perhaps us Clevelanders older than 35 will get that)

As an aside, Corna/Price say that residents at their Stonebridge development benefit from having two parks within walking distance -- the oxbow park (oa whatever it's called, next to the Center Street bridge) and the much larger Settlers Landing park across the river.

Thanks. Just remember, when you chant "light rail" -- be sure to add the pre-fix "Electric light rail!"

Here's another thing that was kicked around at the last stakeholders meeting, based on our speaker from Arlington County, VA. ... A commuter rail service with limited stops on the existing NS line, with a parallel streetcar line added on Detroit Avenue through Lakewood. With traffic signal preemption, a streetcar could make it through Lakewood much more quickly than existing bus service (although a bus could similarly be equipped for signal preemption). Anyway, I thought you all should know that a streetcar was brought up, and Lakewood city officials were the ones who suggested the idea.

That's six days after I get back from visiting five European countries in 16 days. I hope to still have my accent from England -- and my tan -- to show off. Here's a thought: Would anyone be interested in gathering in my building's party room (next to the indoor pool!) that evening and watch some video of my travels?

And I was just trying to stir up some trouble. HAHAHA

I like the Root Road site, too. The east side of the road has some vacant land and is within a short walk from a decent-sized apartment complex. From a railroad operations perspective, it's a superior site since it's at the west end of a double track segment. So you put station platforms on each of the two tracks, and since it's at the end of the double track segment, there's little worry about a waiting freight train blocking access to one side of the station site.

They may be related subjects, but I think they should be kept as separate threads, IMHO

Unfortunately, the eastbound Lake Shore hasn't been on-time much since the rescheduling and the addition of significant new schedule "padding." Even when it arrives Cleveland on time, it loses an hour or more east of Cleveland. Recent departure data can be found by checking "Train Status" at the home page of www.amtrak.com

A Sheffield Lake stop could be at any of the locations you mentioned. An Avon/Avon Lake station would most likely be at SR83. Westlake/Bay locations could be at the RTA Park-n-Ride at Columbia Road (to save $$), but Bay officials would prefer that it be at Dover Center Road to benefit from/by their development of a mixed-use corridor along Dover Center. Rocky River's would most likely be at the historic station downtown. Lakewood officials prefer their station to be at Belle Park, just north of Lakewood Center North. But if a dual-mode diesel/electric self-propelled train is used, it could operate more like a light-rail service and have multiple station stops in Lakewood. West 117th seems to be a favored spot by Cleveland city planners, who envision a street lined with new, mixed-use development (especially on the site of the JD Byrider car lot). I prefer the West Boulevard station site to allow connections with the Red Line. But if the self-propelled rail car is used instead of a locomotive-hauled train, it could operate into Tower City Center on the Red Line tracks and serve any of the stations between West Blvd and Tower City (or beyond!).

You might be interested in some of these places.... ___________________ Just a few of the condos available at Bratenahl Place on the lakefront (bikepaths go into downtown Cleveland, or University Circle, with frequent transit on the #39 to downtown): http://realtyone.realliving.com/Property/Details.aspx?PropID=5643855 http://realtyone.realliving.com/Property/Details.aspx?PropID=5208229 http://realtyone.realliving.com/Property/Details.aspx?PropID=5516669 http://realtyone.realliving.com/Property/Details.aspx?PropID=3935073 http://realtyone.realliving.com/Property/Details.aspx?PropID=5950768 http://realtyone.realliving.com/Property/Details.aspx?PropID=4306437 ___________________ Just a few available condos in the same building on the lake in Euclid (check out some of the stunning views!): http://realtyone.realliving.com/Property/Details.aspx?PropID=5658803 http://realtyone.realliving.com/Property/Details.aspx?PropID=5171409 http://realtyone.realliving.com/Property/Details.aspx?PropID=5324376 ___________________ Near the lake, in Eastlake (but you may be downwind of the CEI coal-fired powerplant!): http://realtyone.realliving.com/Property/Details.aspx?PropID=5923452 http://realtyone.realliving.com/Property/Details.aspx?PropID=4198324 ___________________ Or, do some of your own seaching at http://realtyone.realliving.com/ If you like beaches, one of the best on Lake Erie is Mentor Headlands, but Mentor (pronounced men-ter) is a typical, white-bread suburban area. I just pass through Mentor on my way to the headlands. Euclid has a better variety of people, with a number of Eastern European and Russian accents in evidence. East 185th, at the border of Cleveland and Euclid, has a large variety of bars, restaurants and nightspots. There is also a walkable shopping district in Euclid along Lakeshore Boulevard, with a better choice of high-rise apartment buildings than condos available along the lakefront. Transit bus service to downtown Cleveland is frequent on several routes, the fastest of which is the #39 (see http://www.riderta.com/maps-schedules.asp). BTW, the folks at city-data.com aren't very big on city living. Seems to be mostly a bunch of suburbanites who have holed up in their gated subdivisions and have little idea of what Cleveland has to offer. Stick with UrbanOhio. You'll discover much more about Cleveland here than you can just about anywhere else! Welcome!

MTS, you probably have carsyn20 thinking you're serious. And, carsyn20, you shouldn't take MyTwoSense any more seriously than the rest of us do! <<<ducking and covering>>>

She frequently comes to council meetings and seemed OK at first. But as time went on, I became increasingly worried about some "odd" things she said to me before meetings. Finally, at the last meeting, she got out of control several times, yelling "Power to the people!" and had to be escorted from council chambers by police. Oops.

PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE ONLY MY ESTIMATES AND NOT THE RESULT OF A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT! West Shore Corridor Commuter Rail Demonstration Project For Discussion Only Subject to analysis and negotiations Conceptual start-up costs (in millions) ROLLING STOCK Purchase 2nd-hand locomotives/rail cars. . . $ 2.0 (lease may be option) Rehabilitation/improvements . . . . . . . . . . . $ 0.5 FACILITIES Cleveland train layover facility . . . . . . . . . $ 2.0 Alcott track connection construction . . . . . $10.0 Lorain Grove Site track connection constr . . $ 3.0 Lorain train layover/servicing facility. . . . . . $ 2.5 Quiet Zones/Crossing enhancements. . . . . . $14.0 STATIONS Cleveland North Coast station . . . . . . . . . . $ 1.0 Cleveland West Blvd/W117th. . . . . . . . . . . $ 1.0 Lakewood downtown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 0.3 Rocky River downtown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 0.3 Bay/Westlake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 0.3 Avon Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 0.5 Sheffield Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 0.5 Lorain downtown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 0.5 Subtotal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $38.4 Engineering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1.6 Start-up costs total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40.0 Potential operating costs (in millions)(does not include equipment lease) YEAR ONE Liability insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2.0 Operating support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2.0 Administrative/marketing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1.0 Subtotal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 5.0 YEAR TWO Liability insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2.0 Operating support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2.0 Administration/marketing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1.0 Subtotal . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 5.0 Operating costs total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.0 _____ Total est. two-year demonstration costs. . . $50.0

Please have him get in touch with me. From 1988 to 1995, I was director of the Cleveland - Pittsburgh Special Project to promote the creation of an intercity passenger rail service linking the two cities. From 1990-92, I also worked as a sub-contractor to a consultant to the old Ohio High Speed Rail Authority and the former ODOT-Rail Division (both since combined to create the Ohio Rail Development Commission). My work was to assist them in providing data on the Cleveland - Pittsburgh corridor to ODOT's Access Ohio long-range transportation plan. I also did consulting work for the cities of Youngstown, Lordstown, Ravenna, Alliance and the University of Pittsburgh to evaluate the potential of intercity passenger rail service linking Cleveland and Pittsburgh. We had a good run for a while, getting a reroute of Amtrak's Broadway Limited to go via Youngstown and when Amtrak ended it in 1996, we lobbied to have the service restored. It was, the following year as the Three Rivers service. We also had been seeking since 1988 to get Amtrak to extend its New York City - Pittsburgh Pennsylvanian extended to Cleveland. Toledo-area officials said they wanted the train extended to their city. Amtrak in 1998 decided to extend it to Chicago. We got ORDC to bring Amtrak to the table to seek creative marketing for the service, but Amtrak screwed it up. Lots of things went wrong with the service, and the Pennsylvanian was cut back to Pittsburgh in 2003. Amtrak then ended the Three Rivers service in 2005, despite complaints from some online communities -- the loudest came from Youngstown city officials. I helped them frame their message and establish a public hearing in February of that year. What followed was a discussion of a commuter rail service, in addition to an intercity rail service such as the Ohio Hub or an extension of Amtrak service (such as the Pennsylvanian) that had local or state financial support (such as from a tourism entity) for a marketing effort. So that's a bit of the recent history, and the last things I'd heard about local efforts in support of passenger rail. Hopefully, there's a new desire for coming up with a non-federal funding share for capital and operating funding. There has been nearly $100 million in railroad investment in the corridor since 1990 that should count for at least a portion of the non-federal share, and I'd be happy to show Rep. Ryan's staff what the routing options are and what the infrastructural and operating constraints are along the various route options.

Looks like we're flirting with $3 gas now, at least in Ohio. In California and some other states, it's already $3 plus.

Awesome, X.

Dear project architects: Please stop doing this to University Circle. If your clients value the vibrancy of UC, then please explain to them how that vibrancy is enhanced by your setbacks, increased auto dependency, worsened vehicular traffic, even fewer pedestrians on the sidewalk (if that were possible!) to area restaurants, shops and businesses, and weakened interfaces between UC buildings and the Euclid Corridor transitway. Based on your designs, one can only surmise that either: A) you do not understand the basics of urban planning and the impacts of good building design neighborhood economic multipliers and on modal travel choices; B) your clients' instructions to you suggest they prefer a self-contained fortress and care less about their buildings' impacts on the neighborhood; or C) this was just another job to you so you blew through it to meet the interior spatial/functional requirements without giving a rat's ass to what exists outside of those walls. Sincerely, a native Clevelander who's tired of seeing cold, impervious blocks built in my city and instead prefers to enjoy living, breathing, porous buildings that interact with each other in walkable, intimate surroundings.

This is more than just fast trains overseas, but I didn't want to start up another thread.... _________________ Europe Plans For Sustainable 'Transport of Tomorrow' Europe | Features | Transportation 16 April 2007 - 9:00am Author: Andrea Broaddus An American transportation planner reports from the 17th annual Polis Conference -- where European city leaders recently gathered to exchange advice on innovative local transportation strategies -- and wonders what lessons U.S. cities can learn from its counterparts in the E.U Toulouse Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc, President of the Polis Network of European cities, challenged local officials in his opening remarks as host of its 17th annual conference to imagine together the transport of tomorrow. "Our principal challenge," he said, "is to rectify the impact of vehicles on the environment, maintain beauty and quiet in our cities, and preserve economic development and access to industry." ......

Some buses are still running that late, but not the bus from Hopkins Airport to Oberlin. I won't lie to you about safety -- 1 a.m. isn't my favorite time of the day to be in Chinatown, though you aren't far from the Third District police station at Payne Avenue and East 21st Street. If you want, consider walking one block north from Asia Plaza to Superior Avenue and catching the 326 bus (hourly service) to Public Square, then transfer to the 22 bus to Hopkins Airport. The 22 has hourly service to Hopkins when the Red Line isn't operating in the middle of the night. For the 326 schedule: http://www.riderta.com/pdf/326.pdf (westbound 326 buses appear to pass through Chinatown at 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m.) For the 22 schedule: http://www.riderta.com/pdf/22.pdf (westbound 22 buses depart Public Square at 1:10 a.m., 2:10 a.m., 3:10 a.m. -- a very tight connection from the 326! Ask the driver on the 326 to radio the driver of the 22 bus to hold for the connection. If he won't, get his name or operator number, coach number, time/day and report him.) Another option is to hang out at a downtown tavern until 2 a.m. and catch the 2:10 a.m. #22 bus. That gets you to Hopkins at 3 a.m. The first bus from Hopkins to Oberlin (on weekdays) is 8:15 a.m. (or 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays/Sundays). That's a lot of hanging out to do at the airport. My suggestion -- get a hotel downtown (try the Hampton, it's usually pretty affordable), get a nice sleep, have a complimentary continental breakfast at the Hampton, and take the Rapid to the Airport. The Hampton Inn at Superior Avenue and East 9th Street. See: http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=I4HLLNJD2OOZOCSGBJNM22QKIYFCXUUC?ctyhocn=CLEDTHX&ctyhocn=CLEDTHX

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/04/11/news/state/25-amtrack.txt Schweitzer backs southern Amtrak route Capital matching grants available to states, rail official says Published on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 By The Associated Press HELENA - A revived effort to reinstate passenger rail service in southern Montana picked up steam Tuesday, with the Schweitzer administration backing the idea and Amtrak officials outlining possible funding sources. Passenger trains last chugged through southern Montana in 1979, and supporters said the time has come for them to run again. More at link above:

Thanks for the map. I was about to ask how much of that line exists, but then I read the text below the map. I had no idea it would be built the length of Manhattan! WOW!

The Desert Sun does some excellent peak oil reporting. Consider the implications of a collapse of Cantarell on Mexico's economy, the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. and the impact on the U.S. in a wide variety of ways. And this is just one piece of the whole peak oil picture... ___________________ http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070415/COLUMNS03/704150303/1238/business Shrinking oilfields alarm observers Morris R. Beschloss Special to The Desert Sun April 15, 2007 -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Almost a year ago, this column reported the conceivable implosion of Mexico's Cantarell Oilfield, second largest in the world. This prediction proved to be correct as Cantarell lost a fifth of its production from January 2006 through February 2007. This meant a loss of 400,000 daily barrels of production from this field, dropping from two million daily barrels to 1.6 million during this time period. If this shrinkage continues as expected, Cantarell will be down to 1.2 million daily barrels by 2010, and a possible extinction within a few years thereafter. This event alone could prove catastrophic to Mexico's economy, which depends on oil exports to fund 40 percent of its prolific government expenditures. Even worse, this turn of events would foreclose a critical import source for the U.S. and could turn previously oil-rich Mexico into a net importer. Mexican/American border violations would be increasingly significant under such circumstances. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, is facing similar problems in its huge Ghawar oil field, as reported in our column earlier this year. In the case of Ghawar, the massive 5.6 million barrels shipped every day is expected to revert to 5 million daily barrels by 2010. Despite Saudi protestations to the contrary, Riyadh's four other giant fields are also expected to be on a precipitous decline.