KJP

While not specifically related to a possible transit project, there is a correlation between the strategic land use plan being discussed tomorrow. Too bad they didn't give more advanced public notice.... ___________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The first draft of the Strategic Land Use Planning Project for the W. 25th Street Corridor will be presented and opened up for discussion at a meeting at the Scott Auditorium of West Side MetroHealth Campus on Wednesday, November 15, 2006 form 6:30 to 8:30 pm. “The W. 25th Street Corridor is a major Cleveland thoroughfare and the main traffic artery in Ward 14,” said Councilman Joe Santiago. “The vitality of this Corridor is essential to the continued growth of community and the City and I encourage all residents to get involved in the planning process.” The Planning Project encompasses W. 25th Street between the Train Avenue overpass and the border of the Brooklyn Centre neighborhood at I-71. The strategic plan includes three segments: the northern segment from Train Avenue to Wade Avenue; the middle segment from Wade Avenue to Meyer Avenue that includes the corner of W. 25th Street and Clark Avenue; and the southern segment from Meyer Avenue to I-71. Plans for the northern segment of W. 25th Street include mixed residential and industrial use as the Nestle’s L. J. Minor Factor and the Former Forest City property are in this segment. Plans for the middle segment of W. 25th Street include the possible conversion of the Aragon Ballroom into a museum and cultural center, a commercial revitalization of the W. 25th Street and Clark Avenue Corner, the incorporation of greenspace, more small boutiques and a Twinkie theme for the area. Plans for the southern segment of W. 25th Street include connecting the MetroHealth Campus to the W. 25th Street Corridor with walking routes, more greenspace and development of vacant land. ###

http://www.utu.org/worksite/detail_news.cfm?ArticleID=31664 Obsessed railfan in trouble again NEW YORK -- For years, Darius McCollum's obsession with New York's transit system has landed him in trouble. He has been arrested nearly two dozen times for offenses like impersonating transit workers, taking a subway train and buses for joyrides and trying to steal a locomotive, according to this report by Cara Buckley published by The New York Times.

http://www.utu.org/worksite/detail_news.cfm?articleid=31667 Train to plane: How U.S. cities rate Chicago's announcement of big plans for improved rail service to Midway and O'Hare airports highlights the growing importance of train-to-plane services in the U.S. Although we still lag behind Europe in providing good rail airport access, we're improving, according to this report by Ed Perkins published by the Chicago Tribune. Here's a look at current U.S. train-to-plane services. First, let's propose a scoring system, based on the five most important criteria: -- Location of airport rail station. 3 points for a rail terminal in or immediately adjacent to the airport terminal; 2 points for a people-mover connection to a remote rail station; and 1 point for a shuttle bus connection. -- Railcars. 3 points for railcars dedicated to airport service, with baggage racks; 2 points for cars roomy enough to avoid rush-hour conflicts with commuters; and 1 point for dumping air travelers in with the commuters. -- Frequency. 3 points for every 15 minutes or better; 2 points for 15- to 30-minute intervals; and 1 point for fewer than two trips per hour. -- Speed. 3 points for non-stop trips; 2 points for limited-stop trains; and 1 point for multistop trips. -- Convenience of downtown terminal. 3 points for at least one downtown terminal providing easy access to/from cabs; 2 points for central terminal without easy cab access; and 1 point for all others. The cornerstone of Chicago's new service, with a hoped-for opening in 2010, is a new downtown terminal for just the airport services, coupled with non-stop trains between downtown and the airports. It would use dedicated railcars with plenty of baggage racks. Initially, the trains would use the same tracks as regular transit trains, meaning that the service, even though non-stop, wouldn't be any faster than the regular trains. Future phases would reduce travel times through passing tracks or even dedicated airport-only tracks. The initial phase would score 13 out of a possible 15 points; with future fast-track developments, the score would be a perfect 15. No U.S. city currently scores that high; only a few European cities make the top grade. In the U.S., New York/JFK currently rates a top score of 13 points, losing only because of the people-mover connection to the train and lack of dedicated airport cars on the trains between Jamaica and Manhattan. Other scores: Cleveland, Newark and San Francisco, 12 points; Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington, 11 points; Baltimore, Boston, Chicago (at present), Minneapolis, Oakland, Portland and St. Louis, 10 points; Dallas-Ft Worth, Los Angeles and Miami, 6-7 points. The biggest problem with most U.S. train-to-plane transit services is that they share downtown terminals with regular transit services. Typically, that means you get on/off at a busy station or street stop that has no cabstand or even a convenient loading/unloading zone. Also, in many systems, you have to schlep your baggage up and down stairs, with no escalator or elevator services. Beyond downtown terminals, the different systems have different strong points and weaknesses. Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago (both airports), Cleveland, Minneapolis, Portland, San Francisco and Washington all enjoy airport stations that are either in-terminal or immediately adjacent to the air terminal. Most cities enjoy 15-minute frequencies or better, but trains are less frequent at Newark, Philadelphia and especially at Dallas-Ft Worth. No U.S. systems currently provide dedicated airport cars with baggage racks and other amenities strictly for air travelers. Boston's convenient system suffers because of the shuttle bus access to the airport rail station and the need to change trains, downtown, to get to the more popular visitor centers. Despite the drawbacks, I recommend using rail access in all of the U.S. cities except Dallas-Ft. Worth, L.A. and Miami. There's something great about sailing over, under or beside the traffic that snarls airport access so much of the time. And if you're interested in rail access at any foreign airport, a very useful Web site, www.airportrailwaysoftheworld.com/arc(underscore)en.shtml, provides links to just about all of your options. (The preceding report by Ed Perkins was published by the Chicago Tribune on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2006.)

Sounds like you're going to have your hands full with lots of family members. So bring them all to the UO get-together so that we can match their interests to forumers' touring specialties!

With almost 19,000 posts, to diss Grasscat is to diss UrbanOhio. And I'll bet that by the time most forumers get around to reading this, he will have left the 19,000 mark in the dust.

So what did that article about the possible sale of the Fifth Third Center in this week Crain's say? Can someone post it? The e-mailed brief I received from Crain's said: _______________ Fifth Third Ctr. pending sale has observers abuzz A Dallas real estate investment company's expected purchase of Fifth Third Center in downtown Cleveland has real estate insiders thinking institutional investors are regaining interest in the region’s office market.

It may not be the diversity capital of the world, but it's no more/less diverse than Cleveland. We're very similar cities in many respects, and that's one of them.

Even Chicago doesn't have a district like Playhouse Square. A friend of mine in Chicago says city leaders want to do something like Broadway in NYC -- apparently they don't know or won't admit that Chicago lacks something that even little ol' has! So take them to see a show at one of our beautiful theaters -- preceded with a visit to Otto Moser's (a 100-year-old restaurant that was in the city's first theater district on East 4th). And check out the gift shop in the theater's arcade area. Some wonderful items in there! Speaking of which, let's not forget the Old Arcade!

So what programs are we going take money from to pay for transit? And if our elected leaders aren't going to provide more money for transit, voters have to take matter into their own hands. The ballot box is the only way for the people to make the decisions which our so-called leaders won't.

Strickland has said favorable things about rail during the campaign and was supportive of Amtrak while in Congress. He frequently signed on as co-sponsor of pro-rail legislation. As for the West Shore Corridor proposal, it's still too early in the process to go to a governor-elect. Even so, this is something where you go to his staff, which he doesn't have yet. Sherrod Brown is definitely for it. He was the one who got a funding authorization for Cleveland-Lorain commuter rail included in the last federal surface transportation bill. And he did that when there was no organized support for the project like there is now.

I'm posting the presentation that was made today. It's available on my web-hosting service at: http://members.cox.net/corridorscampaign/ColumbusStreetcars_111306.pdf (1.73mb download) The working group apparently is recommending the option shown on Page 24 of the presentation as the starter route. That's the one with the streetcar line on High Street from German Village north to Buttles, plus the Arena District loop over to Neil Avenue. Can you confirm that, Noozer? After this presentation is posted on the Columbus Downtown Development Resource Center's web site (at http://downtowncolumbus.com/development/streetcar.php ), I will delete it from my web-hosting service.

Yeah, Corna said it at the Flats West Bank announcement in September. I think it was also in the press packet they gave us.

There also is a decent-sized Vietnamese population in the Lorain Avenue West Boulevard. A friend of mine works at a bank near there and says they must have people on staff who can speak Vietnamese, as many of their customers are of that ethnicity. Many are living in that immediate area, she said.

The pleasure was all yours.

I doubt that RTA would be the administrator or operator of this commuter service. I've asked the Lorain County Commissioners to designate Lorain County Transit as the project sponsor, at least so that funding for an alternatives analysis can be received and that bids can be solicited from consultants. LCT could administer or operate the trains, or contract out the operation to a private company.

ARMENIA ACCEDES TO "IRON SILK ROAD" AGREEMENT BUSAN, South Korea (AP) - A total of 18 nations, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Laos, Russia, South Korea and Turkey, signed a rail agreement Friday evoking the trade caravans that long ago linked Asia with Europe. For decades, officials have dreamed of a railway network spanning Asia, linking cities as diverse as Kuala Lumpur and Kabul, or Yangon and Yerevan. ........

Yes, I'm talking intra-city rail. Europe is very different because cities, regions and nations have restrictions on development that might be unconstitutional in the U.S. Here, we tend to value the individual more than the community.

People usually only rally in anger, and often in opposition to something. I would suggest following the lead of Denver, San Diego, Albuquerque or Austin which built a "starter line" using local/state funding or St. Louis, Portland or Nashville which found a creative way to tap federal funds. In many cases, cities started their rail systems without going to ballot box to ask for money for something which the electorate has little or no experience. Even if they are interested in rail, many voters aren't willing to part with their hard-earned tax dollars without knowing if rail will succeed in their town. So find a creative way to pay for a starter line to test the local market, build a constituency for more rail and then ask voters for expanded service. Denver is the poster-child on how to do this. Columbus is starting to follow this smart path.

Stephan Louis is a soul-less, brain-dead idiot. He has no concept of the interrelationship between transit and the greatness of cities. Bus transit is a great social safety net, but rarely is a place-shaping force. Highways do shape place, but not in ways that enhance the urban setting. The speed and geometry of the car requires everything to be spread out and the city to be experienced through the windshield, not by the wonderful socialibility of a sidewalk in a transit-oriented neighborhood. Rail transit, on the other hand, can be employed as a unifying tool to promote vibrant, sustainable urban land uses, promote accessibility and participation in the local economy and therefore enhance social justice. Rail transit has an easily identifiable route, which is key to helping customers understanding where the line goes and provides confidence to developers that the rail line isn't going to be changed for a long time. Rail carries with it the assumption among prospective riders of frequent service. And that density allows equally dense, supportive development patterns that promote walking and less vehicular traffic. The transit city becomes a place for people, not fast-moving cars. In short, when utilized as part of a regional land use vision, rail transit fosters vibrant core cities that uplifts the human spirit and creates a sense of connectedness to the physical landscape. I have never met a highway that is capable of accomplishing any of these things. And I have never met a great city which completely lacks rail transit. I doubt folks like Stephan Louis will ever understand this. Keeping people like him on SORTA's board, or at OKI, will prevent Cincinnati from becoming the city it could and should be. Pictures speak louder than words..... http://www.sflcv.org/density/transformations.html

The first units should be ready for move-in by spring.

Looks like this project is fading fast. This could have been a truly great project not only for Northwood (in terms of helping unite a divided city), but for Toledo and the state (in terms of removing a major impediment to the Ohio Hub) as well as nationally (in terms of making two nationally significant rail freight lines more fluid). Oh well.

Just in case you missed this. For comparison's sake, Amtrak coach fares tend to fall in a range of about 10-20 cents per mile, and transit (bus and rail) fares are lesser still... __________________ http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=163828,00.html IRS Announces 2007 Standard Mileage Rates IR-2006-168, Nov. 1, 2006 WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2007 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. Beginning Jan. 1, 2007, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (including vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be: 48.5 cents per mile for business miles driven; 20 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; and 14 cents per mile driven in service to a charitable organization. The new rate for business miles compares to a rate of 44.5 cents per mile for 2006. The new rate for medical and moving purposes compares to 18 cents in 2006. The primary reasons for the higher rates were higher prices for vehicles and fuel during the year ending in October. The standard mileage rates for business, medical and moving purposes are based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. Runzheimer International, an independent contractor, conducted the study for the IRS. The mileage rate for charitable miles is set by statute. A taxpayer may not use the business standard mileage rate for a vehicle after using any depreciation method under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS), after claiming a Section 179 deduction for that vehicle, for any vehicle used for hire or for more than four vehicles used simultaneously. Revenue Procedure 2006-49 contains additional information on these standard mileage rates. ###

That's one of the neatest pics of downtown I've seen in while - and to think it was taken from a moving bus. Veddy nice!

Wow, there's actually Asians in Asiatown/Chinatown/Near East (sounds like the view according to Pittsburghers. See http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=16851&st=0# )

"Steelyard Commons" Commercial Development Anticipates Opening 11-10-2006 11:54 AM (Cleveland, OH) -- It could bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the city of Cleveland's economy, and it's heading towards opening day early next year. Steelyard Commons officials say the new shopping complex will start seeing stores opening early next year. A Home Depot on the site is expected to open in February, a Target a month later, and the center should be nearly completed by the time the Wal-Mart on the site opens in the summer of 2007. Major site work will be done by the start of next month. Copyright 2006 Metro Networks Communications Inc., A Westwood One Company