KJP

Thanks for your comments, StrapHanger. Maybe someday I will write a book or two.

And with state funding in hand, local transit agencies can leverage federal transit dollars, including from a new $200 million program called Small Starts (ideal for projects like Cleveland-Lorain regional rail, the Columbus streetcar, Cincinnati's transit efforts and Toledo's central circulator streetcar). While the U.S. House proposed to zero-out Small Starts, there is an effort underway in the Senate to restore some funding for it.... ___________________ Please note that the House has left $183.6 million unearmarked while the Senate has left $100.9 million unearmarked. Thus, while the two houses did not specifically fund the Small Starts program, there is room on both bills and during conference to designate funding for Small Starts. The Senate is expected to pass the bill in September. Conference is not expected until after the November elections as the bill will likely be included in an Omnibus Appropriations bill. If you have Senators that support Small Starts, please contact: Jeff Boothe Executive Director Community Streetcar Coalition 2099 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 100 Washington, DC 20006 Direct 202-828-1896 Fax 202-955-5564 Email [email protected] Approach senators about speaking with TTHUD Subcommittee Chairman Kit Bond about making monies available for Small Starts in the final conference bill. In addition, a letter should be sent from both the House and Senate urging that monies be set aside for Small Starts projects. Contact Jeff Boothe to if you would be willing to contact your Congressional delegation.

I know this is old news, but Joe Calabrese is heading the statewide transit group Ohio Public Transit Association (see press release below). There is now a push by OPTA to get the state to commit about $200 million per year for transit (up from the current $16 million, or even the $40 million provided just five years ago) to bring us up to par with our neighboring states. Perhaps half of that $200 million would be for operations and the other half for capital. Negotiations may ultimately provide a different number. Anyway, I'm starting this string to get ideas and discussion about the current state of transit funding in Ohio and am anticipating there will be news coverage of OPTA's push to change the pathetic levels of funding to something more respectable. Here's the release.... ____________________ RTA News May 19, 2006 Joe Calabrese elected head of state transit group CLEVELAND – Joe Calabrese, CEO and General Manager of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA), today was elected President of the Ohio Public Transit Association (OPTA). Other officers elected at the annual meeting: Vice President: Charles Odimgbe, CEO and Executive Director, Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA), Canton Secretary: Rich Schultze, Executive Director, Greene County Community Action Transportation System (CATS), Xenia Vice President, Small Urban/Rural Systems: Kristena Fenelson, Transit Director, Geauga County Transit, Chardon Vice President, Associate Members: Khaled Shammout, Senior Transportation Planner, TransSystems Corp., Dublin Calabrese has been active in OPTA since coming to RTA in 2000. He previously served two terms as President of the New York State Public Transportation Association, the largest state trade association of its kind in the nation. Calabrese wants to work with State officials to increase funding for public transit. In recent years, that funding has been cut by 63 percent. Calabrese, a public transit veteran of more than 30 years, is also on the Board of Directors of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). Most transit systems in Ohio belong to OPTA. Member agencies serve more than 500,000 Ohioans daily. For more information: Go to www.ohiopublictransit.org Call 614-481-9500 Send e-mail to [email protected]

Is this something new & different, or old & rehashed? http://cleveland.cox.net/cci/newslocal/local?_mode=view&view=LocalNewsArticleView&articleId=1645119&_action=validatearticle Local Hospital Getting A Billion Dollar Makeover 07-26-2006 11:56 AM (Cleveland, OH) -- University Hospitals Health System is undergoing a one-billion-dollar expansion project, while the hospital is growing it's name is shrinking. Beginning in September, the name of the second largest health system in Cleveland will be known only as University Hospitals. The main facility will become Case Medical Center, University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University have a long standing relationship and recently signed a new affiliation contract. Patients, visitors and hospital staff will also see a new shield shaped red logo instead of the old blue lettering. Copyright 2006 Metro Networks Communications Inc., A Westwood One Company

Some good ideas in there. The only store I know of that Stark is talking to is Target. Clearly not a destination store, but probably necessary if downtown (and near-downtown) is going to be a place to live for many more people. But I'm aware he's talking to MANY others.

Yep. He's a player of games and likes to see Clevelanders twist. So he's enjoying this back-and-forth game as much as I am.

I think the Group Plan, including the malls, are a terrific urban space. Apparently a lot of downtown workers think so too at lunch time. You'd have to be blind not to see them. Did that 99 percent figure come from someplace, or did you just pull it out of your behind? If there's something wrong with the Group Plan, it's that the surrounding uses tend to be active only from 9-5 weekdays. There needs to be more housing and more events hosted on the malls (Movie on the Mall is a good start!). But that's not a failure of design of the malls itself, but a failure of imagination on behalf of the city and the people within it.

Yes, that's Independence. That's almost due south of downtown Cleveland. If you like seeing satellite pics of parking lots, post one of North Olmsted sometime! If they torn down just a few more buildings in that town for parking, they could have the largest airport in the world.

Isn't that the same Marc Conte who used to work for the Ohio Sierra Club? If so, you'd be preaching to the choir on downtown Columbus having too many surfacing parking lots.

See Full of Cleveland's initial message. The boy wants to "Come Home to Cleveland." And Punch may be right. A friend of mine lives in Chicago and is having a tough time finding a job he's trained for, though I suspect he's wanting to jump too high up on the corporate ladder at the outset.

Thanks, but it will be a long time, if ever, before I write that book. It's a huge commitment of time for very little income, and I'm too poor right now to devote time to projects of little pay. Maybe someday I'll write a book or two. Some subjects I'd like to write about are Lost Cleveland (including an appreciation of what our truly urban neighborhoods such as Hough were like), or people like Al Porter (probably the most influential person that Greater Clevelanders under the age of 40 have heard little or nothing about), or maybe a book about Bob Stark if he succeeds with Pesht. Who knows, maybe I'll write an autobiography about how I was able to energize community officials to restore a few transit services that Al Porter destroyed. But I'd also like to write about a wonderfully devoted friend I had until very recently, a cat named Abe. He was the only living creature not related to me that I've ever loved, and he gave me a reason to live when I was fighting an alcohol addiction that nearly killed me. He deserves to be known beyond just my immediate family.

Consider moving to Cleveland without your "ideal job" in hand and get a temporary, crap job like in a drug store, office supply store, restaurant etc. Then, troll the job scene from its backyard. I find it's easier to get a job in a city once you've moved to that city.

True, I could have stated it better. BTW, what is "whichoo"?

That map is sickening.

But the frequencies on the 55X/F are five minutes at that time of day. You mean to tell me that eight buses failed to show up?? Where were getting on the bus? Now, if you get on the 55X on Edgewater, then I could "comprehend" the delay. That's a very infrequently serviced branch of the 55. You'd be better off just walking a couple block down to Clifton at Cove. That's where the buses stop every five minutes. This is also why I don't like buses. There's a tendency of transit agencies to use each route to do too much, with all sorts of confusing offshoots depending on times of day, days of the week, etc. On a map, the routes end up looking like a "thin haze" as opposed to a rail transit line or BRT which is a "sharp linear fixture" which everyone knows where it is and pretty much where it goes.

I continue to be amazed at our state investing in the expansion of energy-intensive highways that pave farmlands with sprawl, while the demand for corn-based ethanol seems insatiable. This is one irony that's on a collision course with reality.

Yes, upward, not outward. With grit and authenticity, not sterility and corporate blandness. Emphasizing that a city's history is the only characteristic which truly differentiates from another city, not pretending the past never happened. Emphasizing the culture and cultural diversity, not plopping boilerplate cultural amenities on the landscape. Boosting the pedestrianism and celebrating the sidewalk storefront, not living in a car to accomplish basic daily tasks. Like I've said before, growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. Both of our cities have their problems. Maybe 30 years I would have taken Columbus' problems for Cleveland's. But not today. I generally like what I see Greater Cleveland doing. I don't like what I see happening in Greater Columbus, which is developing as if the greedy, sprawling 1980s never ended. In light of global issues like oil depletion or renewed emphasis on transit-friendly development patterns, or more local issues like regionalism, business incubation and development of technology-based economic sectors, I'll take Cleveland's overall progress over just about any other city in the Midwest save Chicago or Minneapolis.

Which route was that?

Here are some programs, services and facilities offered by recreation centers throughout the country (courtesy of a quick search of Google)... Facilities: full-size gymnasium meeting/dance room exercise room game room neighborhood swiming pool tennis/volleyball courts basketball courts softball fields, batting cages running track bicycle course skate park obstacle course climbing wall bowling alley neighborhood gardens Programming: arts and crafts athletic leagues (volleyball, basketball, bowling, tennis etc) cultural programs special events and festivals daycare, daycamp and afterschool teen clubs adventure clubs cycling team video production internet surfing/web design gardening instruction boxing wrestling ceramics dance classes Services: concession stands security stations basic health care/screenings safezone information stations for tourists, business travelers, and citizens seeking local government services Now, tell me, if we had all or many of these, downtown would not be THE place to live and visit! Many of these services could be contracted out to private business (athletic facilities, concessions, etc.) while other services (daycamp, day care, health screening etc) could be operated as satellite operations of local, regional, state and federal governments. Call it a one-stop shopping location for a little bit of everything otherwise available at scattered sites throughout Cuyahoga County.

I'll go back to my suggestion that the existing convention center site be converted into a variant of Toronto's PATH .... http://www.toronto.ca/path/ I know there are those who believe it would cause too much loss of pedestrian activity from downtown. But I do like the ideas of putting amenities in there for downtown (and near downtown) residents. Many Cleveland neighborhoods have recreation centers. Why shouldn't downtown? What are some other amenities that downtown residents want and don't yet have, but would be appropriate for the existing convention center?

I think you'd better go have a Miller Lite. It goes well with white bread, I'm told.

That's a terrific idea. Anyone at RTA marketing read that article??

http://www.lightrailnow.org/ 16 July 2006 Baltimore: Rail transit is focus of major central-city multi-use development Metro subway stations and light rail stations in the heart of Baltimore are the focal center of a mammoth, $800-million, multi-use real estate development project intended "to reshape a section of midtown bordered by Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Howard and Dolphin streets and Madison Avenue", according to a report in the Baltimore Sun (5 May 2006). A major component of the development team is renowned national developer McCormack Baron Salazar, which will specifically handle the housing portion of the huge project. The complete development team, according to the Sun, is led by Baltimore's Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse and, besides McCormack Baron Salazar, includes minority-owned Doracon Development and the Canyon Johnson Urban Fund, a private equity fund started by basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Team members emphasized that their approach would be sensitive to the needs of the existing community. According to the report, "Bobby Turner, a managing partner in Canyon Johnson, said his fund's backers share a vision with other team members about revitalizing, rather than gentrifying, urban areas." Interviewed by the paper, McCormack Baron Salazar's Richard Baron "said he was attracted to Baltimore's market and the opportunity to build a community centered around public transit." The company has established solid credentials for producing projects that are both livable and viable. Kathryn Schukar Bader, chairman of U.S. Bancorp's Community Development Corp. in St. Louis, which has been a lender and investor in a number of the company's projects, emphasized to the newspaper that McCormack Baron Salazar shares an understanding of key inmgredients for successful urban projects. "The key focus that we share is you can't put unsupported housing in the middle of nothing, or in the middle of negative influences and expect it to succeed. There needs to be an anchor, like schools, churches and employers, some kind of neighborhood center programming." Rail transit may well be part of that anchor in Baltimore. As the Sun reports, the complex of state-owned office buildings, employing some 3,500 workers, is slated to be transformed into a 25-acre "hub" of offices, shops, a hotel, and mixed-income housing centered on Metro subway (rail rapid transit) and light rail transit stops. "Ultimately," relates the paper, "the State Center project could be the springboard for the 20-year revitalization of a 110-acre swath, with 3,200 homes, 1.2 million square feet of privately developed offices and 570,000 square feet of retail space." ###

Wonderful pics. And I've never been in St. John Cantius Church. Now I see I must rectify that oversight! Wow, what a beaut!

Play nice, Mr. Indylite