KJP

The Shell CEO's statistic remains as disingenuous. Here's the defining statistic: energy use per passenger mile. That statistic is based on existing passenger loads and how far that passenger is traveling. Per passenger mile is the transportation industry's standard measurement to accurately measure different modes of transportation regardless of market share. On that score, taking the bus or train is still 7-9 times more energy efficient than driving cars and SUVs, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Problem is, few are patient enough to sit through an explanation such as this, and more respond to the kind of one-liners that the Shell CEO said this morning.

^ Wow. Shell is one of the few oil companies that still has its head stuck in the sand (literally!) when it comes to peak oil. ExxonMobil is another. They want us to keep on driving, move farther out to the exurbs, and stay addicted. Most of the other oil companies are promoting alternative fuels, advocating conservation and acknowledging the future will be difficult with tightening/declining supplies will be unable to keep up with demand.

^ Interesting thought. In a perfect urban world, "moving up" no longer would mean moving out to new "designer" homes in the exurbs to convey a sense of loftier status. Rather, moving up would mean exactly that -- to a larger condo on a higher floor in a taller building downtown. That way, those who need to convey status with a loftier address would be able to do just that. Don't get me wrong, I get that whole status, self-actualizing thing. I'd feel even better about my position in life if I had a kick-ass condo on the 30th floor with a stunning view of downtown and the lake. As some of the high-rise downtown developments emerge, like the Avenue District, Lighthouse Landing and the others, I suspect this aspect will be played upon by the developers' marketing staff. It can be a powerful message by the seller, and ultimately by the buyer.

They shouldn't construe silence as "willingness" -- lack of awareness is more like it.

Zoning vote in Perrysburg Township set Toledo Blade, 5/16/06 Perrysburg Township trustees scheduled a vote on a zoning change for 41 acres northwest of Thompson and Neiderhouse roads for June 5. They continued a public hearing that lasted more than three hours last night. Residents told representatives of Miller Diversified the 88-lot subdivision does not fit in the area surrounded by five-acre lots.

I drove through a cloud of them along the Shoreway near Edgewater Park last year. When I emerged from it, my windshield and front hood looked like something out of a cheap 1950s horror movie -- they were coated in splattered bugs. And you can't use the windshield wipers to remove them or you get a paste-like smear and you can't see well. Some bug splotches had dried by the time I got home, so I had to use the spray hose in our parking garage and took me a good 10 minutes to hose all of them off. Nasty. Fortunately the swarms last only a few days until the bugs are done with their business here. But last year they seemed to last longer than usual. Don't know why.

^ Outstanding. :clap:

I asked him that a couple of weeks ago. He said it was too soon, as he was concentrating on site control and working the political angles (mainly to inform politicos of his plans).

Maybe they can borrow some of those inflatable giant rats that unions put out in front of employers they disagree with!

No question. BTW, there's no such thing as the status quo. Nothing ever stays the same.

Especially since Northeast Ohio is a donor region when it come to federal transportation funding (ie: gas taxes). We pay more than we get back. So maybe we need to elect Congresspeople and Senators who will do their job? And, just maybe, some of local transportation leaders aren't asking our federal legislators for the money? You don't get it if you don't ask for it. Those two factors are key in this region's generosity with transportation funding, which we give to other parts of the nation so that they can kick our butt economically. If we're so content to ask so little of our region, then how can we complain when that's exactly what we get in return? Problem is, not enough people are complaining -- and certainly not the right ones.

I can't blame the media for taking a "wait and see" attitude for this. Many projects get proposed -- few get built. A number of people in my office have asked me if I really think this is going to happen, as if I would know somehow! When I see construction cranes and buildings starting to rise, that's when I'll tell them "yes, I'm pretty confident this project will happen" but not until then.

Great to have them move downtown from Westlake. Now if we could get Fetzer & Co. and/or Hyland Software downtown, that would be a real coup!

This is the text of a radio-broadcast piece on the convention..... Developers To Pitch Plans In Las Vegas 05-22-2006 7:27 AM (Las Vegas, NV) -- Dozens of local developers will roll the dice this week, trying to make retail projects a reality. They'll be in Las Vegas for the International Council of Shopping Centers convention. It's the largest show for the retail real estate industry, drawing 950 companies and 36-thousand daily visitors. The biggest local project that will be pitched will be a proposed one-billion-dollar development in Cleveland's Warehouse District. Developer Bob Stark wants to turn three parking lots into stores, offices and apartments. Copyright 2006 Metro Networks Communications Inc., A Westwood One Company

I think these fall into the category of "wow." A question: in the second-to-last shot, is that an enclosed walkway with a translucent skylight that angles from the lower left to the center of the photo and back left again? If so, that's pretty damn cool. I wonder if there's any shops in there, like an arcade?

Thanks so much for the tour! Some great density in those shots. I remember thumbing through a New York Then & Now book from the 1970s or so, and it's amazing how some of those areas sprouted up from countryside to high-density urban neighborhoods in less than a decade. In that span, a lot of the places in the book went from farms to looking like this: And, had Cleveland built subways down Euclid and St. Clair, as the Van Swerigens proposed before the Great Depression killed their plans (and them), I suspect those areas would have looked something like this.... Thanks again for the terrific tour. Sometimes I'd like to get out of here and move to those kinds of areas, either in Chicago or NYC. But the area where I live in Lakewood is fairly close to that kind of density. All we need now is rail service.... :wink:

^ If you're willing to consider an apartment building, and don't want wood floors, look at buildings built from the 1950s and later. You may sacrifice exterior beauty of the building for quieter concrete floors. The building I live in has a less-than-mediocre appearance from the street (the building was built in 1967), but the insides are nice. And how often do I look at the exterior anyway? Something to consider in order to widen your options.

^ Like there's a sensor in every item you buy at the store? Or a tracking ID in every phone call you make? Or in every magnetic strip in every credit/debit card you have? On every driver's license we hand over at the request of law enforcement? On every Internet Provider number we have that tracks us as we browse the WWW? Yet I always find it interesting that anti-governmental types stay silent on governmental involvement when it benefits them. The inverse is true, too. So all of a sudden, when it comes to highways, we're going to grow some balls? As a nation, I don't see it happening. Here's a simpler solution: If you don't like the toll booths, don't go through them or you can continue to pay with cash. It's your choice whether you want to pay cash or install an EZ pass-type sensor on your car. They will have to offer both, since not everyone will need the sensor, such as out-of-town drivers or others who seldom drive that stretch of toll road. Don't have a cow. Go to the brew-thru, grab some beers, hoist a few, relax and be a good little American. Just don't forget to wave to the security camera while at the store. You never know who's gonna be watching.....

That's pretty awful to miss a deadline by two minutes! Those folks at Oliver Design must be kicking themselves. I understand the county's position -- if you bend the rules to allow a late submission, even if by a mere two minutes, it opens up a can worms (and a can of lawyers ... same thing?).

^ I agree, and I've wanted to display all that's pending, planned and possible on a single map. I started working on the map about two months ago and it's still not finished. But it's far enough along that I don't mind sharing it here. It still needs numbers posted within the dots to correspond to identifications for each project, plan or proposal. But the sheer number of dots already conveys a message (scroll right to view entire image)... And I'm sure I'm leaving out a few dots, too!

Welcome aboard, Jamiec. If you like Eton, I think you should check out Crocker Park. It's much closer to being an actual urban-like neighborhood, even if it seems somewhat contrived. Check out the pics of Crocker Park elsewhere on this site. As for Flats East Bank, this is likely to be even more of a neighborhood than some Midwestern Vegas. No casinos are proposed to be part of it (at least not yet!). There's supposed to be a grocery store, movie theater, lots of shops and restaurants, plus some 340 units of housing. Sometimes we post maps, photos and renderings in different message strings that are scattered all over this site. So in the interest of showing how all these projects fit together, here's a couple of salient diagrams... This is a site plan of the Flats East Bank, with Vic Shaia's Lighthouse Landing and Kassouf's Cuyahoga Lakefront Condo sites thrown in (all three of these projects are discussed elsewhere in their own strings here): You've probably already spotted this next image from earlier in this string, but I thought I'd post it here with the other so you and others could scroll easily back and forth to see how the two might mesh: There's other diagrams and pics posted here, including those of other pending, possible or poseur projects. Not sure where Shaia's and Kassouf's projects fit in with those descriptions, but it's likely that Shaia's is legit while Kassouf's may not be, though he insists it is. We'll see!

I missed this one! Note the reference to three Ohio cities at the end of this piece... ______________ http://www.lightrailnow.org/news/n_tuc_2006-05b.htm It's streetcars for Tucson! "Voters made it clear Tuesday that they want this town's traffic woes to hit the road" declared an editorial (17 May 2006) in the Arizona Daily Star – which had backed the ballot items proposing a Regional Transportation Plan (a comprehensive bus transit/streetcar/roadway improvement program). Advocates of transit and urban livability have scored a major victory in Tucson, with voters' approval on Tuesday, 16 May 2006, of this plan, and its funding via a new half-cent sales tax increment. The "crown jewel" of the plan is a modern light rail transit (LRT) streetcar system that will initially traverse a 4-mile route from the University Medical Center, through the University of Arizona campus, then through downtown, and finally terminating at the Rio Nuevo master plan area. [simulation: Yes on 1 and 2 Campaign] For more background on Tucson's LRT streetcar plans, see: Tucson Area Public Transport and Rail Transit Issues http://www.lightrailnow.org/facts/fa_lrt_tuc.htm With 100% of precincts reporting, results for the two propositions on the 16 May ballot were as follows: • Prop. 1 (RTA road/transit/streetcar plan) – 60% yes • Prop. 2 (half-cent tax to fund plan) – 58% yes First rail starter line While, to win diverse community approval, the Tucson plan includes major roadway expansions, these do not include any new freeways. On the other hand, the modern streetcar project represents the city's first rail starter line, and perhaps a foot in the door for a more extensive system. Similarly, Denver started in the early 1990s with just a streetcar-like, street-routed light rail transit line, which was embraced by the Denver public and has since become both a catalyst for and the backbone of the urban area's massive transit expansion and New Urbanist-style transit oriented development (TOD) development program. Hopefully, events in Tucson will follow a similar pattern. As our previous coverage of the Tucson situation has indicated, Tucson's new light rail streetcar system will actually be a major expansion, with modern rolling stock, of the tiny heritage tourist-oriented trolley which currently operates, mainly on weekends, for about a mile near the University of Arizona campus. While this little operation has been important, even its supporters and volunteers will undoubtedly admit that it's functioned mainly as a kind of transport curiosity within Tucson's urban transportation environment. Now, however, its role as a viable element within the city's mobility system stands to be substantially enhanced under the Regional Transportation Plan. [Photo: Salaam Allah] "Decisive" victory for public transport While voter turnout was light for the May 16th ballot, "the margin of victory was decisive" declared the editors of the Arizona Daily Star, adding that "By ratio of 3-2, people throughout Tucson and its surrounding suburbs agreed to add a half-cent per dollar to the sales tax to help raise $2 billion for transportation improvements over the next 20 years." "The message was inescapable" said the Star. "They've had enough of traffic congestion, aggravating bottlenecks and inadequate public transit." Turning to the streetcar project, the Star noted, One of the more interesting experiments embodied in the plan calls for a modern streetcar system between UMC and Downtown. Most of the $87.7 million cost of that project will come from federal grants. Planners hope the streetcar will encourage students and workers in the university area to leave their cars in a lot and use the streetcar for trips through the surrounding area. The streetcar route will end near the Fourth Avenue underpass. At a victory party on the election night, Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup observed, "The voters will want fast, positive action and we're going to give it to them." Steve Farley, a local artist and transit activist who had spearheaded Tucson's previous but unsuccessful LRT ballot initiative, was ecstatic over the electoral victory. "Tucson is growing up," Farley said on election night. "This is not just thrilling from a transportation standpoint. This is a template for how we solve our problems now." (Tucson Citizen, 17 May 2006) Many supporters were simply relieved that, after many efforts to rally the community behind a program of comprehensive transportation solutions, success had finally been achieved. "It is refreshing indeed that voters rejected the concerns of some very vocal critics and concluded that it's better to adopt this plan than wait for absolute gridlock to arrive before tackling the problem" said the editors of the Arizona Daily Star. Inspiration for other cities In assessing the impact of these developments on Tucson-area mobility, it's important to keep in mind that, while one light rail streetcar line is funded under this plan, more than 30 roadways will be widened or newly constructed. This is significant in view of rail critics' incessant blather about transit's declining "market share" (mode share) vis-a-vis private motor vehicle transportation. Even with improvements to bus services, it is absurd and deceptive to encourage public expectations that transit's proportional share of total travel should increase under such conditions. Nevertheless, it's clear that this is a critically important victory for high-quality public transport in the Tucson area. Furthermore, the Tucson vote is a significant success for rail advocacy – a success which can provide inspiration to other North American cities, such as Austin, Birmingham, Spokane, Madison, Columbus, Toledo, and Cincinnati, which are also considering possible streetcar systems, interurban-type light rail transit, or other light railway systems. Light Rail Now website URL: http://www.lightrailnow.org/news/n_tuc_2006-05b.htm Updated 2006/05/18

^ Certainly the Avenue District would, and potentially Flats East Bank. Both are city-approved projects, although some architectural details with FEB may have to go through the City Planning Commission (not the landmarks commission as, amazingly, the Flats was never declared an historic district). Look for units at the Avenue District and FEB to become habitable by 2007-08. If Stark/Asher submits a plan for the WHD by the end of this year or early next year, that project could come habitable by 2009. Consider the first half of this year as "the calm before the storm." If the nation's economy holds up, there's going to be a lot of construction crews and cranes downtown for a while.

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Well, them thar production of Texas Tea (or the gooey toxic gunk them's pumping in the rest of the world) ain't keeping up with our thirst for it. Heck, even them A-rabs can't pump more to lower prices at the local choke, pump and puke. But some places where they does got the black gold in heaping helpings are some pretty scary places, like where them I-Rainyans, or that chump in Venezoo-wayla, or them crazy Ni-jeer-yans all live. So if things keep going like real bad in those places, I mean bad-to-the-blazes, we're in fer a world of hurt. All them shrimping boats are gonna cost a whole lot more to fetch new catches. Ditto for the crawdads and the runs to the store down the road a piece for more brews and chew.