KJP

Not sure if I can provide the "real truth" (as opposed to the "fake truth"?), but here's the pics anyway.

But wait, there's more (though not much more at WKYC).... http://wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=51834 The image isn't even a Kassouf rendering. It's Wolstein's!

I'm surprised no one has posted this yet. I'll be able to post renderings later this evening when I get home from work. _____________ http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/114690475147620.xml?ncounty_cuyahoga&coll=2 Condo plan brings criticism Planners suspect Flats landowner trying to drive up asking price Saturday, May 06, 2006 Tom Breckenridge Plain Dealer Reporter Flats property owner James Kassouf's new plan for high-rise condos near the lake met with open skepticism Friday from city planning leaders, who suspect the proposal is a ploy to squeeze more money out of land-acquisition efforts for the Flats East Bank project. A Kassouf-hired architect unveiled the grand plan Friday before the Cleveland Planning Commission, at a time when the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority is trying to bargain with Kassouf and a half dozen property owners on behalf of developer Scott Wolstein. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: [email protected], 216-999-4695

Why frown? I'm alive. Give me a :clap:

While Illinois moves forward, Ohio stands still (and thus, backwards by comparison)... ________________ To members of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association: Late last week, the Illinois Legislature approved its FY2007 budget. It includes the largest expansion of Amtrak service in the State's history. In round numbers, the budget for intercity passenger rail service will go from $12.1 million in FY2006 to $24.7 million in FY2007. The Illinois Department of Transportation still needs to negotiate the details with Amtrak, BNSF, CN, and the Union Pacific. Here is what we expect will result from this budget increase: 1) Chicago - Milwaukee: Remains at 7 daily roundtrips. 2) Chicago - Carbondale: Grows from 2 daily roundtrips to 3. Adds a morning northbound and a morning southbound. (100% increase in state-funded service) 3) Chicago - Quincy: Grows from 1 daily roundtrip to 2. Adds a morning westbound and an evening eastbound. (100% increase in state-funded service) 4) Chicago - St. Louis: Grows from 3 daily roundtrips to 5. Adds a morning express train southbound and a more reasonable morning departure out of St. Louis. Also, adds evening trains in both directions. (200% increase in state-funded service) The target date for start-up is October 2006. We had a broad range of support that included universities, local organizations, and several hundred mayors and other elected officials statewide. We ended up with a super majority of Senators as cosponsors and just one Representative shy of unanimous support in the House. I would especially like to thank our partners the Environmental Law and Policy Center and the United Transportation Union for making this possible. I would also like to thank all of you who wrote letters and made phone calls. Importantly, all of our members made it possible for me to travel to many downstate cities to get local leaders involved. If you live in Illinois, call or write your legislators today to thank them for their support. If you don't live in Illinois, thanks again for supporting the Association. This is a crucial step towards getting world-class trains for the entire Midwest. The next steps are just around the corner. The States have to formulate comprehensive transportation plans to qualify for federal funding. We need to get local leaders demanding that train service be included. At the federal level, the Administration has, once again, suggested cutting Amtrak funding. The debate over the federal budget is happening right now. A generous donor has offered a matching grant of $3000 to help us launch our next campaign. You can help us take advantage of this offer by going to www.midwesthsr.org/donate right now. Thanks again for your support! Rick Harnish Midwest High Speed Rail Association PO Box 805877 Chicago, IL 60680 773-334-6758 Join us at www.midwesthsr.org

^ I agree. Something had to be done with that huge, vacant skyscraper and the lovely rotunda. To have them sit there empty was almost as big of an embarassment to the city as having a parking lot on Public Square. Gee, I wonder who owns that property ? ? ? ?

I learned last night at the fundraiser that Trolleyville is trucking its streetcars and interurbans on flatbeds from Olmsted Township to the abandoned Brookpark RTA maintenance facility (off SR237). There, the rail cars are being put on RTA rails and towed down to Tower City in the very early AM hours when the Red Line isn't running (between 1 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. I believe the rail cars are being kept below Tower City, on the tracks once used by the Shaker lines prior to the new station at Tower City opening. My understanding is the historic cars will be kept there for the time being, until a permanent home can be found for them. By the way, the fundraiser was held for the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. It was very nicely done. Some rather wealthy folks were there, including the honorary host, the CEO of Sherwin Williams (an intended choice by CVSR, considering they want to extend their trains north to and through their property to the old B&O Depot at Canal & Carter roads. At Tower City, tuxedo-clad patrons were given hors douvres and champagne from Sammy's while they waited to board special LRTs (the newly rebuilt trains for the Shaker lines) that ran back and forth every 15 minutes between Tower City and RTA's Central Rail Facility at East 55th. The trains pulled inside Central Rail's maintenance building, where patrons were greeted with a cocktail area featuring carpeting, booth seating, fake trees, a huge spread put out by Sammy's and live music. It was amazing how wonderful and nightclub-like the whole place looked with the lights dimmed and some colored spot lighting set up in the rafters. CVSR brought their round-end observation rail car, the St. Lucie, into the building and used it as a walk-through piece and a divider from a dining area set up on the other side of the St. Lucie. Dinner was served by Sammy's at roughly 60 tables seating about 8 people each. The tables were about 99 percent full, so do the math (yeah, almost 500 people). That's also where the live band had set up, along with a dance floor and where the auction was held (plus a huge train mural some 50-feet wide was hung up). Between the corporate sponsorships and the auction, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad raised more than $100,000. It was a first-class event! I wished I had taken my camera. I know -- bad UrbanOhioan....

^ Apparently not, and besides, it was glutmax who was doing the "saracasting" -- not B12.

Unknown. As of Friday, Shaia hadn't heard a response to his counteroffer from the Port Authority.

Cuz Dick Jacobs probably did a $licker job at lobbying than the other property owners.

This one is pretty wild. http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A17738 Here's just a sampling....

Thanks B12 Nope. I was there in the morning. I was killing time between covering stuff for Sun. And I quit drinking 2 1/2 years ago (except for Diet Coke).

You want Erieview Tower in blue and Ameritrust Center in quasi-color ecstasy?

Here's a couple more renderings. I was looking at the map I drafted and saw the Norfolk Southern rail line (the one I proposed in the EcoCity report for the Lakefront Bypass) might be incorporated into the new Central Viaduct. That would give NS a three-track wide bridge deck below the roadway deck, yet still be high enough that it would clear ships on the river. The current NS bridge, even though it is about 45 feet high, requires a drawbridge and 24-hour staffing by NS personnel. Plus, the NS bridge is old and double-tracked. All of those are insufficient for a major rerouting of rail traffic (70 freight trains a day) off the lakefront. Here is an overview, based on the earlier map I posted.... Here is a more detailed map....

Here's a couple of pics I took of the site yesterday morning, as seen from the intersection of Front Street and West 9th. BTW, Mr. Good Day, allow me to suggest renaming your original post as "Lighthouse Landing - Cleveland" or something like that so it will show up that way in the thread listing.

Bump for pictures added to edited old post above.

Here's some pics, which I took yesterday morning (5-6-06) Definitely a strong European influence in this complex!

Lakewood (west) vs. Cleveland Heights (east) Lakewood, because I freakin' live there! Westlake vs. Eastlake I don't understand this comparison. Now if this was Westlake vs Solon or Sheffield Lake vs. Eastlake, then it would be a tougher call. Otherwise, Westlake is far superior to Eastlake, whose only claims to fame are ice jams on the Chagrin River and the CEI power plant. Rocky River vs. Shaker Heights Hands down it's Shaker Heights. One of the best-planned cities in the U.S., with cool rail lines, lakes, mansions and so on. Though RR has some cool lakefront parks and Clifton Cove is about as Sausalito as you can get in Ohio. West Boulevard vs. East Boulevard (both historic districts now) West Blvd., because it is safer. Crocker Park (west) vs. Legacy Village (east) Cracker Park, only because I've never been to Legacy Village! Lake Avenue (Gold Coast) vs. Lakeshore Avenue (both lined with highrise apartments) Gold Coast! Because I live one block south of it and, from my seventh-floor party room, you can see the whole string of Gold Coast high rises spread out in front of you. It's an awesome view at night. West bank of the flats vs. East bank of the flats West Bank, but I'm anxious to see how Wolstein and Shaia are going to transform the East Bank (which has a rail line). Ohio City + Tremont vs. University Circle + Little Italy I really like Ohio City+Tremont, but I find University Circle+Little Italy to be one of those areas that makes Cleveland unique and special among other cities in the U.S. Lorain Avenue vs. Mayfield Road (as main shopping corridors) I actually like Mayfield through South Euclid and into Lyndhurst, and not because I grew up there. It has some of the last vestiges of pre-sprawl development along it (though so does Lorain through Fairview Park, but not as much as Mayfield). Southpark Mall vs. Beachwood Place (upscale malls) I've been to Southpark once and Beachwood Place not since the 1980s so I can't say I remember much from either. Lorain County vs. Lake County You've got hillbillies without hills in Lorain and religious cliques (remember the Lundgrens?) in Lake. I like downtown Lorain and Elyria, but I also really enjoy downtown Willoughby and Painesville. Lack of snow gives the edge to Lorain. Kamms Corners vs. Shaker Square Shaker Square is one of the best urban places in Ohio, and one of the top 50 in the U.S. IMHO. I-71 vs. I-271 I-71 was kinda neat before the mulitple-arched bridge for Ridge Road was replaced by ODOT Standard Bridge Design No. 3. Plus, you get to race Rapids and freight trains on I-71. I go with I-71. Bay Village's "Huntington Beach" Vs. Mentor-On-The-Lake's "Mentor Headlands Beach" I like Huntington Beach because it has a better view of downtown. Gordon Square vs. Cedar-Lee Cedar-Lee does it for me, but Gordon Square is coming up fast. Detroit Avenue (in Lakewood) Vs. Coventry These are very different. Detroit Avenue in Lakewood is much longer, with very different districts along it, including the high-rise office and residential buildings downtown. But Coventry has more intensity packed into its little counter-culture corner of CH. The mansions on Lake Avenue vs. The mansions in Bratenahl Most of the really beautiful mansions on Lake Avenue were torn for the Gold Coast high rises in the 1960s. But then, in Bratenahl, you can't see many of the mansions anyway since they're so shrouded by vegetation. Toss-up. Clifton/W117 vs. Larchmere Neighborhood I think Larchmere edges out my Clifton/West117, but not by much.

^ I don't disagree with you. There's nothing I find visually appealing about the tower, except the height -- like you said. Plus, one side of it is barren of windows because a second "wing" of the tower was proposed to front Euclid where the 1010 building is. I understand totally why the county wants the tower demolished -- small floor space is a big reason. But I don't understand why the 1010 building has to be demolished. I would have thought demolishing the small, ugly Ameritrust "annex" just south along East 9th from the tower would provide the county with all the floor space it would need. The county then can put its parking deck where the current deck is on East 9th at Huron/Prospect -- the one connected to the Ameritrust complex by the overhead walkway. The 1010 needs to be saved! What a terrific housing conversion that would be.

Yes, there's a fundraiser over at the RTA Central Rail Facility off East 55th Street and the trolleys are part of it. I will be too as soon as I get tidyed up!

Hey Noozer .... Go back two messages and take a look! HAHA beat ya to it!

More good news.... May 5, 2006 Ohio Hub May Benefit From Freight Rail Project ORDC sponsorship of CSX intermodal project carries positives for passenger rail plan (Columbus) – ORDC Commissioners have voted unanimously to allow ORDC to sponsor a CSX railroad plan to build a bypass track and a high capacity intermodal freight yard at the railroad’s Parsons Avenue Yard in South Columbus. CSX is applying for funding through ODOT’s Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC). In addition to the immediate improvements to Parsons Yard, the CSX project would also improve the flow of rail traffic through downtown Columbus, Buckeye Yard in West Columbus and northwest through the communities of Marysville, Ridgeway and Mount Victory. These improvements would involve increasing clearances for double-stack container trains, building new passing sidings and new connections to other CSX rail corridors. “What these improvements will also do is help create a rail traffic flow that will facilitate the kind of high-speed passenger train service we are planning under the Ohio Hub Plan”, says ORDC Executive Director James Seney. “We want to see more projects like this around Ohio, because they help ease or remove rail bottlenecks and create a rail system that better accommodates freight and passenger rail. What’s more, these are the kind of projects for which Ohio can capture the costs as a potential state match for any future federal dollars, if a federal passenger and freight rail funding and development program is passed and enacted by Congress and the President.” The proposed improvements to the CSX Parsons Yard would help CSX deal with what has become the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. rail industry: container freight. Currently, CSX handles the loading / unloading of rail containers at its Buckeye Yard facility which has become overcrowded and requires hauling containers in and out by truck to a storage facility over a mile away. That truck traffic is putting an increasing load on local streets and Interstates, and is causing delays for shippers who demand faster service. A new “lift” facility at Parsons Yard would allow not only more room, but would enable an increase from around 135,000 “lifts” of containers and trailers annually that are currently handled at Buckeye yard to an estimated capacity of 450,000 “lifts” at the proposed Parson Yard terminal. The cost of the Parson Yard facility is an estimated at between $65 and $75 million and could take up to two years to build. Additional track improvements through Columbus, Marysville, Ridgeway and Mount Victory would bring the total project cost out to an estimated $100 million. ORDC became involved in the project because in order to apply for funding from TRAC, CSX had to have a public entity as a sponsor. Since the project has potentially statewide implications and benefits, ORDC is the logical sponsor.

Vulpster and Rob1412, There is some excellent research done by Donald Shoup on the correlation between free vs. paid parking, density, transit use, etc. He wrote a book called the "High Cost of Free Parking" which I highly recommend for anyone who cares about cities and transit. Check out: http://www.planning.org/bookservice/highcost.htm http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4622062 http://shoup.bol.ucla.edu/ As for gas taxes being spent only on roads, there is a way around it. Oregon has a similar constitutional prohibition on the use of gas taxes, but spends $7 million per year in gas taxes on intercity rail operating support. The source? Lawnmowers, landscaping equipment, farming equipment and so on requires gasoline and diesel fuel, on which taxes are paid at the pump. Those tax revenues in Oregon went to pay for roads, even though highway users didn't provide those funds. So that was how Oregon was able to use them for off-road purposes: ie, rail. On a per-capita basis, I estimate that Ohio's share of non-highway generated gas taxes amount to between $25 million and $30 million per year. When Ohio is ready to start the first phase of the Ohio Hub System, this could be a way to provide operating support for the trains. How much service could this support in Ohio? In Illinois, the state just approved $24.3 million for one-year operating support for five daily round trips between Chicago and St. Louis, two daily round trips between Chicago and Quincy, and two daily round trips between Chicago, Champaign-Urbana and Carbondale. A similar level of service should be possible here in Ohio if we dedicated the "Lawnmower Tax" to purchasing passenger rail service.

Nothing that a few dozen trips to Home Depot couldn't fix!

^ Public investments in rail, transit, highways, education, jobs and just about everything else would be emasculated by the TEL amendment. If this amendment passes, the game is over for Ohio and I will leave the state. I've been way too tolerant of the brain-dead God squad in our state government.