KJP

Got a call from an ODOT PR person a few minutes ago who said this afternoon's public meeting in Tremont has been postponed to Feb. 24, from 4:30-8:30 p.m., and moved to the Visiting Nurses Association offices, 2500 East 22nd Street. For more information, contact Michelle Proctor, ODOT public affairs, at (216) 584-2005. Sorry! That's the second bum steer I've given on this meeting in the last week! Thirty lashes with a wet noodle.... KJP

Who was this idiot? The top speed will be 110 mph, not 85. The travel time will be a shade over three hours and I've never driven to Cincinnati in less than 3:45 (I was driving at 75-80 the whole way at pre-dawn hours). How often do you drive with others in your car? When they do, do they pay you or do you still eat the full cost as if no one was riding with you? How much work do you get done when you drive and how much time do you lose because of it? Can you maintain 110 mph while driving in snow, rain, fog, construction? There is no such thing as a cheap bullet train. Typical costs for building a bullet train (150+ mph) route is $40 million to $80 million per mile, depending on topography. Cleveland is 250 miles from Cincinnati, more if it would go via Akron. In Europe and the Pacific Rim, the price for riding a high-speed train is anywhere from 15-30 percent more than travel on slower, conventional rail services that keep to 100 mph or less. People may rarely think of those other costs of driving, but they are real and expensive. And since they don't think of them, they don't realize that they're losing $5,000 to $7,000 a year of their annual income because they have to own a car (the most expensive, depreciable asset they will ever own). Yet, in this nation, too many people have to rent their housing because they have to own a car. Don't you find that to be ass backwards? KJP

Cincy-Rise, I had someone at ORDC check into this and got the following e-mail from the OKI contact person forwarded to me. Note the name and e-mail address of the OKI contact person for any follow up you wish to do. KJP _____________________ From: Marilyn Osborne [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 8:59 AM To: Subject: RE: OKI meeting 'problem' I should have received the call. My name is the contact person. So I don't know who he called to talk to. I need to check about the website....but it is on the calendar for the OKI Board Room. I don't know what the "Problem" is?

Ask them why the meeting was listed on the ORDC's website at: http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/Programs/Passenger/Ohio%20Hub%20Meeting%20Dates.htm I'll also notify the ORDC about the message OKI gave you. KJP

Regardless of what the story is, FC is starting to look like a slumlord in their own hometown while they build megaprojects in other cities. If they can't figure out what to do with Tower City and the Scranton Peninsula, then perhaps they're not as smart as everybody thinks. KJP

BROOKLYN BECKONS BUILDERS (see article and link to source below) http://www.theslatinreport.com/top_story.jsp?StoryName=0110bklyn.txt NYC 01 10 05 BROOKLYN BECKONS BUILDERS Steve Garmhausen For months, developer Bruce Ratner's plan for a mega-development including an arena for the NBA's Nets has been the talk of Brooklyn. But a grander development plan for the borough's downtown is quickly turning to reality, with far less fanfare. The "Downtown Brooklyn Plan" anticipates 4.5 million square feet of new office space and up to 15 new towers in what is already the city's third-largest business district. Its zoning changes, approved over the summer, also clear the way for 3,000 new housing units and 800,000 square feet of retail. "We want to have a vibrant commercial core," declares Amanda Burden, chair of the city's planning commission. .....

Or, it could encourage more pedestrian traffic by sparing them from the elements, with new downtown housing, a new convention center, etc. They'd have to advertise it... "Take your vacation in Cleveland in January, where the temperature is always a comfortable 70 degrees. Fly into Cleveland, take the train downtown, and enjoy all that Downtown Cleveland has to offer -- at room temperature.... The Cleveland Cavaliers at Gund Arena, shopping at Tower City Center, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Great Lakes Science Center and a half-dozen hotels are all linked to the new Underground City with its own shopping, cafes and splashy fountains. You'll have a new appreciation of the city's great indoors. Just remember, when you depart Cleveland for home, put your coat back on." How's that? KJP

What if...the old convention center was sold/leased to the county for its offices? Or, better yet, sold to the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority for it to lease to the county as an anchor tenant. The rest of the old convention center would feature shops lining its corridors with future extensions south to the Old Arcade and Tower City (some of these old tunnels still exist) and north over the tracks and Shoreway to North Coast Harbor (could use federal Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality funds for walkways like these, just as Cleveland Clinic and RTA has done, with a new Amtrak station/North Coast Transportation Center). The port authority could then use the revenues from the old convention center to fund a bond issue for the public-sector portion of building the convention center at Tower City. The end result would be an underground city linking Gund Arena, the Old Arcade, Tower City, a new convention center, BP Building, Key Tower/Marriott Hotel, Cuyahoga County offices/underground city, North Coast Transportation Center, Science Center and Rock Hall. Additional underground extensions could reach the Sheraton Hotel, The Galleria/Erieview, or in the opposite direction to the Colonial Arcade. I'm done dreaming now. KJP

Put the county offices in the old convention center! LOL Actually, I'm part serious. It would be an interesting way to start an underground city like what's in Toronto or Atlanta. KJP

Best to use Ohio examples for another Ohio project. Probably should've use a pic of an Ohio cable-stay bridge, like the new I-280 span in Toodleedoo. KJP

Yes. They liked the manuscript, but not my photography. I couldn't come up with a decent photographer with the amount of money they were offering. KJP

That just emphasizes my point as to what the Great Depression (and, for that matter, WWII) did to slow the development of cities. In fact, a friend of mine in Chicago had a rather telling statement...it was something to the effect that, by the time WWII ended, America forgot how to build cities. Based on our attempts in the decades that followed WWII, I'd say his comment is 100% right (although, America did a pretty nice job rebuilding Western European cities after the war). LBJ's Great Society was supposed to be a Marshall Plan for US cities, but even if the Vietnam War hadn't siphoned money from the Great Society, I seriously doubt America would have done it right (see Jane Jacobs' "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" from 1961, the principles of which have only started to be embraced). KJP

Thanks for saying. I was more interested in booze than books at the time... KJP

True, but they gotta get themselves elected to state offices to get those undermining policiies reversed (or, for that matter, to get the governor and general assembly to stop stealing my tax dollars by them just sitting on their asses). KJP

Pope, I think he's referring to the MK Fergurson Plaza, which used to the be the main post office until 1982. I still have a hard time thinking of it as anything other than "the old post office." KJP

I'm doing what I can to promote a similar bridge for the Inner Belt's Cuyahoga Valley crossing in downtown Cleveland. In Brataslava, in the old Czechoslovakia, they put a restaurant at the top of their new cable-stayed bridge! KJP

All, The following letter, dated, Jan. 12, was mailed by Youngstown Ward 4 Councilwoman Carol Rimideo-Righetti, who chairs council's Public Utilities Committee (see directions to City Hall below the letter): __________________________ Dear Ohio Rail Customer: This correspondence is to officially notify you that the Public Utilities Committee of Youngstown City Council has called a Public Hearing to discuss the pending elimination of Amtrak rail service to Youngstown, OH. The hearing will be held Tuesday, February 22, 2005, at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers, City Hall, 6th Floor. I as well as my City Council colleagues would like to get feedback from the individuals most affected. You are welcome to attend and voice any opinions, questions or issues regarding this subject. Each speaker will be alloted up to 10 minutes to address the committee. Additionally, if you are unable to attend and would like to submit a written statement you may do so using the following address. ARLENE D. THOMPSON, CITY CLERK CITY OF YOUNGSTOWN ATTN: AMT05 26 S. PHELPS ST. 6th FL YOUNGSTOWN, OH 44505-1329 Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Carol Rimideo-Righetti Fourth Ward Councilmember ______________________ City Hall's address is 26 Phelps Street, at the corner of Boardman Street. DIRECTIONS: If you're coming from the north or west, exit I-680 at Market Street, go across the big bridge into downtown. Two blocks after the bridge, turn left on Boardman Street and go one block to Phelps. If you're coming from the south or east, exit I-680 at South Avenue, turn right and go across the big bridge. After the bridge, veer soft right and go one block to Boardman Street, then turn left. Take Boardman four blocks to Phelps. END

That's true about the setback, but I was referring more to the types and extent of brownstone apartment buildings. I'm not sure why the area was called Little Hollywood, but it was a name that was once used describe all of Hough Avenue, much the way Millionaires Row described Euclid Avenue. Perhaps local actors and musicians resided there, owing to its proximity to the theaters and concerts at University Circle and to downtown. But, I'm just guessing here. I found an interesting site about Hough.... http://www.nhlink.net/ClevelandNeighborhoods/hough/hough.htm Plus, Randy Newman mentions Hough in his song about Rednecks keeping blacks down. I won't post the lyrics here because of its use of the N-word, even though Newman uses it in the verbiage of rednecks. But it's a word I won't use or spread. Pretty appropriate we're having this discussion on the approach of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (it wasn't intended on my part). MLK Jr. was born two weeks before my father, though we're celebrating my father's 76th birthday tonight as he will leave with my mother for their winter home in Florida on Monday. I'll bet King would still be alive, too, if he hadn't been assassinated. I often wonder what this country would be like if he hadn't been killed.... KJP

I spoke to the ODOT planner in charge of the Inner Belt project today and he said ODOT was open to the idea of a new, iconic Cuyahoga Valley bridge, but added that Cleveland city officials are responsible for land use decisions such as this. Unfortunately, he said he hasn't heard a peep from Cleveland representatives (Mayor Campbell or City Council) saying they want the new bridge. This new span is essential to realigning the Inner Belt so development can occur just south of Jacobs Field, and next to the Cuyahoga River where the highway bridge now stands. Contact the following people: Mayor Jane Campbell Cleveland City Hall 601 Lakeside Avenue, Room 202 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 216-664-2220 E-mail: [email protected] Joe Cimperman, councilman for Downtown/Tremont, at.... [email protected] City Hall: (216) 664-2691 Home: (216) 687-6772 Address: 3053 West 12th Street Cleveland, OH 44113 HE ALSO CHAIRS COUNCIL'S PLANNING COMMITTEE If you e-mail them, send them a copy of this link (make sure the two "%20" symbols appear in your message or the link won't work).... http://members.cox.net/corridorscampaign/Inner%20Belt%20presentation.pdf (707K download) KJP

Here's a website to learn more about League Park, which was located on the northeast corner of East 66th Street and Lexington Avenue in the Hough neighborhood. This site has some interesting pictures and even a video... http://www.clevelandmemory.com/league/ Below are some pictures from my collection... This is what League Park and its neighborhood looked like in its heydey (1920s), with the streetcar line on East 66th. There also was an intersecting streetcar line from downtown, running east down Lexington Avenue, that many baseball players used to ride with the fans to the park: This is what League Park looked like in 2000 (KJP pics): The park's original, main office still stands at East 66th and Lexington. There have been plans on and off for the last 50 years to improve the site with a better park and a baseball musuem, including for the "Negro League" players, but they haven't led anywhere. Hopefully another, recent push will. This is the Linwood Avenue side of League Park, which still has a baseball diamond, but the large bleacher/stands are long gone. Linwood is seen in the old postcard above, in which Linwood runs from the lower right to the upper/middle left. KJP

Before WWII, home ownership wasn't anywhere near as common as it is today. For the working class, someone would have had to save their money well for a long time to own a home. Most urban dwellers lived in apartments. And, since transit was the way to get around in the cities before WWII, those factors made high-density living preferable. But, you're right, Hough was a rarity for Ohio cities, and to some extent, for Cleveland. It's housing density, mix of land uses and extent of transit services easily supported a population density of 15,000 people per square mile, which is slightly more than what the average densities are for Chicago and Philadelphia, but a little less than New York's 22,000 per square mile. But Hough couldn't support the 30,000 people per square mile it had in 1960, least of all a low-income population with few neighborhood jobs and little or no transit to reach the new suburban jobs (which had been the old urban jobs, only relocated -- some things never change). But, back to Cleveland housing densities... Consider the city council ward that includes the Gold Coast in Lakewood, which has 20,000 people for its one-square mile area. Or, Hampshire Road in Cleveland Heights, just west of Coventry. In fact, Hampshire-Coventry is probably Greater Cleveland's closest example today of what Hough used to be like in its peak years, from 1900-1930, in appearance, housing stock, urban amenities and mix of incomes (although Hough was wealthier in its day). And, not coincidentally, the Hampshire-Coventry area has a decidedly East Coast feel to it. But Cleveland Heights does a better job of building code enforcement than Cleveland did for Hough after the Great Depression. KJP

As long kids don't overrun it, else the grownups will stay away (see Randall Park Mall in the 1990s). Grasscat -- that new tag line at the end of your posting is priceless! I was thinking about adding a tag line too -- "Ohio, the fart of it all." KJP

Mid-20th century urban planning? That policy was only begun in the mid-20th century; it remains institutionalized today. It's still the MO, especially for backward states like Ohio. KJP

"Huff" -- as in "I'll huff and I'll puff and blow your neighborhood down." KJP

Here is a narrative I wrote about Hough five years ago for a book that never was. Following it are a series of pictures, including some then-and-now comparisons.... __________________ From 1850 to 1930, the Hough neighborhood (named after industrialist Addison Hough) matured as a cosmopolitan, urban community of middle- to upper-class residents living in large houses and elegant apartment buildings. Private education like University School, plus large movie theaters, hotels and shops of all kinds lined the sidewalks of this once-great neighborhood. It was also home to Hough Bakery, which had stores throughout Greater Cleveland for decades. But, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the first signs of decline began, as the sour economy forced homeowners to convert excess rooms into apartments so they could take on renters and some extra income. In the years after World War II, the automation of farming in Southern states left many already-poor African-Americans jobless. They fled north to prosperous industrial cities like Cleveland in search of a paycheck. Before that, Cleveland had a small African-American population, living primarily in the Central neighborhood, southeast of downtown. In the 1940s and 1950s, construction of the Willow Freeway (Interstate 77) demolished large sections of Central; its residents moved to Hough's boarding houses and apartment buildings. That, coupled with the northern migration of job-seeking African-Americans, caused serious overcrowding in Hough and other East-Side neighborhoods. Racism, as well as unscrupulous landlords using "block-busting" caused many white homeowners to flee the neighborhood. Landlords crammed as many renters into their buildings as they could. Changes came swiftly to Hough -- 86 percent of its residents in 1950 were white; just 10 years later, 75 percent were African-American. Over 76,000 people, or nearly 30,000 people per square mile, were squeezed into Hough by 1960. Decrepit housing conditions, overcrowding, rising crime, unemployment and the resulting frustrations grew into a powder keg that exploded July 18, 1966 into a seven-day riot. Not only did Hough go up in riotous flames, but it spread into nearby neighborhoods where conditions were similar to those in Hough, though not as severe. As in most urban riots in the 1960s that hit major cities like Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and Newark, it was the actions of a relatively small number of troublemakers that caused lasting damage to the overall neighborhood. While there is no definitive report of what incident sparked the riot, the most commonly held story is that a black man was refused service in a white-owned tavern. The violence from that bar spread into the streets. During the riot, many white-owned stores were burned, while black merchants placed signs in their stores' windows that read "Soul Brother" to keep them from getting torched. It didn't always work. Dozens of homes, apartment buildings and stores in Hough were set ablaze. Snipers perched themselves atop buildings and engaged in shootouts with Cleveland police and Ohio National Guard troops. A total of 15 people were injured in the Hough riot and four people were killed including one woman, 26-year-old Joyce Arnett, an innocent victim who was caught in the crossfire between a sniper and police. Another riot, though much-smaller, broke out in Glenville to the north of Hough in the summer of 1968. In the days and months that followed the riot, Hough's residents organized crews to clean up the streets and re-claim their neighborhood. But they fought an uphill battle. Poor housing conditions, crime and unemployment in Hough were only accelerated by the riot. Despite the construction of public housing, new schools and parks where burned-out buildings once stood, the neighborhood's decline continued into the 1970s. Stores, homes and apartment buildings became hollow shells and were torn down, while many residents moved out in search of a better life. Hough soon became Cleveland's poorest neighborhood, where historic, once-grand homes could be bought for less than $15,000 as recently as 1995. While Hough's population of 76,000 in 1960 was over-inflated by its crowded slum houses, it went the opposite direction after 1970, under-inflating to less than 20,000 by 2000. Cleveland's population suffered nearly as dramatic a fall during the same period, from over 860,000 people in 1960 to fewer than 500,000 in 2000. If any pictures provide clear evidence of the evacuation from Cleveland's once-proud neighborhoods, the present-day views of Hough serve that purpose. Gone are the ornate apartment buildings and many townhouses that collapsed or burned from neglect and riot. Recovery came slowly for the devastated neighborhood, but accelerated during the late 1980s and into 1990s when thousands of new homes, apartments and condominiums were built. The change was bittersweet. Lost forever are so many architecturally beautiful buildings, erected with old-world craftsmanship that might never be replicated. In their place are cookie-cutter homes that appear as though they were transplanted from the suburbs, and lack an urban identity. But they are clearly an improvement over endless tracts of vacant land littered with dumped tires, abandoned cars and spreading weeds that characterized Hough throughout the 1970s and much of the 1980s. But pictures tell the tale better than words (I apologize for the poor quality of these, as most are photocopies). The old shots are some from the Cleveland Press, whose reporters and photographers sometimes put themselves in harm's way to tell Hough's tale to the rest of the city and the nation in the turbulent sixties. _______________________ In the 1950s, the heart of Hough, at the intersection of Hough Avenue and East 79th Street, was a viable, but increasingly troubled neighborhood. I left this picture large so its detail could be seen (scroll right to see the whole picture). The view looks northeast, with Hough Avenue running from lower left to upper right. Just lower-left of center is the Hough-East 79th intersection, where Addison Junior High School stood. At the far left, a part of the "Little Hollywood" section of Hough can be seen. This large grouping of brownstone apartment buildings was one of the first areas to suffer decline. _______________________ During Lent, a priest traveled around from one city neighborhood to another and spoke from the back of a truck to the masses. In 1950, he addressed an all-white audience on Hough Avenue, while a billboard for Cleveland-based Erin Brew beer loomed. Also in the background were Hough landmarks -- Kessler Drug, Pecocks Hotel and Perkins Hotel, both residential facilities -- all gone. _______________________ In May 1962, church ladies fan out into the neighborhood from a small church (still standing, behind the photographer) at the corner of Crawford and Brookline avenues, just south of Hough Avenue. They spread the gospel to residents as part of the church's Save Our Streets campaign. But, by 1962, the neighborhood was already spiraling downward, out of control (see present-day view farther down). _______________________ Just north of Hough Avenue, at East 86th Street and Blaine Avenue, tenement buildings were in dire need of rehabilitation in Feburary 1966. Landlords, city officials and residents let conditions here and elsewhere in the Hough neighborhood decline to such a point that frustrations soon boiled over. _______________________ By the summer of 1966, frustrations and desperation began turning to violence. In an early sign of the trouble to come a month later, police turned out in helmets and toted billy clubs on June 25 at Superior Avenue and East 89th Street to quell unrest, including the throwing of burning debris into the streets. _______________________ Desperation exploded July 18, 1966, at start of the Hough Riot. Numerous buildings were set ablaze, including this one at the northeast corner of Crawford and Hough avenues. Firefighters were nowhere to be found, as they were either battling other blazes or, in other cases, feared for their safety as some firefighters were shot at while trying to douse flames. Today, Crawford Avenue no longer continues to the north side of Hough, where a school was later built (see present-day view farther down). _______________________ Since firefighters weren't able to attack the fire early at the corner of Crawford and Hough avenues, the building collapsed into the street in a smoldering heap. This scene became one of the enduring images of the Hough Riot, showing what can happen when even a once-proud, middle-upper class neighborhood is neglected for so long. _______________________ Unfortunately, the impression by outsiders was that all of Hough's residents didn't care about their neighborhood. Not true. Even during the midst of the riot on July 19, Hough's regular broom brigade got out to clean up the streets. Here, the brigade was working on Hough Avenue, just east of Crawford. None of the buildings seen in the background exist today, not even the Loving Grill. _______________________ Long faces of Hough's youth tell the story of their plight, as they contemplate the enormity of what's happening around them on July 20, 1966, at the corner of East 81st and Hough Avenue. In the background, you may be able to see several National Guard troops and Cleveland Police officers, all clad in helmets (see present-day view farther down). _______________________ Proof that the Hough Riot only made things worse can be seen in these next two pictures of housing conditions from 1967. This one is at East 65th and Lexington (one block north of Hough Avenue and one block west of where League Park stood--where the Cleveland Indians played weekday games until the late 1940s). _______________________ This view is in the "Little Hollywood" section, at East 77th Street and Hough Avenue. _______________________ A year later, in 1968, this aerial view looking south shows the Little Hollywood section between Hough and Lexington avenues, with East 79th Street at the left. Most of the old brownstone apartment buildings were still standing at that time, but the markings on the picture and the notes at its bottom suggest the changes to come. However, the changes proposed in the picture only led to the demolition of every structure shown here. It would be another 30 years before Little Hollywood would see its rebirth with a new complex of multi-family and single-family homes. The old neighborhood, alas, has been swept away. _______________________ HOUGH -- THEN AND NOW IMAGES Crawford and Brookline avenues in 1962 Crawford and Brookline avenues in 2000 (KJP pic) _______________________ Hough and Crawford avenues in 1966 Hough and Crawford avenues in 2000 (KJP pic) _______________________ Hough Avenue at East 81st Street in 1966 Hough Avenue at East 81st Street in 2000 (KJP pic) _______________________ I hope you all enjoyed this photo gallery and the historical anecdotes about a great, prosperous neighborhood gone up in flames, but since re-stabilzed somewhat. Hough still has pockets of chronic poverty, drugs and crime, but it is safe enough to travel through again with precaution. If you do visit Hough, just remember that any place you see a new home or vacant lot (there's a lot of both), a nice old house, apartment building, store, movie theater, school or hotel used to stand there until it was either burned down or fell down under the weight of neglect. If it can happen to Hough, it can happen anywhere. KJP