KJP

ADOT forms panel to guide study of potential Phoenix-Tucson rail line https://www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_rail/news/ADOT-forms-panel-to-guide-study-of-potential-Phoenix-Tucson-rail-line--73455

As someone who has lived several blocks west of it for 28 years, I think we're more upset about the loss of an icon that was a great place for ribs and other quality, affordable food for many decades. And I wouldn't say apathetic. So far, the article has racked up 35,543 views.

BTW, for future reference, the Shoreway Tower project has previously been discussed for two years in other threads including in the Battery Park thread.... And the Detroit-Shoreway/Gordon Square thread...

Old Brooklyn structures OK’d for demolition By Ken Prendergast / December 9, 2024 In the coming months, the busy intersection of Memphis Avenue and Pearl Road in the heart of Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood will look very different. The change is due from the City Planning Commission’s approval on Friday of an application to demolish four buildings at that intersection, each of which are historic structures but in varying stages of decay. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/12/09/old-brooklyn-structures-okd-for-demolition/

Used car dealership on Lorain? Let me guess, did the fire get to the building before creditors or the FBI could?

Shoreway Tower has construction in view for 2025 By Ken Prendergast / December 9, 2024 There’s been lots of progress lately on the development of a proposed 13-story Shoreway Tower overlooking Edgewater Park in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood. Revising easements for a sewer right of way, transferring properties for a tax-increment financing (TIF) district, and advancing legislation to authorize that TIF could allow construction to start sometime in 2025. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/12/09/shoreway-tower-has-construction-in-view-for-2025/

But if they really wanted to, they could do it a lot faster

Yes, NEOtrans has had a partnership with Cleveland Magazine for nearly two years. We basically act as a wire service for them for a flat fee. We make all our articles available to them and they publish whatever they want. I also write a few original articles just for them.

I saw a train at South Harbor at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday, so apparently the line wasn't down for more than a few hours. I've been seeing them working late into the evenings, sometimes after 7, 8, 9 p.m. They had some freshly poured concrete across the bridge deck and possibly including the station platform covered in recent days.

In the article, the developer claims these are "The first-ever development of its kind."

North Collinwood ‘historic’ modular townhomes OK’d By Ken Prendergast / December 7, 2024 Six townhomes may not sound like much, but their builder says they’re an “historic” next step toward increasing the amount of modular housing in Cleveland. City officials and some home builders say more modular homes are needed here to address shortages in quality, affordable housing, fill vacant lots, repopulate the city, increase homeownership in Cleveland and build equity. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/12/07/north-collinwood-historic-modular-townhomes-okd/

Waterfront Line rail service is temporarily suspended until further notice due to track circuit issues. https://www.riderta.com/riders-alerts/waterfront-line-down-until-further-notice

Sad news to report. An icon is leaving us.....

Yes, there's three levels of service on every main line in Germany. There's the S-bahn which is like a 25-50 mile rapid transit train that makes all stops. Then there's the 75-100 mile regional trains that stop in each town and link up the S-bahns. Then there's the intercity expresses which travel 150-500 miles and stop only in the largest cities and link up the regionals. We traveled throughout Germany in 2022 on a cheap one-month pass using mostly regional trains but some S-bahns to get to/from airports or from regional trains to the small town where my brother-in-law lived at the time. With the DB rail pass, Google maps and the very frequent, easy-to-use rail service hierarchy, we didn't need a timetable to get around. We sure as h311 didn't need a car. We seldom needed a taxi or even a bus (the DB pass worked on the bus, too, BTW).

Where will the US grow and shrink by 2100? A recent paper in nature has some useful projections informed by climate modeling. By 2100, they project half of US cities will lose population. One region that won't lose people, even under their more pessimistic projection? Florida https://www.nature.com/articles/s44284-023-00011-7#MOESM1

Tick Tock Tavern closing after 75+ years By Ken Prendergast / December 6, 2024 It’s not often that a restaurant survives more than a few years. Rarer still is the restaurant that lasts nearly eight decades. Tick Tock Tavern, which has been at the same location, 11526 Clifton Blvd., in the Edgewater neighborhood of Cleveland since the last electric streetcars rumbled by in 1948, is set to close its doors forever in just 12 days. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/12/06/tick-tock-tavern-closing-after-75-years/

Gordon Square development wins approval By Ken Prendergast / December 6, 2024 Projects can move fast in Cleveland when you coordinate with stakeholders and align with the Planning Commission. That’s what happened with a proposed mixed use development in the Gordon Square neighborhood dubbed the “Soap Site” went from a conceptual plan revealed publicly only a month ago, to unanimous final design approval today by commission members. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/12/06/gordon-square-development-wins-approval/

Lots of City of Cleveland jobs, including many in the planning, development and building departments. It's a great way to start or redirect a career.... https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/cleveland

An oldie but a "goodie." It could also be sent to climb into your mouth while you're sleeping and explode.... A robot made of magnetic slime could be deployed inside the body to perform tasks such as retrieving objects swallowed by accident. https://newscientist.com/article/2314395-robot-made-of-magnetic-slime-could-grab-objects-inside-your-body/

Jaja and Pioneer are also restaurants owned by the owner and developer of Intro, Harbor Bay. They moved their hospitality business to Cleveland from Chicago. Chances are good they will reopen something in those spaces.

Just two reasons why Russia/China is spending so much effort on promoting a crypto based monetary world in the west: US financial sanctions will be meaningless, with crypto payments bypassing the USD reserve currency, international banking system, with banks replaced by platforms owned by the very pro-russian crypto bros that Trump just appointed to run the American government. All enemies of democracy can rage wars of territorial expansion free from the consequences of the last remaining element of US soft power. An "impartial international body" will be set up to govern this new crypto world. Russia and China will paralyze it exactly as they have the UN and any other international body they're currently party to. Trump handing the US financial system to 3 pro-Russian, America-hating, conspiracy peddling, South African billionaires just seems insane to me, but that's just me.

Haslams say proposed Browns’ Brook Park stadium, development to net $1.2 billion in benefits per year By Ken Prendergast / December 5, 2024 The Haslam Sports Group, owners of the Cleveland Browns football team and stadium development company Primacy Development LLC, released findings today from a study saying their proposed stadium in suburban Brook Park would benefit all of Cuyahoga County, including Downtown Cleveland. But county officials say they want the Browns to continue playing downtown and aren’t buying the study’s findings. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/12/05/haslams-say-proposed-browns-brook-park-stadium-development-to-net-1-2-billion-in-benefits-per-year/

Microtransit, paratransit, on-demand transit etc sounds good on paper but on the balance sheet it's a disaster..... Kansas City is a pioneer using microtransit, one of the hottest ideas in public transit. But KCATA chief Frank White told me microtransit’s costs are astronomical, 10x more than a fixed-route bus. He thinks the hype is overblown. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-05/kansas-city-is-a-microtransit-pioneer-and-a-cautionary-tale?srnd=phx-citylab

Cross-posted with news of a funding award

Cross-posted with news of a funding award