KJP

Remember the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 which gave Amtrak $2.3 billion as a refund of wartime taxes that rail passengers paid from 1942 to 1962 -- continuing 17 years after WWII ended? Amtrak used that refund to buy the Acela Express trains that travel the Northeast Corridor. For the rest of the nation, Amtrak bought boxcars for mail and express shipments that didn't last beyond 2005. But they got most of it right, even though it benefitted only a small geographic part of the nation. Why not a similar relief act for railroads nationwide that continued to pay the federal shipping discount long after the land grants were repaid to jump start a capital improvement trust fund for railroads? While $773 million may not sound like a lot of money in the grand scheme, what if it was inflation adjusted? According to the BLS inflation calculator, today that $773 million would be equal to $13,887,900,000. By the time a bill would be passed, additional inflation would be added. So let's call it a $14 billion refund owed to America's railroads.

Ronayne seeks $350M to renovate lakefront stadiumBy Ken Prendergast / April 30, 2025 Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne has submitted a request for $350 million in state bonds to fund the renovation of the existing, city-owned Huntington Bank Field on Downtown Cleveland’s lakefront. He says it is a fair, affordable request that’s on par with what Cincinnati is seeking to rebuild its own existing football stadium. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/04/30/ronayne-seeks-350m-to-renovate-lakefront-stadium/

Very true. Except it was 7 percent of the maximum railroad route-miles at the industry's peak (1916] was built with land grants. Almost nothing east of the Mississippi River was built with land grants. The railroads bought the land and paid property taxes on it, including to help build local roads for their competition.

Kansas City!

Joy Court-Old Mill Street development gets first winBy Ken Prendergast / April 29, 2025 There’s been lots of new housing units planned lately for the Barber-Vega-Queen (BVQ) District at the north end of Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood. But none is as large as the project that just won support from the city’s Near West Design Review Committee. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/04/29/joy-court-old-mill-street-development-gets-first-win/

Yep. Posted on the previous page including in my latest article....

What frustrates me is the double-standard -- "Why can't we have great trains like other countries, or like our highway and aviation system?? But just keep the government out of it!" Railroads didn't lose out to cars and planes. They lost out to highways and aviation infrastructure. Without the infrastructure, cars are still stuck in the mud and planes are taking off from grassy fields. That is something the railroads could compete with while owned and operated by the private-sector from soil to signals. If you want great trains, equalize the policy treatment among all modes. Unfortunately, too many railroad executives are too narrow-minded. They just want to be left alone and die if their 19th-century Laissez-faire, public-be-damned approach to business cannot compete with 20th century New Deal-era infrastructure policies.

I think you posted this in the wrong....thread?

Cleveland won this series by 122 points: The most lopsided series in NBA playoff history.

Haslam chides state memos on Brook Park stadiumBy Ken Prendergast / April 28, 2025 Two memos dropped today from two branches of state government, both urging caution when considering the Haslam Sports Group’s (HSG) economic impact projections from its proposed enclosed stadium and supportive development in suburban Brook Park. But HSG shot back, calling the reports “questionable” and “inaccurate.” MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/04/28/haslam-chides-state-memos-on-brook-park-stadium/

Harvard-MIT design for power plant redo winsBy Ken Prendergast / April 28, 2025 A redevelopment plan by a team of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students for the site of a former coal-fired power plant on Cleveland’s lakefront won the top prize in the 23rd annual Urban Land Institute(ULI)/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/04/28/harvard-mit-design-for-power-plant-redo-wins/

@YABO713 your transportation costs are dramatically underestimated. You're far from the only one who does this, however. The IRS driving deductibility and AAA average driving cost, etc. capture the true costs of driving a car that you own. When I lived in Geauga County 30+ years ago, I regularly drove at least 20,000 miles per year (or $14,000+ in today's dollars). After I moved to Lakewood, and especially after I started working from home in 2008, my driving dropped to well below 10,000 miles per year ($5,000-6,000 per year).

Yep, cities are awesome.

My wife and son LOL's at that.

Jax, I've lived in an apartment-style condo for 29 years, served on our condo association board (twice), flipped condos, and done a fair amount of browsing of apartment-style condos. Unfortunately, most of the apartment-style condo buildings that exist in Greater Cleveland are old (50-80 years). Some of them have not been maintained very well and are having to pay the price through exorbitant, short-term special assessments. Condo associations are required by state law to maintain a minimum reserve fund (based on a percent of total operating $) for capital projects. Many fund it at the legal minimum. Ask to see the association's budget from the board president. Understandably, boards are reluctant to charge themselves (they're all residents too) increased regular maintenance fees to be ready for unexpected repairs. If they don't, they'll got surprised anyway and have to charge brutal, short-term (5-10 years) special assessments. Unfortunately, the older the building, the more likely they are to have special assessments even if they do maintain a healthy reserve fund. And unfortunately, buildings with underground parking garages are facing major repairs because concrete tends to fall apart after about 50 years of NE Ohio heating and cooling (those with heated garages like ours tend to fare better). See: https://fox8.com/news/construction-company-owner-charged-in-lakewood-parking-garage-collapse/ Ideally, you want to find a condo building that is well-maintained thanks to a responsible board and keeps regular maintenance fees high to avoid spikes in special assessments. If there's an old (50-plus years) building with a low maintenance fee, it's probably because they don't have a costly infrastructure to maintain, such as a vertical building with at least two elevators, a below-ground parking garage, tenant amenity spaces (fitness center, community room with kitchen, etc) or an indoor pool (especially a costly indoor top-floor pool like ours!). If they have all that stuff and relatively low maintenance fees, I would inspect that building with a magnifying glass before I would buy there! You're simply not going to find an amenity-laden, well-maintained old building with with lots of infrastructure and a low maintenance fee. But I would ask around for opinions about the building, especially of some younger or middle-aged residents who have been in the building for at least five years. Don't ask an older person because most of them are cranky. 😉 Hope this helps.

Looking forward to writing about that when I share the Joy Court plans. Soon.😉

Federal Building renovations halted By Ken Prendergast / April 25, 2025 NEOtrans has learned that, not only does the Trump Administration intend to close the Anthony J. Celebrezze (AJC) Federal Building in Downtown Cleveland, the agency responsible for federal real estate has reportedly suspended building renovations in-progress. That also means federal taxpayers may have to eat millions of dollars paid for the unfinished work. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/04/25/federal-building-renovations-halted/

The news was that the new Site Readiness Fund bought this property so it could raise funds to clean it and possibly remove it so it could be marketed to a new end-user. If a new end-user is found, then it and the SRF will determine whether any of the existing buildings will be retained and renovated.

Don't know what the theme is, but the floor plan shows it would have a bar along the long wall, a U-shaped seating lounge at one end and a standard seating/table area in front of the bar.

That first photo is ❤️‍🔥 That and especially the second photo looks like they're trying to spell out something with the windows -- like "C" follow by a dropped "I" -- or maybe I've been staring at computer screens too much today.

On the bright side, a property nearby has a new end user....

Chick-fil-A coming....

Chick-fil-A opening first storefront in Cleveland Other small commercial projects emerging, too By Ken Prendergast / April 24, 2025 Amid all of the big development news happening around town, there’s lots of smaller commercial projects that can have a big impact on individual neighborhoods. And nearly all of these are new or expanded commercial offerings that are due to pop up on the landscape in the coming months. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/04/24/chick-fil-a-opening-first-storefront-in-cleveland/

Yes, because "it's too hard" and we might offend some stick-in-the-mud self-interest group. The most important things worth doing are the most difficult ones to achieve.

They have no plans for expansion anywhere.