pcforsgren

with the amount of development and initatives that have come out of city hall or that have been backed by city hall in the last few months, Jane probably has a much better shot of keeping her job - it doesn't make up for 3 years of nothing, but it is a good beginning to what could be a deeper renissance. Seems to me that Chris Ronanyne is a much more efficient and capable chief of staff, he seems to be making things happen as of late.

Sweet, this is great news. Again, I agree that this little projects are the foundation to rebuilding the urban core of this area.

damn straight... this sounds exciting! finally cleveland using its position as a world leader in medical research! definately the most exciting news i've heard for our economy in a long time. :clap:

in response to above: JohnOSU99, Key Tower is the tallest building in Cleveland (and Ohio) at around 950 ft.

agreed, CSU has a great plan that will really bring dividends to both CSU itself and Cleveland. The school is redefining its purpose and image and is finally striving to move beyond being an open enrollment commuter school. The school is only "officially" around 40-41 years old (I think it became Cleveland State in 1964) and thus is relatively new compared to other Ohio publics, OSU being a prime example (est. 1870).

Sounds like E. 4th is really starting to take off! Hopefully this kind of development spreads to the rest of Lower Euclid. :clap:

now THIS is the kind of thing we need. Wonder what the chances are of ODOT biting on it...

That's what I was thinking as far as the urban neighborhoods, but wanted to make sure we were on the same page. Yeah I'm a year 4 student here (Though i'll be here for 5 haha). From the previous posts in this thread seems a fair amount of people on here are grads and/or students from OSU. I'd be all for an OSU meet.

Ah ok, that makes sense. I was just wondering what we were comparing, exactly. Cleveland does have a pretty infilled downtown, with a few glaring exceptions (public square parking lot/former site of Ameritrust anyone?). I would have to agree that the parking lots all over downtown cbus make it look small by comparison, driving by on the freeway with the "city view" you can see the surface parking quite well. I would say Cincinnati's downtown is the infill leader though since it is quite compact and developed, as you said.

Hey punch, that's cool. I live in 200 w norwich which overlooks Tuttle Park and that big graphtti wall. MrNyc et al, just engaged in a little friendly debate over which central city is most urban. I appreciate all of Ohio's cities but of course I have my favorite (cleveland of course) which I will defend vigorously as the greatest of Ohio's cities. :-D

Hey Summit, where'd you live when you were on campus? I have lived on the Chitt (Chittenden Ave), and am currently on W Norwich. The big dirt piles were oh so fun to manuever around when I was trying to get places.

Question for you ColDay... when you say second most sizable urban area, do you mean the cohesiveness of the central city? As in the neighborhoods such as Victorian Village, German Village, "central" downtown, Short North, etc.? I guess I'm just not seeing what area we are specifically talking about. The 50s boundary as I see it is all of that, campus, east and south of downtown, etc. So if that's what we are talking about, I can't see that being larger then Cleveland's downtown (largest and most developed by far of the three Cs), Tremont, Ohio City, and central neighborhoods. Cleveland is still 77 square miles today remember, and I would venture those 77 square miles are denser then 1950s-boundrary Columbus's 51 sq miles considering Cleveland's population is 480,000 something within 77 sq miles and Columbus is 220 within 51 sq miles. Just my thoughts anyway.

I think the archway entrance is quite cool. The building seems like it'll be a big catalyst in moving downtown residential development forward.

It would be nice if those arches were light up correctly. So did they abandon the whole fiber-optic deal? Or are they trying to fix the original system itself. I seem to remember hearing the company saying they had no clue what the problem was, which is always a good sign in knowing how to fix it haha. Hey now, "Lifestyle centers" aren't quite a Cleveland phenomenom. There's that little mall called Easton. I hate em though. Fake urban settings just don't make a whole lot of sense. God forbid the yuppie shoppers go to the real downtown urban areas. Downtown retail in Cleveland and in the real cities in general needs a real shot in the arm. Columbus experienced it with lazarus closing, and cleveland hasn't had downtown department stores since the May Company and Higbee's/Kaufmann's closed up shop. If Lazarus wasn't based out of Cinci they'd close the downtown store there too. What can be done, I don't pretend to know... My point exactly on COTA. It blows. Plain and simple. As Summit said, if you aren't going southbound to downtown or north out of it, don't bother waiting and just walk it. I have lived here going on 4 years now during the school year and have friends who are born and raised and would readily agree with me. Most everyone I know says COTA is useless. I imagine the problem is that the majority of the population lives in the surburban-style areas of the city and wants to drive everywhere, thus won't pay for a) increased service or b) any type of rail system. Fancy fixtures on an alleyway? If you are referrring to east 4th street/Euclid Ave, you are sadly mistaken if you think that's all that is going on there or that is our idea of urban renewal. East 4th is a catalyst for changing the entire climate of lower euclid. MRN Ltd is turning that into a residential/retail/nightlife neighborhood that will be a model for the rest of downtown to follow. Don't be calling me a twit without doing your homework first there. :-D I'm just messing with you anyway, I don't hate Columbus, I just think it's obvious which of the "big 3" are more urban and which are more suburban/car-oriented. In it's defense, most of the cities "gaining population" lately are ones setup like Columbus, where the central core is acutally losing population and the city is moving outward, not becoming more dense inward. Don't forget that Central Columbus's population was around 220,000 in census 2000 and is going down in population. Thus the urban area of the city faces the same decay and flight problem that Cleveland does. Anyway, off my soapbox for now.

it's this one: www.thebingham.com Big honkin old building that used to be a large factory for a hardware company, W.Bingham Hardware. Seems very nice.

As you can see from the OSU students who have replied, we generally hate Campus Partners. They took what was an admittedley blighted, grimy but very hopping bar scene and gave us.... Easton, OSU style. It has really made the campus population hate the administration even more. And hey ColDayMan, why don't you hop on your AMAZING COTA system that doesn't go anywhere useful on a regular basis except up and down high street. Hehe not trying to start a flamewar, I'm just representing and defending my Cleveland pride! 8-) I live in both cities and sorry, no comparison.

Good news for all current and future residents of downtown c-town. A grocery store is a great first step to having real neighborhood amenities downtown and encouraging more residental development. Constantino’s opens its doors By HENRY GOMEZ The much-ballyhooed Constantino’s Market opened today, Jan. 10, in the Warehouse District and bringing downtown Cleveland its first eclectic mix of groceries, wine and chocolates. For more info, click the link - Courtesy of www.CrainsCleveland.com

ehh... could be worse, but not what I was hoping for as far as a big campus revitalization project. It'll be nice to have that nasty south bar neighborhood gone, but on the other hand... it is a trendier version of a mall in some ways. Movie theatre, huge honkin book store, etc... I could see it as a sliver of Easton or one of the numerous other Columbus shopping centers. I was hoping for the city to use the gateway project as much more of a campus total area revitalization, as far as getting the housing stock spruced up and perhaps even bringing in some for sale housing, and the like.

Sounds like a good thing for now, Cleveland needs some more retail in the city limits. It may be big box stores etc, but they are reusing an old industrial park and not tearing down urban-oriented retail or anything like that. I don't see industry being a big part of Cleveland's future economy, at least not like it was in the past, and this is a good thing because we see what being a big steel/industry center got us after the industry collapsed. Decades of population decline and jokes about being the mistake on the lake. I think Cleveland has learned from its past and will not allow a single type of industry to dominate it's economy again.

Yeah but if this project comes to fruition and goes well, I could see demand bringing more residential units to the rest of the flats. Either way, this is exciting stuff. I think the city needs to do all they can to make this happen and return the east bank to prominence again. I like what I'm hearing as far as commerical property - a full service grocery downtown, movie theaters and bookstore would help continue to increase the allure of downtown living.

Wait... 7,000 units? If that is the case, why is their projected population in 2010 so much lower then Cleveland's downtown projected population? Cleveland is around 21,000 if I remember, Columbus was only in the 6,000ish range.

Ah ok. I was wondering. Yeah they do, but I don't think anyone would argue that the main purpose of nationwide and the arena district was the NHL. Without the NHL, the main draw is nonexistant. Foucusing on major sports as the be all, end all was what has contributed to Cleveland's downtown decline, and the buildup of downtown housing, residents, and other attractions are what will contribute to it's renissance and long-term sustainability IMO.

^ Not sure if that was directed at me, but I didn't say/mean that the arena wasn't used. My intent was to say that the arena district is certainly taking a hit as far as people in the area on a daily basis. I am sure that the bars/clubs are doing fine on weekends, but I have spent time downtown in the evenings on weekdays and I have seen a large dropoff in activity. Mongolian BBQ, a place that is always hopping and always has long waiting times, was deserted. The arena district in general seemed to be rather empty. Just the impression I have been getting when I go down there since the jackets shut down. Looking at the arena's schedule for the next few months, it starts to thin out in Jan-Feb, as it is certainly a tall order to replace the almost daily hockey games with special events. Again, my point is not to rag on Columbus or anything, the lack of foot traffic is a problem that all the "three C" cities are facing. The NHL strike and impact on cities is a good example of the problem though.

Two Words: OHIO STATE. That's why Columbus doesn't have any pro sports. The city is crazy about Ohio State and everything that relates to it, leaving little time for any pro sports to gain acceptance. I found it very interesting that any pro sport franchise can survive in the city with Ohio State in town.

I certainly think it is hurting downtown, as there is no reason to go down there without the jackets playing. There are a few bars and things but no one lives there and outside of the arena district, downtown Columbus leaves something to be desired. Cleveland's downtown "feel" is far superior. From what I have seen/heard Cincinnati's is better as well. I am not trying to rag on columbus per se, but in a side by side comparison I think most people would agree that Cleveland and Cincinnati are more urban then the capital city. Opinions anyone?