Oldmanladyluck

You could still smell the smoke coming from the building yesterday. A shame that it was lost- due to arson at that.

^At what time? Was this today? The non-profit I work at did a tour on the Trolley of the Hough neighborhood today, and were down Euclid as far as the Miller Family Pavillion.

No clue... but a good idea nonetheless. Edit: I just remembered the county doesn't own any other buildings, only that they leased space from different buildings throughout downtown. Punch's idea could be applied to a different county owned buliding (if there is one), with substantially less or no up front remediation costs.

And there's always this to contend with... Cuyahoga County commissioners finally find a use for their empty Ameritrust tower By Henry J. Gomez, The Plain Dealer April 02, 2010, 8:40AM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County commissioners have a bite on the Ameritrust complex, the long-vacant downtown office complex they have been trying to unload since grand plans for a new government headquarters crumbled. But don't bust out the party favors or call the welcome wagon. Cue the fire sirens instead. Cleveland public safety leaders are pursuing a pact with county officials that would allow city firefighters to use the 28-story tower for training exercises, free of charge. City Council members and commissioners are expected to approve the arrangement this month. More at: http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga-county/index.ssf/2010/04/empty_ameritrust_tower_could_become_training_site_for_cleveland_firefighters.html I have to say, however, that I like Punch's idea.

Why do you think GE hasn't offered to do this? Maybe becuase it isn't economically realistic? Maybe because it is a scam? Wouldn't we be better off offering incentives to GE? Look at what Akron did with Goodyear, etc. I didn't see Polinsek or whatever the mayor's name is trying to woo Perelli! I will cross-post my reply from another thread... Except there is one, out of Akron. The story was in last Sundays PD. They claimed they would build a plant employing 400, make a better product and should have a chance at the incentives and build a plant here. (maybe they will build one in China instead?) I stand corrected- Thank you. This is what my opinion was based on- and since there is indeed another company who could have done the same while producing even more jobs, this definitely should have been put out to bid. And because of this, I think this deal was structured strictly for political reasons, as the Mayor will be able to claim that he brought jobs from overseas to Cleveland instead of relying on a company that oursources jobs overseas. tradition7- Thanks for the insight. I agree 100% about GE's corporate presence in the region (in East Cleveland, no less). Learning of what willyboy posted, I agree that GE should have been given the chance to show what it could do. Who is to say that GE could not also employ locally for the building of the new LEDs to be used in Cleveland? I guess we'll never know.

If you think Buckeye is accessible, and does not need an accessibility upgrade, then what is it that is causing it to not grow more rapidly. We can just wait for develpers to build fanbcy condo's here, that's just stupid. There's no reason to invest in one. We need jobs here. We need people from all over Cleveland to come work in Buckeye daily. We need people from Buckeye working in Buckeye. That is truely the only way this neighborhood, or any other neighborhood at that, will go to the next level. On the money. Agreed 100%.

^I was thinking maybe they could be the first to post up in the lonely stretch between E.9th and E.14th... but I doubt that would create any spin-off. I'm sure there's a storefront left between Public Square and E.9th along Euclid which they could fill easily.

Except there is one, out of Akron. The story was in last Sundays PD. They claimed they would build a plant employing 400, make a better product and should have a chance at the incentives and build a plant here. (maybe they will build one in China instead?) I stand corrected- Thank you. This is what my opinion was based on- and since there is indeed another company who could have done the same while producing even more jobs, this definitely should have been put out to bid. And because of this, I think this deal was structured strictly for political reasons, as the Mayor will be able to claim that he brought jobs from overseas to Cleveland instead of relying on a company that oursources jobs overseas. tradition7- Thanks for the insight. I agree 100% about GE's corporate presence in the region (in East Cleveland, no less). Learning of what willyboy posted, I agree that GE should have been given the chance to show what it could do. Who is to say that GE could not also employ locally for the building of the new LEDs to be used in Cleveland? I guess we'll never know.

I'm for it. As I said in the Mayor Jackson thread... if there was another company willing to build a new plant in the City of Cleveland, employing up to 350 workers from the City of Cleveland, and making LED lights which will be used in the City of Cleveland, then the contract should have been put up to bid. Since there was no other company willing to do so, WHY NOT create jobs in the City (some of which will be low-skill jobs which many claim the city needs more of)? My only fear from the deal is GE retaliating in some type of way, affecting the workers at Nela Park. Nela Park is a GREAT, historic asset for the region.

Cleveland's local unemployment rate, according to the the DLS, was 9.8% during the month of March (a high number, but still lower than LA, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Tampa, etc). Manufacturing jobs up by 5,000 since last October while Mining, Logging, and Construction lost close to 12,000 during the same time frame (!). I know that's due to the seasons, but that's a loss of A LOT of employment during the winter months. Education and health services now takes up close to 20% of the total non-farm employment in the region :) Good stuff!!

^^I don't criticize him for that deal- he was working on bringing a company that wanted to build a manufacturing plant which would bring in 350 (including low-skill factory) jobs to the city. I don't see too many manufacturing companies around who are willing to do the same, with GE included. If GE were willing to employ Cleveland workers in a newly built plant located in the City of Cleveland which would make LED Cleveland lights, great. I think that GE is a great contributor to the local economy- with Nela Park being a historic asset. In my opinion, if GE were willing to do what this Chinese company were willing to do at Nela Park, if possible, that would be great too. But we're asking "if" with GE, not "when". Has any other company come forward who is willing to build a plant in the City and employ 350 people? If so, then it should be without question that the contract should be up for bid. However, I don't think that's the case. My biggest concern is that GE will turn a cold shoulder to the regional economy in some fashion, affecting the Nela Park facility.

^I would agree, as even our employment shows that the region (and the city) has finally transferred from manufacturing based to medical. Cleveland has FINALLY turned a corner, though the rest of the world doesn't notice as of yet.

It isn't surprising to me to see the loss of families in the city. Cleveland was ground zero for the foreclosure crisis before the country caught on to what was really going on. I would assume that a high percentage of acutal home owners, no matter where they fit in the socioeconomic make-up of the city, were families which were affected the most. The city at one point had 14,000 vacant and abandoned structures- which the city targeted demolished much of (that number is down to around 7,000 I think). That's a lot of potential families lost from the city due to the foreclosure crisis. In my opinion, the foreclosure crisis also accounts for the "spread of poverty" as mentioned in other threads. It wasn't just the City of Cleveland which was affected, but also the inner-ring and now outer ring suburbs. As an example, Euclid's housing prices plummeted during the last 5 years, with the highest amount of foreclosures in the county outside of Slavic Village. This thereby accelerating white flight (some will call it middle-class flight, but "it is what it is"). Black families looking for better neighborhoods who formerly lived in the city have been moving into Euclid in droves. Euclid during the 2000 census had a black population of around 30%- I would not be surprised to see a DRASTIC change in that percentage when the next census tallys are released.

Using the Higbee building would be ideal! If the Higbee building is "Phase 1" of the $600 Million project... I wonder how much of the monies will go towards renovation of the Higbee building? I like this!!

From these numbers, Columbus has a higher percentage of foreign born residents than Cleveland, though Cleveland doesn't seem to be doing TOO bad on this list (though the city could undoubtedly be doing better).

Though it sucks, I was ready for this loss. We've seen it happen time, and time again with our sports teams. I'm part of the generation that hasn't seen a sports franchise in the city win a championship. I'm sure I will- and with the Cavs nonetheless. A few changes need to be made- starting with bringing PHIL JACKSON here, whose contract is up at the end of the season.

Too many problems to name- and I hate to admit it, but something has definitely been up with the way Lebron has been playing. Anyone else notice that EVERY TIME he got the ball during the first 3 quarters, he was bound to PASS instead of DRIVE to the basket? WTF is up with that? You've got the best squad you've ever had to BACK YOU UP... and you pass the ball away continuously? People at the bar that I was at were saying by the beginning of the third quarter that Lebron was throwing the game. To be serious- I would have to agree UNLESS his elbow is seriously shot. But if it is- where are the pads that he's been wearing for the last couple of months? Too many problems. Parker was inefficient. Mo definitely gave it his all. Shaq came to play. Anderson was doing his job with drawing fouls and giving fouls when needed. But Lebron? Is that the type of performance of a person who WANTS to win? Besides the two back to back 3 pointers in the fourth (almost too little, too late), WHERE WAS HE? We've got a bright future ahead of us. We'll find out what that future is very, VERY soon.

Lost.

^I like that. That would show some pride in the city.

No doubt the neighborhood has taken a substantial hit during the past 10 years. With the addition of the Velodrome, I think some new connections could be made in the neighborhood with its existing assets. Any idea if the Velodrome will be located close to the Morgana Trail? Connecting the trail to the Velodrome would be a no-brainer. If (now a BIG if) the socioeconomics allow for it in the neighborhood, marketing could be done to get some health conscious vendors to the neighborhood. I'm dreaming, but "The healthiest neighborhood in the Cleveland region" doesn't sound too bad (the PD would have a field day with that when any crime occurs in the neighborhood, however). Someday, maybe. It would be great to see the Broadway strip redeveloped, but without demand... that will remain a no go.

What type of spin off development can be expected from this type of project? Any ideas?

Gotta love Kenyon and Mt. Vernon!

As unmeasurable as it is, he's done a lot for the national perception of the city. No matter how bad things were during the past 7 years, well, at least the Cavs were good and at least we had Lebron. No, New York (or seemingly the rest of the country for that matter) doesn't care about this city, and would love for us to go through even more misery.

Time to resurrect this thread!! The Southeast Cleveland neighborhoods photo thread really made me question the use of art as a true redevelopment tool for neighborhoods in the city. Having art as a driver for urban redevelopment has occurred in some of the more well-known neighborhoods in the city, while also helping the resurgance of neighborhoods such as Detroit Shoreway. Though Detroit-Shoreway has more than just the Gordon Square Arts District going for it, the Arts District undoubtedly has changed the perception of the neighborhood to those throughout the region. I can attest as even I have visited the neighborhood and browsed for the first time in probably 10 years, based on what I saw on this site regarding the Arts District. Art naturally draws people... but could the use of art promote redevelopment in more distressed areas of the city? It naturally takes time, as even some of the successes of North Collinwood's Waterloo Arts District (my old hood, selfless plug I know) hasn't led to too much of a greater investment in the surrounding area. Though North Collinwood has a great deal of intact building and housing stock, reinvestment in the neighborhood has been slow- even around Waterloo Road and the connecting streets. The recession hasn't helped matters much at all for the past 3 to 4 years, as the neighborhood has changed socioeconomically and demographically over the past few years. There is an old theater in the Buckeye neighborhood on Buckeye Road which is planned for redevelopment by the neighborhood CDC. Buckeye Road itself already has colorful murals on some of the buildings around the theater, along with (if I remember correctly) sidewalk work done recently. My question is how much do socioeconomic and racial statistics of a neighborhood affect the pace of redevelopment in a neighborhood with art? I may be naive to the amount of time it has taken Detroit-Shoreway, but it at least appears to have reemerged within the last few years (while North Collinwood has had the Beachland for a longer amount of time and has yet to see greater investment around that particular arts district). Along with the art, does the surrounding racial profile of the neighborhood play a factor? Buckeye and North Collinwood are truly urban neighborhoods with old charm. How can art help their potential reemergances?

Back around the year 2000, NOTHING was there. It's incredible how far the area has come in 10 years.