Equillibrius

Roll-up shutters and eight-foot-wide alleyways (though the latter is the minimum width allowed by Westlake and probably not in Stark's actual plans). Makes me wonder if SE is going to use Crocker Park as a guinea pig to test out the laneway concept before the nuCLEus project gets off the ground?

Any news on that residential highrise that is to go where the children's museum currently is? I haven't heard much about it since April or so. Are they keeping it shelved until a new site for the children's museum can be found?

500 apartments! Even if they're spread amongst several buildings at that parcel, it'll still be impressive. 1717 East Ninth, by comparison, will have 223 apartments.

It's good to see the Columbus Road peninsula(?) seeing more activity with the brewery. That area would be perfect for new mixed-use development were it not for active industries still dotting the place. Its proximity to downtown and other parts of the Flats makes it feel more connected to those areas than the Scranton peninsula, IMO. My dream would be Columbus Road lined with high density residences and businesses from Canal Road all the way up to Abbey Avenue in Ohio City.

That's a relief regarding the public boardwalk. The site plans from a few pages back showed the apartments quite close to the water. Definitely not the Rockometer, but I would like to see a dedicated outdoor concert venue somewhere close to the Rock Hall, or at least something that can easily be converted to public space when there are no concerts.

Whatever comes of this project, I just hope a good portion of the physical waterfront is accessible to the general public. It wouldn't be so exciting to have the water lined with nothing but private balconies, boat docks and other exclusive, pay-to-play uses. We would be back to square one without an open waterfront.

I'd be happy with at least a carousel and a concession-lined promenade. A few years back when they were planning to demolish the I-X Center, I thought the Ferris wheel should be preserved and moved to the North Coast Harbor. I don't know how well that would have actually worked out since it's an indoor wheel, that and the fact the FAA wouldn't allow such a structure so close to Burke's flight path. Still, it would have been a nice complement to the Rock Hall and Science Center. EDIT: Oops, getting off topic here. :oops:

^ It makes me wonder how Mayor White's vision of a Navy Pier-like carnival on the Lakefront would be perceived now? it got shot down hard back in 2000: http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/lakefront-carnival/Content?oid=1475018

Yuck! I'm glad it doesn't look like that anymore. It floors me that people thought it was a good idea to cover up beautiful facades like this. Anyway, East 9th continues its transformation from a 9-to-5 business district to a 24-hour everything district. :)

If there ever comes a time when the Columbus Road Peninsula is reborn as a fully developed residential/commercial district (a guy can dream, right?), such a station would become a necessity.

The section of the bridge near Center Street isn't so high compared to other parts, but point well taken. :) Expanding on X's idea, i'd like to see a building integrated into the bridge's lower structure. Similar to the "Bridge Building" in Rocky River but inverted, with the majority of the structure below the bridge deck. The station would be the central component. OTOH I can't really see anything except retail or restaurants going into such a structure.

That's an interesting idea. A station would definitely spur development in that part of the Flats. An elevator would likely be needed for ADA compliance, but a stairwell scaling the bridge would add an interesting vantage point. Also, stairs leading down to the Flats would add another entry/exit point for that pedestrian greenway the Rotary Club wants to build on the bridge.

Thanks for the feedback re: the massings KJP and jborger. Sketchup is a fun little program to make this sort of thing! One thing I wonder regarding the laneways is how crowded they will be before and after games and other events at the Gateway complex. It could end up being a good thing (lots of foot traffic in a tight-knit urban retail environment) or a bad thing (a confined area becoming TOO crowded).

I was playing around with Google Sketchup earlier, and for the heck of it I built a little mockup of the tallest NuCLEus tower and placed it in Google Earth, just to see what a ~450 foot building in that area would look like in relation to the skyline. Here are a few renders. (apologies in advance for the 50's-O-Rama look of the tower, I wanted to use a texture that would make it stand out in the skyline, and this was the best I could find) From Progressive Field: http://i.imgur.com/HdvJOb1.jpg From near the Prospect/Huron intersection: http://i.imgur.com/VZX5OsS.jpg From the Hope Memorial Bridge: http://i.imgur.com/BvmIPUT.png

Beyond tunneling under the Square and putting an underground bus terminal there (which would be ungodly expensive if not impossible with all the infrastructure that's down there) there's really no way to take away the buses and other traffic without seriously altering the transit routes. The buses are there to stay unfortunately. :?

That's a shame. Apartments would have definitely been a game changer for the retail at TC. Huron Avenue with buildings on both sides would've made for an interesting streetscape too. Here's hoping Phase II of the casino at least follows a similar design.

How feasible would it be to convert one of the TC buildings to residential? If that component were added to the complex, it would truly be mixed-use. A person who lives, works and-- depending on the retail that goes in-- shops at TC could theoretically never have to leave the place. A true city-within-a-city.

I hope whatever retail gets built is placed along East 4th between Prospect and Huron. Maybe even close the street to pedestrians only, like the current East 4th, but traffic considerations for The Q/Progressive Field might prevent it.

Nice to hear that Clifton is getting a green median after all. Finally it'll live up to the name Boulevard. And semi-related to the topic: I noticed the Westgate Transit Center had some construction going on the last time I was in that area (April or May). Since the Transit Center will be the west end of the Enhance Clifton route, are they reconfiguring it to accommodate the new articulated buses? EDIT: Is Rocky River involved with this project at all? Since these buses will pass through a significant portion of the city on the way to the Westgate TC, it would be great if the stops along Lake and Wagar Roads had similar enhancements.

Great pics, MayDay! I love it whenever the Terminal does the color swirl effect. It seems to happen at completely random intervals, too. My mom works at the downtown main post office and she saw the Tower do this at 6 in the morning while she was driving to work. I know it was lit in the "Pride Flag" color scheme last year during a media visit related to the Gay Games. I wonder if it will be lit the same way during the events?

Westshore LRT Here is my dream/utopian/most-likely-won't-ever-happen RTA transit line for the west side suburbs, traveling from the Westlake Park'n'Ride to Tower City. I know other ideas use a similar path, but they tend to stay on the Norfolk Southern right-of-way all the way to downtown (or at least joining with the Red Line at West Boulevard). My idea would utilize Clifton Boulevard, Shoreway Boulevard (if they ever get that done :-D) and the Detroit-Superior Bridge's lower deck. Though I have a feeling other people have thought of this route as well. Anyway, here is the basic path from west to east: 1.) Start at the Westlake Park'n'Ride and head down the NS ROW. 2.) At downtown Rocky River, the line crosses to Lake Road and continues over the bridge into Lakewood, where Lake Road becomes Clifton Boulevard. The line from here to Shoreway Boulevard will be in a side-running configuration (like the old Clifton streetcars) and the stations from here to the Cleveland border follow the existing 55F/Gold Line stops. 3.) Switch to Shoreway Boulevard and continue along until around West 38th or so, where the line will cross over to Detroit Avenue. 4.) After a final surface station at or near West 25th, the line will dig in and enter the Detroit-Superior Bridge's subway deck. 5.) Cross over to the existing RTA tracks and make a final stop at Tower City. I think by routing it along the Shoreway it would end up being a complement-- or even a full-on westward extension-- to the Waterfront Line. Residential projects near Battery Park and other areas could boost ridership. It also might help relieve congestion at Edgewater Park, which has been filling almost beyond capacity with their weekly "Edgewater Live!" and other events. Some maps: What do you think? Good? Plausible? Completely harebrained? :-D

I don't think the Metroparks charges for parking in any of their reservations. It's not their nature (no pun intended :)) to do so and like you said, it wouldn't resonate too well with the public. If they did, maybe have meters in the spaces closer to key areas (namely the beach and the pier) and leave spaces further out free. With all that being said, the fact that the park has so many visitors now shows that it has come a long way in the year since the Metroparks took over operations. Edgewater has the potential to be one of Cleveland's premier parks again, instead of a neglected afterthought.

I suppose parking bans on the surrounding streets could alleviate the congestion issues, but I imagine it would create more problems. It's a shame, though. I thought Edgewater was a great location for fireworks shows-- the beach, vantage points from almost anywhere in the park, etc. Maybe things will change when the Shoreway Boulevard conversion gets going.

I went to the Thursday event with some friends of mine. I was really shocked at how crowded it was, I've never seen so many people at Edgewater since the park used to do the 4th of July fireworks. That being said, I hope fireworks are eventually brought back to Edgewater. Maybe launch them from a barge on the lake so they don't have to close off an enormous portion of the park. I know some other cities use barges, but I'm not sure how it would affect water pollution. On an unrelated note, I noticed the fishing pier has some abandoned caissons/pylons on the left and right side of it, like the pier was once cross or t-shaped. Anyone know when the pier was in that configuration? The caissons look relatively new.

By then it will be too late, I'm afraid. If the economy really tanks (no pun intended) then how can the government get any massive public works project moving? Kasich might be killing what could possibly be our only chance of keeping up with the rest of the country. The civilized world, for that matter.