Equillibrius

I took a walk around the Westgate site, during the Summerfest carnival at nearby Bohlken Park a few weeks ago. Besides poor land use, it looks to me like they're using some of the cheapest materials available for the buildings. Even from 100 feet away the steel and vinyl looked flimsy. No thanks, Westgate. You're an island of car-oriented exurban sprawl in the middle of two decently-walkable inner-ring burbs.

You know, whenever I feel that my cat is evil, I think of videos like these and realize she isn't so bad after all. :) I don't think I've ever seen a cat like the one in the first video. Although I have heard of some cases where, if a domestic cat is born feral and spends its formative years without any contact with people whatsoever (such as in an isolated rural area), it will be permanently and aggressively fearful of them and will behave just like this cat if it's cornered by a human. But this cat looks a little too clean to have been born in the wild.

I'd imagine the safety concerns would be too enormous for it to be likely, but I'd like to see a pedestrian walkway on the RTA/CUT viaduct. It would provide a direct pedestrian route between Ohio City and the center of Downtown, and vice-versa. As an extension of the Tower City-to-Gateway walkway, it could begin in Tower City and end at the doors of the West Side Market. Only problem is, the Red Line tracks run along the edge of the bridge for most of the run, so pedestrians wouldn't be able to see much. And again with the safety concerns, there would be too many adventurous (i.e., stupid) sightseers that would try to hop onto the tracks. And, obviously, it would be pointless because a mass transit line already exists on that route. :)

When I heard that Max's was moving further west (due to "not enough parking," from what I've heard), I assumed they were going to move a few blocks away or something. But damn it if they move to Crooker Park... :whip:

Maybe it's the omitted stations, but it could be because the sign is on the westbound side of the station like KJP said. But I noticed that the warning at the top of the sign says "DO NOT CROSS TRACKS" when there is a pedestrian walkway to the right which, oddly enough, happens to be crossing the tracks.

I stand corrected. That's what I get for judging BD's on two other of their locations in Ohio (Easton and Beavercreek).

I visited the Coventry Marc's when I was up there a month back, and I too was suprised at how clean it was. I think being a smaller operation than the typical Marc's has a lot to do with it. Perhaps it's just because it's a newer store and the "new car smell" will eventually wear off, but I would definately shop Marc's more if they ran their stores like their Coventry location. Being a local chain is a big plus, too. I definately agree about the newer businesses in Coventry being more mainstream oriented. BD's Mongolian Barbecue, as mentioned, is a place that you'd typically find in a more suburban environment. Their food is still awesome, though. :) IMO, as long as Coventry still holds its own as an urban neighborhood with heavy pedestrian traffic, it's all good.

I agree with that. But when compared to a lot of suburban retail development, especially on the West side, Crocker certainly does a better attempt at density and urbanism (if you can call it that).

Seriously?!! I was always under the impression that transit needs to be there before the development in order for it to be called TOD. Unless Calbrese wants us to believe that there were buses trudging around and making stops in the woodland and fields that were there before Crocker was built. Sheesh. That said, I like Crocker for its attempt at new urbanism, compared to similar projects in the area (I can't stand Legacy or Eton). On the other hand, unless you got a car or are lucky enough to live near a bus route that makes a stop there, I'd imagine walking there from the outside would be quite a hellish experience. It really irks me when developers trump their shopping centers as being "pedestrian friendly" when pedestrian access to the place is inadequate or non-existent.

I'm usually downtown on Saturday afternoons anyway, so I'm game. This'll be my first meet. One question-- will those of us who are car-less (*cough* me...) be any burden?

BOO! It's a shame about Reems Deli. I used to go there at least twice a week. They closed sometime during the winter and re-opened under a new name, but a fire closed it again a few weeks later. Now a friggin' Fifth Third is going there. :whip: Although I'll admit, the building was kind of gritty and delapidated-looking, even before the fire.

All I can say about the Mirage incident is "damn". There's a good distance-- about two and a half miles-- between the bar (in the Flats West Bank) and the area where the guy was killed (W.38th and I-90). A robber would not put up a chase like that. This was most likely gang-related.

I have a feeling that somebody's going to end up getting killed one of these days. A homeless person beaten to death or dies in a hospital, or one of these stupid kids getting beaten, stabbed or shot to death by a homeless person who can actually defend himself. Unfortunately, the latter incident will most likely draw more media attention than the former.

I was just at the Chagrin/Warrensville station the other day (I had some free time and I wanted to get some use out of my all-day pass :)). While I agree a lot more could be done to accomodate the pedestrian element, it's actually pretty well done on its northern side, where The Fresh Market and the Blue Line Cafe are located. There needs to be a way to keep cars from speeding down Van Aken, though. As most of you know, the Van Aken tracks leading up to the Lee Road station are below-grade in a cut. How difficult would it be to cover up the tracks and place a mixed-use office/residential building directly over it, with retail at the first floor, and the rapid station below it? Sort of a miniature version of Tower City. :)

I rode the Red Line a few weeks ago (between Puritas and Tower City), and yeah, the train did seem to slow down a lot. Although I think it was because N&S was doing some maintenance work on their right of way for a stretch (a lot of track-riding construction equipment), and combined with construction at the W.117th station, our train had to switch over to the westbound track between the Triskett and W.98th stations. I rode the rapid again this past Tuesday. The trip didn't seem as slow that time around. What I'm wondering about is if they're going to do anything about the fare-collection systems at these stations. Having riders pay as they get on the train just slows things down even more.

Maybe I misread this somewhere, but didn't Wolstein want to re-route the Waterfront line so it ran through the center of his project? On TOD in Shaker Heights, one thing that's puzzled me is why the Van Aken Line has a lot more high density mixed-use development existing along it, while the Shaker Line is almost entirely single-family residential homes that are spaced far apart. Then when you get past the Warrensville Center station, the median of Shaker Boulevard widens and the Green Line is practically in a rural environment. Have there been any plans to develop the Shaker Boulevard median? It makes the rapid seem awkward being all by itself like that.

Multiple stops in Lakewood would be a good idea. The city is populous enough to support them. One station would be Belle Avenue, obviously, but another location that I think would be great is the area around Sloane and West Clifton, where the Nature's Bin grocery store is. Although it would be a bit close to the Rocky River stop, commuters won't need to cross any bridges to get to it. Parking might be an issue, but the station could be instead marketed as a neighborhood-oriented stop, serving residents in the West End/Clifton Park areas. Maybe while they're at it they could kill two birds with one stone and get rid of that old retail strip and the McDonald's, and redevelop the land for some mixed-use TOD. But that's just me. :)

Thanks for the info and corrections, KJP. I was mostly guessing for the Rocky River side, although Beaconsfeld Blvd. makes it pretty obvious that a rail line once ran through there. The topographic map I used (from topozone.com) also showed some evidence of a former right-of-way near Elmwood Park, and I thought it was part of the LSE's old route. It boggles the mind to think what exists along these routes, and what could have existed had they been running for a while longer. One could argue that places like Bay Village and Avon Lake are, basically, very large TODs. Also, it still amazes me to think how far these tiny, streetcar-style vehicles traveled, some before the 20th century even. A modern rapid transit line, if built today, is lucky if it makes it more than a couple of miles.

Obviously, it's not an official map, but here's a little something I did a while ago to show a friend of mine where the Lake Shore Electric used to run in Rocky River and Bay Village. The blue line is the LSE's old route. I admit, it's not spot-on and there are a few errors here and there (especially around downtown Rocky River). I'd like to know where the Cleveland-Southwestern interurban used to run. I know it did run on Lorain Road in Fairview at least (a pity... it would have rolled right by my doorstep if it still existed... :(), but I'm curious to know its exact route.

They are. The city is using a NOACA TLCI grant to develop a plan for creating a more mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented plan for the west end of Lorain Road (from West 223rd to the North Olmsted line). What they do there will guide the rest of the Lorain corridor. I've forgotten about that. Lorain Road actually does have a fairly good pedestrian-friendly retail district going on between W.210th and 220th (I live a little west of 220th...giving away my location here). I wish certain amenities like the library were closer to the street though. Such an awesome-looking building should not have been set back by a 300-foot parking lot! EDIT: Off topic to this thread (this whole post is off topic :wink:), but here's a photo of the library. Tiny, but it was the only pic I could find...

Despite me having the first post in this thread, I seriously don't remember typing that in as the title. :) I think it's a bit sad that the Westgate property is smaller than Crocker Park, and yet is slated to have less building density than Crocker. Go figure. It would have been better if they incorporated some residential into this development, or maybe split the property in two. Granted, the area surrounding it isn't exactly urban, but it's not out in the sticks like Crocker Park or Legacy. Oh well, I guess Westgate is doomed to continue its history of being an auto-centric development. It started out as a drive-in theater, then it became a shopping mall, now it's going to be a lifestyle center abortion. Fairview Park should instead be focusing its attention on Lorain Road, which I think has a lot of potential that sits unutilized.

I think there actually was some talk of the Cleveland Metroparks wanting to buy Edgewater from the state a few years ago. Whatever happened to that? Anyway, back to the original topic. :-D I wonder how the building would do if it was split up into a couple of apartments/lofts? It seems large enough. Although I support the bookstore idea too. Either way, that building is just too nice to just sit there all empty.

On the topic of Rocky River, looking at the "Old Detroit Road" district on Live Search Maps, I see a little building that runs along the N&S right-of-way. Is that a rail depot? I know that the long-long-dead Lake Shore Electric railway ran close to that area, but I didn't know the depots/stations still existed. If so, it would be perfect for Rocky River's rail station if this project ever gets the green light. By the way, here's a link to Live Search Maps image, with the building in question in the middle... http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qxdjpz85dc52&style=o&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=6729145 EDIT: Nevermind. I looked back on some previous posts in this thread, and it's already been mentioned.

Soviet Heights. heh Hey, it would fit right in with the Revolution Books store on Mayfield. :) This project reminded me of a larger version of Lakewood's ill-fated West End project. Granted, the apartment blocks and single homes they wanted to get rid of are nothing close to Coventry Village, it's sad how civic attitudes toward percieved blight hasn't really changed in 37 years.

I don't know if this was ever mentioned here, and I haven't found anything from searching the forum on the subject, so... http://www.chuh.net/chhistory/features/redevelopment.html It's interesting to think what would have been lost if they had actually built this. EDIT: Oops! I meant to post this in the Abandoned Projects subforum. Sorry.