Equillibrius

I believe these are the trolley-buses in question... http://www.optimabus.com/streetcar.php

Looking over the plan again, I just realized that visitors at neighboring Bohlken Park (to the right, or "south", of the plan) will have the back of the Target and its loading docks as a vista. I know there's going to be a row of trees planted, but trees take a long time to grow and fill out. Plus, anybody walking into or out of the park entrance will have to dodge any trucks that might be pulling into the loading dock that's about ten or so feet away. It speaks volumes of how the auto-centric retail market looks at pedestrians.

Eep. Sorry about that. It was the only place I could find that had images of what's planned. Rid Westgate of vacancies and create them elsewhere. How very effective. :roll:

There was also an article on this in this week's Sun, but here's a link from WestLife... http://www.westlifenews.com/2005/09-14/westgatedocs.html Blah. Not remarkable at all, even for a suburban development. Looks more like Avon Commons than anything. The site should just be re-zoned into residential, and the development dollars be put into a parcel somewhere in or near downtown.

I went by the site about a month ago. The townhomes on the far east side (the red and yellow buildings in the site plan wimwar posted above) were/are the only structures being built, but already they add nicely to the streetscape. Detroit Ave. going to look great when this is all finished.

This is one of my favorite office buildings outside Cleveland proper. But why is the Plain Dealer only now writing an article on it? The building's been around for, what, 15 years? :)

I used to take this route to my old job in North Olmsted, and still occasionally use it if I have to go out to Great Northern for some reason (it's better than taking the 75X, and having to dodge car after car when crossing Lorain and Brookpark, and all the parking lots). "Lightly used" is a hell of an understatement-- I'm mostly the only passenger on the 53 for the entire trip. :) It'll be nice to pay only 75 cents, though. How good are those circulator buses? I've never been on one.

Yeah, that too.

Too bad the nearby Drug Mart isn't closing any time soon. That would free up another parcel of land for the project to expand on, and rid the street of another parking lot.

That's pretty cool. I like the idea of having more of a built-up environment between Gateway and the Interstates. Even if the WFL doesn't loop through downtown, it would be great if the red/blue/green lines had a second downtown stop. The walkway between Tower City and Gateway would probably get used less, though, but it would allow for more pedestrian traffic in this area before, during and after sporting events.

All good points, everyone. I guess I was against it because it's yet another all-retail development on the west side, what with Westown directly to the southeast (although that area is looking a little shady these days), Steelyard Commons on its way, and not to mention the Westgate redevelopment in Fairview. Still, if it will help to bring jobs and tax dollars into the city, so be it.

It amazes me how projects like this are the answer to the city's problems. Gee, let's build more car-oriented stripmalls and freeways! Things like this are what led to Cleveland's-- as well as American cities in general-- decline in the first place. You'd think the city would want to keep this stuff as far away from its borders as possible.

Once again Westgate takes attention away from downtown shopping. It did the same thing 50 years ago when it first opened. :( I'm kind of disappointed with what they're planning to do there. I was hoping for something mixed-use, but the developers instead are opting to turn it into yet another glorified stripmall. It only serves to saturate the already soggy retail market. I mean, there are already three other big-box stripmalls within the immediate area.

"Air Force One". A few scenes were filmed at city hall, the county courthouse and Case. And don't forget "A Christmas Story", as well as its little known (and terrible) sequel "My Summer Story". EDIT: Oops, somebody already mentioned Christmas Story.

Here's a link to a Google satellite map of the area, offering a view of all the yucky car dealerships that are being replaced... http://maps.google.com/maps?q=lakewood+ohio&ll=41.484257,-81.772785&spn=0.005257,0.008465&t=k&hl=en

RTA once talked about running BRT down Clifton a few years ago. I think KJP or someone else mentioned this. And I agree with expanding the Waterfront Line. The west side needs its own light rail route, dagnabbit! The W. 25th rapid station is a little too far away from the Shoreway. The line would have to make a whole lot of twists and turns to get down to 25th and the back up to the lake. It would make for an interesting route, though.

Cool pic, MGD. Imagineering is fun. :) Here's a couple of little 5-minute drawings I did, of the light-rail-on-Clifton idea. It would probably do better as a streetcar line, though. I'll probably do a more detailed drawing later.

LRT on Clifton, from West Boulevard all the way through Lakewood! :-D But that would make for an incredibly expensive project. Using the existing N&S line would be more feasible, but it's mostly only one track through Lakewood. An extra track would have to be built in order to make it into a fully functional transit line. Not to mention the neighborhoods along the ralroad aren't as dense as the Edgewater and Gold Coast areas.

Good to see it finally happen. The lack of public access to the lake was one of the things that bothered me most about Lakewood.

Wow. I didn't know the tower was going to be that tall. I hope it gets built-- it'll be a significant addition to the skyline.

Great article. The Clifton/W.117th intersection is definately an underrated and little known part of town. I guess its reputation as a "gay" neighborhood scares people away. IMO, the whole area from the Gold Coast to the Clifton/Baltic intersection doesn't really feel like it's part of two seperate cities, but rather, it's a city of its own.

I'm a little late in this thread. :) I currently live in Fairview Park. It's technically an inner-ring suburb in that it borders with Cleveland, but the Rocky River Valley kind of acts as a barrier between the two cities, so it doesn't really have the density and urban-ness the other inner-ring 'burbs have. Not to mention the Riverside and Kamms neighborhoods of Cleveland are already fairly suburban, so it doesn't really help Fairview's situation. Anyway, I live in a rented 1950's cookie-cutter brick bungelow near what I consider to be Fairview's "downtown" (W. 220th and Lorain). Most basic amenities are within a five-minute-or-less walk of me. The streets here are walkable, and development along Lorain is actually fairly dense, especially between W.210 and 215th, but some areas could use some infill.

It's been talked about for years, but it looks like Westgate Mall in Rocky River/Fairview Park might finally be razed... http://www.westlifenews.com/2005/01-26/westgate.html Mayor William F. Knoble has informed the Richard E. Jacobs Group that he is opposed to a proposed plan to demolish Westgate Mall. The Jacobs Group met with Knoble and Economic Director Kory Koran Jan. 5 to discuss the fate of the mall. Knoble said they were told that the Jacobs Group intended to demolish the mall, except for Kohl's Department store. The project would include three large box stores and an "Avon Commons type" of outdoor retail space. Officially, the Jacobs Group would not comment on any proposed project. Spokesman William Fullington said, "The Jacobs Group has been working a long time on redeveloping Westgate Mall in a way that the residents of Rocky River, Fairview Park and the surrounding area would benefit (from)." Knoble said the proposed plan would reduce the square footage of the mall from the current 700,000 square feet to approximately 500,000 square feet and that the mall would be torn down in 2006 and rebuilt and reopened in 2007...

Cool! Is this going to be on all PBS stations, or just WVIZ?

It was from the Lakewood Buzz forum (http://lakewoodbuzz.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x). I can't find the thread that mentioned the proposal, but it talked about Cleveland and Lakewood redeveloping the street on both sides of the border leading up to W.117th. The development would have included modifying the street to build a green median. Looking back, though, it was probably from an "idea thread", and I must have misinterpreted it as an actual proposal. Still, I think something like this could actually work. Maybe it could link up with the Shoreway Boulevard as one single road?