Bookman

I live on Shaker Blvd at Shaker Square so when I venture East into suburbia, via car, I only use S. Park or Shaker Square. Unless I'm craving Mr. Heros then I take Van Aken. When I take the train. I'm there in no time. It's such a huge asset! Where do you currently live? Lakewood on Lake Ave. The houses remind me of Shaker and the drive downtown is almost as easy except for that big orange ball on the horizon, but that's only on clear days. Driving past Edgewater Park and the Lake is nice too. I don't take a bus or train because of the need for flexibility like getting the kids from daycare. Before a moderator tells us to get back on topic, one of the reasons that I'm in the house I'm in now is the satisfaction I had with the pre-war house from the Malvern area. I'm in that camp that doesn't like the split levels and other junk that filled in Shaker. Perhaps those new houses have bigger, more useable closets, but you can't beat the workmanship and character of a house built in the 20's. So to villain189, go with a pre-war home and it will really feel like a home.

MTS said, "Apparently I don't go down these streets." That's another plus for that area and those streets. Traffic stays to Shaker and South Woodland. Streets like Brighton, Fontenay, Glengary are only traveled by those that live or are visiting on the street. When I lived on Brighton I could be all the way downtown in 20 minutes if I hit all the lights correctly. Of course the best part is being right next to the Green line of RTA. I miss being able to read a book or the newspaper on my way to work.

Having had to manage through that initial rise in Ohio's Minimum Wage rate, I too was anticipating it to rise again. In a way I'm glad it didn't since wages for all of my staff have been frozen since July 2008. I hope that business picks up so I can push my starting wage ahead again of the minimum.

I've been reading all of these posts just to see if anything has really changed in Shaker. My parents moved us there in 1972. We lived in the Malvern area on the same street where Paul Newman grew up. Nowhere I have lived since has given me the same level of satisfaction. None of the houses, the schools, the services can compare. I especially miss the diversity of race, religion and age of the people who live in Shaker. You've picked a great place to live, you won't regret it.

I'll admit it's a bit melodramatic to blame any business failure on the ECP. I will stand fast that the ECP did have a negative impact during the construction phase. The entire bookstore industry has undergone dramatic changes thanks to the Internet. Couple that with the challenges the construction presented to getting customers into the store and it doesn't surprise me that the Trinity Commons store is closing. So what's my point??? I'm not saying that the street should not have been fixed. Some parts of it needed it more than others. Could the construction have been handled differently to reduce the impact to businesses? I don't know since that it not my field of expertise. My gut tells me that in five years people will talk about all the new businesses that came onto Euclid Avenue because of the ECP. Forgotten will be all those businesses that worked hard during the lean times and just couldn't recover. Just as some of the threads (especially the ones on demolition) have posters bemoaning the loss of classic designs, I bemoan the loss of classic retailers, especially locally based bookstores.

How can you make a statement like that? The projects construction has been over for quite a while. Show me sales before and after along with a business plan. Blaming or say the ECP was the reason for failure is BS. I agree with 327 Perhaps I should have been more clear in my original posting. That stores sales went down significantly during the ECP construction. That is a fact. Sales decreased because customers weren't coming to the store. Why weren't they coming to the store, because of the challenges they would find in navigating around the area of construction. Not to stereotype that store's customers too much, but most of them are probably not comfortable detours and lots of orange barrels. Their customers found other sources for the merchandise (the Internet) and even though the construction is complete, they have not returned. The same situation has happened at the CSU Bookstore. General reading books and reference book sales have decreased significantly over the past 5 years. Yes a major reason is the Internet and sites like Amazon.com, but it is also a result of all of the construction along Euclid Avenue. For a time it was very inconvenient to get to the bookstore and when that happens a customer will look for another source. It is very difficult to get that customer back. Before you fire back at me and say I'm full of BS, bear in mind that I run what might be the largest retailer left on Euclid Avenue between Public Square and E. 55th. I've seen plenty of changes occur that have me scratching my head. The ECP is just one of the challenges that I've had to deal with and I'm hopeful that the improvements will stimulate business growth. I just feel sorry for all the businesses that have left.

Another victim of the Euclid Corridor Project, the Trinity Commons Bookstore, also known as Sacred Path is closing at the end of this month. From what I have heard their sales went way down during the construction and they just haven't recovered enough. I hope Cafe Ahroma can punch through the wall and get more space.

I remember being in Public Square on New Years' Eve for Cleveland's 200th birthday. All the streets were closed and it was one huge party. I have trouble imagining the same type of excitement and critical mass of people being in any of these designs. Any change in elevation brings ADA issues which takes up space. I know it's not sexy, but my vote would be to keep it as flat and open as possible so that the range of "programming" can be kept broad. A caveat -- I am not a designer, I am simply a 30 year long working stiff in a downtown establishment. I've seen Euclid Avenue be an amazingly busy area between PS and CSU. Now it's a ghost town most of the time. To me the biggest challenge is getting companies to locate downtown and help build demand for more stores and services again. While a neat looking Public Square might bring visitors, it's the day to day worker that will fuel growth in downtown businesses. All this drives me to be more interested in how Public Square can be used for programming than whether it can be iconic.

What do you mean by real dorms? If you mean the fortress type buildings with cinderblock walls and tile floors, my guess is that those are not only expensive to build but also not what todays students want to live in. As for longevity, I know that the same apartment buildings where I went to college were built with roughly the same materials and they are still standing and looking good. By the way, now the fourth floor is up on the south building behind the bookstore, the steel is complete on the building west of the bookstore and wood walls are going up. The southwest building's first floor walls are going up and the parking garage is taking shape.

http://www.csuohio.edu/offices/architect/webcam/studenthouse.html

I'm not sure if this is still the case, Oberlin College was assessing a student fee and students could ride LCT for free. I know that LCCC was approached about doing the same arrangement but the cost to LCCC was too high.

The new dorm -- what I see when I get to work... The East building on Prospect is already three floors high. They are pouring the slab foundation for the West building. Steel is going up for the building on Euclid Avenue. The parking garage looks started too with concrete forms. I hope the weather holds...

The last time I was at a casino there wasn't any great deal to be had with any of the food venues inside the casino. I don't think food vendors have much to worry about. I would be more concerned with headline entertainment venues being hurt.

Thanks! I've lingered for the past couple of years just 'listening' to everyone. You have no idea how happy I will be to get out of this building and into the new student center. There have been some days that the construction next to the store has practically shaken merchandise off the shelves.

Walls are already going up for the dorm behind the CSU Bookstore. I bet the foundation is poured for the one between the bookstore and the administration building by the end of next week. These guys are moving fast.