The Coventry strip is much closer to Little Italy than it is to Shaker Square.  That neighborhood and Cedar-Fairmount should be on your list when you come back.

The Coventry strip is much closer to Little Italy than it is to Shaker Square. That neighborhood and Cedar-Fairmount should be on your list when you come back.

 

A little over a mile from the red line. 2 miles from the green line coventry road stop

That "snaggletooth" neighborhood between Tremont and Ohio City is called Duck Island.

 

...interesting name since I didn't see any islands in the river, and the place doesn't seem to reach the river.  It's an island, for sure, though. 

 

I'm sort of interested in that side valley that had those factories in it.  How far in does that go.  And was Tremont always sort of isolated?   I also seem to recall that this was where Dennis Kucinch lived when he was a kid or at some point in his life.

 

That side valley is Walworth Run, which separates Tremont from Duck Island. It used to be an open creek before it was filled in for that industrial development that you see. There are plans to create a trail and greenway that runs down that valley from W. 65th and Clark Avenue toward the Cuyahoga, where it would connect to the Towpath Trail.

 

Duck Island really does lie on a prominence with the Cuyahoga to the north, Walworth Run to the east, and the Red Line rapid tracks to the west. Many of the folks there are second or third generation islanders, but there is some infill housing that has sprouted up here and there.

 

Tremont didn't use to be so isolated. One of the reasons that it is a little confusing is that one of the street grids (W. 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th) is an extension of Downtown's diagonal grid while the other grid is the extension of the westside's east-west grid. The highways really did a job of separating Tremont from the rest of the city from a automobile standpoint. However, it can be reconnected via trail.

Living Large in Shaker Square

 

Easy to get large in Shaker Square, what with all the food options.  But more on that later.  I decided to do the railfan thing and ride the Shaker Rapid the end of the line and back, but also to make a stop at Shaker Square and walk around and get dinner. 

 

Shaker Rapid is the light rail line, so the platforms are lower in the stations..noticed the mixed high & low level platforms.  Fairly interesting ride as you get to see some of the city this way.  I noticed that the median widens near the end of the line, and I seem to have heard or read that this line was to extend out into Pepper Pike or maybe out to Chagrin Falls?    Are there plans to extend the lines further out?

 

The stations beyond Shaker Square seem like little flag-stops, really more like bus or streetcar stops (which makes sense since this was sort of a streetcar, vs that other  Rapid, which is more like the L, except without a third rail.  I do wonder why they bother with those two ‘Green’ stations at the end of the line.  Maybe just one would do?

 

The neat thing about this excursion is I get to look closer at the buildings.  I had driven around here before but couldn’t give my full attention to the scenery.  So some housing notes….

Those old Shaker Heights houses are different take on period styling, particularly the colonial/georgrian ones.  They look like a hybrid, almost, with art deco/moderne touches and moves.  Very distinctive.  Also, seems there is more mock tudor/craftsmen stuff nearer to Shaker Square. 

 

Noticed a “Coventry” station and was wondering if the Coventry shopping area was walkable.  Not enough time to find out today.  So, on to Shaker Square.

 

Noticed the apartment buildings approaching Shaker Square, both directions.  Nearly all of them seem to be a colonial/geogrian style, except I saw this funky curved-front modernist mid-rise thing just before Shaker Square, on the south side of the tracks.  Neat, and makes this area unlike any other I’ve been to.  This apartment stuff continues north of Shaker Square up to Larchmere.  Remarkable how consistent this development is.  Maybe all developed by the “Vans”…so they controlled the style and density over a large area around the square?

 

Shaker Square itself was excellent. Great planning by the Vans (I guess, or their architect).  You leave that little station (with the short order restaurant in it…very old school to have a eatery like this at a transit station!) and follow the sidewalks directly into the shopping area, where you can make a loop of the Square and back to the station.  Very Nice!  I notice the Square has a lot of upscale stuff, particularly restaurants.  But also a supermarket (and a little passage next to it to a bus stop in the rear), and a movie theatre.  This is really, really good, true walkability and it’spossible to be carless here without much hassle, it seems. 

 

My destination in Shaker Square was Balaton, a Hungarian restaurant, and “dessert” at Deweys.  This was a rainy day, but the rain had finally stopped by the time I got to the Square.  So,  I walked up Moreland (past blocks of those old apartment buildings) to Larchmere. 

 

Larchmere is a city busy street, but I think in Cleveland Heights?  Lots of stuff here, but I just walked up to the city limits sign, crossed and headed back.  As I was crossing I saw the Terminal Tower ending the vista west down the street.  Cool.  Wonder if this was planned?  Briefly stopped into an import clothing store, then continued on.  Looks like antique shops, galleries, little taverns.  Went to Loganberries again (see upthread) and did quite a bit of browsing (bought a “history of German cinema” in German for my ma).    Noticed that this area is pretty solid in that there’s new construction, a new mid-rise, right off Larchmere near the city limits sign.

 

Finally back to Shaker Square to Balaton.    Another wonderful little white-tablecloth ethnic place, quality food, bright interior due to the big windows, done up in ethnic décor. Excellent place and a good value.  I did not have goulash or cabbage rolls but tried something different, a stew, Lecsó Kolbássza.  Should have had dessert here, too (you just know it’s going to be good).  Next time maybe. 

 

After that, for coffee and one of those biscotti things at Deweys, got a sunny window table to write some cards & notes.  Thinking it’s so civilized here….good food, a good bookstore, a coffee shop, essential shopping (supermarket) in walking distance, and very easy access to rapid transit. 

 

Then, back to the station to catch the train back to Tower City.  I think this station might have more frequent service since that Van Aitken branch curves in here, so you get more trains.  Seems I was seeing a lot coming through here. 

 

Riding the Rapid

 

…takes some getting used to.  I like that farecard machine they have, but it’s a bit odd that you can get on the train without paying?  Seems you swipe the card after you leave the train at Tower City.  And the card has to be activated each day.  I bought a multi-trip card and didn’t know that.  Imagine my surprise when the card wouldn’t read at the turnstile.  Transit cops jumped right in, showed me how to do this and what the story was about the activation. 

 

Another nice thing at the Tower City (and Ohio City) station was they have a time display saying how many minutes the train is before reaching the station.  Makes the waiting easier, and I never had to wait very long.

 

Also, the Rapid is used.  I was riding the one to Ohio City/West Side Market at odd hours, like early Sunday and around 8 PM at night, and it still had riders.  During the day the cars were not totally packed, but where pretty full (same for the health line).    The lines seem to run with reasonable frequency…every 15 minutes or so?  Or something like that.  Seemed the health line was more frequent, though.

 

 

Well its about time you visited Cleveland BEST neighborhood!  Ya Bitches, I said it!  :P

 

There are high and low level platforms because the Shaker Rapid and Cleveland rapid share platforms at 55 and 34 Street.  The old Shaker Rapid could only board/exit from the right side, so that is why there is a platform and in the past the rapid on the eastside ran "opposite" (left side of the road running).  Now that the switches near 55 St. have been changed the trains run "normal" all the way through to the airport.

 

The stations at the end of the Green Line were not like this when originally built.  When the line was rebuilt they expanded the parking lots, so now it's like one enourous parking lot.  The stations are spaced far enough apart based on where you park.

 

Larchmere is a confusing.  Larchmere east of N. Moreland is entirely in Shaker Hts.  Larchmere west of N. Moreland is a either in Shaker Hts. or Cleveland based on what side of the street you are on.  If you are on the north side of Larchmere between N. Moreland and Kendall you are in Shaker Heights.  Once you pass SS Antiques, you're in Cleveland.  The entire south side of Larchmere is in Cleveland.  I'm sure you noticed that one side of the street had blue street signs (Cleveland)  and the other white (Shaker).

 

The area is know for its higher priced antique stores and gallery's. 

 

I live in Moreland Courts which is right in front of the Coventry station (my main station) which is not close to the Coventry "neighborhood" in Cleveland Hts. It's a good 35/40 min walk.  I can jog to Coventry in about 20 min or ride my bike in about 10/15 minutes.

 

Yes, the density and make up of the buildings is awesome. Many have gorgeous details on the inside and since they are prewar, the apartments are huge!

 

So you stoped at Michaels Diner, AKA "the shack on the tracks".  They have really good (strong) black coffee and french toast.  As I said in the detroit-shoreway thread, I think M. Symon would do a killing if he opened a restaurant on Shaker Square as we have a very good selection of restaurans, that appeal to a large audience and complement one another.

 

Dewey's is big hit for out of towners, ProkNo5 spent much time there.

 

The Shake Square station and all stations west have more frequency as both the blue/green line trans stop at all stations.

 

The blue line trains are always more packed as Van Aken has more apartment buildings/multi family homes on it or just off of it.  The green line trains aren't as packed as the Shaker Blvd. (and the parallel streets) east of coventry are all single family mansions.  The majority of green line riders board/exit at SS, Lee, Warrensville and the Green stations as you can make connections to other services.  Sometimes drivers will pass the other stations as they know people rarely get on/off at non peak hours.  When I go to my parents house, I may be the only person getting on or off the train.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the neighborhood  ;D  ;D :wink2:

The reason I thought Larchmere was in Shaker Hts was due to the police car I saw parked there, and the city limits sign on the street...I see i was right on the city limits. 

 

Also, I should say I didn't actually eat (or have coffee) at the "Shack on the Track", but I couldn't miss it.  Just really neat seeing that. 

 

Yeah, thanks, I did enjoy this visit, getting out of the car for once & really exploring the place.  I thought the area was really unique.  Havn't seen anything like it. 

 

Second, I think one of the really special things about the Green Line is the South Park stop, which is about a block away from the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes. Founded in the mid-1960s, the Nature Center was a successful citizen protest strategy to prevent a large-scale freeway from cutting through the area (immediately north of the Larchmere area). Today, the Center is steward of 600 acres of parkland along a bird corridor that hosts more than 200 migratory species each year.

 

Ouch!  And here I am the big hiker!  Too bad I missed that nature preserve...this would be a good thing to see if I had more of a day vs an afternoon.  Combine stops and visits.  Nature Center walks and then lunch or dinner at Shaker Square.

That side valley is Walworth Run, which separates Tremont from Duck Island. It used to be an open creek before it was filled in for that industrial development that you see. There are plans to create a trail and greenway that runs down that valley from W. 65th and Clark Avenue toward the Cuyahoga, where it would connect to the Towpath Trail.

 

Great idea.  This could be pretty interesting if they execute it.  And good to see people are thinking like this (that Cuyahoga Valley site...sweet!). 

 

 

Some more observations:

 

Shaker Land II:  Cleveland Heights

 

I group this with Shaker Heights and Shaker Square as “Shaker Land” since it’s “sort of the same” in look and feel.  The purpose for going here was to see if the Communist bookstore was still around (it’s really called “Revolution Books”) but it also gave me a quick impromptu tour of Cleveland Heights.

 

Drove up Mayfield from Little Italy.  Quickly came to Coventry, but missed the turn.  I did spot Revolution Books out the windshield but I had thought it was on the corner.  Turns out it’s more on Mayfield.  Figured no big deal, I’ll just make a right and go around the block.

 

Turns out these are longer blocks so I had to drive a bit to make that right, after which I promptly got lost on the side streets of Cleveland Heights, which were beautiful tree lined streets in fall colors.  Houses looked more foursquare/craftsman in style, whereas I remembered CH to b e more a mix of cottages and apartment blocks for some reason.  In some cases I wasn’t sure if I was looking at a park, a school grounds, or someones forested large lot. 

 

I think I ended up on Euclid Boulevard or something, which took me back the the south end of the Coventry district.  This was going to be just a windshield tour, but I parked after seeing Mac’s Books, and walked down the shopping district a bit.  Not much to say since things were closed (Sunday), maybe a more developed than Larchmere, or a different mix.  Saw something called City Buddah (?) across the street.  Now what was that?

 

This was maybe too quick a look.  I could spend a bit more time here shopping around, or driving around, or eating. 

 

@@@@

 

Since I was interested in old stuff I made a point to explore Ohio City since that was recommended as a surviving concentration of 19th century housing stock. 

 

Ohio City at various times

 

I was here more than once since the place was a short Rapid ride and nice walk over the Veterans Bridge, but these were walks/visits to 25th Street and West Side Market.  Veterans Bridge seems like it was modified (on the north side) for a wider sidewalk and bike lane, and people really use this bridge, too (bikers and walkers).  South side has a narrower walkway.

 

25th was probably more built-up at one time (?) but those high rise housing projects and that hospital destroy the street wall on towards Veterans Bridge (Detroit Avenue), except for that nice commercial block at Detroit and 25th, with the Italian restaurant.  Beyond this modern stuff, toward the market  you have a classic urban busy street with a mix of things, including yet another bookstore (used books) and that funky gift/bric-a-brac place that I recall stopping at during an earlier visit.

 

As you all know the side street across from the market has various foody things; the Great Lakes brewpub/restaurant (I think), with Cleveland Public Art around the corner, Flying Fig, etc.  But 25th seems to have a little mix of nightlife, too.  But the area (25th & Lorain) doesn’t seem especially gentrified.  I figure this area used to be Puerto Rican before gentrification,  but then I noticed that Hansa place on Lorain, a bit west of 25th, so figure this might have been a German area at one time (where are the Germans at now?...there are enough to support a radio show on Sunday, which I listened too a bit).

 

But I did explore beyond 25th.

 

Deeper into Ohio City

 

I had a little guide I downloaded, and used that as a rough outline for an side street tour.  I started out on Detroit and worked my way south and west on various tree lined side streets, yet another flaneuriad, without too much a plan.  I think I made it as far west, as least, as the Franklin Castle.  Maybe a block or two beyond that.  I know I walked past that park with the big community garden next to it on this stroll.

 

Ohio City seemed, at times, sort of surprisingly like the back streets of an old county seat town, maybe because of the age and variety of the buildings.  But then the scale of the place..the way it extends..hits you and you realize you are in a city environment. 

 

Ohio City has a good concentration of Italianate cube houses, possibly one of the better concentrations I’ve seen in an urban environment, plus the usual Victoriana (Eastlake, Stick Style, etc).  I notice the more generic vernacular houses here have their own thing going on, not exactly like what ones finds in Buffalo.  Same generic typology, but with local variations.  For example, I notice more side-entry conditions, and the fenestration and proportions are different.

 

If I inhabited some alternate universe where I really was a cultural geographer or urban historian (instead of some random internet crank) I could probably write a book (or at least a journal article) on 19th century vernacular typologies of urban Midwest housing, because there is a lot of interesting city-specific variations on what is, at first glance, a superficially similar typology. 

 

But most folks don’t pay much mind to these nuances.  What grabs them is the detailing and scale, and some of the detailing (and the way it’s been restored) is pretty amazing, as is the size of some of these places.  Actually the general character of this area is pleasant, and it keeps on going west, it seems, streets receding into the distance under tunnels of trees, all algow in fall color.

 

I should also note that as I was walking the side streets paralleling Detroit that I could again see Lake Erie, could look “out of the city “ to the blue horizon.  It appears Detroit is high enough above the lake and there is less building, for some reason, along the lake side of Detroit, where you can get these long views out to the lake.

 

Seems there are some funky street angles and patterns in Ohio City, since the streets sort of break away from a grid and start to radiate from a non-existent ‘circle’, “Franklin Circle”.  It’s easy to get switched around here.  Little corner store things around, further south toward Lorain, similar a bit to Tremont, where one street seems to want to become a ‘busy street’ (more stores and apartments, maybe..Fulton was it?) but isn’t.  Yet the atmosphere is different for some reason.  I noticed some modernist infill and remodeling on the side streets closest to 25th, and figured this was where the gentrification started.  The tree lined side street world starts up pretty fast off 25th, too (very much like Chicago in that way). 

 

One should also note the public buildings.  The churches, of course, but also that curved front library near where all the streets come together.  And Saint Ignatius High School. 

 

Saint Ignatius and Lorain Avenue

 

Saint Ignatius was a revelation.  I first saw it towering up behind a row of side street houses and wondered what in the heck was that?!  It’s so massive yet such an fabulous example of Victorian exuberance.  In a lot of places these buildings would never survive the wrecking ball (believe it or not Dayton actually had a collection of these Victorian extravaganzas…schools and a hospital.  All gone to dust).  But St Ignatius survived.  I saw it again on an early Sunday morning, from the front, church bells ringing.

 

Gaining Lorain Avenue, I walked this city busy street down to maybe a thrift store and gas station, about a block or two beyond that Catholic social service place on the South side of the street.  I could see another churches, south of Lorain. Lorain seems to go on and on... 

 

On Lorain, about a block west of the Market I saw a Hungarian bakery, I think across from that Hansa place, but it was too late and it was closed. Makes me wonder if there was other food stuff here at one time, due to proximity to the market. 

 

Of course the West Side Market.  I think I already posted on how much I love that place.  I stocked up on baked goods, including a loaf of Lithuanian rye, a bread I grew up on in Chicago, though the crust on this different.  Got some bananas and oranges to snack on at the hotel.

 

The Flying Fig

 

But I really ate at the Flying Fig.  Another one of my meals (I also ate at Crop in the  WH District, more upscale than I expected, but a had great fall-themed pasta thing, smokey flavor from the meat, ham I think).  The Flying Fig was special.  I got a little two-top banquette right by the door, in the bar area.  I could watch the glow of the setting sun play across the streetscape out the window and door, playing off the passersby and people at the Great Lakes sidewalk seating across the street, eventually lighting up the window frame and wall inside the restaurant itself.  And they had the door open so a nice breeze was wafting in every so often.  And I could see people coming in for dinner (overheard the maitre-d’ say the place was fully booked for the evening).  Perfect.  Let this moment last, one of those memories that will stay with you. 

 

Food was equally memorable.  Had their soup of the day (potato, but not vichyssoise), an excellent salad sourced from that community garden I had walked by, and a polenta that had a bit of heat to it, not bland like some I’ve had.  After dinner the waitress showed me the dining rooms and the told me about the deli next door (connected to the restaurant), where I got some sweets for acquaintances here in Dayton.  I finished up at that next door coffee shop with a cappuccino.

 

Ohio City was one of those neighborhoods where you could just keep on walking, following the side streets deeper into the city, or walking the busy streets like Lorain.  Seems like you’d always find a little surprise (like that urban garden or an exceptional house or church or school).  For busy streets Lorain seemed more appealing for some reason than Detroit.  And I do regret not exploring the district south of Lorain.  The guide noted an exceptionally old church there (1830s I think). 

 

I returned to Ohio City on my last day, very early in the morning, for breakfast.  More on that in the next (and final) post. 

 

I've really enjoyed your travel notes essays. You truly have a gift for verbally painting an image that can intrigue someone who's never been here, but equally inspires those of us who know this city like the back of our hand.

 

Fyi, St. Ignatius was slated to be a symmetrical "U" shape with the tower anchoring each wing, but only one wing was built - so it was originally planned to be even more massive. And I know that two top banquette very well - it really is perfect for just sitting back and taking it all in.

also, ignatius was the original campus for john carroll university

also, ignatius was the original campus for john carroll university

 

...which was named St. Ignatius College at that time (which is why you see that etched in the stone above the main entrance to the school).

 

Also, here is a map of Ohio City from 1850 showing why it's called Franklin Circle:

 

 

There are actually a couple pieces of roadway from the original circle still in place.

While on the subject, which bridge did Bridge street connect to?

It went down towards the old Columbus Road Bridge, but it didn't actually get to it.  You had to merge with Franklin, and then make a left on Columbus.  What's interesting is that I can't tell from the old maps which came first, the Columbus Street bridge, or Bridge Street. The earliest map I could find shows both in existence in 1835, though the bridge was supposedly built in 1836 (Encyclopedia of Cleveland history says the map was made in 1836).  Maybe both were just lines on paper at the point the map was made.

 

Apparently, the area around the bridge was laid out by developers, including a Cleveland mayor, who were hostile towards the development of Ohio City and were trying to divert traffic towards their developments on the other side of the river.  They bought up a "beachhead" on the west bank of the river, actually south by direction, just southeast of Ohio City's commercial district.  They named this area "Willeyville" after the mayor-partner, and developed it with a different grid alignment than Ohio City.  The main street of this area is Columbus, and it continues on unimpeded through the developer's Cleveland Center development and up the hill to a marketplace they were building.

 

Bridge Ave may have been intended by Ohio City's patrons to go through to the Columbus Road bridge or not, but it appears that even if that was the intention there was going to be no cooperation from Cleveland, as a straight shot is diverted by the new grid.  In fact that may not have ever been the intention anyway.  There's a strange kink in Bridge at W. 25th that makes no sense if they wanted a main street leading right to that bridge, which they didn't because of the way it diverted traffic away from their business.

 

The map, you need to download the reader, linked at the bottom of the page:

http://www.railsandtrails.com/Cleveland/Cleveland1835Merchant-300tg.djvu

 

The story of the Columbus Road bridge:

http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=CSB

 

Willeyville

http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=W18

Thanks X!

WOW, thanks.

I did return to Ohio City early Sunday morning, for breakfast at the Ohio City Café.  This place is probably not too well known as it’s about half a block off Detroit, on a little side street, so away from the main Ohio City restaurant action.  It was open early for breakfast so I thought a good last visit.

This time I took the rapid to OC, and walked.  Saw the front façade of St Ignatius and saw it was part of a campus of sorts.  Then I worked my way through the morning side streets to the Ohio City Café.

 

This is a very small space, but with a good (quality-wise) basic breakfast menu, where you can get out of there for around $7 or less with tip and coffee (this is not a coffee shop but a sort of little short-order place, but not really a diner or grill either).  Waiter was obviously gay, which made me think I didn’t do anything gay in Cleveland.  But I know the gay stuff is really in Lakewood.  Yet, I saw a building off Detroit flying that blue & gold HRC “equality” symbol as a flag (oddly enough not the more familiar rainbow flag).

 

The Bells of St Malachi, & Stella Maris

 

Then a walk to the “Flats West Bank”.  I saw on the map this church, St Malachi, which might indicate this was an Irish area at one time.  So I walked down Detroit to the street the church was on.  Seems this might have been a pretty old parish;  the rectory looked like an old Italinate house. Seems they have a mission to the homeless here, a lot of homeless folk, but no panhandling.  I notice the lakefront freeway cuts through here separating the church from a housing project right by the lake, so older neighborhood closer to the lake. 

 

The bells were ringing and the church was open so I went in.  I caught the familiar scent of incense, holy water, and candles.  But I saw the interior was somewhat sparse in decoration, which could be the gothic style or due to a Vatican II modernization (Vatican II modernizations stripped some older churches of their decoration).  Thought it was a long time since I was in church.

 

Turned the corner to this street that parallels the old Superior bridge.  Sort of a bent, sloping street, with a view down into the Flats and the downtown skyline beyond.  Old houses to the right (south side),  factory buildings toward the lake and downhill.  Great stuff, maybe some of the older housing in the city, and an occasional bar, too.  And further down, newer infill things.  But on the left (north) side of the street I saw something intriguing.  A newer building with this “Stella Maris” sign, and a statue of the Blessed Mother in a glass box or case, attached to the chimney.  Stella Maris.  Star of the Sea.  I wonder if this is or was some sort of seaman’s mission, ministering to the men working the lake boats, or some sort of home for them.  Another reminder that this is a port city, a harbor town.

 

Continuing to the bottom of the hill, to the first intersection in the Flats, I see where they remodeled an old factory, old erecting shed of some sort, and attached one of those new mid-rises to it.  County engineers office, I think.  Also saw the great stone arches of the Superior bridge.  But I decided to work my way to toward the lake, to find Whiskey Island and Wendy Park.

 

This part of the Flats is a mix of factory buildings and parking lots/open space.  Beyond the lots you can see that housing project climbing the hill.  Things thin out into mostly scruffy open spae as you reach that lift bridge over a branch to Whiskey Island.

 

On Whisky Island

 

What happened here with the river is similar to what happened to the Chicago River, the river making a bend and following the shore before entering the lake.  Harbor improvements (?) then cut a new, more direct channel for the river. In Chicago the old river was eventually filled in for Grant Park.  Here the old river remained and the peninsula became Whiskey Island (which probably really was an island while the old river mouth remained open).

 

The lift bridge to Whiskey Island was a hoot to cross.  I was wondering about the structural soundness of the walkway.  This thin structure of steel plate and concrete was heaved and cracked in places, probably due to many years or repeated stress due to bridge movement.  You could see the green water down below at times, through the cracks.

 

On the other side I am stuck.  Seems the road goes to various low density business things (I think someone once posted there is a salt mine here?).  I see a gravel lot with a ‘tarping station’, and the lake shore railroad main, with the final lift bridge over the Cuyahoga before it enters the lake.  I could see Wendy Park on the other side of the railroad (could see that tower from the old Coast Guard station) from over the trees and brush, but also saw a fence along the railroad.  Apparently you can’t get there from here, and have to drive somehow.  Maybe they are going to remedy that some day, to make the park accessible from the Flats?

 

Return to the Superior Viaduct

 

Walked back, past more industrial stuff (and what looked like one or two nightclubs), and then under the arches of the Superior bridge. I noticed that the river shore has a park, and mix of old buildings and new infill between the viaduct and the river, and though that swing span bridge pit was interesting.  On the other side of the Cuyahoga was the Oxbow and that Irish bar I was at earlier in the week.

 

Makes me wonder.  St Malachi an Irish parish, and an Irish bar across the river?  Maybe the Flats, when it had more houses, was an old Irish neighborhood, with enough bridges across the river so the place was one neighborhood, not so much the “East Bank/West Bank” thing.  It would make sense as a port of entry neighborhood if immigrants arrived via lake steamer or the lake shore railroad.

 

Of course I had to walk up and on that old viaduct.  I returned the way I came and followed Superior.  This is one of the more fascinating parts of the city.  They still have old buildings fronting the street as it turns into a bridge.  One was the “Spaces” art gallery with its cartoon-like lanterns on the roof.  Yet the new infill stuff continues the street line onto the bridge, even if they are not built right on the bridge.  The gate halfway down, well it gave that “gated community” visual message.  But it was open. I see there is an appropriately named “Ponte Veccio” restaurant on the north side (window seats must be fab!).

 

There is an old brick loft building at the very end of the bridge, south side, between the viaduct and the Cuyahoga.  The topmost floor is connected to the viaduct by a little wooden bridge or deck (didn’t dare walk on it), which leads to this empty loft with big windows.  Peeking inside best I could I noticed it looks out onto the skyline, but also into the very close (seemed like just a few feet) high iron of an old bascule/scissor bridge that appears to be stuck open.  This bridge also terminates the view down Superior.  The place was flooded with the morning light.  It’s as if the genus loci of this part of Cleveland, the spirit of the place, had been condensed into this one space.

 

Wendy Park

 

I ended up driving here.  I followed the Shoreway, which looks like it might have been built in the 1930s or 1940s since parts seem more “designed” than the typical expressway.  Got off at that lakefront park and then followed the signs.  That lakefront park has its own fishing pier, and since there’s no breakwater here, you can see more of that open lake chop hitting the shore. 

 

To get to Wendy Park you have to pass some sort of railroad operation, then a marina.  Wendy Park is rather underdeveloped, with unpaved roads and parking.  It’s almost a nature preserve, so low-key and quiet, woods and prairie, almost like you aren’t in the very heart of the city.  I see they had a little fishing pier on one of the river breakwaters or approach bulkheads, guys with multiple lines in the water, but no little bells on them like they had in Chicago (Horseshoe Pier @ Montrose Harbor). The Coast Guard station is blocked off, but I saw guys on the grounds fishing off the bulkheads there, too. 

 

While here I discovered what I thought was a ship’s horn, the horn I heard at night in my hotel room, is a horn on the railroad lift bridge, used when operating the bridge.  Heard when they lowered the bridge for a freight.

 

Around this time I think it was around noon, yet the way the light works in Cleveland, the northern exposure, it seemed later.  I thought of Nelson Algren’s comment on Chicago, that it seemed “an October city, even in the spring”.  Maybe Cleveland is an afternoon city, even at mid day?

 

Back to Where I Started:  Asia Town

 

My exit to Cleveland from Buffalo was 55th Street.  This is how I left for Dayton.  But before that I drove to very close to where I took my first walk in the city, the diagonals radiating east of downtown, but this time east of that sunken freeway, the one I didn’t cross on that initial walk.

 

I drove a zig-zag pattern between, roughly, the freeway and 55th, following the diagonals and side streets.  What’s notable is how these streets fan out, and are somewhat far apart once you reach 55th.  So heading east on, say, Superior, you are further from the lake than you might think, by the time you reach 55th.  This pattern seems to end at 55th, which I suspect used to be some sort of section or survey line.

 

I was interested in this area as one of the older residential areas, the first one east of downtown, as a repository of (perhaps) 19th century vernacular architecture and cityscape. But I was also interested in it as Asia Town, a developing ethnic enclave.  Unfortunatley I didn’t see as much side street stuff due to the one way streets going the “wrong way”, they didn’t operate in an up-and-back alternating pattern like I expected.  It would have been better to take an extended walk into this area from downtown.  Nothing beats walking these close-in areas.

 

From what I can tell Asia Town extends maybe to that railroad that cuts diagonally across this part of the city.  Diagonals are the busy streets.  North-south streets are more industrial, and industrial stuff is strung out along the railroad and the lake.  I also noticed this very impressive (to me) supermarket right in the heart of this area, on one of the diagonals.  Don’t recall the name, but it didn’t follow the usual site plan of store in back/parking in front.  This one was built right up to the sidewalk, doors to the sidewalk, with parking either on the sides or across the street.  It seemed like a hub of the neighborhood, but there was other things around, too. 

 

There’s maybe some early stage gentrification going on, too?  I saw one of the factory buildings was converted into some sort of studio space (don’t recall the street, it was a north-south street, though). 

 

After this windshield tour, it was onto the freeway and south.  About a 3 –  4 hour drive to Dayton (if you work at it & with optimal traffic).

 

 

 

On the other side I am stuck.  Seems the road goes to various low density business things (I think someone once posted there is a salt mine here?).  I see a gravel lot with a ‘tarping station’, and the lake shore railroad main, with the final lift bridge over the Cuyahoga before it enters the lake.  I could see Wendy Park on the other side of the railroad (could see that tower from the old Coast Guard station) from over the trees and brush, but also saw a fence along the railroad.  Apparently you can’t get there from here, and have to drive somehow.  Maybe they are going to remedy that some day, to make the park accessible from the Flats?

 

Oh, we're going to remedy the hell out of that.

 

Also, plans are afoot for improving Wendy Park, which will be especially needed once the bridge is built and it is more accessible.

I believe that grocery on Payne Ave in Asiatown is a "Dave's Supermarket".  Local chain, expanding a bit into the suburbs now. 

 

The factory conversion you mention in your second to last sentence may have been Tyler Village, roundabouts 39th and St. Clair, which has its own thread (recently updated) in the NEO Developments forum.  That is a really interesting project.  An old elevator (I believe) factory/compound that is being converted into a "Village".... it involves several interconnected structures covering a few city blocks.

There have been a few conversions throughout that neighborhood.  Some have been aimed at businesses, others residents- mostly artists.

I know (and to our benefit) most of the Cleveland areas didnt fulfill the initial criteria for a Starbucks to locate there (the old saying, "you know a neighborhood is officially gentrified/made it, when a Starbucks opens up)..  or to us, "a neighborhood that could be anywhere USA......"    

 

Yes.  Starbucks is, incidentally, one of the businesses that does the most in depth analysis for picking it's locations.  They run a lot of data and do a lot of mapping of demographics, spending patterns, surrounding competitors and complementary uses, transportation patterns, etc.  Conversely, a lot of businesses have a location strategy no more sophisticated than "locate as near as possible to a Starbuck's".

 

that has not been true for years. they are even in the ghetto now and lately many of their shops have actually closed.

 

no doubt the first thing their researchers did back in the late go-go 90's starbucks heyday was say, "oh, the cleveland area already has well established local coffeeshop chains and a coffeeshop scene, we'll pass for now."

Entirely possible.  They were considered the model when I took my real estate analysis course, but that was 8 years ago.  I doubt though that they passed on Cleveland because of an abundance of coffeeshops.

^ starbuck$ is a more desperate business these days. noone is paying for five buck latte frivolty anymore after the financial meltdown.

 

and i know you doubt it but they skipped over a region of 3.5 million for some reason and i would say initially competition was it. i dont blame them, why bother during that initial expansion wave when so much of the rest of country was ripe for the pickings for fancy coffee and the cleve already had it?

 

anyway, enough tangent -- back to the cool thread...

 

FYI, Starbucks was never afraid of the little guys during their major expansion years.

 

Jeffrey, hopefully you make your way back to Cleveland to see the progress of some of the areas you visited there!

In my opinion, we have so many fantastic independent....locally owned and original coffee places. Nothing unique about Starbucks anymore when they're as common as Sprawl-Mart or those ABC stores in Honolulu. It is conveniently forgotten that opposite of what many may perceive...They've rode piggy back from the original and local coffee shop theme started by independents. In other words...trend copying, not trend setting. Kind of like how Mc Crapold's did with the "Mc Cafe" thing.

In my opinion, we have so many fantastic independent....locally owned and original coffee places. Nothing unique about Starbucks anymore when they're as common as Sprawl-Mart or those ABC stores in Honolulu. It is conveniently forgotten that opposite of what many may perceive...They've rode piggy back from the original and local coffee shop theme started by independents.

 

But that was the whole point of why we were talking about Starbucks...  Cleveland being fortunate to have a predominate and unique independent coffee culture.

FYI, Starbucks was never afraid of the little guys during their major expansion years.

 

 

obviously there are two opinions about that. of course its hard to say with absolute certainty when a company is riding a trend and is in hyperexpansion mode. it wasnt just cleveland, they stayed away from nyc and other places for a long time too. you can only grow so fast initially. but just like other shops that had hyperexpansion fits like the gap before them, blimpie subs, jamba juice, etc. they are contracting lately. however unlike blimpie starbucks isnt going away anytime soon thats for sure.

 

sorry jeffery for the tangent -- as always i really enjoyed your takes on your rambles around town!

 

FYI, Starbucks was never afraid of the little guys during their major expansion years.

 

 

obviously there are two opinions about that. of course its hard to say with absolute certainty when a company is riding a trend and is in hyperexpansion mode. it wasnt just cleveland, they stayed away from nyc and other places for a long time too. you can only grow so fast initially. but just like other shops that had hyperexpansion fits like the gap before them, blimpie subs, jamba juice, etc. they are contracting lately. however unlike blimpie starbucks isnt going away anytime soon thats for sure.sorry jeffery for the tangent -- as always i really enjoyed your takes on your rambles around town!

 

except recently they have begun closing their public restrooms all over Manhattan! :x :x :x (I wonder if this is happening in other cities) What's up with that? Particularly despicable for a company whose main product is a diuretic. Shame on them  :whip: Boycott Starbucks at once!!

i dont patronize them, but i have heard about that and you are right, that will help kill their business out here faster than anything.

^^ From a rather fun experience of mine in the last year....Many Australian die hard coffee fans of the real and original independents sternly shun and boycott Starbucks on a daily basis.... (not the the restroom thing, but to express their loyalty to the local/independents) It was funny to see them walk by the shop and hold up their cup of the local jo as a salute!

Supporting both would be nice. I don't want more vacancies. Plus we dont want to make it seem like business will fail here.

That says nothing about business failing. It says loads about taste and preference. At the same time, I don't want a desperate..."we'll take anything we can get...development at any cost" approach either. In some areas, such an approach leads to nothing but check cashing outlets and boom car outfitters for audio terrorists. Ok, I won't go there. I just don't like Starbucks and prefer to not support them when I have plenty of local choices. I reserve the personal right.

OK, let's get back to the topic.

But that was the whole point of why we were talking about Starbucks...  Cleveland being fortunate to have a predominate and unique independent coffee culture.

 

Cleveland is not unique in having a strong local coffee house culture.  Cincinnati and Louisville do, as well, and I was mentally comparing these places to Cleveland and Buffalo.  Buffalo doesn't have as strong a coffee shop scene,  but they do have two good local bookstores that sort of function as 'third places' in their own ways. 

 

I think I was as impressed by the local booksellers in Clevleand as much as I was by the coffee houses. 

 

BTW, I did eat at that Flaming Ice Cube place on Public Square.  Lucky me I was there at an off-hour, or I would never had a table.  It's quite popular.  Good "whole foods" concept there, sort of a vegitarian/"green" place (but I think they do have meat items?).

 

 

 

OK, let's get back to the topic.

 

The topic is pretty much over. 

 

Again, I pretty much just did the usual tourist things, so again I think I never really "got" Cleveland enough.  The outer neighborhoods and places like Parma were skipped. 

 

And I didn't do a repeat of my Western Reserve countryside tour, which was one of the most memorable things of my 2004 visit.

 

Maybe when I go visit Akron and Youngstown?  I am thinking of going up there in February to finish off this visit, since I didnt see those two cities this time.

 

Since I'm so close I need to visit Indianapolis and Toledo soon.  Maybe more Indianapolis since its such a midwest boom town. 

 

 

 

 

OK, let's get back to the topic.

 

The topic is pretty much over. 

 

Again, I pretty much just did the usual tourist things, so again I think I never really "got" Cleveland enough.  The outer neighborhoods and places like Parma were skipped. 

 

And I didn't do a repeat of my Western Reserve countryside tour, which was one of the most memorable things of my 2004 visit.

 

Maybe when I go visit Akron and Youngstown?  I am thinking of going up there in February to finish off this visit, since I didnt see those two cities this time.

 

Since I'm so close I need to visit Indianapolis and Toledo soon.  Maybe more Indianapolis since its such a midwest boom town.

 

Honey I feel as though you got PLENTY of Cleveland.  You did/saw more than most people.  Even though you did see the CH and SH, you saw many neighborhoods that people who live here feel/think are dead or not worthy going to.

Thanks so much for the posts, Jeffery. Really a very nice thread. Regarding Asiatown, the area is really bound by the infrastructure like you described - St. Clair to Payne on the north-south and the highway and the rail bridge on the east-west (which breaks down to approximately East 30th to East 40th).

 

It's difficult to say which market you saw, since the neighborhood is easily one of the most heavily groceried neighborhoods I've ever been in ... In addition to the pretty sizable Dave's along Payne, you also have the Asian Town Center across from Tyler Village (115,000 sq. feet for just this one market complex!), Asia Plaza and Park to Shop (real name!), Good Harvest Food Market, Kim's Oriental Foods and Tink Holl. These are all mid-size to large markets, operating independently of each other, and they all seem to be doing pretty well. I've heard CDC folk say that the neighborhood attracts Asian visitors from eastern Illinois to central Pennsylvania, largely because of this density of Asian foodstuffs. If I had to guess based on your description, I would say you're probably describing Tink Holl.

 

There is some conversion happening in the neighborhood, but I don't think there's much fear of immediate gentrification. First, the vast majority of the single- and two-family homes tend to remain in Asian ownership; turnover is very, very low (I've seen two for-sale signs in three years of living there). The conversion is generally happening quietly in the industrial buildings, and as noted above, are still being marketed exclusively to artists and other creatives; generally, artists use the space either as studio or live/work, but many of the buildings are not up to residential code, so people tend to keep a very low profile if they're living in one of these facilities. Second, I think the neighborhood has risen in visibility in the past few years, but it's still very much an undiscovered gem. I would say that at least 50% of Clevelanders who I tell I live in Asiatown don't have any clue that we have a Chinatown, let alone where it is. And to the best of my knowledge, I'm currently the only forumer living in the nabe (although a couple of others have in the past). All that to say, if I'm an indicator of neighborhood gentrification, I don't have much in the way of company to date ... Which is fine by me. :)

 

Thanks again for sharing these essays. It sounds like it was a great trip - and that's even before the conference! :)