The questions running across my mind this morning as I attempted to enjoy my first cup of coffee went like this:

 

What is up Peter B. Lewis's bum?  Why does he hate Cleveland?  What the heck does "palaver" mean?

 

Well, I looked it up.  According to dictionary.com, palaver means "idle chatter" or "flattery intended to persuade" and it was the Word of the Day on August 23rd, 2000.  Incidentally, yesterday was the first time that the word was used in print since that date some 5.5 years ago and Lewis was so miffed about it that he used it twice!

 

For those of you who are completely lost, the front page of Sunday's PD featured an article by Steven Litt titled "Princeton gets a gift, Cleveland a knock."  The article was basically about how Peter B. Lewis gave a $101 million gift to Princeton University and has instituted an unwritten moratorium on philanthropy in C-town until the powers that be get their thumbs out of their bums and learn how to work together to make things happen. 

 

Quotes of note:

 

"Cleveland is not high on my list because it's all palaver."

 

"It's individual palaver.  It's people not cooperating with one another.  There's no apparent leader to the enterprise."

 

and my personal favorite:

 

Case and other institutions should "collaborate to develop restaurants, movie theaters, poolhouses, whorehouses and bars in the University Circle neighborhood."  (Litt acknowledged that this was exaggeration for the sake of impact.)

 

Now, I know that Cleveland has its  issues with cross-agency collaboration over the years and UC is perhaps the primary example of this, but how is it possible to think that we haven't made progress in recent years and months?  The cooperative planning efforts taking place in UC are inspiring, if you ask me, and should lead to nothing but a brighter future for the district.  Add Chris Ronayne to the equation and the acquisition of land at Ford & Euclid, construction progress at neighborhood institutions and an increasing understanding of the need to improve surrounding neighborhoods and ameliorate the insular nature of the Circle and you've got quite a promising set of developments!

 

Here's my take on Lewis's comments:  He can't be oblivious to this progress, so unless someone has done something to personally offend him, I'm guessing he's just continuing with his incendiary commentary in an effort to "light the fire" under the rear ends of those institutions that are still not on board.  Until he sees some products from these plans, he's not going to stop.  He may slip a $100k bill to one or another cause in the meantime if he likes what he sees, but he's not going to be dropping the big dollars until he sees major progress.  And hey, it's his money and his call, but I'm not going to sit here and buy the old "Cleveland's on the verge of implosion" story that we're all too familiar with.  Not with $171 million in venture capital funding for NEO bioenterprise firms...not with a rapidly growing UH and Cleveland Clinic...not with the sincere plans of area developers to rebuild Downtown Cleveland and the neighborhoods...and not with the people I've met who are working their asses off to make this all happen!

 

If you want to read the article, check it out: http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1137933154133230.xml?exoth&coll=2

you know, in the beginning (early 2000s) I sided with Lewis b/c i was a case student. Back then I was like "damn, a sugar daddy who wants to make case a true urban campus". I honestly think case/uci has made some good progress allready, and has a lot more in the pipeline to really improve the area. Quite frankly, I'm really sick of his palaver.

If you look at what Litt has said in the past about UC, he continually depicts it as a dead area.  I question his interviewing techniques and the relevancy of an off-the-cuff statement made in a brief phone interview. Was this really front page news?

   

Anyways, Lewis just gave UCI 100,000 grand to 'dream big'.  If he didn't care about the area, he wouldn't be donating money in such fashion. At this point, things are moving in the right direction for the University Circle area. There is a lot of room for improvement, but things aren't as dire as Litt's article portrays them to be. 

Look for some sort of response to PBL in the PD's op-ed section in the next few days.

^Well, at least UC is still getting a trickle of cash. What I want to know is when he's going to get over his old grudge against the rest of the city. So the downtown headquarters thing didn't work out a decade or so ago. Time to move on, realize times have changed and work with the present city leadership. (To be fair, I think he gave a small amount to the Ingenuity Festival last year -- but that's not enough.)

So, your criticism would be more of Litt's article than of Lewis's comments, leading me to believe that you share my impressions of Lewis's angle...that he's trying to keep the pressure on.  Correct?

 

And yes, the article started on he front page, above the fold, and continued on page 16. 

So, your criticism would be more of Litt's article than of Lewis's comments, leading me to believe that you share my impressions of Lewis's angle...that he's trying to keep the pressure on.  Correct?

 

And yes, the article started on he front page, above the fold, and continued on page 16. 

 

Well, I think that Litt was trying to make some news and I think that Lewis is a bit unfair.  Case is currently planning a large progect that would inject a lot of street life into the area (at the Triangle and Beach). Lewis knows this.  What does he expect? Is it supposed to be built overnight?

^funny you say that, because His building (WSM) took what? three years?

Well, are any whorehouses on the drawing board?

 

Seriously, I think he wants to see a bit of W. 6th street in noble UC

i was thinking the ohio cannibus society

Case and other institutions should "collaborate to develop restaurants, movie theaters, poolhouses, whorehouses and bars in the University Circle neighborhood."  (Litt acknowledged that this was exaggeration for the sake of impact.)

 

Oh yeah....like all that urban life and funky stuff around the Progressive HQ.  Honestly, I am tired of his palaver as well.  Why doesn't his company also 'collaborate' with Case and other institutions and move to Midtown from that suburban bunker in Mayfield??? 

I heard that UCI's police department rounded up some whores from different areas of Cleveland, let them loose at the corner of Euclid & Mayfield, and then took pictures to send off to PBL.  Ronayne is definitely on the ball.

Unfortunately, i agree with Peter B.. Although Palaver isnt the word i would use to describe exactly what is going on in the Circle, I don't for a second hold it against the man for not wanting to piss his money away in a deadzone. I personally think the only way UC is ever going to become one of the country's premier living/learning/culture centers is if Hough, Glenville, and East Cleveland rise from their current forms of decay in conjuction with the Circle. I can't fathom that happening as of now due to how C-Clinic, UH, CMA, Case, etc. are going about their construction projects. The city and the county should be throwing everything they've got into restoring these once great 'hoods. Even though it looks like Dresden Post-war over there, it is by far my favorite area of the entire region. So much potential, but nothing's going on.

Oh yeah....like all that urban life and funky stuff around the Progressive HQ.  Honestly, I am tired of his palaver as well.  Why doesn't his company also 'collaborate' with Case and other institutions and move to Midtown from that suburban bunker in Mayfield??? 

 

To be fair, Peter did try to move the HQ downtown some years ago and was rebuffed.  Additionally, the money he has given has been his own - not the company's. 

I personally think the only way UC is ever going to become one of the country's premier living/learning/culture centers is if Hough, Glenville, and East Cleveland rise from their current forms of decay in conjuction with the Circle.

 

While it obviously wouldn't hurt if those neighborhoods came back, I don't think it's essential to UC's comeback.  It's a decent place now and lots of neighboorhoods in lots of places have been vibrant despite being surrounded by less developed neighboorhoods (I'm thinking of Capitol Hill in DC, Jamaica Plain in Boston, Hyde Park in Chicago, even Tremont to some degree, although OC isn't too far). 

 

Still, Lewis' main point seems valid - UC is not now a vibrant neighborhood in terms of lots of people walking around and lots of places just to hang out.  I mean, who says, "Let's go walk around UC?" unless they plan to go to one of the museums there or just want to walk around the park?  Cleveland does have a few neighborhoods that achieve this (e.g. Tremont, OC, Little Italy), but UC isn't yet one of them. 

 

What would it take to get it there?  Seems to me like Euclid is the natural main corridor, likely stretching a good mile or more from E 95 to E117th or so.  So, here's some more idle chatter on would help the neighborhood become more livable, more interesting to visit and more lively (sorry if a similar discussion has happened on another thread, but I didn't see one...):

 

A grocery store (Dave's?) convenient for neighborhood residents and can get some business from Case & Clinic workers on their way home.

 

A bookstore.  I've heard that UCI has talked about making Case's bookstore more of a public place - sounds like a great idea to me.  Reminds me of what Harvard's bookstore is in Harvard Square - sort of a regular bookstore with a section in the back for the textbooks.  You need the textbook part anyway - why not make it something valuable and attractive for the neighborhood, too?  I doubt the main bookstore would be too much different than a Barnes & Noble in the burbs, but it's one more reason not to leave the city...

 

CIA art gallery - how about a street level, student-run art gallery in the Clev Inst of Art's building on Euclid?  I know they have some public galleries and have a student-run gallery in their coffee house, but neither is very visible.  Seems like you'd get a lot more foot traffic (and sell more student artwork) with a more prominent spot.  (zaceman - you attend CIA, right? any thoughts?)

 

Club Isabella's - Since UH plans to tear down its building to make way for their new expansion, maybe Club Isabella's could relocate to somewhere people could actually find it... Maybe somewhere on newly developed "Beach"

 

Other ideas?

j73,

 

All the ideas, except the CIA art gallery, are already in the planning stages.  And, yes, even the part about incorporating Glenville, Hough, Fairfax, etc in the mix.  I could write a long response to this stuff, but I'm a bit tired at the moment.

Hough is slowly stabilizing and Glenville is too far to the north to be included in this discussion (even if it were, there is hundreds of millions of dollars being invested there in new housing and businesses). Fairfax, however, remains a concern. But even there, extensive housing construction and redevelopment is happening (see the ever-expanding Beacon Place). As for East Cleveland, I don't know what to say about that city! It might be best if it were merged with Cleveland. You also forgot to mention Little Italy, which remains one of Cleveland's best and strongest neighborhoods (despite it being next to East Cleveland). Or the $18 million Heritage Lane development on East 105th Street, just north of Wade Park Avenue.

 

University Circle is a large enough area that it can be self-sustaining. And it has an advantage over other Cleveland neighborhoods of being next to stable suburbs like Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights. It's not an oasis in a sea of desolation as you suggest.

 

And where do you get this idea that "nothing's going on"? ??? ? You've got to be kidding me? There's a construction boom underway right now in University Circle totalling $1.8 billion and will add 6,000 new jobs and thousands of residents to the area...

 

> Phase I CWRU North Residential Village for 750 residents, $126 million, recently completed (additional phases totalling $300 million will accommodate another 1,800 residents, plus dining, offices and a Greek Village);

 

> CWRU West Quad biotechnology campus, six buildings with 2 million square feet on site of former Mt. Sinai Medical Center, $125 million;

 

> Cleveland Clinic Cardiac Center/Urology institute, $450 million (Cardiac Center), $60 million (Urology institute) adding 1,500 jobs;

 

> CWRU/University Hospitals $41 million Imaging Research Center, which opened in 2005. It's one of only seven such centers in the country;

 

> Consolidated VA Medical Center (with one relocated from Brecksville!) with a new 500,000-square-foot building and renovation of 140,000 square feet, costing $100 million;

 

> Renovation and expansion of the Cleveland Art Musuem, $200 million;

 

> Park Lane Villa restoration and expansion with 4-story building and parking deck (unk. investment but likely in the million$);

 

> University Hospitals expansion, $300 million, adding more than 300 jobs, including a cancer hospital, neonatal intensive care unit, expanded emergency department and two parking decks;

 

> Cleveland Institue of Music expansion, including a new 250-seat recital hall and gardens (costs unk., but again likely in the millions);

 

> And lest we forget, RTA is building their $200 million Euclid Corridor transitway through the heart of UC;

 

Geez! Did I miss anything? ? ?

I think what the poster meant by "nothing going on" was the apparent lack of street life, not a lack of development plans. It's true UC needs signficant improvement in this respect. However, I think we'll start to see it happening in the next few years, as the above-mentioned projects are completed.

 

I have to say, however, that the onus for improving the area's vitality has been entirely on the universities and museums. The Cleveland Clinic, through its relentlessly suburban architecture, continues to turn its back on the neighborhood.

KJP--Yes, you are missing some things..

 

You are a few hundred million short on the UHHS expansion.  Also, they project about 1000 more jobs in the next five years.

 

VA expansion will be about $250 million with about 1300 employees relocating to the UC campus

 

Triangle and Beach properties--you'll be able to find that sort of combo bookstore along with a lot of other things if the project comes to fruition. RFPs were sent out almost two months ago. This could also add hundreds of housing units in the heart of the Circle.

 

The Cleveland Foundation has been very generous in funding the "Greater University Circle" planning initiative.  This aims to bring University Circle and surrounding neighborhoods together to create a cohesive and ambitious plan for future growth.  Connecting neighborhoods and creating additional housing is at the forefront of this plan.

 

The MLK Corridor Study is looking at ways of improving the street network and land use throughout the Circle. This study should be finished in the next 2-3 months. 

 

RTA will renovate both the the University Circle-area rapid stations.

 

 

 

Thanks for the additions and corrections. We really do need a running tally, given all the project a-happening -- something like in the Downtown Cleveland projects string.

I think the one thing that is missing from UC is the local entrepreneur.  All of the projects are government or foundation driven.  Almost all of the projects will produce buildings that will be closed at 9pm.

What I think he is pressuring the powers that be is to direct some energy to creating a neighborhood, something like a Coventry.  Music venues, record stores, head shops (just for him), bars, 24hour taco stands...messy the place up a bit and let some life into the area.

 

That said, I think Chris is the man to get that done.

Punch,

 

Case and UCI have been working on that very thing.  PBL knows it.  Let's put it this way: what if PBL complained last March about how there is no life on the East Bank of the Flats.  What would you say?

Maybe it's a kind of "show me the money" thing with Lewis. He wants to see this stuff actually happen before he's willing to jump on the bandwagon. I'm not saying he's justified in that feeling, just raising it as a possibility.

 

Punch, I like your recommendation to "messy the place up a bit." UC could do with more of an organic flavor. It feels so institutional over there right now. That said, we are privileged to be complaining about an area that already offers so much.

I guess I was thinking about what kind of corporate citizen Progressive is to the region...and I can't really think of much of anything that they have done/sponsored to improve the quality of life in the community that it resides.  I am sure they have, it just doesn't seem that way.  Compare that to Nationwide in Columbus...they seem to do a lot for that city.  I agree with what PBL is saying about UC getting it together, there is no life around there.  However UC is just a small part of an ailing city that needs investment from it's home grown corporate citizens too.  It would be nice if an expansion of Progressive into the city was included as part of the mix...then I think he would be more justified in throwing stones at their glass house.

On that note, it's unlikely that Progressive will be considering a move to the city anytime in the near future.  Unless it's on April 1st, like last year (thanks for that MayDay!).  They've got so much invested in their Mayfield Heights campus and have room to grow... 

 

I liked your comment, MetroCity, "Oh yeah....like all that urban life and funky stuff around the Progressive HQ."  Not that we'd really want them to create another Crocker Park out there, but it's a good jab at PBL's knack for hypocrisy anyway.

 

As for Progressive's role as a corporate citizen, I found nothing but this on the Progressive Insurance Foundation:

 

"The Progressive Corporation does not contribute or provide any financial

support to any organizations or causes other than two non-profit

organizations working to reduce the human trauma and economic cost of

auto accidents. The Progressive Corporation does contribute annually to

The Progressive Insurance Foundation, which provides matching funds to

eligible 501©(3) charitable organizations to which our employees contribute."

 

I'm curious, as well, to see what the actual Foundation is supporting.  Cleveland has such a rich tradition of foundation support of local initiatives.  I know PBL gives to his own causes, but what about the foundation that his company has spun off?

you guys have to remember, there's a difference between PBL's money, and progressive's money.

and the progressive foundation's money...they're all different. 

The Progressive Foundation (other than the 2 charities it alludes to) just matches the donations of its employees.  So if the employees donate to something, the Progressive foundation donates to it.  I don't believe the foundation makes investment decisions on its own.

Has anyone read the Harvey Pekar graphic novel "Quitter"?  It describes the casual vitality of Doan's Corner in the 1960s- jazz clubs, movie theaters, restaurants etc.-nothing we haven't heard before (I think even from PBL who grew up nearby) but even more painful when drawn.  I have to agree with Litt: in its current state, UC is essentially a suburban office park with institutions instead of office buildings.  The Beach/Triangle developments will do wonders for that stretch of Euclid and (assuming the designs don't totally suck like the old Beach ones did) I am excited to see them actually happen, but I don't know how wide-spread the impact will be.

 

All the hospital construction is great for the city's economy but I think it will mean zero for the neighborhood.  As I've mentioned elsewhere, it may even be bad for the neighborhood.  Instead of getting excited by its expansion, I would happily ship the VA Hospital a mile west or so to free that land for residential redevelopment.

 

I think the best opportunity for large-scale change, which may or may not have been explored or discussed (and may or may not conflict with Case's plans to consolidate undergrad housing on north campus) is to bulldoze most of the old houses on Bellflower and Juniper and build anew-without front lawns.

For more about Doans Corners, visit this thread at:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=1582.msg13800#msg13800

 

Which also has a link to historical photos from the 1920s-1970s (and one of present-day) of the area.

Thanks KJP for the link.  As much as the phots hurt (there are more good ones in the Toman/Hayes history of Cleveland public transit) there was something even more depressing reading a pictoral memoir of living there.  Hardly a new thought, but it always astounds me to think about how much of the city has been built and plowed under in just 100 years.

 

That said, with a few exceptions, I don't think any of the old houses on the curvy interior UC streets need to be preserved.

Strap,

 

In your opinion, what "sucked" so much about the last plans for the Beach? How could the design have been improved?

 

All the hospital construction is great for the city's economy but I think it will mean zero for the neighborhood.  As I've mentioned elsewhere, it may even be bad for the neighborhood.  Instead of getting excited by its expansion, I would happily ship the VA Hospital a mile west or so to free that land for residential redevelopment.

 

I can see the validity in that. But, it would be awfully expensive for the VA to abandon its existing infrastructure in UC and build completely anew.  I would think it would cost them an additional $500 million to reconstruct what they already have.

 

What if the new development spurs redevelopment in the surrounding neighborhoods?  I was talking with someone at the VA who said that 70 employees have already purchased homes in nearby Cleveland neighborhoods because of the move. One doctor bought his wife a condo in downtown because "he didn't want her to drive all the way back to Brecksville when a snowstorm hits".

Wimwar, I think you make a good point that at least some percentage of the employees at these expanding institutions will choose to live in the adjacent neighborhoods and I think it enlightened that CWRU and others subsidize the purchase costs for employees moving nearby.  If they don't do it already, I wish the Clinic would do the same.

 

My point about the VA is not that it should actually leave its site but that because it is of questionable benefit to UC itself, I would happily trade it to Midtown in return for vacant land.  All to say that its expansion, like several of the big ticket items on KJP's list, really doesn't get me the least bit excited about UC's prospects.  Ditto for UH expansion.  I guess the real point is opportunity cost:  The cultural institutions around Wade Park should be the centerpiece of the most desireable area of the region to live and play.  Instead, they are at the center of a vast and expanding institutional ghetto.  Again, great for the city's economy, maybe good for surrounding neighborhoods (to the extent not flattened by said insitititions), but maybe not so great for UC as a neighborhood.  As much as the Hessler Street Association may annoy us with their resistance to new development, I would guess they are the only reason Case didn't flatten Hessler in the 1960s and 1970s.

 

As for the last plans I saw for the beach property- I recall round towers at the Ford/Euclid intersection and generally a bland barfy facade.  For a brief period a couple years ago, maybe even by mistake, the UCI web page had a link listing and describing every planned development project in the area and contained some renderings.  I think it disappeared soon after I discovered it.  Steve Litt wrote a review of the beach proposal and unfavorably compared the corner tower to a rocket ship I think.  For such a prominent site, I think the developer should look outside of Cleveland for its architectural talent.

^it would be nice to have a small collection of starchitects in UC (gehry doesn't count)

Wimwar, I think you make a good point that at least some percentage of the employees at these expanding institutions will choose to live in the adjacent neighborhoods and I think it enlightened that CWRU and others subsidize the purchase costs for employees moving nearby.  If they don't do it already, I wish the Clinic would do the same.

 

My point about the VA is not that it should actually leave its site but that because it is of questionable benefit to UC itself, I would happily trade it to Midtown in return for vacant land.  All to say that its expansion, like several of the big ticket items on KJP's list, really doesn't get me the least bit excited about UC's prospects.  Ditto for UH expansion.  I guess the real point is opportunity cost:  The cultural institutions around Wade Park should be the centerpiece of the most desireable area of the region to live and play.  Instead, they are at the center of a vast and expanding institutional ghetto.  Again, great for the city's economy, maybe good for surrounding neighborhoods (to the extent not flattened by said insitititions), but maybe not so great for UC as a neighborhood.  As much as the Hessler Street Association may annoy us with their resistance to new development, I would guess they are the only reason Case didn't flatten Hessler in the 1960s and 1970s.

 

As for the last plans I saw for the beach property- I recall round towers at the Ford/Euclid intersection and generally a bland barfy facade.  For a brief period a couple years ago, maybe even by mistake, the UCI web page had a link listing and describing every planned development project in the area and contained some renderings.  I think it disappeared soon after I discovered it.  Steve Litt wrote a review of the beach proposal and unfavorably compared the corner tower to a rocket ship I think.  For such a prominent site, I think the developer should look outside of Cleveland for its architectural talent.

 

All very valid points.  Regarding the last beach proposal, I don't think it was that bad.  There were many different renderings of the same basic scheme.  The last one was pretty neat, but the others were too flat.  You can chalk that up to the different steps in the architectural process.

 

While just about all of the projects that have been announced for UC are institutional, it heartens me because it should create a larger demand for housing in the area.  Case wants more market rate housing and UCI wants more market rate housing.  CIA wants its own dorms.  When I say 'want', it means that each group is actively pursuing these goals.  I can see CIA and UCI working together. I have also heard that Case and UCI have been butting heads lately.  It is an interesting time in the Circle.

 

 

Wimwar, I share your hope that more jobs at UC means higher demand for housing in nearby city neighborhoods as well as Cleveland Heights and Shaker.  I would be very curious to see the data regarding where different types of current UC employees live to get a sense of the impact.  Anecdotally at least, it is clear that many folks in the Heights and Shaker Square are affiliated with UC institutions (including the Clinic).

 

What will really get me excited, though, is the construction of the market-rate housing everyone seems to want.  Yeah, I know it's on the way, I guess I'm just impatient.  And I really hope the high profile locations get the designs they deserve.  I think Pope is right- it would be pretty sweet if we could get some architectural star power on something other than an institutional building.  I'm really not looking for Cleveland to imitate the big name architect marketing fad in NYC (pretty sure we couldn't support a $40M per unit Calatrava tower anyhow), I just think we deserve some good design.

 

My mouth waters at the potential of the current CIA main building site if and when CIA consolidates on Euclid.

 

 

^yeah, nothing against st. louis, but if they can go buck wild with libeskind, why cant we?