Taken over the course of two weekends.

 

Some Cleveland shots from my neighborhood; this house is available for about $65K (short sale - the house is actually in decent shape but the owner has had some issues):

 

The social hub of the neighborhood, Lincoln Park. 

 

The former Our Lady of Mercy church on Lincoln Park - likely to redeveloped as residential:

 

Lemko Hall, once a social hall for the area's Carpatho-Rusyn population, it's now mixed-use with retail on the ground floor and condos on the upper floor. The building famously appeared in the movie 'The Deer Hunter' and was the site of the film's wedding reception:

 

Newer infill on the left; the former St. Vladimir's church in the background - it's now home to a Latino parish - Iglesia Nueva Jerusalén:

 

Iglesia Nueva Jerusalén:

 

New infill in the neighborhood:

 

Flora:

 

Cluster of older brick homes:

 

More new construction in the area - it sticks out like a sore thumb (maybe in a good way?); at 7,000 sq. feet, it's one of the largest newer homes in the area:

 

Typical older Tremont home on the left - compare to the new construction on the right:

 

View from University Road - most homes in the immediate area have rooftop decks specifically to enjoy this view:

 

The older bridge in the foreground is the Innerbelt bridge, due to be replaced in the future. In the background you can see supports for the new Innerbelt bridge under construction:

 

Further down University Road, newer infill - these usually sell for around $300K:

 

Not all of the area is new infill, though:

 

Some of the infill pays more homage to the historic styles than others:

 

And then some of it, well...

 

Looks like someone decided they didn't want to sell to the developer :)

 

The area sits on a ridge, so occasionally you'll see this:

 

These are among the first new developments in the area - Tremont Ridge:

 

This building suffered a fire and sat boarded up for quite some time - nice to see it rehabbed. Note the leg lamp in the window - 'The Christmas Story' was filmed at many sites in Cleveland, including Tremont.

 

Mural on the side of a wine/martini bar:

 

The small commercial strip at Literary Road and Professor Avenue (the area was once home to a college, thus the street names):

 

Detail work on St. John Cantius church - built to serve the area's Polish population (I believe they still offer Mass in Polish); the exterior was cleaned a while back - notice the black soot that still remains. The area sits uphill from the industrial valley, many buildings were coated in black soot:

 

 

Directly across from St. John Cantius is the Treehouse with its mural espousing Guinness:

 

With plenty of bars in the area, I imagine they don't have a problem getting membership:

 

Local development non-profit:

 

St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox church - another Tremont landmark that was featured in 'The Deer Hunter'.

 

Someone is obviously a fan:

 

With a mild winter this year, we've had more flowers blooming a lot earlier than we're used to:

 

Older wood-frame home on Lincoln Park:

 

Another historic church on Lincoln Park, built as Emmanuel Evangelical in 1908, now serves a Latino congregation as El Calvario Pentecostal:

 

As mentioned before, the area sits above the industrial valley, home to one of Arcelor-Mittal's larger plants. Part of it was recently constructed:

 

And part of the historic plant remains (and in operation, though not at the capacity it once had):

 

One of the larger historic homes in the neighborhood:

 

And with that, we move on to Columbus en route to a friend's birthday party in Cincinnati. A pedestrian walkway over the highway:

 

New construction for the Ohio State University Medical Center:

 

Part of the downtown Columbus skyline:

 

On the southern end of downtown, the Miranova condo and office tower:

 

We stayed with a friend who lives in the German Village neighborhood; such a charming area - lots and lots of brick:

 

 

We went to dinner and all of a sudden, tornado sirens were going full blast - fortunately we were spared any damage:

 

Unfortunately, it was just a quick overnight stay, but I managed to snap a few shots of the area on the way out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last photo of Columbus before we head south to Cincinnati:

 

This is pretty much everything you see for the two hour drive between Columbus and Cincinnati - flat, farms - not my cup of tea:

 

Yes, yes it is - we're driving through it at the moment :D

 

Closer to Cincinnati, a massive bridge replacement project over the Miami River valley:

 

En route to downtown Cincinnati, there's the stalled Kenwood Town Center office building - hope they get this resolved, it looks like a modern version of Detroit's Michigan Central Station :(

 

Wish we had better weather - I always love the shot coming around the bend on I-71 southbound. Cincinnati's new tallest building, Queen City Square is in the distance:

 

Construction of the new casino on the right:

 

 

We stayed at the Cincinnatian, which had this parked out front:

 

Cincinnati's former tallest, Carew Tower:

 

And any time I visit Cincinnati, I always stop at the Orchids at Palm Court. Always.

 

 

 

 

 

Back outside, the Tyler Davidson fountain, on Fountain Square:

 

 

 

 

Um, what exactly is going on here? :sly:

 

Carew Tower from Fountain Square - such a handsome art deco tower:

 

It started to rain a bit, so we ducked into Tower Place - like many inner city shopping centers, this place has had occupancy troubles. Still - it has some redeeming qualities like the Rookwood Pottery tile work:

 

 

The former Gidding-Jenny department store, with this huge cartouche - also Rookwood work:

 

With that, it was time go to the Hyde Park neighborhood, where my friend's birthday party was held:

 

 

 

After a few too many drinks, it was the next morning - not great weather but I managed to get out and get a few shots:

 

 

 

I just think if this building had different proportions, I'd like it a lot more. I'm still not convinced about the 'tiara' on top - I know about Cincinnati's "Queen City" moniker but eh...

 

Looking south, the landmark Roebling Bridge and the Libeskind-designed Ascent condo tower, located across the Ohio River in Covington, Kentucky:

 

 

Time to head back home:

 

The Mount Adams neigbhorhood on the way out of Cincinnati:

 

After two-ish hours of driving through flat farmland, this was a sight for sore eyes:

 

 

After another two hour drive (of less flat but still rural scenery), this was another sight for sore eyes :)

 

Good night from Cleveland!

I love it when my lil MayDay throws in an UrbanOhio billboard or two.  Great pictures as usual, pumpkin!

Awesome thread! Love seeing the 3C's at once!

The 3Cs all have nice skylines. Columbus' has come a long way and now looks like a real big city skyline. Excellent tour.

And not one photo of the Greenhouse Tavern and/or the Incomparable Me.  Tsk tsk.

An enjoyable "drive," MayDay--thanks for taking all of us along!  Other than the fact that I'm planning to transport two small suitcase-nukes to several Cleveland and Columbus locations to neutralize Cincinnati's stiffening competition (OOPS, strike that last remark, ColDayMan! :roll:), I learned things about our 3-C's that would keep me coming back.  First, Cleveland.  What a city of rich, historical, picturesque, and vibrant neighborhoods--wow!  Next, Columbus.  Please forgive me, Queen City lovers, for starting to LIKE this city.  Many eons ago I thought I never could.  Now I know I was dead wrong. ( reserve my parking in German Village immediately!)  Last, Cincinnati. My hometown.  It's a unique and beautiful city that I sincerely hope gives the rest you urbanites the blues.  What else can I say? (except that many of us ARE unhappy with the new Great American Tower--instead of being the squat structure it is, it should have been tall and slender, and rivaled Cleveland's two finest. It doesn't.)

 

P.S. Just one other comment and concern...  (Am I seeing things?)  In that ominous Columbus "tornado" picture, check out the clouds EXACTLY 2-inches above the middle street lamp.  Do you not spot a sinister, satanic pair of eyes and a mouth peering down out of the sky?  (I'll say no more...  :-o)

^ Good eye! You've clearly spotted....The Smog Monster

 

Dyngus Day...Appropriate timing to highlight some of the Eastern European heritage that is such a part of Tremont!

Cincy and Cbus look great.

 

 

THey just freshened up this place, one of the more well-preserved homes on Lincoln Park. Wish they'd nix the chain link fence tho. Also, there's a neat old commercial building near here (b/t St George's Orthodox and the Lincoln Pk Bath condos) that is under a "historic" renovation and currently for lease/build to suit. Can't wait to see that completed.

 

 

 

Always love the Palm Court.

 

Great photos, MayDay.

I think I may finally order myself a leg lamp for my window.

I haven't been to Cincinnati since the new tower was completed, but it will take a lot to displace Carew Tower as my favorite. It has a full-sized, open-air rooftop observation deck, and at street level the period decor would be hard to surpass. It's opulent and fabulous almost beyond words; only photos can come close to conveying the real-life impression. Nice work!

Great photos of three great cities! That tornado sky photo in Columbus has some of the most beautiful colors I've seen in a photograph!

 

A couple of informational tidbits....

 

This lone house (http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/ccc0412/ccc0412_18.jpg) was left untouched by the developer because it was the only house still standing and/or salvageable on that street. Here is a picture (http://tinyurl.com/7yvjntc) which shows what this exact same section of street looked like in 1953 shortly before the neighborhood was bisected by highways and the post-industrial decline set in (and long before revival began in the 1980s). The developer must have found that picture because the new houses look very much like the old ones.

 

And the OLDEST bridge in this photo (http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/ccc0412/ccc0412_13.jpg) is the former Nickel Plate RR. It's true name was the New York, Chicago, & St. Louis RR but a newspaper gave it its nickname in 1882 when it seemed to the writer that everything on this railroad, from the tracks to the fittings in the passenger cars, was bright, polished and perfect, as if nickel-plated. The 1,700-mile railroad system was bought in 1916 by local real estate developers Oris Paxton and Mantis James Van Sweringen because they wanted access to six miles of its right of way to build their Shaker Heights rapid transit line into downtown Cleveland. NKP RR moved its headquarters to Cleveland. Today, you can still see "Nickel Plate RR" painted on part of the bridge over West Third Street, even though NKP was merged into Norfolk & Western in 1960. Now the bridge is used by about 20 Norfolk Southern freight trains a day and has a NS-staffed lift bridge on the part of the span above the river. Just a little bit of railroad history in case anyone cares.