It is backwards development. There are two sizable & free parking decks off of Front Street. Adding a few spots out front of the businesses isn't going to solve the issues surrounding the lack of business alone. It's a good looking pedestrian mall and is unfortunate that it does not see the foot traffic that it was designed for. Somebody explain to me how adding cars will increase walkability. I agree that the street isn't the destination it should be, but this solution is straight out of the 20th Century. The issue is more complicated than this expensive proposal. For what it's worth, my 80 year-old dad agrees with the idea that Front Street needs to be more car friendly.

Pedestrians malls really haven't worked well in the American context.  Cities across the country have been removing them for the last two decades, after installing them throughout the 60's and 70's.  I've heard a few possible reasons advanced, though I'm not sure one has been pinned down (social sciences tend to be pretty inexact).  One is that Americans tend to like to be able to drive by a storefront/bar/restaurant, cruise a scene, or otherwise check it out from car before getting out and walking around.  Another is that the overall amount of activity on a pedestrian only street tends to be low and so it becomes less comfortable for the remaining pedestrians.  Also, if you direct traffic around that pedestrian street, those businesses get no exposure to the natural traffic flows that come through main street.  This is related to the way bypasses are killing many small town downtowns- commerce depends on traffic, be it in a car or on foot.  You can't have a pedestrian mall without directing traffic around it.

I love that you're making those points AND you have an East 4th street image below your handle.

 

There are plenty of examples of streets adapted for pedestrians that work without drive by. I'm suggesting that traffic alone will not solve Front Street's issues and lack of successful tenants. Car centric thinking will apply to places like C. Falls much longer than downtown Cleveland, but it is old thinking. People won't cruise when they're paying for a driverless car they don't own. Destinations like pedestrian malls make sense in the 21st Century. My hometown just isn't there yet.

what is happening with the riverwalk development plan? has it started? it looks very nice.

I love that you're making those points AND you have an East 4th street image below your handle.

 

There are plenty of examples of streets adapted for pedestrians that work without drive by. I'm suggesting that traffic alone will not solve Front Street's issues and lack of successful tenants. Car centric thinking will apply to places like C. Falls much longer than downtown Cleveland, but it is old thinking. People won't cruise when they're paying for a driverless car they don't own. Destinations like pedestrian malls make sense in the 21st Century. My hometown just isn't there yet.

 

X is correct. These pedestrian malls have been removed across the US for the past 10 years because they mostly don't work. E 4th is not a correct comparison because it is surrounded by other activity. The Falls has no such activity.

Pedestrians malls really haven't worked well in the American context.  Cities across the country have been removing them for the last two decades, after installing them throughout the 60's and 70's.  I've heard a few possible reasons advanced, though I'm not sure one has been pinned down (social sciences tend to be pretty inexact).  One is that Americans tend to like to be able to drive by a storefront/bar/restaurant, cruise a scene, or otherwise check it out from car before getting out and walking around.  Another is that the overall amount of activity on a pedestrian only street tends to be low and so it becomes less comfortable for the remaining pedestrians.  Also, if you direct traffic around that pedestrian street, those businesses get no exposure to the natural traffic flows that come through main street.  This is related to the way bypasses are killing many small town downtowns- commerce depends on traffic, be it in a car or on foot.  You can't have a pedestrian mall without directing traffic around it.

 

Of course there are exceptions to this rule, but X is correct here. 

 

Oh and if you cant see the difference between E. 4th and downtown Cuyahoga Falls, then there probably isn't too much else that you would understand.   

I think to work it needs housing density near by. An example is the pedestrian mall in Boulder works pretty well. The problem to me is it is up against the river and the expressway.  In the past 30 years maybe 100-200 people have lived within a quarter mile of it as the library, churches, and government buildings surround it.  When one visits the mall outside of the events it feels desolate even on the weekends.

 

 

I love that you're making those points AND you have an East 4th street image below your handle.

 

There are plenty of examples of streets adapted for pedestrians that work without drive by. I'm suggesting that traffic alone will not solve Front Street's issues and lack of successful tenants. Car centric thinking will apply to places like C. Falls much longer than downtown Cleveland, but it is old thinking. People won't cruise when they're paying for a driverless car they don't own. Destinations like pedestrian malls make sense in the 21st Century. My hometown just isn't there yet.

 

X is correct. These pedestrian malls have been removed across the US for the past 10 years because they mostly don't work. E 4th is not a correct comparison because it is surrounded by other activity. The Falls has no such activity.

 

It's been longer than that.  My comments are based on things my professor in grad school (for urban design/planning) said in the early 2000's.  They had already been removing pedestrian only zones from small town downtowns for a decade or so at that point.

 

I love that you're making those points AND you have an East 4th street image below your handle.

 

There are plenty of examples of streets adapted for pedestrians that work without drive by. I'm suggesting that traffic alone will not solve Front Street's issues and lack of successful tenants. Car centric thinking will apply to places like C. Falls much longer than downtown Cleveland, but it is old thinking. People won't cruise when they're paying for a driverless car they don't own. Destinations like pedestrian malls make sense in the 21st Century. My hometown just isn't there yet.

 

Of course, I was talking in the context of small town main streets.  Which East 4th St. isn't.  Sorry if that wasn't clear.  Your idea is about driverless cars is interesting but speculative, and only applies to the "cruising the scene" aspect of what I was talking about. It doesn't address the reduced visibility to through traffic or overall dead feeling of a place where the majority of cross traffic has been shunted away.

 

edit- it's also worth noting that neither my professors nor I are arguing for turning small town mainstreets into highway drags.  But rather that it is a better idea, in the American context, to build streets that are inclusive of different transportation types and that balance them towards specific objectives.  So in a small downtown or otherwise pedestrian oriented area, you may reopen the street to car traffic, but you would engage in traffic calming measures like narrower than normal traffic lames, curb bulbs, patterned pavement, or raised crosswalks.

I think to work it needs housing density near by. An example is the pedestrian mall in Boulder works pretty well. The problem to me is it is up against the river and the expressway.  In the past 30 years maybe 100-200 people have lived within a quarter mile of it as the library, churches, and government buildings surround it.  When one visits the mall outside of the events it feels desolate even on the weekends.

 

This.  Even during the Falls Better Block event, the pedestrian mall didn't really feel that full, and that was a widely popularized event that would be difficult to duplicate.  Cuyahoga Falls is not landlocked (or at least land-poor) in any meaningful sense, not with the annexation of Northampton.  Expecting another few hundred units of housing to get built in that area is wishful thinking.  The Testa mixed-use project along Front Street a little south of the pedestrianized area is illustrative both for how out of place it looks (sad to say, because it would look good in other contexts, it looks like a fine building), for how isolated it is, for the fact that it has not led to meaningful follow-on construction, and of course for the fact that they chose to build along an area that was *not* pedestrianized and in fact has quite a good number of on-street parking spaces.

 

To make the current Front Street pedestrian-only section viable, there would need to be dozens or even hundreds of apartments or condos opening into the pedestrianized area itself.  Nothing else would sustain the requisite level of foot traffic. There's nothing there to make the place a true destination draw on an ongoing basis that would constantly pull large amounts of pedestrians in from the surrounding areas.

^^How backwards?  You've been posting about this development for a year and a half and this is the first time you've made a negative comment about it. This is actually a very good plan and something that C Falls needs. Opening up that dead 70's pedestrian street to two way traffic is what is needed to activate that area because the pedestrian only road clearly didn't work. I've been there several times and it's dead outside of festivals.

 

 

It took about $40k and some volunteers to plan a weekend of pedestrian activity in the mall space.

This project will cost $10 million. I would think you could do a little more with that amount.

The backwards thinking is that in NE Ohio you have to be able to park your car outside of the place you want to go. It has been proven that planned density WITH activity is more successful for businesses. Meaning, if businesses fill the spaces, pedestrians will park and walk to where they need to go and this also will create activity, which is the key to successful public spaces.

 

 

I love that you're making those points AND you have an East 4th street image below your handle.

 

There are plenty of examples of streets adapted for pedestrians that work without drive by. I'm suggesting that traffic alone will not solve Front Street's issues and lack of successful tenants. Car centric thinking will apply to places like C. Falls much longer than downtown Cleveland, but it is old thinking. People won't cruise when they're paying for a driverless car they don't own. Destinations like pedestrian malls make sense in the 21st Century. My hometown just isn't there yet.

 

X is correct. These pedestrian malls have been removed across the US for the past 10 years because they mostly don't work. E 4th is not a correct comparison because it is surrounded by other activity. The Falls has no such activity.

 

It most definitely does, just across Broad Blvd. That area has been transformed AND designed for pedestrian activity. It's a real b* to find parking down there too. You know what happens? I've had to walk a couple blocks to get to the new brewery, gasp!

Cuyahoga Falls moves to preserve historic downtown architecture, offer tax credits, make over parking decks

By Paula Schleis

Published: February 7, 2017 - 01:54 PM | Updated: February 8, 2017 - 09:06 AM

 

In a related matter, council is expected to approve a $3.7 million makeover for the city’s three parking decks along Front Street.

 

City Engineer Tony Demasi said the decks — the oldest built in 1975 — need more than routine patching. The 600 parking spaces they provide will be needed more than ever in a downtown resurgence.

 

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/cuyahoga-falls-moves-to-preserve-historic-downtown-architecture-offer-tax-credits-make-over-parking-decks-1.745758

 

 

 

So, now we it's up to $13.7 mil. for the road takeover.

^Just because the newly built-up area is alive with activity doesn't mean the mall is. Notice that the area also has an active road through it. 

  I see no issue with updating old decks. I'm curious if left hand turns will be allowed at the portage trail and front street intersection. That would seem to create an unneeded mess on portage trail if they are, as there is no real space for turn lanes.

^Just because the newly built-up area is alive with activity doesn't mean the mall is. Notice that the area also has an active road through it. 

  I see no issue with updating old decks. I'm curious if left hand turns will be allowed at the portage trail and front street intersection. That would seem to create an unneeded mess on portage trail if they are, as there is no real space for turn lanes.

 

Yes, but they are spending $10 mil. and HOPING businesses will show up. The buildings are falling apart and the landlords are not fixing them up for the most part. They should have some type of low interest loan that will pay for building repair and support entrepreneurial startup costs.

People will find a way to get to places they want to be. This is why I'm frustrated. Planning dictates that people have to see the door from their parking space. This is not what makes successful spaces. If it was Wal-Mart and Target would be the coolest places to hangout.

They can park in the decks and walk down to the shop level.

The density has never been there. There is nothing for anyone near there to be able to walk past there to a destination. Many retail shops have come and gone. If there was a population north there could be people now walking to the happening section south. But there are mainly just car dealerships on that section of front st. It might work if there were some tall apartment buildings on the mall.  Supposedly a hotel will be built at the parking lot on the southeast corner of front and portage once this road opens.

  What kind of retail is there that can exist that has people willing to climb multiple sets of stairs to get back to their cars?  Pretty much boutique stores.

    It also isn't convenient to be on the one side of the mall vs the other side.  I suppose if portage trail had been raised up a bit it might be easier for the mall to succeed if the people would not have to cross traffic.

The density has never been there. There is nothing for anyone near there to be able to walk past there to a destination. Many retail shops have come and gone. If there was a population north there could be people now walking to the happening section south. But there are mainly just car dealerships on that section of front st. It might work if there were some tall apartment buildings on the mall.  Supposedly a hotel will be built at the parking lot on the southeast corner of front and portage once this road opens.

  What kind of retail is there that can exist that has people willing to climb multiple sets of stairs to get back to their cars?  Pretty much boutique stores.

    It also isn't convenient to be on the one side of the mall vs the other side.  I suppose if portage trail had been raised up a bit it might be easier for the mall to succeed if the people would not have to cross traffic.

 

There are plenty of examples across the country that counteract these points. I do agree, density of living is a key component, but there is no one silver bullet formula to make retail work. There is multi-level apartment housing that flanks both ends of the Front St. pedestrian corridor. There is dense single family housing to the West. I mean, look at this map. You are going to tell me there aren't enough people to support retail there? Mentality of convenience needs to be adjusted in NE Ohio in general and that starts with thoughtful, progressive design.

 

 

 

 

For those not familiar with the area, to the furthest right (East) is St. Rt. 8 (a man made barrier) and the Falls River Square / pedestrian corridor backs up to that.

I guess my point is that if one has to negotiate a lot of steps to go shopping in addition to the outdoor elements, it is not as convenient as you think.  Not everyone wants to be parking in a deck, even if it is free per safety concerns.  In the early 70s there was still a drug store of some sort by the theater with a big escalator to get into the store from 2nd street side.  I believe that closed soon after the mall was set up.

  Most of suburbia wants to visit a one stop shop like walmart, target, home depot, marcs, or for my family it was the acme-click.  There isn't any capacity for anything like that on front street. All the buildings are fairly small.

  Front street mall is a mix of businesses with probably half of it being offices. Hard to gain traction as a destination to wander through when there are maybe 3-4 restaurants and 5-6 shops that are open at any one time as all shops have their own unique hours, open some days and not others.

I'm not saying it couldn't do better but chapel hill mall essentially killed any chance for it to succeed. The strip malls along portage trail and state road make it further irrelevant.

 

 

 

I guess my point is that if one has to negotiate a lot of steps to go shopping in addition to the outdoor elements, it is not as convenient as you think.  Not everyone wants to be parking in a deck, even if it is free per safety concerns.  In the early 70s there was still a drug store of some sort by the theater with a big escalator to get into the store from 2nd street side.  I believe that closed soon after the mall was set up.

  Most of suburbia wants to visit a one stop shop like walmart, target, home depot, marcs, or for my family it was the acme-click.  There isn't any capacity for anything like that on front street. All the buildings are fairly small.

  Front street mall is a mix of businesses with probably half of it being offices. Hard to gain traction as a destination to wander through when there are maybe 3-4 restaurants and 5-6 shops that are open at any one time as all shops have their own unique hours, open some days and not others.

I'm not saying it couldn't do better but chapel hill mall essentially killed any chance for it to succeed. The strip malls along portage trail and state road make it further irrelevant.

 

I disagree. If money is spent on creating new, more and better retail and restaurants, people will come. I know the idea of E. 4th St. was brought up, and yes, many many differences, but that is a destination now not only for people that live in Greater Cleveland, but for people visiting from around the country. That was a dark alley at one point.

Cuyahoga Falls' Front Street Mall could open to vehicles in 9 months

By Jennifer Conn, Akron reporter, cleveland.com

on March 21, 2017 at 5:12 PM, updated March 21, 2017 at 5:13 PM

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - After 40 years as a pedestrian mall, Front Street could be open to vehicles by New Year's Day, months ahead of schedule.

 

Akron-based H.R. Gray has been selected to lead completion of the Downtown Transformation Design-Build Project, with Hammontree & Associates of North Canton managing project design, surveying and landscape architecture.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2017/03/front_street_in_cuyahoga_falls.html#incart_river_mobile_index

 

Cuyahoga Falls celebrates start of Front Street project with groundbreaking ceremony

By Paula Schleis

Published: April 24, 2017 - 09:41 PM

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS:

 

When Libert Bozzelli served on City Council in the 1970s, he warned city officials not to do it.

 

“I told the administration 39 years ago that you’re making one hell of a mistake,” Bozzelli said.

 

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/cuyahoga-falls-celebrates-start-of-front-street-project-with-groundbreaking-ceremony-1.762633#

Good work by Cuyahoga Falls. It will be great to see the street reopened and reactivated.

Good work by Cuyahoga Falls. It will be great to see the street reopened and reactivated.

 

Please elaborate....

Falls update: First Front Street block is torn up, second waiting for festivals to finish

By Paula Schleis

Published: June 18, 2017 - 07:44 PM

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS: He’s heard people say there’s no way the Front Street pedestrian mall would be wide enough for two-way traffic, on-street parking and aesthetic landscaping.

 

To which the city’s law director, Russ Balthis, would retort: “You do know that’s what was here before the pedestrian mall, don’t you?”

 

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/falls-update-first-front-street-block-is-torn-up-second-waiting-for-festivals-to-finish-1.775259#

Piada Italian Street Food to open Tuesday in Cuyahoga Falls

Posted on October 30, 2017 at 3:05 PM

By Megan Becka, special to cleveland.com

 

AKRON, Ohio - Piada Italian Street Food, which offers customizable, seasonal cuisine inspired by Italian street food, opens Tuesday in Cuyahoga Falls, according to the restaurant's Facebook page.

 

Piada's Cuyahoga Falls location is its seventh in Northeast Ohio.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2017/10/piada_italian_street_food_to_o.html#incart_river_index

Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls readies for grand opening as small businesses prepare shops

Updated Dec 14, 4:55 PM; Posted Dec 14, 4:57 PM

 

 

By Jennifer Conn, Akron reporter, cleveland.com

 

jconnCleveland[/member].com

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls is shaping up for its 2018 re-opening, while small business owners prepare their stores for a re-energized downtown.

 

The main street through the city's oldest business is opening to two-way traffic after 40 years as a pedestrian mall that never flourished, like many such malls across the U.S. Akron-based H.R. Gray has led the $10 million Downtown Transformation Project, with Hammontree & Associates of North Canton managing project design, surveying and landscape architecture.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2017/12/front_street_in_cuyahoga_falls_1.html#incart_river_index

 

 

Menards in Cuyahoga Falls slated to open next summer

Updated Dec 14, 1:49 PM; Posted Dec 14, 1:51 PM

 

 

By Megan Becka, special to cleveland.com

 

[email protected]

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - Menards, a chain of family-owned home-improvement stores with more than 300 locations, plans to open its Cuyahoga Falls store next summer, according to company spokesman Jeff Abbott.

 

Construction is ongoing for the store, which will be located on the site of the former Giant Eagle at 75 Graham Road.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2017/12/menards_in_cuyahoga_falls_slat.html#incart_river_index

Ohio to aid remaking of old buildings

December 19, 2017 11:38 am      Updated An hour ago

By STAN BULLARD       

 

Fox Buick Sales Building, 2250 Front St.,Cuyahoga Falls, Summit County

 

Total Project Cost: $1,771,300

 

Total Tax Credit: $249,000

 

The Fox Buick Sales Building is a two-story commercial building along Cuyahoga Falls' main commercial street with an auto showroom on the first floor and apartments on the second floor. The first-floor commercial space has been vacant and will be rehabilitated into the home of the Ohio Brewing Co. and the residences will be rehabilitated.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20171219/news/146256/ohio-aid-remaking-old-buildings

 

This is the building that Ohio Brewing is moving into.

 

I was in downtown Cuyahoga Falls yesterday and the Front Street conversion is looking really nice. It's going to give a nice shot in the arm to that area which is frankly pretty dead right now, but I'm sure it'll fill up pretty quickly once traffic is restored. Akron on the whole is looking pretty lively these days.

I was in downtown Cuyahoga Falls yesterday and the Front Street conversion is looking really nice. It's going to give a nice shot in the arm to that area which is frankly pretty dead right now, but I'm sure it'll fill up pretty quickly once traffic is restored. Akron on the whole is looking pretty lively these days.

 

It's definitely going to help in the short term. There have been a lot of businesses that are opening and interested in being their. I'm just concerned long term.

Cuyahoga Falls reopens Front Street to traffic

Published: February 3, 2018 - 6:00 PM | Updated: February 4, 2018 - 10:17 AM

By Amanda Garrett

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS: Diana Somers on Saturday ticked off some of the businesses she remembers that once lined a two-block section of Front Street:

 

An IGA grocery, bowling alley, bakery, pet store, movie theater and a two-story Woolworth with a lunch counter and escalator.

 

Front Street was once the hub of Cuyahoga Falls, where Somers and other residents went to buy nearly anything, including cars.

 

https://www.ohio.com/akron/news/local/front04

Update on plans to open new Menards and Meijer stores in northern Summit

Published: February 2, 2018 - 8:03 PM | Updated: February 2, 2018 - 11:06 PM

By Paula Schleis

Beacon Journal/Ohio.com

 

Northern Summit County residents have been waiting years for new Menards and Meijer stores to be built, but progress is apparent.

 

In Cuyahoga Falls, Menards broke ground off Graham Road last year and is well on its way to opening.

 

https://www.ohio.com/akron/news/local/update-on-plans-to-open-new-menards-and-meijer-stores-in-northern-summit

Akron Dish: New restaurant will replace The Office in Cuyahoga Falls; Raising Cane’s arrives in Jackson; St. Patrick’s events

Published: February 27, 2018 - 5:41 PM | Updated: February 27, 2018 - 6:17 PM

Developer Joel Testa is teaming up with Anthony Piscazzi, owner of Akron’s Merchant Tavern, and restaurateur Dave Sharp to take over the Cuyahoga Falls spot that housed The Office.

 

“We don’t quite know 100 percent what we’re doing” in terms of concept, Testa said, adding that “since the three of us are Italian” the new restaurant will undoubtably have “an Italian influence.”

 

https://www.ohio.com/akron/lifestyle/food/akron-dish/akron-dish-new-restaurant-will-replace-the-office-in-cuyahoga-falls-raising-canes-arrives-in-jackson-st-patricks-events

 

 

This is great news for the area. Unfortunately, I feel the layout of the space was never optimal for success.

Cuyahoga Falls homeowners fight developer’s plans for their “country lane”

Published: February 9, 2018 - 2:18 PM | Updated: February 10, 2018 - 8:11 AM

By Paula Schleis

Beacon Journal/Ohio.com

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS: Residents along Sourek Trail, a pastoral remnant of the old Northampton Township along the edge of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, are fighting a developer’s plans for a dense housing development that would quadruple the traffic on their narrow country lane.

 

Petros Development is proposing 88 quarter-acre lots on 65-acres that would stretch east to west, straddling the north-south section of Sourek Trail. The development ends in cul-de-sacs on both ends, so new homeowners would be required to use Sourek Trail to reach Smith Road or Sand Run Road for exiting the area.

 

https://www.ohio.com/akron/news/local/cuyahoga-falls-homeowners-fight-developers-plans-for-their-country-lane

I know this is not a flattering sentiment of me, but I find this to be one of those "I wish they could both lose" moments.  While I'm no great fan of endless concatenated cul-de-sacs, the ABJ is being charitable calling Sourek Trail a "pastoral remnant of the old Northampton Township."  These aren't people who have been living there on their farms for a generation.  Sourek Trail already has plenty of new-money, urban-flight sprawl.  It just isn't on cul-de-sacs branching off the road, it's on the road itself.

Land swap between Cuyahoga Falls schools, city proposed for fire station

By April Helms Reporter

Posted Apr 18, 2018 at 12:01 AM Updated Apr 18, 2018 at 10:16 AM

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS — The city is currently preparing to knock down and rebuild Fire Station 3, at 1601 Portage Trail. However, there is one issue the city has “to clean up legally,” according to Mayor Don Walters.

 

Walters and Fire Chief Paul Moledor gave a presentation on the proposed fire station during the Cuyahoga Falls City School Board’s April 4 meeting. The city is hoping to come to an agreement with the district to do a land swap so they have more room to build the new station.

 

http://www.mytownneo.com/news/20180418/land-swap-between-cuyahoga-falls-schools-city-proposed-for-fire-station

Cuyahoga Falls council approves first phase of Sourek Trail development

By PHIL KEREN / Reporter

Posted May 30, 2018 at 12:01 AM Updated May 30, 2018 at 2:48 PM

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS — Despite objections by a group of residents, city council on Tuesday night approved the first phase of a housing development in a rural area of the city near the national park.

 

Council voted 7-3 in favor of a 40.8-acre, 40-lot final subdivision plat on Sourek Trail between Smith and Sand Run roads in the former Northampton Township part of the city. Council members Russ Iona (R-8), Vic Pallotta (R-3) and Mary Ellen Pyke (R-2) voted against the plan. Councilman Jerry James (D-7) was not present.

 

http://www.mytownneo.com/news/20180530/cuyahoga-falls-council-approves-first-phase-of-sourek-trail-development

Reopened Front Street a boon to new and old Cuyahoga Falls businesses (photos)

Updated 6:49 AM; Posted Jun 3, 9:25 PM

By Jennifer Conn, Akron reporter, cleveland.com

 

jconnCleveland[/member].com

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - On Saturday, Cuyahoga Falls officially kicked off the opening of Front Street to vehicular traffic, after 40 years as a pedestrian mall.

 

The roughly $10 million Downtown Transformation Project brought improvements to the city's oldest business section, which steadily declined after its closing.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2018/06/reopened_front_street_a_boon_t.html

This is not a commentary on the merits of the project whatsoever, merely an observation.  I thought it odd (maybe even ironic) that in those pictures ^ the street is filled with pedestrians and not cars. Of course, it was an event, still just strange to see a pedestrian mall reopened to traffic, but all the pics are of pedestrians walking down the now open to traffic street.

Yes, the street closed for ceremonies or significant festivals like the upcoming Irishfest this coming weekend was not the issue. Front street dies when closed the other 5 days of the week since there is not much of a population base that is walkable to the mall. I would hazard a guess of maybe 800-1000 people live within a 10 minute walk. The portage trail bridge is fairly foreboding to walk on i imagine since it climbs up 75 or so feet over the Cuyahoga, RR tracks, and Rt8.  Add some rain, snow, or just cold winds and not many people want to make that walk.

  Front street had some old school stores that had been there for decades and the city felt that the hot new trend was pedestrian malls and that may bring people back from the shiny new malls that were popping up.  The problem was the stores on front street didn’t really have that interesting of products and that the stores were not kept up to date at all.  Once the street closed, the business really dropped especially in winter months as it became a cold place to get around in with all the concrete. Pretty much all retail businesses closed. Only place that i can think that survived until 2015 was the whistle stop hobby store and only because it was possible to enter from the street behind next to a parking deck.

  It is still a very pedestrian-friendly dare i say mall. It is much more walkable since it was tricky sometimes negotiating the uneven bricks and there were silly landscaped pits with tables and benches to constantly walk around. It definitely is on the upswing since its been announced that opening in the next few months is a Rose Italian diner an offshoot of burntwood tavernes, Ohio Brewing, and Pavs creamery.  Crave Cantina opened a year ago and seems to be doing smashing business now that the street is opened. 

This is not a commentary on the merits of the project whatsoever, merely an observation.  I thought it odd (maybe even ironic) that in those pictures ^ the street is filled with pedestrians and not cars. Of course, it was an event, still just strange to see a pedestrian mall reopened to traffic, but all the pics are of pedestrians walking down the now open to traffic street.

 

Ha, exactly.

 

Yes, the street closed for ceremonies or significant festivals like the upcoming Irishfest this coming weekend was not the issue. Front street dies when closed the other 5 days of the week since there is not much of a population base that is walkable to the mall. I would hazard a guess of maybe 800-1000 people live within a 10 minute walk. The portage trail bridge is fairly foreboding to walk on i imagine since it climbs up 75 or so feet over the Cuyahoga, RR tracks, and Rt8.  Add some rain, snow, or just cold winds and not many people want to make that walk.

  Front street had some old school stores that had been there for decades and the city felt that the hot new trend was pedestrian malls and that may bring people back from the shiny new malls that were popping up.  The problem was the stores on front street didn’t really have that interesting of products and that the stores were not kept up to date at all.  Once the street closed, the business really dropped especially in winter months as it became a cold place to get around in with all the concrete. Pretty much all retail businesses closed. Only place that i can think that survived until 2015 was the whistle stop hobby store and only because it was possible to enter from the street behind next to a parking deck.

  It is still a very pedestrian-friendly dare i say mall. It is much more walkable since it was tricky sometimes negotiating the uneven bricks and there were silly landscaped pits with tables and benches to constantly walk around. It definitely is on the upswing since its been announced that opening in the next few months is a Rose Italian diner an offshoot of burntwood tavernes, Ohio Brewing, and Pavs creamery.  Crave Cantina opened a year ago and seems to be doing smashing business now that the street is opened. 

In time we will see. Imagine if they would have invested $11 million in local business and facade grants instead of a road.

There is new LED lighting, parking meters in the bumpouts and angled spaces, lit up fountain with drinking fountains and bottle filler, parking garages have a running total of how many spaces are available at their entrance plus having updated LED lights, new sidewalks and benches all over, and finally the spiffy new elevator.  I think that is a lot for $10-11 million plus the road and clearing out what was there before and updating infrastructure underneath.

There is new LED lighting, parking meters in the bumpouts and angled spaces, lit up fountain with drinking fountains and bottle filler, parking garages have a running total of how many spaces are available at their entrance plus having updated LED lights, new sidewalks and benches all over, and finally the spiffy new elevator.  I think that is a lot for $10-11 million plus the road and clearing out what was there before and updating infrastructure underneath.

 

Ha, so the contractors just wanted to do it out of the goodness of their heart? Not sure what you're saying here. They got what they paid for.

Missing Mountain Brewing Co. ready for grand opening in Cuyahoga Falls

Updated Jun 6, 8:45 AM; Posted Jun 6, 7:04 AM

By Marc Bona, cleveland.com

mbonaCleveland[/member].com

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - When the owners of Missing Mountain Brewing Co. looked around for a site, it wasn't the main drag of Front Street or their dreams of envisioning people sipping good beer that convinced them they had the right space.

 

While those things mattered, it actually was the back yard that sold them.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2018/06/missing_mountain_brewing_co_re.html

Cross posted article:

 

Apartments with a downtown Akron view awarded $2 million in tax credits

Among the buildings were three in Cuyahoga Falls: Alhambra at 2101 Front St., Snook at 127 Portage Trail and Porter at 127 Portage Trail.

 

The state awarded $202,000 in credits for a $1.8 million project that would renovate these three buildings. The Alhambra, which now houses office space, was built in 1904 as a theater. It is to be rehabilitated for office use. The Snook and Porter buildings are in a block built in 1919. The project would update the vacant upper-floor apartments and add new stairs.

 

https://www.ohio.com/akron/news/local/more-than-2-million-in-tax-credits-awarded-for-downtown-akron-apartments

 

*It's actually 129 and 127 Portage Trail. Does anyone check these articles before they are published?

Things like this are what has impact and promotes vibrancy and attraction.

 

Ohio recommends Cuyahoga Falls downtown, Canton house for National Register of Historic Places

Published: June 26, 2018 - 10:38 AM

 

COLUMBUS: The Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board has recommended that nine locations throughout the state, including ones in Cuyahoga Falls and Canton, be named to the National Register of Historic Places.

 

The Cuyahoga Falls site covers 48 buildings in the downtown district, with properties on Front Street, Portage Trail and Stow Road.

 

https://www.ohio.com/akron/news/local/ohio-recommends-cuyahoga-falls-downtown-canton-house-for-national-register-of-historic-places

Cuyahoga Falls Menards to open July 24

Updated Jul 19, 2:13 PM; Posted Jul 19, 2:14 PM

By Megan Becka, special to cleveland.com

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - A new Menards Mega Store is scheduled to open Tuesday, July 24 at 125 Graham Road.

 

The store will offer name-brand merchandise, tools, and computers to help customers design home-improvement projects. Additional offerings will include materials and supplies for home improvement projects, appliances, pet and wildlife products, lawn and garden supplies and a line of convenience groceries.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2018/07/cuyahoga_falls_menards_to_open.html

Lots happening on Front St.

 

Falls council approves Portage Community Bank tax abatement, hears downtown update

By EMILY MILLS / Akron Beacon Journal / GateHouse Media Ohio

Posted Jan 16, 2019 at 12:01 AM

CUYAHOGA FALLS — City Council on Monday unanimously approved a 10-year, 50-percent tax abatement for Portage Community Bank, which is constructing its first Summit County location in the Falls.

Final building inspections for Pav’s Creamery are scheduled for this week. Leedham said fire and health department inspections are still needed, but Pav’s tentatively plans to start making ice cream this week.

Construction continues at Akron Coffee Roasters, Ohio Brewing Company and Rose Italian Kitchen; all three have tentative spring opening dates. Construction on the expansion at Darby’s brewpub is expected to start in late spring or early summer.

HiHO Brewing Company is closed through Thursday for the installation of a brick pizza oven, while Studio 2091 closed permanently over the weekend. Leedham said the studio showcased the work of more than 1,000 artists since it opened in 2010. She said the property will be going up for sale.

 

http://www.mytownneo.com/news/20190116/falls-council-approves-portage-community-bank-tax-abatement-hears-downtown-update

Well it is starting to happen in the Falls.  I think this is a Starks project since he was really wanting to do something downtown on Front street.  Since he now has experience with building over a parking deck I’m pretty sure this is his baby.  

https://www.ohio.com/news/20190402/developer-wants-to-build-apartments-on-parking-decks-in-cuyahoga-falls

 

CUYAHOGA FALLS — A development firm is hoping to convince officials to let it build two apartment buildings totaling about 370 units on two parking decks between Front and Second streets downtown.

Both the city and the city school district would have to support the $45 million plan for construction to proceed.

 

There's also this:

 

Cuyahoga Falls City Council to Consider Controversial Zoning Change

 

On Monday, Cuyahoga Falls City Council will consider a zoning change that could open the door for residential redevelopment of the former Sycamore Valley Golf Course on Akron-Peninsula Road.

 

The city’s Planning and Zoning Committee moved the rezoning proposal forward for city council to consider after weeks of public hearings during which concerned residents spoke against the project.  

 

https://www.ideastream.org/news/cuyahoga-falls-city-council-to-consider-controversial-zoning-change

^Well that’s kind of a bummer. That is a great compact par 3 course. Surprising how many courses are going away in the area. There won’t be many left in the valley if this and Brandywine which might get taken over by CVNP are taken out. Valley View was taken over by Summit metroparks which i was ok with. Boston Hills CC is now a Costco. Astorhurst is now owned by Cleveland Metroparks and i think no longer a course. 

I'm not a golfer so I don't mind seeing them turned over to greenspace when they are somewhere like the Cuyahoga Valley- but not happy to see that turned to townhouses.  Is Valley View going to stay a public course, like Big Met, or is it going to be taken out?  That's a pretty key spot in the heart of Summit Metroparks that it occupies.

18 hours ago, audidave said:

^Well that’s kind of a bummer. That is a great compact par 3 course. Surprising how many courses are going away in the area. There won’t be many left in the valley if this and Brandywine which might get taken over by CVNP are taken out. Valley View was taken over by Summit metroparks which i was ok with. Boston Hills CC is now a Costco. Astorhurst is now owned by Cleveland Metroparks and i think no longer a course. 

It's been closed for about two years. Plenty of time for someone to buy it if it was a profitable business. Losing Brandywine this year is really going to hurt us high handicap golfers.

 

17 hours ago, X said:

I'm not a golfer so I don't mind seeing them turned over to greenspace when they are somewhere like the Cuyahoga Valley- but not happy to see that turned to townhouses.  Is Valley View going to stay a public course, like Big Met, or is it going to be taken out?  That's a pretty key spot in the heart of Summit Metroparks that it occupies.

MetroParks has owned it for a couple of years. They are not going to operate it as a golf course. They are going to return it to a more natural state, which is already happening.
Why are you against housing? CVNP has 33,000 acres and SMP has 14,100. There are apartments right across the street from this land and the road is pretty much all light industrial use. The course is landlocked by light industrial in the front, the Cuyahoga Valley River in the rear, apartments on one side and a tennis center on the other. Doesn't seem like public park space to me. Does it you?