Bellevue is almost completely intact and packed with ornate structures, but main street is wide and the traffic is extremely heavy and noisy. When cd-cleveland called my cell, I couldn't hear it ring in my pocket; it is just inhumane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bellevue has a Carnegie too (but I'm sure you can't concentrate inside with all the traffic noise)!

 

 

 

 

McLain's in the last picture bills itself as the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Ohio, if I recall from my visit there in 2002.

Mclain's has pretty nice food as well.

 

Bellevue has always seemed a little weird to me, has an oddly large downtown for a city its size but, if you're on the main road, there's not much after you get out of it. I think this town is also some huge train hub.

Yeah, it seems the street is a bit too wide.  Otherwise, not a bad town.

Great set, ink.  Other than the width of the street, looks like a cool little downtown.

Nice photos Ink! Bellevue is architecturally grounded in the 19th century yet there doesn't seem to be much of a conscious effort to play up it's historical assets. Were there no historic homes in town worthy of photographing? When I visit smaller towns, I first photograph interesting buildings in the downtown area then start moving outward a street or two at a time until I find the beginning of the residential area. It is often there that one often finds the oldest and most interesting historical houses. Although traffic may have been heavy in Bellevue, from a survival of downtown standpoint, lots of traffic usually equates enough people stopping by for local businesses to keep their doors open. Far too many smaller town businesses have suffered greatly when a new local highway by-passes the downtown area. Not to mention certain big-box discount retailers which often set up operations on the edges of town and then proceed to suck the economic life-blood out of downtown Mom and Pop businesses. Within a few years, downtown is mostly boarded up and vacant. Traffic is GOOD for business!

 

John S.

^Bellevue had a decent collection of historic homes, but I didn't explore too much. I agree that traffic is necessary for business, but in Bellevues case, some streetscaping and traffic calming measures are needed to tame the noise and psychological barrier that the amount of traffic produces.

Mclain's has pretty nice food as well.

 

Bellevue has always seemed a little weird to me, has an oddly large downtown for a city its size but, if you're on the main road, there's not much after you get out of it. I think this town is also some huge train hub.

 

Norfolk Southern has a major yard at Bellevue. Upon completion (1967) it covered 450 acres, was six miles long, and incorporated 81 miles of track. Since then it may have grown.

 

There's also a museum at Bellevue (not affiliated with Norfolk Southern) with a collection of historic rolling stock, but its hours of operation are limited. I haven't been there in quite a while.

^Yep!  The Mad River & Nickel Plate Railroad Museum is located just south of downtown.  Also, I think Bellevue holds the distinction of being the only (or one of only a few) cities in the state that is situated in 4 counties (Erie, Huron, Sandusky, Seneca).

 

Back when gas was under $1.75/gal I drove through Bellevue almost everyday to get to my community college in Fremont.  Downtown/Uptown Bellevue would be a heck of a lot nicer if the US-20 truck traffic was greatly reduced (there have been plans for a bypass since the 1960's I believe).  Residents interviewed for numerous stories in the local newspapers have all usually agreed that the truck traffic kills peoples' desires to frequent Main Street..........in this case, the through traffic seems to hinder business.  The one thing I hated was driving through there all jammed up next to dozens of trucks and worrying about back-ups (not something you would expect from a city of 8000).

 

If US-20 truck traffic were to ever be rerouted, some major streetscaping (currently, downtown is treeless) done, and more businesses willing to open up shop......Bellevue would be in better shape!

Bellevue is a good candidate for a US 20 bypass. The road receives a considerable amount of truck traffic due to the presence of tolls on the nearby Ohio Turnpike.

Bellevue is a good candidate for a US 20 bypass. The road receives a considerable amount of truck traffic due to the presence of tolls on the nearby Ohio Turnpike.

 

The same situation exists in numerous towns in Northern Indiana; truckers take US 20 to avoid the tolls, inflicting awful wear-and-tear on small-town downtowns. The town councils and officials complain endlessly because of it, but they get no support from INDOT for measures that would calm traffic and make the route unattractive to trucks. I'm thinking add a couple of traffic signals, and maybe a two-block jog that would require them to make four sharp turns.

 

Another tactic might be to have the state police bring their portable weigh-scales to town every now and then; the whole outfit is modular and can be carried in a van, and it would be a plague upon the truckers who take US 20 to avoid weigh stations.