Hotel Bruce

Welcome to the Bruce blog—a weekly update on news, events and issues affecting life in Cleveland. Reporting as it happens on transit, development, planning, environment and arts & culture.

Basically, we write about creative ideas forming, talk to the people who have an inside track on the issues, and sometimes offer a commentary of our own. (For disclosure purposes, Bruce blog is a local, independent writer who also works part-time with nonprofit organization EcoCity Cleveland. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of EcoCity or any other organization).

The Great Lakes Balanced Growth Initiative could have one of the most challenging tasks for a state agency—developing land use policy in the State of Ohio. The initiative consists of heads of six state agencies including the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Ohio Department of Transportation, as well as representatives outside of government. With the challenge of not tapping into the state budget or interfering with local land-use controls, the group has focused on creating a land-use policy around watersheds.

With two months to go before making a formal recommendation to the state, it looks as though the initiative will recommend designating both growth areas and conservation areas throughout a watershed, crossing municipal borders in an effort to maximize development dollars where infrastructure exists. It will most likely also recommend that the state put out a request that local municipal and township governments incorporate the designated growth and conservation areas in their master plans. The state might provide a number of incentives for doing so, including awarding more points to these ‘smart growth’ municipalities and townships when the Department of Development prepares its recommendations.

Advocates think the key to smart growth will be creating a system of revenue sharing, for example, when asking rural townships to conserve land while directing development to urban municipalities. They say the logical step would be to create a transfer of development rights program, or perhaps, a regional tax base that can be shared.

What to watch is the Ohio Assembly response once the recommendations are in. Advocates of the Balanced Growth Initiative are hoping that moderate Republican Larry Wolpert of Hilliard—who chairs the Subcommittee on Growth and Development, the County and Township Government committee and sits on the Municipal Government and Urban Revitalization committee and has spoken about the need for smart growth— will shepherd the initiative through the House. Wolpert will be in Cleveland at CSU’s Levin College on September 25 to discuss the work of the subcommittee.

RTA is being nudged by its Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) to develop guidelines for improving the 'transit waiting environments' at the more than 8,500 bus and rail stops throughout the Cleveland metro area. The group already mapped out every stop in the system and prioritized them for amenities to be added. It prioritized them by identifying five different levels of transit stop, with amenities multiplying based on quantities of nearby housing, jobs, and retail square footage within a 1/4 mile walk of the stop. The goal is to improve the odds that people will actually want to use public transit, and to remove the barriers to doing so. The next step is a survey which will be available online at the Urban Design Center and at EcoCity Cleveland, the project’s co-sponsors, to judge what people like or don’t about using RTA.

The citizen’s group already has some pretty good ideas, though, what prevents people from using transit. It’s pushing hard for basic service information such as route maps and schedules at stops, but also trash cans, better lighting and, benches, real-time vehicle arrival displays (like they have in Portland, OR), and maybe even push-button heating at higher frequency stops.

Because of the CAB’s efforts, RTA has committed $500,000 for demonstration projects—model stops of each of the five levels of service with their amenities to be built next year. In the long run, though, RTA has said it will not roll out full improvements of its transit stops without securing partnerships with municipalities, business districts or, perhaps, citizen groups to maintain the shelters.

Maintenance of transit waiting areas has been "a real hot potato," according to a member of the CAB. "The cost to build is miniscule compared to the ongoing maintenance cost of emptying the trash, changing light bulbs, and updating schedules. That’s not in anyone’s job description, and RTA doesn’t have the resources to do it."

The citizen’s group sees the guidelines as the first step to initiating these partnerships, something RTA has never sought before.

What does Cleveland lack that its big city rivals all have? You guessed it, an international youth hostel. What could be better for bringing globe trekkers to our shores and boosting the tourist economy? Currently, the area’s only hostel is the peaceful, but remote Stanford House in the Cuyahoga Valley. A group of locals working to bring International Youth Hostels to Cleveland received some good news this week—Downtown Cleveland Partnership, the development corporation for our downtown area, received funding to study potential sites for a city-based hostel. The group has already put together its wish list, which includes converting The William G. Mather steamship or the B&O Railroad Terminal (the yellow brick building on Canal Road near the Carter Road lift bridge owned by Sherwin Williams). Other wishful thinking possibilities have been the Jay Hotel or a vacant building on the site of Trinity Cathedral. The search can now begin in earnest, with the winner most likely the one that best addresses ease of access, spin off to commercial demand in the area, and cost of conversion.

Last week, Bruce blog wrote that the city of Cleveland is sending out an RFP (request for proposal) to housing developers for the new $50 million Core City Fund, a federal pot of money providing gap financing for rental or for sale projects. The fund offers $300,000 to $2.5 million for acquisition, construction or rehabilitation costs to projects that would not happen 'but for' that loan. Bruce blog examined the RFP for evidence that the fund may offer more "sustainable" or transit-oriented features. Eligible projects may bolster the former, but not necessarily the latter. Adaptive reuse and substantial rehabs are included, as are a minimum of 15 units, with a preference given to projects of 50 or more. In addition, eligible uses include measures to increase efficient use of energy. But density requirements and consideration of land-use or transportation planning are not spelled out. Although, the project's relationship to a neighborhood revitalization strategy does receive consideration.

Matthew Harris, a cook at Tommy’s Restaurant and longtime environmentalist, is tricking out an old ambulance as a renewables educational vehicle. The REV (our term) runs on biodiesel—a renewable energy which Harris makes from the fryer grease from Tommy’s French fry vats. And, Harris wants to outfit it with a 100-watt solar panel array and inverter (the piece that converts solar power into usable juice). Harris, who has worked with Solar International and teaches workshops on how to make Biodiesel, is based in Solon. He’s looking for a place to fix up his bio-ambulance so that he can take his show on the road to suburbanites and city folk alike. If you know of a space for Harris to work on the conversion, send him an email.

Bruce blog thinks someone at RTA was listening when, in Bruce blog 8-24, we observed that the new University Circle/Heights community circulator bus could use some promotion. So, here you go: For the entire week of September 14, RTA is offering free rides on the circulator. Go to RTA's Web site for details, schedules and route (#821). Of course, now that Case is back and the students are enjoying their U pass (they ride unlimited and it costs around $20 a semester) there's no shortage of riders. Which has made it more challenging for commuters to make their connection to the Red Line Rapid. When it rains...

Last week: U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook was misidentified. Funds for urban parks, biking and walking are federal Transportation Enhancement funds. And Diane Lees at HubBub does not have a controlling interest in the $10,000 WMJI bike fund.