| Vol. 1, Issue 4 | 
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| Bruce blog 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). February 22-28 , 2004 Bold plan to boost downtown living centers on Warehouse District City of Cleveland officials went into full press last week in an effort to convince the public that they have a plan for our future. Both Mayor Campbell at her State of The City address and area developers, city planners and architects at the Lakefront Plan meeting called for increasing the number of people living downtown. At the latter, Ari Marone of MRN Partners (developers of E. 4th St. and House of Blues) called for no small plans, insisting that Cleveland needs at least 20,000 residents living downtown to make it viable. The developers explained that regions should have at least 2 to 3 percent of its population living in the city. One proposal that seemed to generate excitement was a plan to level out the West Shoreway at W. 6th Street in downtown. Tom Yablonski of the Warehouse District seemed overjoyed at the prospect of bringing a “boulevarded” West Shoreway into downtown rather than above and around it on the Main Avenue Bridge. Yablonski and others added a piece to the plan—calling for an extension of W. 6th Street to the north, over the bluffs and down to the lakefront. The extended W. 6th St. would open up new development opportunities in the hot housing market of the Warehouse District, Yablonski said. Sources say that city officials approve of the plan, but add that they have their work cut out pursuading ODOT to level the bridge through downtown. The project might hinge on whether the city can convince ODOT to include it as part of the West Shoreway plan, to which the state recently awarded $50 million.
Bruce blog editorial: Midtown can be funkier than promised Mayor Campbell’s State of the City also addressed the vision for redeveloping Midtown and the Euclid Corridor. Not much has been made of this stretch of Euclid largely because it’s been held in the exclusive domain of business interests. Bruce blog wonders if there’s an opportunity to enhance the plan, which currently centers around the Midtown Technology Center. The biotech R&D facility proposed for E. 65th St. between Euclid and Chester took a step closer to reality in 2003 when the state designated $21 million from Issue II or the Clean Ohio Fund for acquisition, environmental and, presumably, construction. Signs advertising the future center (up at the site) include artist renderings highlighting a four story, glass and steel fortress. One is tempted to ask whether this is indicative of a larger design for Midtown? The Cleveland Clinic has mastered the art of dictating the built form on Euclid Avenue, arguing that biomed R&D has higher security concerns that are at odds with a human-scale pedestrian friendly mixed-use districts. But, should we all fold up our chairs and go home, or should Midtown Cleveland do a better job at sharing and gathering input for its plans? We can start by asking the city and RTA, who are pouring $220 million into the Euclid Corridor, to do something more than make an inoffensive, but uninviting street wall in Midtown? Consider the context of Midtown. In the early 20th century, it was packed with houses, people walking to work in the mills, and storefronts that served the neighborhood. Today, with Gust Gallucci’s Italian market, Dubick’s restaurant supply and Pierre’s Ice Cream, the area has potential to become a cluster for gourmet food and related business. Consider efforts that are underway to revise the Cleveland
zoning code to consider ‘form based’ codes. Similar
in some ways to the much ballyhooed live/work zoning overlay, form
based zoning would offer developers a guideline on redeveloping
districts like Midtown within an historical and transit-oriented
context. Then, housing above in-fill storefronts or enterprising
developers taking on the tough job of adaptively reusing the remaining
storefronts and pre-war walkups on Euclid near E. 55th St. won’t
seem as far fetched. RTA—putting money where your mouth is Critics like to knock RTA as unresponsive, but the transit agency recently showed that it could act on public concern. Last week, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority budgeted $1.9 million over five years to implement the ideas that received high marks in a recently completed rider survey. When asked to identify ways RTA could improve the wait for the bus/train, participants in the Transit Waiting Environment Survey called for better information, among other, more pricey items like bus arrival times flashed on TV screens. While an implementation plan has yet to be determined, a source shared wirh Bruce blog that RTA management was impressed enough by the survey to allocate the funds. Specifically, the funds will be used for signage about frequency of service (how many minutes between each bus/train) and identifying first and last bus/trains of the day. While the budget item is a step in the right direction, questions remain. Such as, will the $300,000 in year one that RTA puts into the project pay for this signage throughout the entire system? Stay tuned…
Calendar events February 23 February 25 February 29 Activist alerts Share your opinion of bike
lanes in Euclid Corridor with ODOT Cycling advocates responded by pointing to an option in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials guide which was absent from ODOT's manual. The advocates’ move was seen as instrumental in getting ODOT to retreat from its position, even though the lanes are not yet back in the design. If you want to see bike lanes included in the Euclid Corridor project, the set of upcoming public meetings are an excellent place for you to get on the record and strengthen the City's resolve. Your participation will make a difference. If you cannot attend a meeting but want to take action, consider writing a letter to the director of ODOT District 12 and copying Mayor Campbell (addresses below). Cycling advocates note that the City of Cleveland is actively defending the bike lanes, and that RTA is at least neutral (simply want to keep the project moving forward). ODOT officials are the only ones who have advocated the removal of bike lanes from the Euclid Corridor. Send letters to: copy to: To email a comment or a tip to Bruce blog Receive email updates of the Bruce blog |
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