This is not a wish....

Wouldn't it be really cool if there was a press release stating that a certain local businessman and philanthropist and overall rich (and possibly too libertarian) gave CSU money?

Wouldn't it be really cool if that money was somewhere in the amount of $25,000?

You know what would be reeeaaallly cool? What if that money was to be used for a planning study for a performing/fine arts center - maybe on the land immediately south of the Communications College?

Wait, it would be really super-duper cool if the firm doing the planning study was an internationally recognized, award winning local architectural firm who has already done work at CSU.

Hmmmmm, that would be great news.

The True Cost of Driving

Found this on the Community Sollutions web site.
Enter in the appropriate amounts and find out what the true cost is of driving.
From their website:

Most people immediately think of the direct costs of driving: purchasing and maintaining a car, paying for gas and oil, insurance, Most people immediately think of the direct costs of driving: purchasing and maintaining a car, paying for gas and oil, insurance, registration and parking. Further from the mind are other costs associated with automobiles such as road construction and maintenance that are paid for less directly, via taxes and fees. Since those costs aren't paid for directly by car owners, they usually aren't calculated as costs of driving. In addition, there are the other hidden environmental and social costs that drivers and non-drivers alike pay to support our primary mode of transportation - the automobile.

Through this short calculation sheet you can calculate your costs based on your specific vehicle miles traveled in order to identify what you really pay to drive each year. Once all costs are considered, it quickly becomes clear that it might be cheaper to consider transportation alternatives such as riding a bike, using the bus, vanpooling, carpooling, walking or telecommuting. Call 831/429-POOL for more information or assistance.

Go try it out.

Cleveland Maintains 1st Place Ranking in New Housing Construction

Press release from the Cleveland City Hall:

	From: Community Development
	Joseph Skrabec, Community Development (216) 664-4597 jskrabec@city.cleveland.oh.us Trista McClelland, CRM Development Research (216) 696-5442 ext. 403 tristaCRM@aol.com
News Advisory Cleveland maintains 1st place ranking in new housing construction June 28, 2006 – City of Cleveland officials working with Calabrese, Racek, and Markos, Inc. (CRM) Development Research today announced that Cleveland issued a total of 50 new for-sale residential permits during the first quarter of 2006, the most in Cuyahoga County and the eight-county region. The second and third cities in Cuyahoga County were Westlake with 27 permits and Oakwood with 19. "This is further evidence that, together, we can create neighborhoods of choice in the City of Cleveland," says Mayor Jackson. "Cleveland has a lot to offer. We want to make sure developers, potential homebuyers, and everyone in Cleveland knows that we are a great City with quality affordable and market-rate housing in our neighborhoods." CRM Development Research is a subsidiary of Calabrese, Racek, and Markos, Inc., a full service appraisal firm. This division monitors market activity for new residential development throughout the Northeast Ohio region. For more information on the City of Cleveland's new home construction, please visit www.city.cleveland.oh.us or call 216-664-2869.

Cleveland State University Update - Board of Trustee's Action

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS
June 23, 2006

Major Actions Taken on Behalf of the Board of Trustees:

1. Approved minutes of the May 19, 2006 Special Meeting of the Board
2. Passed a resolution rescinding the two-year term limitation for service as Chairman of the Board of Trustees
3. Granted the award of tenure at the rank of Professor to Dr. Jeffrey L. Brudney in the Department of Urban Studies
4. Approved the merger of the Department of Speech and Hearing with the Department of Health Sciences to be known as the Department of Health Sciences effective July 1, 2006
5. Passed a resolution delegating authority to the Board Officers to negotiate a final agreement for electrical services, and requiring a report of the Officers’ actions back to the full Board
6. Approved the total University Budget for FY 2007 in the amount of two hundred eleven million six hundred sixty-nine five hundred and 00/100 ($211,669,513)
7. Authorized the University to participate in the Ohio Department of Administrative Services’ Local Administration Competency Certification Program and directed University officials to take all necessary steps to accomplish that purpose
8. Approved an increase in the maximum project amount funded by University bonds on the Student Center Phases I & II from $45,000,000 to $80,000,000, and requiring the University administration to bring to the full Board for approval the plan to finance the additional costs associated with the Student Center Phases I and II
9. Authorized University officials to execute the Permanent Right of Way and Use Easement with the City of Cleveland in relation to the Euclid Corridor Project
10. Approved the Third Amendment to the Keith Building lease, extending the lease of the 11th, 13th and 14th floors of the Keith Building to July 1, 2010, granting the University the right to lease an additional 3, 344 square feet of space through January 31, 2007, and providing for the abatement of a portion of monthly rent
11. Passed a resolution delegating authority to the Board Officers to negotiate and approve the final employment contract with head basketball coach Gary Waters
12. Elected the following to serve for the ’06-’07 Board year: Tim Cosgrove to serve as Board Chairman, Ron Weinberg as Vice Chairman, Ernest Wilkerson as Board Treasurer and Sonali Wilson as Board Secretary

Spiderman 3 Trailer up at Apple Trailers on 27th June 2006

In a few hours we will perhaps start seeing some images of Cleveland in the next Spiderman release.
From Dark Horizons:

Spider-Man 3" Trailer Debut Time Posted: Tuesday June 27th 2006 12:18am Source: Dark Horizons Author: Garth Franklin No need to worry about waiting in long lines at the cinema to catch the "Spider-Man 3" teaser as this baby is going to make its debut in glorious high quality Quicktime in just a few hours.

According to a press release issued by Sony's Australian division, the teaser trailer will make its debut at Apple Trailers at the following times today:

US East Coast - 2:30pm
US West Coast - 11:30am

UK - 7:30pm

Australian East Coast - Wednesday, 4:30am

No word yet if there will be high-definiton versions available but as its Apple.com, there's a very good chance.



***************************

UPDATE

The trailer is up and there are indeed images from Euclid Avenue in the clip

Cleveland Planning Commission Report - Friday, June 2, 2006

Cleveland Planning Commission Report, June 2, 2006

Call to order – 9:12 AM

Roll Call –

Present:
Tony Coyne
Bob Brown
Larry Lumpkin
Gloria Jean Pinkney
David Bowen

Absent:
Joe Cimperman
Lillian Kuri
Rev. S. Small

Mandatory Referral, Summary Calendar & Administrative Approval
(all approved)

With exception of the first item, I am only giving a brief description of each item in this combined section since there were 41 separate ordinances that needed action taken. (This is mostly the reason for the lateness in this report – that and I just wanted to take a break.)

1. Ordinance No. 616-06
Authorizes the sale of property on Clover Avenue to JDA Development LLC.
This property will make be used to build 5 townhomes (Clover Court Townhomes) off of West 21st Place, near the Fentrell Lofts on Scranton Road.

Property Sales
9324 Reno Avenue, S.E. to Benton Robinson and Willie Price
805, 807, 811-15 East 115th Street to Strowder’s Funeral Chapel
Parcel on Superior Avenue to Northeastern Neighborhood Development Corporation
Parcel on East 66th Street to Church of God Militant Pillar and Ground of Truth
Parcel on Matilda Avenue to Consuala M. Haynes
Parcel on West 25th Street to Minh-T-Vang
Parcel on Churchill Avenue to FEDCO, LLC
Parcel on East 93rd Street to the Light of Liberty Church
Parcel on East 83rd Street to Patricia Holt and Gladys Lawrence
Parcel on Kinsman Road and East 90th Street to Burton, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. (This is to redevelop a shopping center that has fallen in disrepair.)
Parcel on St. Clair Avenue to Dawud Ali
Parcel on East 65th Street to Tyrone McCoy
Parcel on (?) 86th Street to Glenville R. Manning
Parcel on Broadway Avenue to Slavic Village Development Corporation
Parcel on East 160th Street to L. Square Development, LLC
1198 East 84th Street to Robert L. McDuffie II
Parcel on Linwood Avenue to Artist Duncan and Phyllis Duncan

Vacate
Portion of Richmond Avenue
Portion of Sorg Court N.E.
Portion of Fidelity Avenue S.W.
Portions of Payne Court, N.E., East 25th Place and East 23rd Place
Portion of Webster Court N.E.
Portion of East 72nd Place
Portion of Stimpson Court S.W.
Portion of West 93rd Street
Portion of Crossing Court S.E.

Other
Euclid Creek Stream Restoration Project
Sewer main, manholes and catch basins on Lorain Avenue, Marcella Drive, Westdale Avenue, West 160th Street and East 128th Street
Public Service Facility improvement
Lease agreement with Southwest Airlines at Hopkins International Airport
Lease agreement with American Flyers at Burke Lakefront Airport
Lease Agreement with VinCore, LCC at Burke Lakefront Airport
Removal and replacement of coolers at the West and East Side Markets

Midtown Design Review

MDR 2006-005: 2905-11 Chester Avenue, Private Dormitory to serve Cleveland State University, Renovation and New Construction, Seeking Conceptual Approval

The developer, Cecil Weatherspoon, wants to build a private dormitory that will house up to 600 students – mainly for, but not limited to, Cleveland State students. As this is a private project and not a state sponsored institutional project, the developer may not limit the proposed dorms to students only. Although he has stated he will be marketing the dorms to students, the dorms will be open to anybody.
Copy King, a bowling alley and a furniture store currently occupy the building. There is a BP Station at the western edge of the property. The current building will be used and a third floor addition is being proposed, as well as retail on the ground floor.
Zoning issues need to be resolved first.
The developer stated CSU helped with the feasibility study, but there is no formal relationship.
Tony Coyne stated the developer really should try to formalize their relationship with the university.

(ed. The proposed dorms are outside the boundary of the university’s master plan. A member of Capital Planning at CSU has stated that the developer should not be doing this as it will take away from what the university is trying to create in regards to College Town.)

Design Review (all approved)

DRC 06-061: 11901 Durant Avenue, CMSD, Patrick Henry Preschool and K-8, New Construction, Conceptual Review

This school is located next to Forest Hills Park, south of Glenville. Because of neighborhood input, features from the demolition of the old building will be used in the new building. Demolition will begin late this summer and construction should begin next year with opening in 2008.
The new school will be a red brick structure with a sloped roof. There will be a 2-story all glass connector and the building will have many windows.

DRC06-062: 3800 West 140th street, CMSD, Garfield K-8, New Construction, Conceptual Review

This school is between West 140th and West 143rd Streets, south of Lorain Avenue and north of Marshall. The property includes a community garden, which will remain. Short-term parking for the garden will be include near the drop off area.

DRC 06-065: 45 Erieview Plaza, AT&T Building, Building Identification Replacement Signs

This signage will replace the Ameritech signs on the building with the new at&t logo.

DRC 06-015: 2678 East 111th Street, CitiRAMA 2006, Single-family house by Ames Street Construction

Ground breaking for CitiRAMA was on Tuesday, April 29.
This last house is a replacement model for one of the developers that withdrew prom the program.

Napa ValleyDefeats Measure 37 Copycat

Smartgrowth America reports:

Napa defeats Measure 37 copycat, but deep-pockets New Yorker pushes CA-wide initiative

Voters in Napa County, CA last week rejected by a wide margin (64 percent to 36 percent) a measure that would have required governments to pay to enforce planning, zoning and environmental protections, or waive the rules. The measure was a near-carbon copy of Oregon’s Measure 37, which has thrown the state’s local governments and court system into chaos. That cautionary tale, along with local voters’ long history of working carefully to balance urban growth, agriculture, environmental protection and individuals’ use of their property, presented proponents with un-surmountable obstacles, local observers said. Now, though, a larger battle looms over a similar statewide initiative being funded by Howie Rich, a New York real estate speculator who is pushing similar measures in several places. Read more in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Central Viaduct Public Open House

I received this in my mail yesterday. I hate when their is notification of a meeting at the last minute. Do you think they want to have a low turnout?
I will go to part of it, but will have to leave early.

PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE

TO DISCUSS BRIDGE TYPE SELECTION FOR THE NEW I-90 BRIDGE OVER THE CUYAHOGA RIVER

WHO: The Ohio Department of Transportation, the City of Cleveland and the Central Viaduct Bridge consultant team

WHAT: A public open house

WHEN: Wednesday, June 7, 2006 from 4 – 8 p.m.

Two identical presentations will take place at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: The Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation

2187 West 14^th St.

Cleveland, Ohio 44113

WHY: The public meeting is an opportunity for the public learn about the Bridge Type Selection Process for the proposed new I-90 bridge over the Cuyahoga River. The public will have an opportunity to view interactive project displays, meet with members of the design team and offer input.

In addition, information will be available about the on-going construction of the Quigley Rd. Connector including the up-coming temporary closure of the SR 176/I-71 ramps to W. 14^th St.

###

Contact Lora Hummer in the ODOT District 12 Public Information Office at 216.584.2007 or visit the project Web site at www.innerbelt.org.

The Committe to Save Big Ugly Things

This is a great video from Seattle used to promote the proposed Waterfront Tunnel.

City of Cleveland to purchase Midland Steel property

Whenever I have posted meeting minutes from the Cleveland Planning Commission, there has almost always been action taken that would gather land for Cleveland's Industrial/Commercial Land Bank. Well, Mayor's office approved the purchase of the former Midland Steel Company on Madison and West 106th Street.

Image from Decaying-Industries

The press release follows:

City of Cleveland to purchase Midland Steel property
Purchase shows progress in Mayor Frank G. Jackson's development strategy

May 30, 2006 - The City of Cleveland announced today the purchase of the 21-acre Midland Steel property located at 10615 Madison Avenue. The City worked with Ward 18 Councilman Jay Westbrook, WIRE-Net (Westside Industrial Retention and Expansion Network) and Cudell Improvement, Inc.

"One of Cleveland's economic development challenges is the lack of ready-to-build land that is attractive to developers," said Mayor Frank G. Jackson. "The remediation of brownfields, like Midland Steel, is an essential part of our economic development strategy for Cleveland. We're making this valuable property ready for development."

Cleveland will purchase the property, valued at $1.5 million, as a part of Cleveland's Industrial/ Commercial Land Bank that prepares shovel-ready sites for development and makes it easier and cost effective for businesses to relocate to or expand in Cleveland. The City's Department of Economic Development will market and sell parcels, to spur economic growth and job creation in the region. Revenue generated by the Land Bank will be invested in future acquisitions and development.

"This is an example of the kind of role government needs to play to help business grow bringing land, labor and capital to the table," said Director of Economic Development Brian Reilly.

The Midland Steel site has contiguous parcels, excellent infrastructure, highway and railroad access, and a tradition of industrial use.

"It is essential that we extend our capability to retain and expand industry in Cleveland," stated Councilman Westbrook. "Our community partners, Cudell Improvement, Inc. and WIRE-Net, have worked diligently with the City to obtain the Midland Steel site. We welcome this announcement by the Mayor and look forward to working together to broaden manufacturing job opportunities for the future."

"The redevelopment engine has been tuned up, and manufacturing is ready to move ahead," said John Colm, President and Executive Director for WIRE-Net, in reference to the Midland Steel deal.

"This site has been on our radar screen as an important economic opportunity since it became vacant a few years ago. The community's desire to see this site redeveloped for businesses is moving closer to reality," added Paul Vernon, President of Cudell Improvement, Inc.

In May 2004, Councilman Westbrook identified Midland Steel as a prime economic development opportunity for Ward 18 in Cleveland City Council Economic Challenges and Opportunities, a booklet highlighting problems and potentials in each ward. Mayor Jackson, who was City Council President at the time, directed the Council to produce the document to help advance development throughout the City. The book was also used on a tour of the City that Council Members took to get a first hand look at the challenges and opportunities citywide.

View from the Dashboard - Steelyard Commons

I am trying to promote my photo-blog here, so bear with me. There are really good pictures there.

If you want to see the rest of the picutes, click on through.
And tell me what you think. Is there room for an Ikea there? Housing on the edges?

Thursday, June 01, 2006

VFTD - Steelyard Commons Post

After my son and I spent sone time at the Veteran's Memorial Bridge/Subway tour, I decided to get up close and personal with Steelyard Commons.
However, there were a few security guards patrolling the grounds, so I decided to stick with this concept.
You know, they have a link to a streaming webcam on their website, but you need a password to access it.
I wrote them asking if/when they would open it up to the public and was told that it was for tenants only - they can watch their building go up in the safety of their own cube.
Oh well, you will just have to look at these - and as always, all of the pictures used for this blog are located here.

As you can see here, most of the street lighting is in place.


Good view of the Jennings Road Extension (is this the real name? not sure) with curbs and streetlights in place.

Cleveland's Veterans Memorial Bridge - Subway Tour

I took my son to the Veteran's Memorial Bridge Subway tour this past weekend. I have not been there in about... hmmm, don't recall. I do recall it was before the county ever opened it to the public and that my friends and I should not have been there. Regardless, it was very cool and much, much cleaner then I recall.
Some of these shots are a bit bluury due to the camera and having to set the exposure timer on long in order to get the details. I do not have a tripod.
To see the whole set, go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/muscatello/sets/72157594149739456/

This is my favorite shot. Very spooky. Dark figures walking into the light.

Cleveland Planning Commission Report - May 19, 2006

Cleveland Planning Commission Report, May 19, 2006
Call to order – 9:08 AM

Roll Call –

Present:
Tony Coyne
Bob Brown
Lillian Kuri
Gloria Jean Pinkney
David Bowen
Rev. S. Small

Absent:
Joe Cimperman
Larry Lumpkin


Approved April 7 and 21 minutes
Tony Coyne mentioned that he was not sure if the current method of approving minutes was efficient.
Director Brown said historically

ZONING (ALL APPROVED)

1. Ordinance No. 708-06: To change the use from a Semi-Industry District to a General Industry Use District on the east side of West 25th Street north of Potter Court.

This is the site of the junkyard that was destroyed by fire over a year ago in Ohio City. The business has been in operation for over 60 years, and has always operated under a variance due to non-conforming use. Since the building was completely destroyed and new construction is required, a new variance is needed. The business owner, George Saas (?) was present along with his wife. They have a new building designed – 60’ x 60’, will come to the sidewalk like the previous structure.
There was one neighbor and two letters of opposing the variance due to issues regarding noise, smell, and rats, among other things.
Councilman Santiago was present and was in support of the rezoning. He stated the rats likely come from the valley and are not from the Saas property – rats do not feed on auto parts.
Tony Coyne suggested Saas erect a screening fence on the neighbor’s property at his own expense as a show of goodwill.
2. Ordinance No. 830-06: To change the zoning of lands on the north and south sides of Lorain Avenue from West 103rd Street to West 115th Street to Local Retail Business and Residence Office; and to change the zoning of property fronting on West 106th Street to Two Family.

This is a continuation of efforts by Councilwoman Dona Brady to bring the zoning in her ward up to date with the City’s Comprehensive Plan.

MANDATORY REFFERALS (ALL APPROVED)

1. Ordinance No. 648-06: Authorizing the Director of Public Service to issue a permit to The Cleveland Clinic foundation to encroach into the public right-of-way of East 96th Street by installing, using, and maintaining a sloped walk exit ramp, sheet piling, a building corner, and below-grade areaways.
2. Ordinance No. 691-06: Authorizing the Director of Public Service to issue a permit to Tower city Center to encroach into the public right-of-way of Huron Road by installing, using, and maintaining a pedestrian connector to be partially constructed beneath the City of Cleveland right-of-way.

This new pedestrian tunnel will connect the State Office Building with Tower City.

3. Ordinance No. 735-06: Determining the method of making the public improvement of rehabilitating, renovating, reconstructing or otherwise improving various Department of Parks, Recreation and Properties facilities.

ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVAL (APPROVED)

1. Ordinance No. 827-06: Authorizing the Director of Economic Development to apply for and accept a Clean Ohio grant from the State of Ohio Department of Development for the VAP Phase II assessment of property located at 3828 East 91 St Street and associated parcels.
2. Ordinance No. 786-06: Authorizing the Director of Economic Development to enter into contract with Congeni Investments, LLC, to provide economic development assistance to partially finance the acquisition of real property located at 2034 W. 65th St. and all other associated costs necessary to redevelop the property.

SUMMARY CALENDAR (APPROVED)

1. Ordinance No. 652-06: Authorizes the sale of property on Lexington Avenue to Thomas Albert and Pauline Ruffin as part of the Land Reutilization Program.
2. Ordinance No. 700-06: Authorizes the sale of property on Buckeye Road to the Cleveland Municipal School District as part of the Land Reutilization Program.
3. Ordinance No. 701: Authorizes the sale of property on Addison Road to Illus, Christine, James, Ricky and Edward Taylor, Valerie Lambright and Eula Milon as part of the Land Reutilization Program.
4. Ordinance No. 709-06: Authorizes the sale of property on Quimby Avenue to Margaret Adams as part of the Land Reutilization Program.

DESIGN REVIEW

1. DRC 06-031: 1701 East 12th Street, Reserve Square, Exterior Remodeling (APPROVED)

Doug Price, owner of Reserve Square, and Mike K, from City Architecture, presented plans for the painting and resurfacing of the outside of Reserve Square and Embassy Suites hotel on East 12th Street. All of the visible concrete areas will be repainted various colors. The front entrance will be completely reconfigured. The driveway that currently exist will be moved to the curb; a canopy will be built to provide shelter from the elements. The entrance will be re-clad in either a frosted glass or acrylic. The granite will still be visible through the re-clad portions during the day. At night there will be some sort of LED light under the new cladding. A new skylight will be built over the former driveway that will be backlit.
Further details of the renovation include the elimination of the bypass frequented by hundreds of downtown inhabitants everyday. All of the stores are going to be accessible to the public from the outside only.
When complete, the renovation project will have cost upwards of $10 million. All of the apartments and hotel suites are being renovated. When complete, there will be 765 housing units and 250 hotel suites. It currently has an 80% occupancy rate.


2. DRC 06-038: N.E. Corner of West 65th Street and Clark Avenue, West Side Relief High School, New Construction

This is a conceptual review with no action required. Richard Bowen and Associates, and OWP/P presented the proposed West Side Relief High School. The two-story building that will house approximately 1200 students and 60 +/- faculty/staff members for grades 9 through 12. There will be 33 general studies classrooms, 1 competition gym and 1 practice gym.

The building will consist of three small high schools within one building. That equals roughly 412 students per school.

There will be parking available for 189 students. Visitors and staff will have 112 parking spaces. There will be a GCRTA drop off area on West 65th Street, west of the building, although there has not been any discussion with them as of yet.

There is also a football practice field proposed for the eastern edge of the property. This will require the relocation of some of the roads currently located there. Apparently, a major sewer line runs under the current location of Walworth Avenue that prohibits any construction directly above it. Walworth will be relocated to the intersection of West 59th Street and run south until it hits the railroad tracks. From there, it will connect with the schools staff parking lot. There is proposed to be a large turnaround area for trucks that will not be able to enter the relocated Walworth. Instead, all truck traffic will only use the West 55th Street location.

The face of the buildings will likely be made of brick, representing the make-up of the buildings in the area. (The conceptual renderings do not show this.)
Most of the land has been acquired already.

The commission’s major concern was the linkage from the school to Zone Recreation Center under I-90. They suggested the school district work with the city and other partners to address this area.
One additional concern was the northern edge of the property that is adjacent with I-90. The architects said they are still working on that area of land.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

The director report time was devoted to Robert Corna’s informational presentation on a proposal to add a retractable dome to the Cleveland Browns Stadium.

At first Corna stated the estimated cost will total $90 million, though later he said this cost is very preliminary and probably not accurate.
The discussion briefly centered on sponsorship. He mentioned the possibility of having the likes of Pepsi placing their name on the proposed roof (many distorted faces by the commission at this statement).
[He went before Cleveland City Council this past Monday to seek support in attempting to have the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl in Cleveland]

Live Traffic Accident Data from the County

I was trolling around the county pages today instead of working, or finishing up the edits on last weeks Planning Commission meeting (it will be up tonight), when I stumbled upon the Cuyahoga County Emergency Service's "Current Motor Vehicle Accidents & Incidents." The data is gathered from police reports, the obvious traffic reports, and from people calling in accidents on their cell phones to 911.
Pretty cool stuff, although it would be better if they had a map with color codes reflecting the flow of traffic. And if you were able to view that data on your cell or berry. I imagine that will come soon as part of the Innerbelt Project.
It will also give you Amber Alert information.

****UPDATE****

Dan said...

"Here's Cleveland traffic data mapped from Clear Channel Traffic. They get data from Cuyahoga County Emergency Service, traffic cams and phone calls."

Thanks, Dan.
I knew about the traffic cams site (I watch them from my windowless cubicle all the time), and I remeber seeing the mapped data before but forgot about it. I think I was thinking of something like L.A has, which is run by SigAlert.
You can see the live data by going to
http://www.sigalert.com/map.asp?Region=Greater+Los+Angeles
The live traffic data they have is free. If you want personalized data, want to view the web cams, or have an alternate route laid out for you so you can avoid the traffic then you have a fee of $20 a year - which is not cool, but I guess they are a private company and can charge whatever they want. Here is a screenshot of traffic from this morning:

Cleveland State University Project Report for May

Below is the current status of ongoing projects at CSU. Not listed are items in the Master Plan that have yet to be approved by the Board (College of Education, Doan Electric, etc.)


Recreation Center
• Interior Painting of finished drywall is continuing.
• Locker room finishes and lockers are being installed.
• Wood floors in multipurpose rooms are being finished.
• Wood floor in main gym is being installed.
• Running track is being installed.
• Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and technology systems are being installed.
• Site work is underway.


East Parking Garage
• Elevated decks on east bay are complete.
• Slab for the west bay is 50% complete.
• Elevated decks on west bay have begun.
• Structural steel for stairs and elevators will start in 2nd week of May.
• Brick and Masonry schedule to start by 2nd week of May.

Parker Hannafin Administration Center / Hall
• Structural steel in the Administration Building is complete.
• Roof on Administration Center is near completion.
• Decks in the Administration Building are complete.
• Excavation for Parker Hannifin Annex to begin soon.
• Metal studs, ductwork and sprinkler lines have started in the Administration Building.

Fenn Tower Residence Hall
• Exterior Restoration work is 95% complete. Sandstone on the exterior East elevation is 50% complete.
• Exterior light fixtures installation is 80% complete.
• New window installation is 98% complete, only the temporary trash chute area remains.
• Interior wall and ceiling framing is 95% complete through the building.
• Drywall on floors 4-19 is 99% complete. Basement up to 3rd floor is in progress.
• Tower floors 8-19 are 99% complete. Rooms are painted, carpeted, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, light
• fixtures are installed. Punch list on these floors is in progress.
• Floors 4-7 are dry walled. Floors 4 and 7 are currently being taped. The 5th floor is painted and
• cabinetry, plumbing and light fixtures are being installed. The 6th floor is currently being painted.
• Third floor ballroom areas are currently being restored.
• The basement through 2nd floors are in various stages of drywall installation.
• The mechanical, electrical and plumbing system tie-ins are all complete.
• Building roof installations are 95% complete.
• Furniture delivery is set to begin July 3rd, 2006.

Main Classroom Stair Tower Phase 1A
• Contractor will have Notice to Proceed by mid May.

Main Classroom Plaza Build Out Phase 1B
• Design Development drawings are at 30%.
• Shell bid package due in June 2006.

Student Center Phase II
• Both A/E Consultant and Construction Management have been approved. Currently in contract negotiation.

Planning Commission Agenda - May 4, 2006

Whooooo!!!!
The semester is over, and until grades come out next week, I'm Ok.
I think I did alright.

I did not go to the Planning Commission on May 4, but I do have the agenda of items requiring action (and informational, too).

Enjoy.

ZONING

1. Ordinance No. 657-06: To change the Use Districts of lands bounded by Seymour Avenue and Erin Avenue, west of Fulton Road from a Two-family Residential District to a Local Retail Business District.
2. Ordinance No. 707-06: To change the zoning of parcels on the north side Detroit Avenue between West 29 th St. from a Two Family Residential District to an Open Space and Recreation District.
3. Ordinance No. 718-06: To change the zoning of lands on the east and west sides of West 117 th Street from Governor Avenue to Bellaire road.

MANDATORY REFFERALS

1. Ordinance No. 616-06: An emergency ordinance authorizing the sale of real property as part of the Land Reutilization Program and located on Clover Avenue to JDS Development LLC. (TABLED on 4/14/06)
2. Ordinance No. 692-06: Improving various Department of Public Service facilities.
3. Resolution No. XXX1-06 , proposing the vacation of a portion of East 109 th Street between Deering Avenue on the north and Carnegie Avenue on the south for the purpose of facilitating creation of a shared campus for John Hay High School and the Cleveland School of the Arts.

LOT SPLIT

1. 3139 – 3209 Whitman Ave. proposed lot consolidation and split (Landmark District). Work on the property has begun without the lack of permits.

DESIGN REVIEW

1. DRC 06-013: 750 Huron Road, AT&T Building, Skyline Sign (PLPD/Historic Gateway Neighborhood/Ward 13) (Fr March 16, 2006)
2. DRC 06-029: Bellflower & Hessler Roads, CWRU, Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations (Univ.-Euclid URPA/Ward 9)
3. DRC 06-030: East 115 th Street & Wade Park, CWRU, North Residential Village, Baseball Stadium (Univ.-Euclid URPA/Ward 9)
4. DRC 06-031: 1701 East 12 th Street, Reserve Square, Streetscape Improvements (PLPD/Ward 13)
5. DRC 06-032: NW Corner of East 83 rd Street & Carnegie Avenue, Rumi’s Market (City Land Bank/Ward 6)
6. DRC 06-033 NE Corner of West 9 th Street & Front Street, Housing Development, For Information only; no action to be taken (Ward 13)
7. DRC 06-014-A: East 111 th Street, between Woodland Avenue & MLK Boulevard, Citi-Rama 2006, 2 Remaining Single-family Houses (Ward 6) (Fr 4/7/06, when other models were seen.)

One moment, please...

I noticed that there have been a large number of hits to this site in the past few days - no doubt looking for updated planning commission news. Well you are going to have to wait a bit longer. I am in finals mode this week and this is the last thing on my mind.
Do not be alarmed!

In the meantime, check out my photoblog, View from the Dashboard.

thank you

sm

The Spiderman Community Wrap Party

In case you have not heard....
And it is free to the public

Jane Jacobs, Urban Activist, Is Dead at 89

Heard abnout this this afternoon. It was sad to hear.

From the New York Times:

The New York Times

April 25, 2006
Jane Jacobs, Urban Activist, Is Dead at 89
By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Jane Jacobs, the writer and thinker who brought penetrating eyes and ingenious insight to the sidewalk ballet of her own Greenwich Village street and came up with a book that challenged and changed the way people view cities, died today in Toronto, where she lived. She was 89.

She died at a Toronto hospital, said a distant cousin, Lucia Jacobs, who gave no specific cause of death.

In her book "Death and Life of Great American Cities," written in 1961, Ms. Jacobs's enormous achievement was to transcend her own withering critique of 20th-century urban planning and propose radically new principles for rebuilding cities. At a time when both common and inspired wisdom called for bulldozing slums and opening up city space, Ms. Jacobs's prescription was ever more diversity, density and dynamism — in effect, to crowd people and activities together in a jumping, joyous urban jumble.

Ms. Jacobs's thesis was supported and enlarged by her deep, eclectic reading. But most compelling was her description of the everyday life she witnessed from her home above a candy store at 555 Hudson Street.

She puts out her garbage, children go to school, the drycleaner and barber open their shops, housewives come out to chat, longshoremen visit the local bar, teenagers return from school and change to go out on dates, and another day is played out. Sometimes odd things happen: a bagpiper shows up on a February night, and delighted listeners gather around. Whether neighbors or strangers, people are safer because they are almost never alone.

"People who know well such animated city streets will know how it is," Ms. Jacobs wrote. "I am afraid people who do not will always have it a little wrong in their heads, like the old prints of rhinoceroses made from travelers descriptions of rhinoceroses."

Some critics used adjectives like "triumphant" and "seminal" to describe the book. Wolf Von Eckardt, writing in The Washington Post, observed that it had " proved more important than all the statistical studies of all our myriad urban centers."

Others, not a few of whom had an ax to grind, were less kind. Lewis Mumford, the eminent critic and social historian whom Ms. Jacobs eviscerated in the book, suggested in a review in The New Yorker that she had displayed "esthetic philistinism with a vengeance."

Lloyd Rodwin, a professor at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, writing in The New York Times Book Review in 1961, praised the book as "a brashly impressive tour de force" but saw "transparent gaps and blind spots, such as her blasé misunderstandings of theory."

The battles she ignited are still being fought, and the criticism was perhaps inevitable, given that such an ambitious work was produced by somebody who had not finished college, much less become an established professional in the field. Indisputably, the book was as radically challenging to conventional thinking as Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," which helped engender the environmental movement, would be the next year, and Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique," which deeply affected perceptions of relations between the sexes, would be in 1963.

Like these two writers, Ms. Jacobs was able to summon a freshness of perspective. Some dismissed it as amateurism, but to many others it was a point of view that made new ideas not only thinkable but suddenly and eminently reasonable.

"When an entire field is headed in the wrong direction, when the routine application of mainstream thinking has produced disastrous results as I think was true of planning and urban policy in the 1950's, then it probably took someone from outside to point out the obvious," Alan Ehrenhalt wrote in 2001 in Planning, the magazine of the American Planning Association .

"That is what Jane Jacobs did 40 years ago" he said.

Ms. Jacob's critique of the nation's cities is often grouped with the work of other writers who in the 1960's shook the foundations of American society: Paul Goodman's attack on schooling; Ralph Nader's barrage against the auto industry, and Malcolm X's grim tour of America's racial divide, among others.

Ms. Jacobs did not limit her impact to words. In 1961, she and other screaming protesters were removed by the police from a City Planning Commission hearing after they had leapt from their seats and rushed the podium. In 1968, she was arrested on charges of second-degree riot and criminal mischief in disrupting a public meeting on the construction of an expressway, which would have sliced across Lower Manhattan and displaced hundreds of families and businesses. The police said she had tried to tear up the stenographer's transcript tape.

Ms. Jacobs moved to Toronto in 1968 out of opposition to the Vietnam War and to shield her two draft-age sons from military duty. But she quickly enlisted in Toronto's urban battles. No sooner had she arrived than she led a battle to stop a freeway there.

Ms. Jacobs became a beloved intellectual pioneer characterized by a dumpling face, sneakers, an impish smile, bangs and owlish glasses. But Roger Starr, a former New York City housing administrator and sometime opponent of Ms. Jacobs, keenly noted the steel just beneath her folksiness.

"What a dear, sweet character she isn't," he said.

After she was removed from the city council hearing in 1961, her own words underlined her feistiness. "We had been ladies and gentlemen and only got pushed around."

But fighting with government, even being arrested with Susan Sontag and Allen Ginsberg in an anti-draft protest, was something she said she had repeatedly been forced into by "outrageous" governmental actions.

"I hate the government for making my life absurd," she said in an interview with the journal Government Technology in 1998.

What she most hated was taking time away from her writing, which she said was her way of thinking. And in at least five distinct fields of inquiry, she thought deeply and innovatively: urban design, urban history, regional economics, the morality of the economy and the nature of economic growth.

Her major books followed a logical progression, each leading naturally to the next. From writing about how people functioned within cities, she analyzed how cities function within nations, how nations function with one another, how everyone functions in a world of conflicting moral principles, and, finally, how economies grow like biological organisms.

A small book in 1980 arguing for Quebec separatism created a stir in Canada, while a memoir, which she edited, of her great-aunt's experience as a school teacher in rural Alaska impressed reviewers with its homespun wisdom in 1996.

But it is "Death and Life," published by Random House, that rocked the planning and architectural establishment and continues to influence a third generation of students who can still find the book in college bookstores.

On one level, it represented the first liberal attack on the liberal idea of urban renewal. At the same time, The New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson saw an old-fashioned vision of community that he compared to Thornton Wilder's fictional Grover's Corners. Ms. Jacobs herself thought the book's continuing appeal was that it plumbed the depths of human nature like a good novel.

Herbert Muschamp, The Times's chief architecture critic at the time, wrote in 2003 that Ms. Jacobs's book was "one of 20th-century architecture's most traumatic events," in part because Ms. Jacobs was dismissive about the importance of design. In recent years, she had become an inspiration to architects and planners who espouse what they call the "New Urbanism," an effort to promote social interaction by incorporating such Jacobean features as ground-floor retail in suburban developments.

Patrick Pinnell, an architect associated with this school, said "Death and Life" represented almost the last expression of optimism about American cities. As early as 1974, John E. Zuccotti, then chairman of the New York City Planning Commission, called Ms. Jacobs a prophet and himself a "neo-Jacobean" when he announced a smaller-scale, more sensitive urban planning approach.

Ms. Jacobs, whose father was a family physician and mother a schoolteacher, was born Jane Butzner on May 4, 1916, in Scranton, Pa., in what she described as a stagnant anthracite-coal-mining region. She remembered being something of a troublemaker in school, engaging in pranks like blowing air into paper bags in the lunchroom and loudly popping them. She preferred to read books surreptitiously to listening to the teacher.

In an interview in Azure magazine in 1997, Ms. Jacobs recounted her habit of carrying on imaginary conversations with Thomas Jefferson while running errands. When she could think of nothing more to tell Jefferson, she replaced him with Benjamin Franklin.

"Like Jefferson, he was interested in lofty things, but also in nitty-gritty, down-to-earth details," she said, "such as why the alley we were walking through wasn't paved, and who would pave it if it were paved. He was interested in everything, so he was a very satisfying companion."

Years later, she realized that she had developed her talent of working through difficult ideas in simple terms by practicing them on her imaginary Franklin. She also acquired another inner companion through Alfred Duggan, an English historical novelist. He was Cerdic, a Saxon chieftain. Years later, she continued to chat with him while doing housework.

"There were only two things in the entire house that were familiar to him," she wrote, "the fire (although he didn't understand the chimney), and the sword," a Civil War souvenir. "Everything else had to be explained to him."

She did not want to go to college, and took an unpaid position as assistant to the women's editor at The Scranton Tribune. In 1934, she moved to New York to join her sister who was six years older and had a job in the home furnishings department at the Abraham and Strauss department store in Brooklyn. The sisters lived on the top floor of a six-story walkup in Brooklyn Heights.

Each day, Ms. Jacobs got on the subway and arbitrarily chose a stop to look for a job. Because she liked the sound of Christopher Street, she got off there and found an apartment in Greenwich Village and soon after a job, as a secretary in a candy manufacturing company.

She worked as a secretary for five years. The sisters did not have much money and sometimes lived on pablum, the baby formula, and bananas, Ms. Jacobs said in an interview with Metropolis Magazine in 2001.

She began writing articles right away, first for a metals trade paper. She sold a series of articles to Vogue about different areas of the city, like the fur district, earning $40 for each at a time when she was making $12 a week as a secretary. She wrote Sunday feature stories for The New York Herald Tribune and articles for Q Magazine on manhole covers, among other things.

While working fulltime, Ms. Jacobs attended Columbia University's School of General Studies for two years and took courses in geology, zoology, law, political science and economics. In 1944, Ms. Jacobs, who was working for the Office of War Information, and her two roommates had a party in their apartment. One of the guests was Robert Hyde Jacobs Jr., an architect who specialized in hospital design. They met in April and married in May.

Ms. Jacobs told Azure that she would have written no books without her husband's encouragement. It was he who decided that the family should move to Toronto in 1968 after both their sons said they would go to jail rather than serve in Vietnam. Mr. Jacobs died in 1996. Ms. Jacobs is survived by her sons James, of Toronto, and Ned, of Vancouver; her daughter, Burgin Jacobs, of New Denver, British Columbia; and one granddaughter. In 1952, Ms. Jacobs got a job as an editor at Architectural Forum, where she stayed 10 years. This gave her a perch from which to observe urban renewal projects. In a visit to Philadelphia, she noticed that the streets of a project were deserted while an older, nearby street was crowded.

"So, I got very suspicious of this whole thing," she said in an interview with The Toronto Star in 1997. "I pointed that out to the designer, but it was absolutely uninteresting to him. How things worked didn't interest him.

"He wasn't concerned about its attractiveness to people. His notion was totally esthetic, divorced from everything else."

Her doubts increased after William Kirk, the head worker of Union Settlement in East Harlem, taught her new ways of seeing neighborhoods. She came to see prevalent planning notions, which involved bulldozing low-rise housing in poor neighborhoods and building tall apartment buildings surrounded by open space to replace them, as a superstition akin to early 19th-century physicians' belief in bloodletting.

"There is a quality even meaner than outright ugliness or disorder," she wrote in "Death and Life," "and this meaner quality is the dishonest mask of pretended order, achieved by ignoring or suppressing the real order that is struggling to exist and to be served."

William H. Whyte, editor of Fortune and author of books about urban life as well as his celebrated "The Organization Man" in 1956, asked Ms. Jacobs to write an article for Fortune on urban downtowns in 1958. Her essay, which was reprinted in "The Exploding Metropolis" (Doubleday, 1958), turned out to be a trial run for her book.

"Designing a dream city is easy," she concluded. "Rebuilding a living one takes imagination."

The Fortune article caught the attention of the Rockefeller Foundation, which offered a grant in 1958 to write about cities. Two grants and three years later, she produced her manuscript on the Remington typewriter that she used until her death.

"Death and Life" made four recommendations for creating municipal diversity: 1. A street or district must serve several primary functions. 2. Blocks must be short. 3. Buildings must vary in age, condition, use and rentals. 4. Population must be dense.

These seemingly simple notions represented a major rethinking of modern planning. They were coupled with fierce condemnations of the writings of the planners Sir Patrick Geddes and Ebenezer Howard, as well as those of the architect Le Corbusier and Lewis Mumford, who championed their ideal of graceful towers rising over exquisite open spaces.

Mr. Mumford held his fire for a year before replying in a New Yorker article that he later considered too mild. Either he or his editors gave the article the sardonic title, "Home Remedies for Urban Cancer."

Mr. Mumford wrote, "Like a construction gang bulldozing a site clean of all habitations, good or bad, she bulldozes out of existence every desirable innovation in urban planning during the last century, and every competing idea, without even a pretense of critical evaluation."

Her complete dismissal of zoning in cities caused Robert Fulford, a columnist for The Financial Times of Canada, to observe in The New York Times Book Review that single-use zoning was the principal activity of city planners.

"It was as if she had somehow tried to persuade dentists that filling teeth did more harm than good," he wrote.

Even the architecture critic Paul Goldberger, while expressing profound admiration for Ms. Jacobs in a Times article in 1996, suggested that she may have overstated the importance of the physical form of cities.

"Sometimes big, ugly high-rise towers work just fine," he wrote.

Ms. Jacobs's next book, "The Economy of Cities" (Random House, 1969) challenged the ideas that cities were established on a rural economic base; rather, she suggested, rural economies have been built directly through city economies. The New Yorker called the book "radiant with ideas," while National Review praised it for formulating "a badly needed urban myth."

Her next work was a small book, "The Question of Separatism: Quebec and the Struggle for Sovereignty" (Random House, 1980). It argued that Canada and Quebec would be better off without each other, on the general grounds that small is better.

In 1984, she delved more deeply into economics and cities with "Cities and the Wealth of Nations: Principles of Economic Life" (Random House, 1984). She contended that national governments undermine the economy of cities, which she sees as the natural engines of economic growth.

Her "Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics" (Vintage, 1994), looks at the moral underpinnings of work by examining different value systems. "The Nature of Economies" (Modern Library, 2000) likens economic activity to an ecosystem. Her last book, "Dark Age Ahead" (Random House, 2004), argues that North American culture is collapsing, then suggests ways to avert that result.

In her last years, Canadians held conferences to honor Ms. Jacobs, and Maclean's magazine, the Canadian newsweekly, hailed her as "a lioness in winter." For New Yorkers, she lived on in the famous photo of her with a beer and cigarette in the White Horse tavern in Greenwich Village, as well as memories of her plotting municipal mischief at the Red Lion, another Village hangout. To generations of planners, architects and students of cities, Ms. Jacobs remains a seminal influence.

She perhaps perceived of herself as an intellectual adventurer ready and able to follow her quixotic, often brilliant instincts into ever more fascinating terrain. In "Systems of Survival," one of her characters worries that he is not qualified.

"Why not us?" replies the man who has invited the group together. "If more qualified people are up to the same thing, more power to them. But we don't know that, do we?"

Jane Jacobs, Urban Activist, Is Dead at 89

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

Cleveland Planning Commission Draft Agenda - 21 April 2006

I am out of town and did not go to this last meeting.
The following is a draft agenda from the meeting. These are pretty acurate. Occasionally there is an add-on or a withdrawal.

LEGISLATION

1. Ordinance No. 567-06: Amends an Ordinance previously passed relating to the improvements to Willard Park garage.
2. Ordinance No. 568-06: Amends an Ordinance relating to the reconstruction of East 93 rd Street between Union Avenue and Miles Road.
3. Ordinance No. 606-06: Authorizing the Mayor to accept a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission for Denison Avenue Resurfacing from West 73 rd St. to Lorain Avenue.
   
4. Ordinance No. 608-06: Authorizing the Mayor to accept a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission for Bellaire road Rehabilitation from West 117 th Street.
   
5. Ordinance No. 609-06: Authorizing the Mayor to accept a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission for Quincy Road Rehabilitation from East 40 th St. to Woodhill Road.
6. Ordinance No. 615-06: Authorizing the sale of real property as part of the land Reutilization Program and located on East 49 th St. to Lake Erie Barber College.
7. Ordinance No. 616-06: Authorizing the sale of real property as part of the Land Reutilization Program and located on Clover Avenue to JDS Development LLC.
8. Ordinance No. 653-06: Authorizing the Director of City Planning to enter into one or more contracts with Cleveland Public Art for professional Services necessary to administer the City’s public art program.

DESIGN REVIEW

1. DRC 05-113-A: 3447 West 150 th Street, Single-family House (in tandem w/ 3451 West 150 th Street) (Ward 21)
2. DRC 06-023: West 54 th Street near Herman Avenue, Three Single-Family Houses, aka Residences of King’s Terrace, Project Revisions (ref. DRC 02-207) (Single-family Houses/ Ward 17) (Fr April 7, 2006)

That's it.