Fuck this

Early this year, I created an RTA expansion map proposal that I shared to Reddit and Mastodon. I got a lot of feedback, and in the mean time I've learned more about modern rail construction in the US and analyzed the city more closely. I've put together a new proposal that starts fresh, coming to a lot of the same conclusions but also doing some things very differently. I want to break down each section here and get some input to keep improving it.

Red Line Expansion West First, expanding Cleveland's flagship rail service and busiest transit line. On the west side, I propose the addition of two new stations, one infill and one extension. After Hopkins, I suggest extending a fresh stretch of line. 2 miles of this would run on current rail, and then it would convert to a streetcar for another half mile down Front Street to connect to central Berea and BW's campus. This touches on a few themes I'll come back to: First, taking advantage of the incoming rolling stock's ability to seamlessly shift from mixed traffic to street level to mixed traffic. Second, bringing educational institutions into the rail network. Additionally, I'm proposing an infill station at W.43rd, because the gap between the W. 25th and W. 65th stations is way too huge.

Red Line Expansion East On the east side, I'm suggesting a much more substantial expansion of the Red Line. I suggest that, after Stokes, it continue on that rail spur, with a station at Shaw (close to the high school), then turning up 152nd. Here, it should be new, elevated rail. There are a number of points in this where I suggest the tall but valuable task of fresh elevated rail lines. That would run along 152nd (with stops at St. Clair [Colinwood HS gets service here] and Cardinal) before turning onto Waterloo, hitting the arts district, and then turning back north somewhere between 156th and 164th to run to Euclid Beach Park. Collinwood, especially North Collinwood, is very disconnected from the city in terms of transit. There's also very little transit service to the lake. This seeks to remedy all that.

Waterfont Loop When the Waterfront line was originally built in the 90's, it was supposed to turn back south through downtown and form a loop. I say, let's finish that loop. I suggest going down E. 18th. I know that might seem a little odd, but it neatly hits Playhouse Square and CSU. Then, turn it onto Prospect to hit the Q and the Progressive before taking it down into Tower City. The whole additional stretch here is elevated. I'm also separating this out more cleanly from the Blue/Green Lines and making it definitively its own thing. I see it operating two ways: One, with a regular, dedicated looping service. Second, taking advantage of interoperability to allow any other line hitting TC to add a loop through downtown on some service. For example, if the Red Line were running 6 times an hour, one or two of those would additionally run the whole downtown loop. You could get very, very high frequency on this loop by combining these two options, or even with just the second.

Green Line Expansion West It's time to make the Detroit Superior Bridge a subway bridge again. Currently, there are two inaccessible stations at either end of the bridge, and then a tunnel that runs along Detroit to W. 28th. I suggest connecting Tower City's lines underground to the bridge, renovating both bridge terminal stations, and, where the tunnel ends, bringing the line up out of the ground onto new elevated construction. There, it runs above Detroit until connecting into Cudell. Here we hit another theme of my proposal: lines connect far outside of Tower City. This provides a great deal of resiliency to the network as a whole. There's also an alternative option where, instead of going above Detroit, the line turns north immediately after the bridge to hit Whiskey Island and Edgewater, then connecting into Cudell. This would use current rail ROW that could either be taken from NS or built above with elevated rail. Either way, after Cudell, this continues on or over that rail through Lakewood, stopping near the edge with Rocky River. It could feasibly go over the river as well, but I'm only extending to inner ring suburbs here. Lakewood service seems absolutely mandatory to me given its density and linearity.

Purple Line This is the first of two proposed completely new lines. It comes off the Waterfront line/loop as a spur. It carries briefly along established rail ROW moving above St. Clair as elevated rail at E. 36th, by Tyler Village. It then runs entirely over St. Clair, stopping every half mile to a mile, until connecting to the Red Line's new St. Clair - W. 152nd station. Again, I'm focusing here on satellite redundancy, hitting underserved areas, and providing good access for students - this line connects to four separate high schools. Taking advantage of interoperability, these trains could continue north onto the Red Line's lakeward extension. This line also serves Asiatown, which is due for rail connection.

Yellow Line After Lakewood, Cleveland Heights is the most densely populated city in the state. It's a traditional street car suburb squeezed between RTA's current rail lines. I propose here a mostly street-running streetcar that would link Red, Green, and Blue lines. It hits CH's main cultural institutions, provides further connections for East Cleveland, and brings rail into underconnected Southeast Cleveland. Where possible, I'd be happy to see this as elevated rail, but I think this is one of the few areas where a streetcar is appropriate (even if it's in mixed traffic for most of its time on Lee). This hits CH and SH high schools. It unlocks a huge variety of interoperability options: direct connections to downtown, a variety of looping east side services, massive system redundancy, etc.

So, that's my proposal. I think it's pretty good! Two new elevated rail lines, large elevated extensions of current routes, some streetcar service, tons of redundancy and interoperability, and expanded coverage that focuses on dense and/or underserved areas. I know this leaves the immediate south of the city with relatively little service, but I think this ultimately provides more value than southern lines. What's your input? What works, what doesn't? Is there any way that any portion of this is at all feasible, or am I living in a realm of pure fantasy?

I got caught up in this nonsense. Hopefully, we can get ODOT to pay out for the damage.

Woooooo

Big industrial consolidation (this time it's definitely different than the gilded age, though, pinky promise) may create a new skyscraper downtown?

As a member of FNB Cleveland I wanted to encourage other Clevelanders to donate if you can.

Anyone wanna buy a lighthouse?

Luna's getting a new location downtown! They make good stuff, should be a good fit. On W. 9th, edge of Warehouse/Flats.

Krish Harsh, dipshit liberal, is complaining here that 1/3 of the people who applied for this job were rejected. Can you name a single other job where 1/3 of applicants being rejected would be seen as needlessly strict? It shows that the standard thought process is simply to get as many violent thugs on the street with guns and badges as possible so they can uphold the violence upon with American class society rests. I appreciate the city's restraint here and the reduction in cops in the street it has lead to.We are all safer with fewer cops on the street.

Tawana, a resident of Woodhill Estates, works out every day. She makes an effort to provide her grandchildren with nutritious options but finds it challenging because there aren’t many healthy options in the nearby businesses. She does make use of the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) mobile pantry, which brings fruits and vegetables to Woodhill Estates once a month. But that’s just one day. When you’re fighting to pay for your daily expenditures and get through the week, she says, it’s difficult to grab a bus to get to the closest grocery store – Simon’s Supermarket on Buckeye Road, over a mile away.

As Dan Gilbert’s real estate firm gets ready to roll out the details of phase one of its riverfront development, a neighboring fixture on the banks of the Cuyahoga River since 1894 may not be around much longer. The long-closed Cleveland Thermal steam heating plant, 2274 Canal Rd., along with possibly other properties of Cleveland Thermal Generation LLC are in the process of being acquired, according to a real estate source.

It would take someone with deep pockets to acquire those properties for cash. And the prize property is the Canal Road plant that’s located next to a development hot zone. The plant is closed, rusting away and an eyesore — not something that’s befitting the $3.5 billion vision Gilbert and his Detroit-based Bedrock Real Estate have for the neighboring riverfront below Tower City Center. Demolishing the Canal Road plant would require significant clean-up costs, but it would allow Bedrock to start anew here.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/305178

We hear the jokes, yes, but

Cleveland:

-Has a metro
-Has a good BRT system
-Has a great history of manufacturing and industry
-Never fully got rid of their streetcars and converted the last two lines to light rail
-Has what looks to be pretty affordable housing
-Has this dope-ass arcade and many other cool architectural features

Cleveland was once a very large industrial powerhouse, and capitalist disinvestment in the city has devastated some parts of it to a huge degree. That cannot be overlooked. But the city has now become a smaller city with big-city features and history. Big shoutout to Cleveland! Go check out https://hexbear.net/c/cleveland@midwest.social for more Cleveland content.

Since the end of 2019, the Woodhill Community Co-op has held free laundry days and community care pop-up events, distributing laundry supplies, masks, and household products to neighbors. This week, the co-op is holding its first conference to raise funds for its long-term goal of starting a cooperatively owned laundromat, cafe, and gathering space in the Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood.

Funding for the Woodhill Co-op Conference came from a surprise $25,000 grant from the Saint Luke’s Foundation. The co-op voted on how to use the money, which was the largest sum it had ever received at one time. After deciding on a conference for educating and networking with the community, the co-op team members started organizing the event in January. The conference will be the co-op’s first event raising money for startup costs, Bulger said

A Parma real estate investor and his development team won conceptual approval yesterday from a local design review panel to convert the vacant, century-old Independent Order of Odd Fellows Temple at 3409 Broadview Rd. in the heart of Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood into loft-style apartments. The team will then refine their plans into more detail schematic designs for review by the Planning Commission’s citywide design-review committee prior to construction.

Two historic buildings are proposed to be torn down for a 16-story, mixed-use development in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, despite information that financing, including the use of air rights, for the high-rise is still being finalized.

Don't recognize any of the "best activist" nominees but it should be Mariah Crenshaw.

Best insta follow should be skrticx but not an option

Literally every "best neighborhood" option is on the west side because Scene is white as hell

Few other highlight votes because there's a million categories and I skipped most.

Antiques: All Things For You

Art Supply: Upcycle

Hobby and Games Store: Critical Hit

Dive Bar: Little Rose (awesome vegan food)

Then I mostly voted for vegan stuff and why the fuck is Townhall a candidate for best vegan restaurant? All the other candidates are fully vegan and extremely good but that place has meat all over the menu. Fuck the Georges.

Probably my favorite restaurant of all time. We used to go up to the West Side Market and go get lunch at Sokolowski's afterwards. I would totally fuck up a plate of their pierogis right now.