Elements of Urbanism: Cleveland

Metro Jacksonville · August 21, 2009, 05:00:06 AM

Elements of Urbanism: Cleveland

Metro Jacksonville explores a waterfront city that has built its urban redevelopment scene around connectivity, adaptive reuse, and mass transit: Cleveland.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-aug-elements-of-urbanism-cleveland

jeh1980 · August 21, 2009, 05:02:48 AM

Maybe one day, we may build a Southern Rock Hall of Fame near the St. John's River!

Hurricane · August 21, 2009, 06:20:43 AM

Great article! Vey well put together. I love the light rail system. I also like how they played around with some very modern buildings. It's too bad Cleveland is in a down fall (losing population), hopefully they move here and we can start some new construction again...

zoo · August 21, 2009, 07:49:56 AM

Art, signage, use of historic fabric (structures) and the sidewalks creates a baseline of vibrancy that makes it attractive to key vibrancy element... people.

The sign ordinance needs to go, and Richard Clark should be ashamed if Art in Public Places trust goes un-managed and un-utlized.

vicupstate · August 21, 2009, 08:34:21 AM

It is truly amazing how vibrant and clean Cleveland looks. A rust-belt city has transformed itself while at the same time suffering a significant loss of population(which seems to have bottomed out). It makes Jacksonville's never-ending excuses look pretty pathetic by comparison.

thelakelander · August 21, 2009, 08:39:20 AM

Many debate which one comes first, the chicken or the egg. To a degree, they have to occur at the same time. There are still rough pockets in areas of the city but it has done a decent job of recreating and putting itself in position for the 21st century. The things accomplished so far despite their economic issues really does put local excuse making to shame.

copperfiend · August 21, 2009, 08:55:23 AM

I think city blew it when it came to the new baseball stadium and arena. They could have been catalysts.

copperfiend · August 21, 2009, 08:56:34 AM

Quote from: jeh1980 on August 21, 2009, 05:02:48 AM
Maybe one day, we may build a Southern Rock Hall of Fame near the St. John's River!

I've been preaching it for a long time. Imagine tying it in with a Freebird Live like they have at the beach.

Doctor_K · August 21, 2009, 09:05:42 AM

Thank you so much for this article. I was born and lived for a few years in Cleveland and while it's been a while since I've been there, a lot of it looks familiar. Gave me a twinge of the home-sickness. It's great to see the home town featured.

I agree with Vic and Lake in that C-Town has done a good job overall of transforming itself from a failing Rust-Belt city into something to be proud of. Jacksonville leadership can learn loads from each of the cities featured in these articles, and Cleveland is no exception.

Clevelanders are a proud bunch too - they're fiercely proud of their town and their teams... almost as intense as Pittsburgh sports fans!

Deuce · August 21, 2009, 09:19:24 AM

Great article, once again. I'm amazed with all the Elements of Urbanism articles that you guys still have major cities like Cleveland left to profile. Another year or so and you'll be profiling Kalamazoo, MI and Toledo, OH.

thelakelander · August 21, 2009, 09:25:56 AM

Lol, we've already done Toledo and the images for Kalamazoo were taken in early June. So its in the pipeline as well.

Clem1029 · August 21, 2009, 02:31:12 PM

Lake, this is a fantastic profile of Cleveland...as someone like Doctor_K describes, I'm very proud of my home town, and a writeup like this shows why we can be. Cleveland is often the butt of many jokes, but it's awesome to see it through the eyes of an outsider highlighting some of the great stuff it has going on.

Few other comments:
* East 4th Street looks better than I remember it - and I thought it was amazing just a few years ago! I've said it before, but I would LOVE to find something even remotely similar here in Jacksonville!
* You managed to get pictures of 3 of my favorite restaurants in the city - Pickwick and Frolic on E 4th, Mallorca in the Warehouse District, and Great Lakes Brewing Company in Ohio City. Have a chance to partake at any of those locations?
* Speaking of Great Lakes Brewing Company - I would love to see a regional microbrewery with a restaurant and banquet facilities that wins awards after awards here in Jacksonville (I wonder if Bold City will go in that direction eventually). Buddy of mine had his bachelor party there and I was looking for a comparable place here in Jax...no dice.
* I haven't seen it in action yet, but any read on how well the Euclid Corridor BRT system works?

Finally a comment on where the city is headed...I agree that they've done a great job in the last few years of positioning themselves for the future. That said, until the region fixes it's tax policies, economic redevelopment is a bit of a pipe dream. Between the state income tax, the regional income tax, and a significant sales tax, there's very little incentive for businesses to move to Cleveland. Part of that's a state problem, but combine a punishing corporate environment to a city that sees the sun for 4 months a year, and there's a reason why the region has seen such a population loss.

TPC · August 21, 2009, 02:47:12 PM

Wow, another great Elements of Urbanism.

I just watched an interview with Bask and B.Askew, two artists based out of Tampa and Bask said Cleveland is where he makes most of his art sales. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLIoNmuLVTg

Deuce · August 21, 2009, 03:23:16 PM

I missed the Toledo one!

avonjax · August 21, 2009, 03:23:58 PM

Quote from: zoo on August 21, 2009, 07:49:56 AM
Art, signage, use of historic fabric (structures) and the sidewalks creates a baseline of vibrancy that makes it attractive to key vibrancy element... people.

The sign ordinance needs to go, and Richard Clark should be ashamed if Art in Public Places trust goes un-managed and un-utlized.

I was thinking exactly the same thing!!!!