Two weeks ago saw the second birthday of REALNEO. I started REALNEO in October, 2004, to provide “Regional Economic Action Links for North East Ohio” and implement for the region some exciting open source social networking technology. While the outcomes have not been entirely what I expected, and these years have in ways been rough, I've been thrilled to help drive and support some great developments in the community.

2nd Annual Distinguished Alumni Lecture in Art History

William H. Robinson (PhD, Case Western Reserve University, 1988)

Curator, Modern European Art, Cleveland Museum of Art

Adjunct Professor, Department of Art History & Art, Case Western Reserve University

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Humanitarian Interests: Anti-Slavery Activism in Concord, Massachusetts

a lecture presented by Case Western Reserve History Department and the American Studies Program

Robert A. Gross, Draper Professor of Early American History, University of Connecticut, Author of The Minutemen and Their World, Winner of the Bancroft Prize in American History.

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In 2020 - the year, and with such vision - what postcard do you want to send from your hometown of Cleveland... the "Cleveland of my Dreams" vision above, or the the toxic "Nightmare in Cleveland" reality planned for us by ODOT, below, which is planned to be worse than anyone ever imagined. By 2020, ODOT plans to blight the entire dream zone of the Cleveland Flats and the East and West banks of the Cuyahoga River Valley shown in these renderings, and surrounding neighborhoods, even worse than they and the port have blighted there today. By 2020, ODOT will have finished their slash of concrete and steel rendered in the nightmare reality below, destroying these opportunity zones as freeways have destroyed so much else in NEO. Read on to see how we may be able to make these mightmare visions dreamy, instead.

 

 

The rendering above is of the aerial footprint of the new westbound bridge to be built in Cleveland, for over $300 million, in a multiyear, disruptive, near $ billion construction nightmare, which will make life in Northeast Ohio pure hell for commuters and the Cleveland economy through 2012 and leave a massive, ugly scar across Cleveland's greatest asset - the Cuyahoga River Valley - forever. All that is pathetic, but not nearly as sad as the loss of development potential for Cleveland, the city, and the area of the Flats around the current and future bridge sites and on the east and west banks of the Flats and surrounding neighborhoods. Destroying that potential is the whole point of regional leadership creating this disastrous outcome... what could be better for sprawl-mongers than further destroying the urban core?

 In a heroic battle of a few people who care about the future of the NEO skyline against broad community apathy and complacency with inconsiderate authority, Plain Dealer Architecture Critic Steven Litt has written another installment in the continuing saga of ODOT against Cleveland - the billion dollar Innerbelt joke - now warning the public that today, 10/05/06, NEO leadership will narrow the possibilities of bad bridge designs from eight to three awful options. As Litt puts it, in the title of his article, "Dull design burns bridges to better future". And he goes on to explain why we aren't getting something better...

Cleveland Plain Dealer Architecture Critic Steven Litt is really stepping up to lead the march for a better designed Cleveland, as he has been the lone mainstream voice for intelligent redevelopment of the I-90 bridge and is the lone voice at all for saving the landmark Breuer Cleveland Trust Building on East 9th, between Euclid and Prospect, which for 15 years Jacobs demolished by neglect and now Cuyahoga County Commissioners want to demolish by force, all to build a replacement building for their offices, at great cost to taxpayers... this is the Jacobs Coast Guard Station fiasco X 1000, and community leaders are letting this one slide too.

I am very excited! I recently volunteered to become an Energy Ambassador at Case Western Reserve Univeristy, part of the Adopt a Building program. I will be adopting Mather House, the building where I work. Mather House is a  century old Gothic Revival former girls dorm  turned office building -- probably not the most energy efficient on campus. I suspect the most  significant improvements at Mather House will be directly related to changing the residents' behavior. I think I could be a good energy ambassador; I am always turning out lights, I go to great pains to recycle, I hate air conditioning and I walk rather than using the campus shuttle bus. But I am looking for suggestions as to how myself and the other residents of Mather House could really make a difference. Please post your ideas. I would also appreciate links to good energy conservation sites. The Adopt a Building program is just getting started. My first "Ambassador's" meeting will be next Wednesday. I will fill you in with more details late next week.

 I found the following very insightful commuting cost calculator via urban planner Scott Muscatello's cool "Cleveland vs. The World" blog. It takes into account much more than your $3.00 per gallon gas, as you'll see listed below - I don't drive to commute or own a car so I don't have these costs nor do I cost society for any of this... what about you... l commuting cost calculator?

If you live in Westlake and commute daily downtown (around 35 miles roundtrip), and tool around another 10 miles roundtrip per day (annual driving of around 16,500 miles) the cost to you and the world is around $20,000 per year. If you communte 100 miles roundtrip a day, like a friend of mine in Medina, and tool another 20 miles per day, you drive around 33,000 miles per year and the cost to all, including you is average $40,000. I can get RTA all day pases at $3 per day every day for around 36 years, for that. What does your car-based lifestyle cost you and society?

When I saw last week a preview for the Thursday, June 29, 2006, WVIZ "Ideas" program featured PD Arts and Architecture columnist Steven Litt and Cuyahoga County Planning Director Paul Alsenas discussing the state of ODOT's plans for a new bridge to replace the current I-90 span across the Cuyahoga River, I thought I was having déjà vu. Yes, this was an issue a year ago... even six months ago, but since then ODOT had so thoroughly railroaded the bridge and trench planning process through the public mind-space that it seemed all topics of discussion about this near $billion project had moved completely behind closed doors and forgotten. Well, it seems Litt and Alsenas have very different ideas about that, as they shared in an excellent "Ideas" this week, and as Litt writes at length in today's Plain Dealer. Be sure to read that article... and great work on Ideas, Steven and Paul!!! Read on...

I am really appreciative, this morning. After posting what was certainly the saddest news I can imagine, about the hardship my staff has suffered as a result of a lack of appreciation from my former business associate, Peter Holmes, I opened up this week's CoolCleveland and found that their crew had featured TWO postings from REALNEO. I am very touched and thankful to Thomas and his team for noticing REALNEO and taking an interest in the thoughts posted here - thank you. Please show appreciation back to CoolCleveland... if you are not a member, see what you've been missing... subscribe at CoolCleveland - all free - this is a real NEO must,  and send feedback to CoolCleveland letters at the links below, and supporting the upcoming CoolCleveland/Tech/Ingenuity party at Fat Fish Blue, July 13, and the Ingenuity Festival, as described below... but first, here's the nice write-up about REALNEO from CoolCleveland today, July 5, 2006:

 

while i'm sure the addition of a bike/ped lane(s) on the innerbelt bridge will certainly add to the cost, will it not also add to the quality of life here in NEO?

what is the cost of our quality of life?  the feds say 20% of the project cost...

 The following story with its links ran in CASE Daily (Case's online newpaper) today. Do feel like you have entrepreneurial genes? I think I do! Please post your thoughts
"Do genes influence who will be entrepreneurs?"

ABC News (Reuters), June 5, 2006
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2041245

The Northeast Ohio Area Coordination Agency's (NOACA) 7th Annual Summit, "Exploring Our Region's Potential," will be held Friday, June 9, 2006. The Summit will focus on transportation, economic development, and air and water quality issues in Northeast Ohio. Lee Fisher (D) and Representative Tom Raga (R), candidates for lieutenant governor, will present their plans for economic development in Ohio and the region. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. The Summit begins at 9:30 a.m. and runs to about 2 p.m.

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ODOT wants us to live with this for 20-50 more years - Afterwards replace it for over $1 Billion.  Why isn't anyone questioning this nonsense?

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When you look at the sites of all Wolstein Developers Diversified Realty projects they are low quality big box strip centers, located at major highway interchanges. In the case of the interchange above, the highway ramp off I-271 literally feeds right into the DDR WalMart development.

 

 

 

  From DDR Website at http://www.ddr.com/center_intro.php

 

Developers Diversified Realty currently owns and manages approximately 500 operating and development properties totaling approximately 113 million square feet of real estate in 44 states and Puerto Rico. Developers Diversified is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) operating as a fully integrated real estate company which acquires, develops, leases and manages shopping centers. To locate a Developers Diversified shopping center, choose the search option below to customize a search using your criteria or use our interactive map to browse all of Developers Diversified's shopping centers.

 

Driving into the Future: The Innerbelt Project

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Picked up from www.CoolCleveland.com :

Bridge & Subway Tour

Rare, twice-a-year tour of the lower level of the Veterans Memorial (Detroit-Superior) Bridge & Subway, conducted by the Cuyahoga County Engineer, on Sat 5/27 from 9AM - 3PM.

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The ODOT Cleveland Innerbelt Project's- Project Development Process (PDP) & Public Involvement Process (PIP) seem to be in limbo since the last public meeting on November 17, 2005.  ODOT's and City of Cleveland's PDP & PIP Schedule has not been followed and appears to be five (5) months behind schedule.  The "Alternatives Report" and the "Economic Impact Analysis" were scheduled to be completed in December 2005, for public review and comment.  THE REPORT AND ANALYSIS - DO NOT EXIST AT THIS TIME.  Even though the general public has been effectively removed from the public processes, a lot of activity has been going on since November 2005.  Below is a brief update on some of those activities.  Please visit www.neobridge.net to participate in this community discussion and to get the latest updates on OUR Cleveland Innerbelt Project.