Thu 8/8 @ 5 – 9pm
By John Benson
Just as Clevelanders are divided as east and west siders, there’s another demarcation line of sorts in Northeast Ohio regarding the Rapid transit.
For those folks who take the red, green or blue line to work every day, there is very little excitement aside from the occasional freaky person sitting in front of them mumbling about the government, Bugs Bunny, iceberg lettuce and 1040 oil (amazingly in the same sentence).
Then there are suburbanites who view the Rapid transit as an exotic transportation conveyance that is equal parts novelty and time machine. The former because it’s reminiscent of shopping trips to Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, while the latter reminds them of trips downtown as a child where grandma would buy them freshly roasted nuts inside Tower City’s May Company.
Whatever the case, both perspectives are correct and somewhat the focus of All Aboard Ohio’s educational bar hop by rail transit “TOD on Tap” event taking place Thu 8/8. The affair begins at Shaker Square, where speakers Peter Rubin (President/CEO Coral Co.) and Maribeth Feke (Director, Planning & Programming, Greater Cleveland RTA) will be discussing Intesa, the new Little Italy/Mayfield Road University Circle station. From there, participants jump on the Rapid and visit the Flats East Bank before ending at Constantino’s Market. The gist of the evening will be exploring the idea of Transit Oriented Development (TOD).
Cool Cleveland talked to All Aboard Ohio Executive Director Ken Prendergast about the back-to-the-city movement and the future of the Rapid in Northeast Ohio.
Cool Cleveland: What exactly is the back-to-the-city movement and how does it affect Clevelanders?
Ken Prendergast: It’s a movement going on nationally and here in Cleveland. This has manifested itself in the downtown population but also some of the surrounding neighborhoods like Ohio City and Tremont and University Circle. What’s happening is a lot of young people aren’t as enthralled with cars as their parents and grandparents were. They’re looking for housing and lifestyles that are around transit and biking and walking. So we’re starting to see developments popping up around transit stations.
What exactly is the impetus behind “TOD on Tap?”
Because we’re a non-profit educational organization, we thought it would be interesting to show people from out of town or incoming college students or people who are already here by example what some of these transit-oriented developments are. A lot of young people leave Cleveland to go to other places that have this kind of lifestyle. We’re saying, “Look, we’ve already got this here, we’re going to have more of this and here’s some developments that are happening right now that we can physically show.”
For some folks who don’t live near a Rapid transit line, there’s a sense that city planners really dropped the ball by not incorporating rail lines in the southwest and southeast part of the greater Cleveland region. Your thoughts?
It is a familiar theme, and I think it’s a response of, “Where’s mine?” But I tend to believe we need to beef up the living offerings around the existing rail system. We have a 37-mile rail system – total route miles – and that’s actually a pretty decent size rail system. There are a lot of cities that would love to have a rail system that size. There are a lot of abandoned factories that have been demolished. Now that we’re moving into a post-industrial city, we’ve got to reactivate these lands around these stations and improve and energize the rail system again, which actually has its highest ridership since the ‘70s. It’s starting to happen but we need to do more. And once we have that core rebuilt, then I’d feel more comfortable about expanding outward.
Finally, what do you hope people take away from “TOD on Tap?”
I want people to have fun and come away energized and informed. Also, for them to understand there’s a different way of developing and living lifestyles than the big sprawling parking lot in front of your suburban apartment complex where you have to get in your car to drive across the street to go shopping. This is all part of illuminating a new way of living that is pretty common in places like Chicago, the East Coast and even the West Coast. So our ultimate goal is to show we can do this here and we’re doing it here.
Cost of “TOD on Tap” is $45. For more information, visit http://allaboardohio.org
Freelance writer John Benson spends most of his time writing for various papers throughout Northeast Ohio. When he’s not writing about music or entertainment, he can be found coaching his two boys in basketball, football and baseball or watching movies with his lovely wife, Maria. John also occasionally writes for CoolCleveland.com.
Shaker Square, Cleveland, OH 44120
16 Responses to “Join an Educational Bar Hop by Rail Transit”
John Davis
I’d like to see a rail line (light rail or trolly) down Superior or St. Claire that would snake down into N. Collinwood for the very purpose of developing and integrating some of these neighborhoods that the city does not appear to care much about. If we wait for development to occur in these areas prior to expanding, I’m afraid the expansion and the development will NEVER occur. You put in a rail system coupled with public and private investment, and we may be able to turn some of these areas around. I’d like to hear Mr. Prendergast’s thoughts on this.
SpaceArt
Got tooo little $,tooo much politico whoha baggage, a RESTRICTIVE gov financing mandate law coming to Columbus state house, tooo many old unneeded bldgs. built for OTEHR purposes in another era as JUST SOME of the ‘starters’ or NON starts…THIS stuff built when had press operators,telephone operators,keypunchers,etc.etc. I HATE to sound like some nagger but…FIGHTING lot of entrenched interests tooo… TIME will tell how effectivce MED MART to rest are. THINK about it…sit back…LOOK at the uproar went thru… NOW IMAGINE ANY politico or other TRYING to peddle ANYTHING…SERIOUSLY…nearly impossible… CRUCIFIED…personally believe whatever tax creds,other can hobble cobble together to do SOMETHING if viable… throw in racism to other stuff and well HEY…
BACK to reality land…. CANT find $ for pothole repair…AMTRACK HAS lost MEGA $40 bil plus,etc. and JD wants to do choo choo down some yesteryear lostland?! GOooood luck with THAT…
QUITE frankly rather see some $ come out of foundations,etc.and LEVEL WORST of wrecks,or MORE of the wrecks,etc.and start from there…LOT of it aint gonna come back…LIMITS as to YUPPIE GBLT thing toooo…I COULD be wrong but… LOT of our gig ALREADY INFLUENCED by lot of OUTSIDE FORCES, aka Huge mega Trizillion $ firms, certain high tech hubs …
CITY only has so much $ for pensions,cops,road repairs,etc.
QUITE frankly OTHER artsy hoods want to hang onto their gig… THOU lot of times ART itself IS least of it…SOMETHING on the wall of some NOW trendy place to be seen TAX WRITE OFF high dollar biz lunch crew…or other…cant level old wrecks,etc. fast enough to fling up some asphalt,stone parking lot or other…A WIN of sorts…CITY saves some $ cuz NOT babysitting ANOTHER parcel. Fun for B&E kiddies to bust out junk in the trunk and pawn said… auto glass guyz luv that…so does the city printing dept as they spit out those orange warning signs as THAT gets tacked up to anything stable enough for the weekend crew…
MEANTIME got survivors, and a ZOMBIE NATION style gig going on here… LITERALLY almost land of Freakonomics meets rest of it… ask old timers…literally like a Eastwoodesque EL Torino style moment… sitting out there watching all this go down..OR watching out SECOND OR THIRD FLOOR window at the crazycrap and pray stay safe n sane… BARRICADE the door…
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PS…I aint that firm or entity but gives one idea what goin on out here…
SpaceArt
Dear JC…NOT trying to be nasty BUT… SERIOUSLY…WHO is gonna ride THAT puppy which AINT gonna get built…MAKES for some nice BSy around the bar BS session but…BUT… OHIO rail thing was like PROJECTED to cost $6 B I L L I O N dollars… $6 BILLION…WHY I commented on AMTRACK…heck..RTA taking flack for FLATS redline WHICH technically makes SOME sense cuz got RED AND BLUE OUTERLINES going to burbs,etc. STUCK with it …this ‘connector’…
WHERE the blank gonna find THAT kind of $? SERIOUSLY…. yah HEAR talk of if offer up $1 homes and other and get X number of immigrants and all that… WHO for WHAT NON existing jobs WHERE to do HOW little… or if DO get some mini micro biz soo funky,esoteric out of the way,etc. THEY don’t need this mega BIL $ or mega million dollar line…
CINCINNATI…THEY took flack for THEIR wannabe line…COME on… what think this cookie cutter ape other things is gonna save us?! SERIOUSLY? FOr real?! ….
SpaceArt
BULLDOZE worst of it, creat praire/woodsy parkland,apply or get ecogreenie carbon tax cred which apply against EPA mandate, fling some wind turbines as supplement to good ol ReadyKillowatt for peak seasons and call it a day….
SpaceArt
GO ask port authority to rest if want to take on any projects… HOW many jailed,fired,subpeoanied, got bad reps, fined,transferred,demoted,’other’, commit suicide, etc. over all kinds of uproar…I GUESS SOMEONE HERE on THIS website has been ASLEEP in a cave….
SpaceArt
SEND some arsonist, do a controlled burn or controlled demo blowup, have a firetruck do cleanup with cop car tagging along, collect whatever salvageable metal left, say a last prayer and let it go…HATE to see it come to THIS BUT…. LISTEN…THIS stuff built,etc. when had MODEL As and NASH, STUDEBACKER,etc. WHOLE OTHER era… SPRARE the survivors…save lot of grief,$,etc. UNLESS game plan is to bankrupt city who is stuck with all this schlucko….
I FEEL for original owners or ANY owners…COME TO THIS!…. gads… STILL building out in BRUNSWICK,etc.ETC. NOT NEARLY same pace thou..SOME projects delayed for years..SOME for a DECADE PLUS… THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES bout LACK OF ANYTHING… by time THAT crew gets ITS college ed,etc. and …AND…
SpaceArt
QUESTION…got NGO nonprofits,governments,etc.out the tailpipe…got CMSD that has kiddies for like TEN YEARS or 12…and YET got this semi mess…HERE we are HOW many decades later…Ok so lot of changes,high cost oil,etc. GUESS a hi 5 for shale oil crew…SUSPECT this bizarre make work,wait for OTHER REAL deals to ‘deliver’…OR enough people die,move out and let banks,etc. deal with it all…GUESS a win THAT way toooo…
SpaceArt
PUT ANOTHER WAY…WOLSTEIN..HIM…instead of rehabbing WHTUEVER HE goes n builds this HUGE new bldg… part of the problem..sure good old IWA liked the work…THIS shuttle of dead concrete…good ol CLEVELANDTRUST/AMERITRUST was one the cuttable redribbon balloonfest launch moment darling tooo… I DONT have to go into THAT HUGE UGLY ULCER trip STILL LINGERING OVER IT ALL…. COUNTY STILL chasing good ol STAUBACH over assessor work and THEIR mega Million dollar fee deal… dynamite and dozers start looking cheap compared to THAT horrorshow….
NOW…with straight face TRY selling projects to V O T E R S….
SpaceArt
GRANT U is certain value to not having to muck with car oil changes,etc.etc. HOW many jobs like THAT…still jobs,etc.scattered anywhichway…LIMITS as to all this…FINALLY the job or whatever is located at X spot… HOW many banks,etc. are gonna muck with something like THIS?! SERIOUSLY… LISTEN..ONLY need soooo many janitors,hVAC,etc. for bldgs.,etc. so finally HOW many are gonna be riding busses,etc. FINALLY TALKIN RTA…. THEY need,want THIS like a hole in the head….
SpaceArt
EVEN LIMITS to medical industrial complex… put ANOTHER way…EVEN KEYBANK bldg. has space up for rent….
SpaceArt
COPS to rest…GONNA BE BUSY GUARDING THE JEWELS…UNIV.CIRLCE, MEDMART,casino….
SpaceArt
STICK with busses….
SpaceArt
got PT work, temp work, freelancers,spread out corporate gig, etc. BASICALLY saying got it all spread everywhere anytime doing anything ….NOW…gonna peddle some bizarre longdrawn out capital intensive lite rail gig? LOOK…HOUSING IS WHERE it is…NOT gonna have folks flooding BACK to whuteverland…CUZ factories to REST gone its like W H Y… WHAT is the point… maybe in perverse wigged out way NOW semi burbia or rural… TRY selling THAT to folks…RIghhhhht….good luck with THAT….
SpaceArt
PSYCHOLOGICALLY…folks burnt out…happy if can rehab bathroom.
SpaceArt
CANT even get folks to vote for RENEWAL levies…like pulling teeth..EVEN METROHEALTH issue was feared MAY get tarred with OTHER issues disdynamics and defeat(s)…. LISTEN…LIMITS to hipchic wannabe noveau Richie Yup Nirvana moment…HOW many of THEM are out there ready to snap all this up….GOT HOW many with bldgs. just in FLATS let alone rest of it… LIMITS as to urbanriun porn appeal…
I CAN understand allure…WHO wants to sit in a car freezing,burning up gas waiting for traffic to move in a blizzard…
SpaceArt
GOT MAJOR MEDICAL STICKING satellite campuses OUT in burbia!…hey..follow the markets,$…SOME doubts as to HOW good said satellites are but leave THAT alone… STILL a building boom on of sorts..guess ObamaCare aint scared them off..YET..THAT is a WHOLE other gendre and study…