Getting your 2 cents ('Merican) counted on the 3C rail corridor

Ohio's 3C "Quick Start" Passenger Rail Plan Public Meeting
Wednesday, September 16th
Cleveland Airport Holiday Inn, 4181 W. 150th St., Cleveland.
4-7pm

With Ohio’s 3C “Quick Start” Passenger Rail Service, more than 60% of Ohio’s population will have increased travel options by 2011.

Trains, operating at up to 79 miles per hour in 2011 and up to 110 miles per hour in the future, will connect Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati, generating jobs and economic development along the way.

The service will be safe, efficient and cost effective, connecting Ohio to the nationally-prioritized Chicago Hub Network – all using federal stimulus dollars.

You can check also pay attention to the 3C "Quick Start" Passenger Rail website.

The Ohio Rail Development Commission has also put an online survey regarding the public's concerns and comments about the proposed 3C rail project. I highly suggest you take the time to get your opinion counted. You can also look at the bar graphs and see how the topics are fairing. Last time I checked there were 2592 people surveyed which in the scheme of things isn't that many.

PARK(ing) Day: Cleveland, 2009

September 18, 2009
Various(?) sites around the city

The Cleveland Chapter of Architecture for Humanity is partnering with Green City Blue Lake and the only member of LAUNCHcleveland who survived the great "freeze tag game of aught-8" in attempting to once again raise awareness that CITIES ARE MADE FOR PEOPLE.

Utilizing the international PARK(ing) Day craze and the power of the internets we are attempting to coordinate multiple "parks".

If you are interested in any way please fill out this Google online form. We will be (hopefully) mapping out the locations by early next week.

Right now we will have something around East 4th and Prospect and hope to support another park by Gordon Square in connection with the Rust Belt to Artist Belt conference/event/happening.

Feel free to pass this along and if you want. You can either drop by one of the parks or host your own. All we ask is that you let us know so we can map it so people in the neighborhood can know and drop by.

See you on the streets.

Lake Erie. Just sayin', don't take it for granted.

I remember when a friend visited me from KC, Missouri and we went to Headlands Beach (at the time I lived in Fairport Harbor). When I was in the KC he would get sick of me complaining about being "landlocked" and "missing the sound of waves crashing" and would inevitably shove me in his old Honda and we would go to one of the "lakes" that Missouri has to offer.

To me, if you can see the other side, it isn't a lake.

Well, that point was made pretty clear when my buddy first stepped onto the sand, squinted against the sun and pointed off to the horizon asking "So...what's over there?"

"Canada."

"Yeah, so this is a Lake."

Later on I would have a discussion with a research librarian about why the Great Lakes aren't considered inland seas. I don't remember the reason much anymore. I think it had to do with whether it let out into the ocean and was surrounded mostly by land (lake) as opposed to being salty due to ocean inlet access (sea) although there are exceptions.

Anyway, living on Lake Erie is pretty dang neat-o and it is probably the greatest resources Cleveland has. Going there is free, the view is usually pretty amazing and sometimes just sitting down and watching the world do its thing for a bit is exactly what any good doctor would order.

Yay, Cleveland
-end cheerleading

Detroit Ave. not quite as sexy as Euclid Ave.

I noticed these new articulated buses along bus line #26 about a week ago and tried in vain to capture the image of the articulated older style bus (not quite as fancy and streamlined as those new numbers cruising up and down Euclid Avenue, strutting like they own the place) on my cell phone but darned if those guys aren't too quick to capture. All the photos I have of them on my phone, and I have quite a few, are all cropped in strange places like the bus was streaking out of frame, which in essence it was.

Is this news? I don't know. Gas prices seem to be down and everyone and their mother got $4.5k to put down on some "fuel efficient" jobby (even though the mpg ratings aren't what I would consider efficient, most of the people I know have cars that were too efficient to qualify. Where is our cash money?) . Sure the ratings for walkable cities have been tied to Real Estate values and it is easier to walk when first traveling to an area by bus than by car (since you can hop back on the bus along your path instead of having to backtrack) but is GCRTA really that in tune? Especially as they are planning to cut Circulator Routes and raise fares?

I ask these questions because they haven't been addressed in the weekly RTA emails I get (but don't read too closely so maybe it WAS in there) and I would like to hear reasoning such as "strengthening the main corridor lines to service more people with more efficient vehicles that get not only better mileage but due to passenger capacity and layout can get more people off and on quicker so that funds can be shifted to bringing back heavily used circulators or routes that had to be changed/removed inconviencing the riders who most rely on GCRTA".

That is what I would like to hear or even read. Soon or something.

Electric Roller Disco Tech - Friday, Aug. 28th

Electric Roller Disco Tech
Friday, August 28th, 2009
Leff Electric building, 1163 East 40th St., Cleveland, 44114
7-10pm

...for a night of music, fun, dance and rolling -- all with a view of Lake Erie. Bring your roller skates, roller blades, and heelies. Don't have wheels? No problem. Just bring yourself and a desire to see an old space in a new light.

Electric Roller DiscoTech will include local art, DJs from Progressive Arts Alliance, dancing, a RetroPop Bar and a "wheel-in-theatre".

This event is a partnership between the Cleveland Executive Fellowship, Pop Up City and St. Clair Superior Development Corporation.

Rollerskating

Roll out on your skates, blades, and heelies!

Dancing

Progressive Arts Alliance spins retro music, featuring Disc Jockey Santina Protopapa.

Retro Pop Bar

Popping the tops off of your fizzy 80's favorites.

Outdoor Lounge

Take a break and get some fresh air as you relax in front of Leff Electric.

Wheel Art

Make a one-of-a-kind work of art with paint and wheels. 7-8pm.

Wheel-in Theatre

An 80's movie and popcorn at dusk.

Sunset

Over the downtown skyline, as seen from the West windows of Leff Electric.

Flyer - pdf