Send your letters to: Letters@CoolCleveland.com
On Cleveland being a college town (See Cleveland as college town here) Is Cleveland perceived as a college town? While there are many universities in NEO, I don’t think of it as a “college town” per se. I have lived, worked, and studied in 3 “college towns”: Athens, OH, Ann Arbor, MI, and Seatttle, WA (the University District located near University of Washington, specifically) and have actually spent a lot of time thinking about what characterizes college towns and why they are such nice places to live. Cleveland Heights and Little Italy feature some of the characterstics of college towns (density, walkability, businesses catering to a student population, café culture, proximity to CWRU). Neighborhoods like Tremont, Lakewood, Ohio City, and Cleveland Heights also feature some of these characteristics. It would be great to have a fully developed university community near Case. University Circle, amazing as it is, would only benefit from being more pedestrian-friendly and becoming culinary and shopping destination. I think of Coventry as being the closest thing to a college town “drag” in the Cleveland area historically. Though I am deeply concerned by its current status (many empty store fronts, a dwindling number of the interesting independent retail stores, no basic services like groceries, the closed movie theatre). I would love to see Coventry rebuilt to its previous bohemian glory of my 1980s youth. I have followed Bruce blog’s coverage of recent events on Coventry here. If anyone has uplifting news to report regarding plans for re-development of Coventry road, I sure would love to hear about it. My family and I are currently researching the possibility of returning to Cleveland from Seattle and are particularly interested in that neighborhood, among others. p.s. Yes, by all means Cleveland should consider replicating the Portland City Repair model! It gets rave reviews from Portlanders working on sustainibility issues.
from Cool Cleveland reader Carrie Lanza caroline_lanza@hotmail.com
On Cleveland Clinic's non-non-profit status (See Clinic suburban offices are not non-profit here) If the Beachwood and other Clinic facilities are actually profit making establishments posing as "non-profit" shouldn't Beachwood and the other cities enforce the non-profit status rather than squeeze millions of dollars out of the Clinic? This won't have any effect on the Clinic, they'll just raise their prices and the people who need the no-cost or low-cost care still won't be getting it. Sounds to me like the government in Beachwood is lining its pockets at the expense of the little guy again.
from Cool Cleveland reader Jack McGuane jmcguaneATworldnet.att.net
On Cleveland's uncollected taxes On November 1st the Plain Dealer published a list of thousands of people who have failed to pay their property taxes. According to the County Treasurer's office the total amount of uncollected property taxes approaches a billion dollars! Probably half of that is in Cleveland. I say, let's collect the taxes levied before passing new ones which just puts more burden on those who already pay.
from Cool Cleveland reader Mary Holmes mkhconATyahoo.com
On a signature bridge for Cleveland Just FYI, this is a letter I received today in response to an email I wrote to ODOT (in response to your article about the Innerbelt bridge two weeks ago). Thought you all might be interested.
from Cool Cleveland reader Beth Mastroianni bethyATsmastro.com
Dear Mr. Hebebrand, As a resident of West 14th St. (southern end) for the last 9 years, I am deeply concerned about the new Innerbelt design project coming up. I have high hopes. A useful AND dynamic bridge design would be a huge asset to downtown Cleveland and it's surrounding neighborhoods. I always look at the bridges at night and wonder how anyone can NOT think that Cleveland is a beautiful city with an amazing skyline. I am writing you in hopes that you will consider my voice as a resident of one of the areas that will be highly affected by the design, and as an artist who would love to see another beautiful bridge in this city. Please take your time making your decisions on this one, we've already waited this long...
Sincerely, Beth Mastroianni
Ms. Mastroianni, Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your comments and concerns. The City of Cleveland is the Ohio Department of Transportation’s decision-making partner regarding the reconstruction of the Cleveland Innerbelt which includes I-90 from the Innerbelt Curve south to the I-90/I-71 split. ODOT considers Cleveland to be its partner in this endeavor and has no intentions of making decisions without their input and consensus, as well as the input and support of the Greater Cleveland community at large. A broad-based advisory committee is currently overseeing the development of the overall Innerbelt reconstruction plan. The Cleveland Urban Core Projects Advisory Committee, co-chaired by Craig Hebebrand, ODOT Project Manager and Mark Ricchiuto, City of Cleveland Public Service Director, is comprised of community and city leaders and serves as an advisory body to ODOT. The Committee is guiding ODOT and the City through the next four steps of the ODOT Project Development Process (PDP), just as the original Innerbelt Scoping Committee served as the guiding authority during the first four steps of the process, starting in 1999. The PDP is a 14-step process which will culminate with construction. In regard to the Innerbelt Bridge, The Ohio Department of Transportation shares your belief that Cleveland deserves a bridge worthy of its rich history and befitting its skyline. Please be advised that the selection of a team to conduct a structure type study for the new bridge carrying I-90 over the Cuyahoga River Valley near downtown Cleveland is scheduled to begin on November 21, 2005 and is scheduled to conclude on December 12, 2005. The selection committee will include representatives from the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Federal Highway Administration and the Ohio Department of Transportation. The selection process is based on qualifications. Once selected, the successful team will develop for further consideration, a minimum of four structure types: truss, box girder, extradosed and cable-stayed. The Ohio Department of Transportation with its partner, the City of Cleveland, will then conduct a series of public meetings over the next year (2006) to gather public input on the various structure types being considered. With respect to alternative alignments for the new bridge, ODOT has previously considered alignments both upstream and downstream of the existing structure. The upstream (a.k.a. southern) alignment was fully considered prior to being removed from further consideration in June of 2005. Please note that the downstream (a.k.a. northern) alignment provides every opportunity to consider a full range of structure types for the new river crossing. It is important to note that throughout the Project Development Process, ODOT has hosted many large public meetings as well as hundreds of briefings to community and business groups. As the process continues, ODOT will continue to gather and weigh public opinion. The public may make comments via the project website (www.innerbelt.org), via ODOT’s web site (www.dot.state.oh.us), through the U.S. Mail (Innerbelt Project Manager, 5500 Transportation Blvd., Garfield Hts., OH 44125) and in person at any ODOT-hosted public meeting. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and concerns. Please be advised that next Public Meeting will be held from 4:30 PM to 8:30 PM on Thursday, November 17, 2005 at the Wolstein Center (formerly the Cleveland State University Convocation Center). Additional information will be available via the Innerbelt web site at www.innerbelt.org in conjunction with the upcoming public meeting. We will send you a link when the site has been updated.
From: Lora Hummer Lora.HummerATdot.state.oh.us, Forwarded by Craig Hebebrand craig.hebebrandATdot.state.oh.us (:divend:)