Things that could be done to improve Cleveland? (Columbus, Cincinnati: where to stay, apartments)

[hillside]

Originally Posted by Cle440

Ill admit that Cleveland doesnt have the best rapid transit system in the country (even though it got that award..?) but still if you compare it to any other city thats the size of Cleveland, I think Cleveland has one of the best. The ridership also isnt that low I think they said it was 15th in the country? or something like that. At least were better than Detroit, and Buffalo which only has 1 rail that goes in a straight line, now thats a joke.

I will say this...Cleveland does seem to have a desire to have a decent transit system, unlike Detroit (who doesn't want rail at all), Buffalo, and Columbus. And you may be right. Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Minneapolis all have less than impressive systems, but Denver's is much better than most. The real problem is that almost all cities have, holistically, mediocre public transportation sans New York, Boston, Philly, D.C., Chicago and San Francisco.

[Traveler87]

Detroit doesn't even had RT. They only have the people mover downtown.

[sweetclimber]

Hi all, although I don't live in Cleveland, most of my relatives live in the area and I have visited numerous times. I hear them talking about high taxes and such as being a negative to the economy there. Also Cleveland should make even more use of it'e lake front, there is no reason why it can't become a destination like maybe Boston has. How about a harbour front area like Baltimore has? Cleveland has so much going for it I hope it comes back.

[TheProf]

Hillside, Cleveland's rapid transit may not stretch to every corner of the city, but Cleveland's a moderate density city/metro area with good freeways. For its size and density, Cleveland has one of the better rail systems in country (3 lines/5 branches for around 32 total miles); even better compared to Midwest cities. Right now, only 4 cities, including Cleveland, have rapid transit -- Minneapolis just built it's 1st line 2 years ago. For whatever reason -- maybe conservatism; maybe net population loss -- cities in this region seem indifferent to rail. Among Midwestern cities, Cleveland's one of the few where transit in general is even taken seriously by the locals. Look at Detroit, Indy, Milwaukee, Cincy, Columbus and KC. What are they waiting for?

What do you want Cleveland to build, BART? the DC Metro? And, yes, ridership is comparatively low for a downtown that has been struggling, but getting better -- and ridership is steadily increasing each year significantly. Feeder buses are well connected with rail here and Cleveland was the first to build a line connecting its major airport with downtown, a major asset to business travelers and locals, alike. ... Meanwhile Cleveland's about to open a 7 mile bus rapid transit line up Euclid Ave, the main street of the city. And plans are moving forward for studying a commuter rail to the Western suburbs. Just the other day, the Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland, announced plans to establish Amtrak service to the Big 3 C's; with Cleveland, eventually, becoming the Hub of a regional System connecting Pittsburgh, Detroit, Toronto and Chicago.

Hillside, there are things you can legit attack Cleveland for. Rail and mass transit, clearly is not one of them.

[BelieveInCleve]

There is no doubt that the city government has made a lot of bad decisions. The main problem is that the city has no money to do anything. I would rather have Cleveland build a lot of attractions and things fixing up the Lakefront then tearing down abandoned houses (There tearing down like 2,000 more this year out of around 45,000). There also spending so much money on lowering the crime rate and security, but I guess that needs to be done seeing the crime rate over the years. I think that getting more jobs and having a better education system will lower the crime rate by itself though.

Cleveland does have a pretty decent rapid transit sytem. I would like to see at least one more line added that goes along the Westside lakefront over to Lakewood and Rocky River since that is one of the densest areas of the Cleveland metro.

[TheProf]

^I'd rather see the Waterfront Rapid Line extended along the East Lakeshore and the (planned) West Shore commuter rail line extended west.

I agree, our govt has held the city back in many ways. Plus, our high roller developers are very conservative. Everybody kind of sits on their hands and waits for the other guy to move. I'll admit, this is changing a lot lately. Right now, we have 4 big downtown projects that have either just been finished or are underway: the amazing
E. 4th Street total adaptive re-use/rehab, the massive Stonebridge apartment/condos, the Avenue District and Flats East Bank. We keep hearing about Robt Stark's Warehouse District new development but, so far, like many Cleveland developers, he's being: plan, talk but wait/hold out your hand till the city underwrites you -- mind you, this being rated the poorest big city in America.... Still with such a growing downtown populace and more restaurants and entertainment, downtown is becoming pretty exciting...

... now all we need is: a major new convention center coupled with a really big hotel (like more than 700 rooms, for once) and a major anchor department store. At the moment, though headed in the right direction, downtown Cleveland lacks that 24-hour excitement other successful (ie Boston, Philly and, obviously, Chicago) downtowns have. On top of that, our Downtown isn't connected enough... All the hot areas are disconnected; like a number of separate islands separated by vast dead zones.

[CTownNative]

Really the major thing that Cleveland needs to do is improve its economy.And I think the city is already taking steps to do that.I would like to see the crime and poverty go down,but those things are problems that usually do effect cities.If you look at most of the crime and poverty stats for most United States cities,most of thier stats are high.So no,it can't be denied that Cleveland has some problems.But in the end I think there is far more positives in the area then negatives.I mean naturally there is going to be some negatives,no place is perfect.

[hillside]

Originally Posted by TheProf

Among Midwestern cities, Cleveland's one of the few where transit in general is even taken seriously by the locals. Look at Detroit, Indy, Milwaukee, Cincy, Columbus and KC. What are they waiting for?


Hillside, there are things you can legit attack Cleveland for. Rail and mass transit, clearly is not one of them.

Detroit doesn't have the money or the local support. It's Michigan, remember?

Milwaukee....nuff said

Cincinnati doesn't have the money or the state support...its Ohio, remember?

Columbus doesn't want rail

K.C. and Indy don't really care

This is not an attack. The thread says make suggestions on how to improve Cleveland. Better public transport improves Cleveland. Having a "decent" system isn't the same as having a "great" system. In a city with as much financial distress as Cleveland, it needs all the help it can get to compete with some other cities out there, including ones with lesser rail transit than even Cleveland.

[BelieveInCleve]

Cleveland has the least extra money of every city you mentioned on there (except maybe Detroit). The reason Cleveland has one is because it was built a while back when the city still had some money I think. Most the other midwest cities arent big enough or dense enough to even consider wasting money on RTA-like systems. Cincinnati was going to build a subway a while ago but I think they stopped and its now abandoned. I cant remember the reason why they stopped though, maybe it had to do with the city being too small or they ran out of money or something.

[TheProf]

hillside, I don't think you have a proper understanding what a decent or great system is. I would say, right now, Cleveland has close to a great transit system right now. You just don't build heavy rail (or even light rail) rapid transit out to farm lands in moderate density metro areas like Cleveland just because it looks nice. Like I said before, you don't build a 100-mile D.C. Metro in every city. Just because it has a pretty map with squiggly lines everywhere, doesn't mean 1-size fits all. For its size and density, Cleveland's transit system works quite well.