With over 11 million visitors expected in downtown Cleveland this year (up from nine million last year), RTA officials sought last year to better connect the city's neighborhoods via public transportation. Their goal was to ensure that RTA is the transportation mode of choice for visitors to downtown. 

Six months ago, RTA was able to launch expanded, free shuttle service downtown on weeknights and weekends, thanks to $2.88 million in federal transit money and $720,000 in donations. The program is funded for the next three years.

Speaking at a downtown tour last week, RTA General Manager Joe Calabrese touted the trolley service as a huge success for downtown Cleveland that will enhance the visitor experience as the Global Health Innovation Center opens.

"RTA experienced five percent growth last year," he said. "We think downtown growth will help us. We want to make public transit a viable option for tourists."

As downtown experiences a so-called "parking crunch," Calabrese said that RTA is increasingly becoming the transportation mode of choice. Trolleys run until 11 p.m.

There are five lines: The C-line, which links the casino with the convention center; the L-line, which focuses on lakefront destinations; the NineTwelve line, which helps shuttle office workers from large garages to offices on E. 9th; the E-line on Euclid Avenue; and the B-line on Superior and Lakeside Avenues. Trolleys start at 7 a.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. on weekends, and they arrive every 10 minutes.

The trolleys also serve downtown's growing residential population, expected to swell from 11,000 to 14,000 as new apartment projects open in the next two years. Another benefit? Helping office workers get around downtown easily.


Source: Joe Calabrese
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Motorcycle enthusiasts who want to take to the open road for an afternoon will be able to rent a BMW motorcycle through Eagle Rider Cleveland BMW, starting April 1. The company, a spinoff of Sill’s Motor Sales on Brookpark Road, will rent out six BMW motorcycles in four models, including the new BMW scooter and BMW’s top-of-the-line model with all the bells and whistles.
 
Customers can rent the bikes for a day or longer, or even do a one-way rental and drop the motorcycle off at one of nearly 60 Eagle Rider locations across the country. Pamela Dengler, president of Sill’s and partner of the rental venture, decided to offer the rentals after seeing Cleveland visitors longing for a ride.
 
“My staff and I for the past four or five years noticed customers come in with a ‘motorcycle fix,’” Dengler explains. “They are here, usually visiting the Cleveland Clinic, and they have time on their hands and they’re motorcycle people. They come in because they want to see what we have and then ask, Can I rent one?"
 
Locals who are curious about the BMW brand also can experience the bikes for a lengthy test drive. “In our demo program, you can’t take it for an extended ride,” Dengler says. “Now they can take it for a weekend, a week, or a month to try it out. We see it as an enhancement to our sales.” Riders who no longer have their own bikes can get their fix in, too.
 
The only requirement is renters must have a motorcycle license. Rentals go for $119 to $230 a day, with discounts available for longer term rentals. Sill’s Motor Sales has 11 people on staff to help with the rental venture. Dengler says if all goes well, she will be hiring additional staff. 

 
Source: Pamela Dengler
Writer: Karin Connelly

During a recent address at the City Club of Cleveland, Joel Ratner of Neighborhood Progress Inc. touted recent success stories that the nonprofit has invested in, including a new home for The Intergenerational School underway at the Saint Luke's campus.

Ratner believes that even though Cleveland has been hard hit by the foreclosure crisis, the city can stabilize its population and begin to grow again through promoting thoughtful, equitable, synergistic development that helps everyone succeed.

"For a long time, there was a debate over whether it makes sense to invest in people or place," said Ratner. "However, we believe it should be people and place."

Ratner cited Pittsburgh as an example of a city whose population has been right-sized and has even begun to grow again in recent years.

As examples of why community development matters, Ratner presented statistics showing that neighborhoods where NPI invested heavily over the past decade not only fell less steeply in the recession, but are also coming back more quickly than others. He also believes that every Cleveland neighborhood can be successful.

Ratner touted the recently-announced Slavic Village Reclaim Project, which leverages private investment by Safeco Properties and Forest City to help rehab 2,000+ properties on 440 acres, as one example of innovative best practices.

He also cited NPI's partnership with the Key Bank Financial Education Center to help low-income residents build wealth through savings and investment programs. Through a possible merger with Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition and LiveCleveland, Ratner hopes to begin serving additional neighborhoods.


Source: Joel Ratner
Writer: Lee Chilcote

As part of the city's 10-year initiative Sustainable Cleveland 2019, 2013 is being called the Year of Advanced and Renewable Energy. Evidenced by measures big and small -- both civic and private -- Cleveland continues to inch toward becoming a "Green City on a Blue Lake."

This week, Ohio City Incorporated and Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization launched an unprecedented joint process to develop a streetscape plan for long-suffering Lorain Avenue.

The street, which runs through the heart of Cleveland's west side, was historically a bustling neighborhood retail corridor. Although it fell on hard times beginning in the 70s, it has recently drawn investment by entrepreneurs like Ian P.E. of Palookaville Chili and David Ellison of D.H. Ellison Architects.

The street's classic, character-filled architecture as well as investment by major players like St. Ignatius High School and Urban Community School have made it an attractive breeding ground for up-and-coming members of the creative class.

If this week's public meeting was any indication, neighborhood residents, businesses and stakeholders will have plenty of passionate opinions about the future of this main street. They won't hold back in sharing them, either.

A capacity crowd that showed up to the meeting at Urban Community School voiced concerns about on-street parking, bike lanes, retaining the mixed-use character of the street and ensuring that low-income residents are engaged.

Behnke Associates and Michael Baker Jr. Inc. have been hired to help develop a plan that will include "traffic analysis, utility and signage recommendations as well as cycling analysis, green infrastructure and complete streetscape treatments," according to a handout provided by OCI, DSCDO and the City of Cleveland.

Early signs indicate that the plan will be quite different from those developed for Detroit Avenue and West 25th Street. For one thing, Lorain Avenue is narrower than those streets, which will make it tougher to widen sidewalks and create dedicated bike lanes. Secondly, the street's tenants range from antique shops to manufacturing businesses, making it a distinct challenge to serve all of them.

Nonetheless, representatives of the city and both CDC's pledged to create an inclusive plan that could serve as a model for "complete and green streets" that incorporate all modes of transportation and minimize environmental impacts.

Want to voice your vision for Lorain? A survey will be available beginning March 11th on the OCI and DSCDO websites, and a workshop is scheduled for May 28th.


Source: OCI, DSCDO, City of Cleveland
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Nautical adventure awaits Cleveland youths this summer thanks to Project YESS (Youth Empowered to Succeed through Sailing), a program that allows local students to spend a week sailing and working on a 150-foot tall vessel.

The program, developed by the Rotary Club of Cleveland, is meant for high school students ages 13 to 17. Starting this year, teenagers will develop leadership and navigational proficiencies during a six-week land-based course. Graduates will then ply the Great Lakes aboard a tall ship, using the skills they learned to become a vital member of their on-board community. Lake-faring activities include reading charts, working in the galley and tying ropes.

"They are physically part of the crew,"  says Project YESS co-chair Anne Kelly. "All of them are sharing in responsibilities and duties from port to port."

The program started in 2010 in conjunction with the Tall Ships Festival. A group of volunteers help raise the $1,500-per-student fee, which includes curriculum materials, meals, and cost of berth. Students with strong leadership skills but who otherwise would not be able to afford the experience are targeted by Project YESS members.

"The kids hold each other accountable and teach one another to step up," Kelly says.

Project officials hope to bring the youth sailing camp experience to 35 students this year. Along with providing direction, confidence and a sense of community, the program can also open students’ eyes to the unique career opportunities that exist in the Great Lakes region, maintains Kelly.

To receive an application for the Project YESS 2013 class, email projectyess@yahoo.com. Applications must be mailed to the Rotary Club of Cleveland by March 15.

 
SOURCE: Anne Kelly
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

As the number of cyclists and pedestrians on the near west side grows and car traffic remains relatively flat, urban planners are giving several streets a "road diet" to make them friendlier for bikers and walkers while still accessible to drivers.

The result will be some of the city's first model green streets.

"We're starting to create all this connectivity," says Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone, who has helped push green initiatives through city hall, including the "complete and green streets" legislation that passed last year. "The city is realizing they have to accept and build out and incorporate all modes of transportation."

So what does a "road diet" look like? The recently-completed plan for W. 65th Street between Denison Avenue and the lakefront shows curb bumpouts with additional landscaping, striped sharrows for road riders, and a 10-foot-wide multimodal path for peds and cyclists who prefer not to ride in the street.

If the pretty pictures become a reality -- a process that will take several years and require an application to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency for millions in federal dollars -- it could result in a "healthier" street that better connects the investments happening in near west side neighborhoods.

"This is the main north-south thoroughfare between West Boulevard and W. 25th," says Zone. "We can build off the momentum we've created here. You'll eventually be able to bike from Edgewater Beach to the zoo via W. 65th."

Among the assets in the area, Zone cited the Gordon Square Arts District, the new Max Hayes High School scheduled to break ground this year, the EcoVillage, major employers and eight schools. The W. 65th project will cost about $6 million.

Most importantly, Zone says, streetscape projects like the W. 65th Street re-do make roads safer for kids who walk to school and families without access to a car.

Other green-street projects on the near west side include bike lanes on Detroit Avenue (which will be striped this spring), the planned Train Avenue corridor greenway, the creation of bike lanes on W. 41st and 44th streets in Ohio City (to be completed this year), a new streetscape for Denison Avenue (a few years away) and a planning process for Lorain Avenue (launching this month).

The West 65th Street corridor study was completed by Environmental Design Group, which has offices in both Cleveland and Akron.


Source: Matt Zone
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Will Tarter, Jr. stands out as a leader among Cleveland’s young professional community. As the charismatic head of the Cleveland Young Professional Senate, he champions causes and issues that impact this highly in-demand demographic, not to mention the long-term well-being of Cleveland.

For a number of years at the tail end of the 20th century, Greater Cleveland's public and private leaders attempted to pull the city up through ambitious marketing campaigns. For awhile it seemed to work. The national media began referring to Cleveland as the "Comeback City" in conjunction with the grand openings of ambitious projects like Tower City Center, Jacobs Field and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
 
But toward the end of the '90s a strange thing happened: The city, for all intents and purposes, stopped marketing itself.
 
Why?
 
"We began to believe our own press," says Rick Batyko, president of the Regional Marketing Alliance of Northeast Ohio, which conducts the Cleveland Plus campaign. And civic officials "moved on to other tasks and defunded marketing."
 
In essence, Northeast Ohio stopped telling its tale with the tale barely begun -- a rather large mistake in retrospect. "The underlying economy wasn't doing that well," Batyko says. "That's something you couldn't see in the skyline shots."
 
During the mid-2000s, the region's narrative thread was picked up by Cleveland Plus campaign. Established in 2005 -- with founding members that included Greater Cleveland Partnership, Positively Cleveland and Team NEO -- the organization champions Northeast Ohio as a culturally rich, yet affordable place to live.
 
Read the rest of the story here.

The Cleveland Hostel on W. 25th Street in Ohio City recently acquired a collection of eight bikes for rental purposes. It plans to offer daily rentals to visitors and locals who want to explore the city on two wheels come spring (or now, if you're a snow rider).

"We just got 'em a week and a half ago," says Mark Raymond, the Geneva native who opened Cleveland's first hostel last August. "The Akron Bike Club came up for the West Side Market Centennial on the Towpath, and they liked the hostel so much they donated these bikes."

The eight two-wheelers -- a mix of road bikes and cruisers -- are available for $15 per day if you're a hostel guest or $20 per day if you're not. The bikes are available during regular hostel hours: 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Renting bikes was always part of Raymond's plan, and he's excited to showcase his city to travelers who don't have a car or prefer to get around without one. In the past six months, he's hosted travelers from 40 countries around the globe.

The Cleveland Hostel has also hosted visiting artists and individuals affiliated with Cleveland Public Theatre, LAND Studio and other groups. Raymond already has the entire hostel booked by a group of Germans for the Gay Games in 2014.

The hostel is also open to Ohio City residents and the general public for event rentals and special events. Raymond will host bands on the second floor during Brite Winter Festival on Saturday, February 16th. He's even found a hidden market in Clevelanders looking for a place to crash during Ohio City outings.

"We've had a lot of people from the area stay here, especially around New Year's," he says. "They'll see a show, have dinner and then spend the night in the hostel."


Source: Mark Raymond
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Catanese Classic Seafood, a 30-year-old fish company that recently moved into the Flats, has reached agreements to purchase the entire catches of two local fishing crews that scour Lake Erie. That arrangement is likely to net more than 600,000 pounds of yellow perch alone next year -- as well as an additional 8 jobs.

About 15 years ago Nick Stevovich was experiencing the familiar burn in his legs from bike racing. He thought to himself, there has to be a better way to pedal a bicycle.

“I thought how do I overcome leg fatigue and still get the same performance,” he says. “About the same time I was rollerblading.” With that the idea for Motion Resolution was born.

Stevovich is developing an improved bike pedal that uses some of the concepts of rollerblading. “It changes the stroke cycle, has greater efficiencies and uses different muscles for greater speed,” he says. “It distributes the work of your legs a little more evenly, and the pedals stride in and out in a skating motion.”
 
Stevovich plans to market the pedal to tri-athletes and racing cyclists. “The pedals fit on any bike -- if you saw them you probably couldn’t tell the difference,” he says. “I’m hoping it changes the way people look at bike pedals.”
 
Working out of the Incubator at MAGNET, Stevovich recently received $25,000 from the Lorain County Community College Foundation Innovation Fund. He plans to use the money to develop additional prototypes and show proof of concept.
 
For now, Stevovich’s wife is working on marketing and a Kent State graduate student is writing her thesis on the bike pedal concept. He plans to show his product at a bike show in Las Vegas in September, and hopes to bring the pedals to market by 2014.

 
Source: Nick Stevovich
Writer: Karin Connelly

Nearly 100 years after it was first constructed, the Hope Memorial bridge, which is home to the famous Guardians of Transportation statues and connects downtown to Ohio City, is now considered to be "complete."

That's because a 14.5 foot protected bikeway just opened, making the street safer and more accessible for pedestrians and bicyclists who would prefer not to ride in the street. The $4.5 million investment is consistent with the city's new Complete and Green Streets law, which requires sustainable transportation options to be incorporated into new road projects.

"We really want to encourage more people to bike more often. Anytime you can create an environment where you can take kids out, you know it’s a safe place," says Jacob Van Sickle, Executive Director of the nonprofit group Bike Cleveland. "We're always advocating for infrastructure that makes biking as safe and stress-free as possible. To create a mode shift, that's where we need to be."

The Ohio Department of Transportation agreed to pay for the bikeway as well as bike-friendly enhancements to the Abbey Road bridge a few years ago. At the time, it was offered as a concession to multimodal transportation advocates who had pressed for bike lanes to be built on the new I-90 Innerbelt bridge.

The Carnegie-Ontario intersection also has been made safer for pedestrians and cyclists thanks to a new pathway along the bridge's northeast end. That pathway will lead cyclists and walkers to cross at Eagle Avenue. Finally, the Guardians of Transportation statues will also be lit at night as part of the roadway project.


Source: Jacob Van Sickle
Writer: Lee Chilcote