A Fancy Night Out

12/5/14 - Being in a long term relationship is an interesting experience to say the very least. They all sorta go through the same steps around the same times and follow a very familiar pattern. That's why I like to throw a game changing and life altering curve ball of dynamite in there every once in awhile and see how things shake out on the other side. Keeps it fun. Moving a country bumpkin from the Mennonite fields of Uniontown to the "big" city of Cleveland seems like something out of a bad remake of Green Acres written by one of the guys from "Soul Plane"... Cedric the Entertainer just woke up for reasons he doesn't understand feeling good about a wet dream he just had. See he's in a lot of bad remakes... and sequels... and movies... Anyways, other than her still working in Green 3-4 days a week after a stint of working 5-7 days a week in Medina, getting her hair done twice a month in Akron, visiting our families twice a month in Stark county, spending birthdays and holidays in the Canton area, and generally being disappointed in Christmas because we can't have 7 live trees in our house because we live in a half a duplex... she does lay her head down every night with me in Cleveland. She goes to the Cleveland Flea every chance she gets. She grabs Brewnuts whenever she wakes up in time on the weekends. She joined a gym up here in our neighborhood. She's gone to countless Cleveland sporting events with me. She shops at the West Side market and even Christmas shopped at Tower City. She eats out with me at Cleveland restaurants and shops at the little boutiques in our neighborhood. She invites everyone to come up and have fun with us in the big city even though few take us up on the offer. The point here is that she took an obvious bad situation for her and continues to try to make the best of it. She participates... and that makes me happy!

So when our 2 year anniversary rolled around I decided to do 3 wonderful things to show her how much I love her and how thankful I am that she doesn't bitch and complain about Cleveland every minute of everyday. One was to show her something fun and new. The second was to fulfill a weird need that she had deep in her soul. The third was to get her jewelry... I mean duh right.

Something Fun and New

Once we were ready, I had Uber pick us up and bring us to the Velvet Tango Room, Cleveland's most hip, stylish, and lavish bar... but to call it a "bar" is sort of a slap in the face. "Speakeasy" maybe? It's certainly a throwback to a better time. It has a club feel like you have to pay a monthly fee and wear its crest on your jacket in order to get in. It's not snooty though... it's deserving of respect.

When we walk in to this somewhat nondescript building in Duck Island, I didn't know what to expect really. I had heard stories of $18 drink minimums and dress codes and secret invitation only back rooms but had never really had a chance to feel like I was ready to enter until now. We were dressed nice and ready to have fun no matter what the cost though... well to a point. We took a deep breath and walked in. The bar area was very very nice and the table area was great too with it's living room setting on the one side. There was a cheese and bread plate and a Jazz duo playing in the back. Patrons varied in age and look but there were no bar bro's or shot skanks.

Your initial feelings of sticking out like a sore white trash thumb slowly faded away as the staff started to interact with us. Everyone working that night was polite and made it very clear that they were there to make sure we got the best drink and had a wonderful time. We had no doubt in our minds that they were looking out for us. We felt as if they were willing to throw an $18 cocktail down the sink and make us a new one, if we were even slightly dissatisfied. It was actually a pretty amazing feeling... especially after the whole Merwin's Wharf fiasco.

They have a large specialty cocktail menu with wine and liquors but no worries about trying to narrow it all down because the wait staff is there to help narrow it down for you. "Oh you like this basic drink? I can recommend these 2 which are similar but way better." That was similar to the conversation that our waitress had with Gina. She ended up getting a very tasty gin drink that I think had the word "lady" in it. I on the other hand needed no such help picking a drink. See every year just after Thanksgiving, a dormant part of my brain wakes up from it's drunkin' 11 month slumber to remind me, much to my surprise every frickin' year, that I love eggnog and it's time to go get some! This was the night that part of my brain woke up. "Oh shit I forgot how much I love eggnog!"... was exactly what I said. Oh and thank God that I did because this was homemade, honest to God, slap your mother eggnog. So good...

Gina and I enjoyed our drinks and had some complimentary cheese and crackers. We listened to the jazz band play and small talked while we took it all in. The senses were all getting just the right amount of attention. Nothing was too loud or bright or anything... all of the pieces fit together perfectly. It was like a spa day for the casual drinker with high end taste...

Then, once we were finished... THE BILL CAME. It was a celebration so I was OK with whatever came with it. It was what you had to do to have an enjoyable night especially when you only see each other fleetingly during the week. The most I've ever paid for a drink was for a $12 Red Bull and Vodka at a Casino in Windsor. No, it did not "give me wings". Think more of the scene from Deuce Bigalow where Norm MacDonald was the bartender. Anyways, yes the cocktails there are $18 to start BUT we somehow lucked out and showed up during Happy Hour where --- wait for it --- all drinks were 50% off!!! Holy shit! Celebrate good times come on!!! Here's the thing though... For the experience, I would have paid $18 for not only that drink but the cheese and crackers, the music, the ambiance, the comfort, the service, and the fact that there is a place like this in Cleveland where you don't have to be a member to get in. Anyone, even 2 schleps like us, can go in, order a delicious drink, and be treated like royalty.

There's a reason why this is the best bar in the city...

Fulfill a Weird Need Deep in Her Soul... Well Stomach.

For months, every time we make plans, Gina floats the idea of going Downtown to Red, the Steakhouse. For months, I've had to deflect these urges of hers. Why? Because A) It's not a grab some food on the go kinda place. It's the swanky new steakhouse in town. It's a get dressed up (OK, Ohio dressed up), invest your time, order appetizers, and ingest a steak that will put you into an erotic meat coma for the rest of the night. Oh and B) I needed to make sure that this was going to be her first time there... and it was a surprise... and she guessed it on the 2nd try while we were sitting at the VTR (Velvet Tango Room)... and I lied and said she was wrong. HA!

Red's is at the south end of East 4th Street which, if you can't be on it, is an awesome location. Lots of foot traffic, close to Gateway for the stadium crowd (and the RNC folks), close to the Casino for the gamblers, oh and right across the street from where the nuCLEus project is going up. They have a rooftop bar! That's like having a convertible version of your favorite sports car in this city. Their colors are red and black and if you knew me in the early 90's, go Falcons!... but only because of their colors and Deion Sanders. 

It had been a long time since I was at a proper steakhouse so I was practically drooling in Uber on the way there. I was like a large dog in any movie, just slobbering out the window on cars behind us. You know the Steak is gonna be good too, obviously, or it would be called like a "Salad Wedge" house or a "Soup and Bread sticks" house. I will admit though, in addition to a delicious steak, the appetizers and sides were not only large but the portion size was ridiculous! I got the shrimp which could have been prawns or fat american shrimp from Nebraska but they were huge. Oh and don't let the picture fool you, I ate about 4 before Gina had the idea to take a pic of some food porn. Gina got the 1/2 dozen raw oysters and was as amazed as I was to see how big they were! Now I can't say much for me but this girl gets oysters anywhere she can find them and in her 29 years on this earth she hadn't seen any that big. I know this because she said it like 18 times. Needless to say both apps were tasty and almost too filling. I recommend getting one to share unless you're ready to rock and roll like I was. Oh steakhouses, how I've missed you so.

Our next course was the main event and it didn't disappoint. The steaks came out perfectly cooked and seasoned and tasted great with A1!... HaHa just kidding... about the A1. These steaks were good. My bone in rib eye special, as you can see in the picture, was the size of a small Italian sedan and Gina's filet was not very wide but was twice as thick as mine.  As for the sides, the seasoned fries were very good and there were a lot of them. Think Greenhouse seasoning but not as garlic-y. The underdog winner of most surprisingly good food was the creamed spinach! This stuff was wonderful and easily the best I've ever had... which is out of like eating it 4-5 times in my life but don't let that sway you. It was good there at the table and good warmed up the next night on some chicken breast. Who knew? This course overall was impressive and flavorful. I sometimes make the mistake of thinking the bigger, the better with steak but Gina's packed just as much flavor, if not more, than mine did. I make the same recommendation with the sides as I do with the apps. Get one and share. They are big.

The cute little end to the meal that really put an exclamation point on the whole night was the free dessert and the "Happy Anniversary" that was written on the plate in chocolate. I can't say enough about our waiter who walked us through our orders and recommended some delicious food. He was attentive and friendly even though the place was full on a Friday night. Gina made sure everyone knew it too on the way out because he deserved the recognition. If the rest of their wait staff is half as good as he was, this place will be in good hands for a long time. Bravo to them and to Red the Steakhouse! It was a wonderful experience and all their acclaim is well deserved.

Get Her Jewelry

Thanks Avalon Jewelers! Don't buy jewelry from anyone before you check out Avalon first. I go to the one in Parma on Pearl Road and they are so nice and helpful. Click the pic to see a closer view of the necklace.

Happy Anniversary Honey...

Oh Cleveland, thanks for having awesome places to go. Goooooooooood night now! Hearts and thoughts they fade... fade away...

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How to Save a Supernova Mall

The city of Cleveland has little to no medium to high level retail shopping for a city its size. There are a few pockets of retail in Steelyard Commons and on West 117th but those are suburban Walmart and Target anchored developments. I'm talking about honest-to-god, Macy's-level, ground floor retail at the bottom of a tall building pushed right up to the sidewalk. Think the heyday of Halle's, Higbee's, and May Company... ya, we don't have any of that.

What do we know? Well suburban sprawl continues to destroy everything in its path... but has finally seemed to stop decimating the urban core from which it began. Don't get me wrong, the damage is done but now as 20-30 year olds move into the once abandoned city centers... they like totally need clothes and housewares and junk!

I know, big box stores seem as douchie to me as they seem to you but have you ever been to Chicago? The Magnificent mile is exactly that and North State Street is no slouch either. Their layout takes the urban mall that we all know and love, disassembles it, and puts it where it's supposed to be... up to the sidewalk and under business and residential. Yes, it was there long before suburban malls dotted our maps and no, I don't know why developers and planners didn't see it's wonderfulness and copy it over and over in big cities BUT... our focus in today's blog (like all of my blogs) is on Greater Cleveland and Greater Cleveland has its share of Suburban malls. Here are a few:

Mall	Distance from Public Square by Car
Crocker Park	21 mins
Legacy Village	29 mins
Great Northern Mall	28 mins
Beachwood Place	28 mins
Southpark Center	27 mins
Great Lakes Mall	27 mins
University Square	28 mins
Richmond Town Square	25 mins
Midway Mall	33 mins
The Shoppes at Parma	21 mins
Westgate Mall	16 mins
Severance Town Center	23 mins

Life Support Malls

Malls fall into a couple categories and when I was a teenager you were a vibrant hip mall if you had a Dillards, Kaufmans, and/or Sears. Now a days things are a little different. Of the malls above, most web sites agree that these ones are dying or in transition to becoming strip malls due to only having 1 or no anchor stores left. I call them Life Support Malls: Midway Mall, Parmatown Mall/Shoppes at Parma, Severance Town Center, Westgate Mall

Boy that's an eerie thought. The places where you used to hang out... where you went school shopping... where you went on dates... they're now on life support and are considered to be dying. What happened? Well just like urban sprawl (maybe even fueled by it) better malls opened up in safer and more accessible areas. The suburban mall model of indoor, temperature controlled shopping on an island surrounded by surface lots is failing. Now outdoor malls that model the abandoned urban centers of the good old days rule the mall landscape in this area. All the fun of urbanism minus all the crime, grit, and personality... oh and none of those scary ethnics!

The world is also a smaller place and where each city had their own big departments stores way back when (Even Louisville had Zwick's), there now exists a handful of affordable brands that serve as tent poles to hold up the whole mall industry. Even those are falling year by year as the online market place gets stronger and companies like Amazon find cheaper and easier ways to get you stuff. There really aren't enough stores to fill malls anymore. Don't believe me? Think of your favorite mall... now think of it without these stores... Radio Shack, Sears/K-mart, J.C. Penny, Barnes & Noble, Toys R Us, Christopher & Banks, Best Buy, Abercrombie & Fitch. There are going to be a couple of empty storefronts and possibly some huge abandoned buildings with even bigger parking lots... sooner than you think.

What do you move into a Best Buy or a J.C. Penny? There can only be so many Targets and Walmart's in the world and they are more than likely down the street from these now abandoned buildings. Hell they're probably what put these stores out of business anyways. As buildings sit empty and neglected, the mall scenery starts to change. A Halloween store only stops the bleeding for a month or so. Parking lots start to crack and grow grass. Lights go out and aren't replaced. Garbage doesn't get picked up. What about in the mall? Discount stores move into the storefronts to fill the vacancies but what type of people do they bring in? If there are 2 mortal enemies to the suburban mall... they are unpopularity and the poor. Those same factors are what pushed middle to upper class whites out of downtown's... why are malls any different? Nobody wants to see dirty abandon building and bus stops full of poor people around their suburban oasis. That's just the sad truth about people.

Dead Malls

Soooooo where do we go from here. Well since we all have cars, we go further away from our homes to the new mall! It's clean and has an Apple store and a Williams-Sonoma. It's safe looking. We let that old mall die like a once great sun that is ready to supernova. It's OK, we have kids to worry about... but as the old mall dies so does the area around it. Houses turn to rentals. Condo towers turn to section 8 housing. Tax revenue goes down and city services are cut -- including police. Less police means more crime. Large streets that once held traffic jams of cars during the holidays act as barbed wire fences between blocks. The sidewalks look desolate. There are now 2 areas you don't want to be caught dead in anymore. Downtown and the inner ring suburb where the mall used to be. Thank god those highways get me to and from an occasional sporting event without having to see the cancer that is slowly creeping outwards... towards me? Nah it'll never get to me.

Sounds a little overly dramatic huh? Ask your parents about Randall Park Mall, Rolling Acres Mall, Euclid Square Mall, or Canton Center Mall. Let them tell you the story about how they used to hang out there until May Company's became Kaufman's or that lady was mugged in the Woolworth's parking lot or the Theater opened up in the Valley. Now they're dead malls. Dead as in just sitting there empty. It's too expensive to demolish them since they're so large. The holding companies that ran them into the ground went bankrupt and they just fell through the cracks. Now they're the city's issue to deal with and cities don't have enough money to fix potholes let alone deal with dead malls. Acres and acres of land you can't do anything with. It's like a nuclear spill happened there and the first entity to blink has to pay to clean it up. So far... no one has blinked on these dead malls.

No matter the "why?" behind the issue, the reality is that 1/3 of the malls in greater Cleveland are dying...

How do we stop another mall from creating a concrete pock mark on another city in Greater Cleveland? Stay with me here as I'm going to daydream a bit...

Basic and Regional Downtown Fill-in

First, I'm going to give you my Downtown Retail wish list. Now we may not have the standing population downtown to support all of this new retail but we do bring in people for sporting events and plays and holidays and celebrations. Some of these are just basics like cell phone stores, tech, and clothing. Seriously, there's not much of it:

• Verizon - Honest to god Verizon. Not an over-priced "authorized" retailer
• AT&T - Same deal as Verizon
• Nike Store - For Lebron's return and Kyrie
• Reebok Store - For competition with Nike
• Brighton Collectibles - Not Pandora since Rossio Pfister sell it in the Galleria
• Apple Store - So hipsters can fill the streets when the new phones hit
• Microsoft Store - So we can watch Microsoft continue to try
• The Container Store - Columbus and Cinncy have 1
• Ikea - No one should be forced to drive to Pittsburgh for anything
• A Comic Book Store - We just need one!
• A Hipster Book Store - Somewhere where famous authors can stop to sign books
• The GAP - Because Gina gets a discount
• Chico's - Because older ladies need a place to shop too. Plus it makes me think of Super Troopers.

By adding these stores you start to fill in empty store fronts and give people somewhere to go to get some everyday basics without having to hop in a car. That's the whole point here. We live in dense urban areas so we don't have to drive everywhere. The whole world is at our finger tips.

Other places like Ikea are regional draws that will bring people into the city just to shop there. Then we got'em!

Pick a Target

Knowing now that there is a life cycle for malls that eventually ends in death with an outward rippling effect, we can jump the gun a bit and be a little proactive. For my example, based on it's location, age, and style, I'm going to use Great Northern Mall. Yes I know, it's decent now but when we compare it to it's west side neighbors, it doesn't really stack up. Let's take a quick look:

It's location comparable to SouthPark mall and Crocker Park.

• It's 17 mins away from Crocker Park
• It's 20 mins away from Southpark

It's the oldest of the 3 malls at 38 years old.

• Crocker Park 10 years old
• SouthPark 18 years old

It's theater has 10 screens including RPX

• Crocker Park's theater has 16 screens and includes Imax
• SouthPark's theater has 14 screens and includes RealD 3D

It's owned by Starwood Capital Group

• Crocker Park is owned by Robert L Stark Enterprises
• SouthPark is also owned by Starwood Capital Group

Great Northern Mall (orange diamond) is the odd man out on the West Side in my plan to move retail back to downtown Cleveland and save a soon to be dying mall. The yellow lines start at Public Square and end up at the major Greater Cleveland malls in the suburbs. The Purple lines show the closest dying malls (purple circles) to those major malls. Notice how in most cases they are closer to downtown. There is 1 dead mall (red circle with black X) that I point out on the map as well.

My thought is that before Great Northern Mall starts to lose more business to the younger and more hip malls in its area... we slowly downsize it until it's at the right size for it's location. Take it's viable stores that also exist at Crocker Park and SouthPark and move them to an area that needs them more... downtown... or University Circle depending on what we're talking about. This is going to be a slow transition as the population of Cleveland's core and it's popularity as a tourism destination grows.

And it all starts with one store... Macy's!

De-Cluster and Redistribute the Mall as You Know It

Remove Macy's from Great Northern and make it the retail anchor of a new downtown mixed use building. Build it on a surface lot right on public square like Higbee's or Halle's used to be. Make it 2 floors with parking underneath. Put floors of class A commercial and high scale residential on top. It doesn't need to be Key Tower big but make it tall... See what I did there? Macy's in a typical mall is just a 2 story building in the middle of a parking lot. Move it downtown and it becomes the retail anchor of a new skyscraper! 1 business can make a difference. It can change the skyline of a major city. It can entice people to move to the urban core again. It can change your perspective on life itself... ok it's not that powerful but you get my drift.

Greater Clevelanders, I promise you, you won't even know that it's gone! This move still leaves us a Macy's at Midway mall to the west which might help it limp along. One at SouthPark southwest of downtown and 2 on the east side. You still have your radius of stores around the greater Cleveland area but now people who live downtown have a choice and don't have to drive to get there. That puts less people on the highways for all of you who hate traffic jams!

Now I put way too much thought into this for it to be a small blog post about a pipe-dream. I'm just sayin'... I gots ideas! So now I'm going to lay out store by store how my plan to redistribute Great Northern is going to work. Not all of these are going to be great fits and it certainly shouldn't happen over night but I hope one day to look back on this post and brag to my kids about how smart their ole dad is!...was!

• Game Changer - May be the ground floor of a brand new building downtown or fill an historic space:
• Macy's - Downtown's only must have as far as big retail
• Anchor Department Stores - Move to already existing spaces downtown or in UC as 1st/1st and 2nd floor retail. Could sign on to fill spots in new buildings. Make sure footprint isn't unusable if store goes out of business.:
  
  • Dillard's - 1st floor (maybe 2nd too) existing retail space 
  • J.C. Penney - Consolidate remaining suburban locations to 1 location
  • Best Buy - Close store off 480 and explore a smaller urban footprint location
• Specialty Anchor Stores - Move to already existing medium sized 1st floor retail downtown or in UC:
• Dick's Sporting Goods
• Pier One Imports
• World Market
• Medium Stores - Move to already existing storefronts in Tower City, Arcades, or Galleria:

American Eagle Aeropostale Hollister Limited

Express Wet Seal H&M

• Small Stores - Move into already existing neighborhood storefronts or Steelyard:

Crazy 8 Charlotte Russe Deb

Spencer's Plato's Closet Ambiance

That's really all we'd want to move downtown or to UC. 20 stores that would (if positioned correctly) change the landscape of this city dramatically. Cleveland would now be equipped to services its citizens retail needs and not just its visitors. People will live downtown longer and possibly move into condos as opposed to apartments. Suburbanites would see familiar sights and start to become more comfortable with the idea of visiting and possibly living downtown. Urbanites will walk to the store and then back to their apartments making the city more 24/7. People can do all of their Christmas shopping downtown while enjoying the lights, horse drawn carriage rides, and Christmas decorations. More people + more businesses = more taxes = better schools, roads, services, and bridges. How about that word math!

Don't Worry North Olmsted. You'll Thank Me in 10 Years.

Part of my plan is to let some places be left behind as part of a smaller footprint mall at Great Northern. We're not burning it down and salting the earth. Rethink of it along the same lines of the Shoppes at Parma. Someone comes along and takes down some buildings and reinvests in a new, smaller mall vision. It's better than having Randall Park Mall sitting dead in the middle of your city, right? Seriously, go there and see how bad it is. At least we're being proactive. Also consider the neighboring cities. Everything is effected when a mall dies and nothing is done.

The next 3 places just aren't doing well at the moment and may not be willing to make a major change even though smaller urban stores may save their brands. We have to consider the success rate of places before we move them. One failed store for whatever reason could derail the whole plan. Especially when Cleveland has so many critics just foaming at the mouth waiting for any little mistake:

• Sears
• Toys R Us
• Christopher & Banks

These stores are already downtown or close enough to not make sense unless you want to move to a location in UC or over on West 117th:

Tower City already has: Dakota Watch Company FYE Foot Locker Journeys Shoe Dept The Children's Place Victoria's Secret LIDS Claire's Bath and Body Works GNC

Steelyard already has: Bath and Body Works GNC KAY Jewelers K&G Fashion Superstore Old Navy Rue 21 Home Depot Target

Ridgepark Square already has: TJ Maxx HH Gregg Value City Best Buy (Possible Move) Dress Barn

Payless ShoeSource is already at multiple points in the city too.

These stores already have competitors in or close to downtown. We don't want to punish already existing businesses:

• University Sports - Tower City has Playball Sports
• Yankee Candle - Tower City has White Barn Candle Co.
• Hallmark - Tower City has an American Greetings
• Finish Line - Tower City has Champs Sports
• Office Max - Staples are at multiple points in the city
• Pet Smart - Steelyard has PetCo
• JB Robinson Jewelers, Jared The Galleria of Jewelry, and Litman Jewelers - City has multiple jewelers
• LensCrafters - City has multiple vision centers
• The Vitamin Shoppe - GNC already at Tower City and Steelyard

These stores tried and failed already:

• Joann Etc - Closed Cleveland Locations
• Avenue - Closed at Steelyard
• Lane Bryant - Closed at Tower City (Surprisingly)

Well I know that this is just a Christmas Ale soaked dream and may never happen in my lifetime but it feels good getting it out onto paper... electronic paper. People are already moving downtown in droves which I guess is step 1 in this crazy thing. Once there are enough people, the retail will come. I'm just impatient so I made an argument to speed it up. I'll never make a dime off of this whole big idea I have. I think of things like this in my spare time for 2 reasons. 1) I live in Cleveland and struggle with these issues everyday. 2) I see opportunity in this city. Especially now when things are still cheap enough to make out like a bandit! Other cities have done it. Why can't we?

I Still Love Small Business

Please note that I am not in any way an expert in knowing all of the stores in Cleveland or the Greater Cleveland area. There may be places that I don't know about that fill these needs. Tell me in the comments and I'll check them out and make edits to this. I love small business and want them to succeed. In no way is this a way to push them out of the picture. I'd take a home made shoe store any day over a Payless. I feel big box in this scenario feeds a legitimate retail need that this city has AND it also serves my 2nd idea of preemptively closing a old mall before it dies. If you can fill that need instead then DO IT! I'll be your first customer and I'll stand out in the rain waiting for you to open.

Goodnight Cleveland well it's time to go! Ba-Ba-Da-Da-Bum! I hate to leave you but I really must say,Goodnight Cleveland, Goodnight! <3 U

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Holly Jolly CLEVmas!

11/30/2014 - It's that time of year again folks. Twinkling lights, Christmas Ale, leg lamps, and creepy elf dolls... it's officially Christmas time (since it's now after 12/1). Now you may know that I have a hate/hate relationship with the Christmas season since it has been decorated with most of the lowest moments in my life over the years... I speak of course from the glass half empty, 1st person, not able to see the big picture perspective. One thing I do enjoy doing during the holiday season is going downtown to see the lights and decorations. Last year was my first time doing this... well because I did indeed live under a rock... and I loved it!... not the rock. The lights. I think it's mainly because we get to add some color to an otherwise grey urban palate. Lights remind you of Time Square or Broadway and just make things festive. Plus it means Christmas is coming and you get presents! Spoken like a true child at heart, right?

I can't really say how long Cleveland's been doing the Winterfest/Tree-lighting thing downtown but I've heard and read that it's a heck of a fun time. And just like me in 2012, I've never actually been to Winterfest or to a Tree Lighting ceremony in person... but this year I did read lots of articles about it!:

http://www.cleveland.com/kristel/index.ssf/2014/11/watch_winterfest_tree-lighting.html#incart_river

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/11/lights_action_winterfest_shift.html#incart_river

http://www.cleveland.com/kristel/index.ssf/2014/11/2014_winterfest_lights_up_play.html#incart_river

Unfortunately I missed out on all of the fun but be sure that next year I will be attending this AND the Cleveland Air Show! Write it on your calendar in pen folks. Oh and if I die before those 2 things, one of you has to be in charge of taking my ashes to both. Promises are promises people.

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree! You aren't as big as you should be...

So because I missed Winterfest this year I had to make a special trip to take some pictures and see what Christmas in Playhouse Square looks like. No better way to travel on a November day where it was 60 degrees than on bikes! Zagster bikes to be exact. We rented them from the station next to Lincoln Park about 3 blocks from us. They were super easy to rent using the Zagster App and were basically brand new. $3 an hour and if you return it in under an hour, your ride is free! It comes with a lock, a front basket, and a back shelf thingy. Very convenient for when I make Gina ride it with me to get groceries from the West Side Market. It's an urbanist's dream come true! We rode out of Tremont and across the Lorain/Carnagie bridge. This bridge confuses me to no end... want to know why? IT'S UPHILL BOTH WAYS!!! How in the hell did the people who designed this bridge pull that off. It wasn't bad when I had all that beginner's endurance and strength but boy did it suck on the way home. Driving through downtown was kind of a breeze. We stayed in our bike lane and things were quiet for the most part. It was like 5 pm on a Sunday so it was in no way rush hour but you'll hear no complaints from me. A thuggy fella did long-honk his horn at Gina but I'm sure he was just saying "Hello" and not "Get the Hell out of the street"... maybe it was "Nice booty baby!"? If that's the case, I'm sure he was honking at me.

I'll have to say that when we got to Playhouse Square (which I love anyways), I fell in love with the glitz and twinkle of Christmas all over again. There were a lot of people like us there taking in the sites and enjoying the strange warm weather. The Christmas tree was in Star Plaza which was the logical place for it. It was medium sized for an outdoor decoration and covered... COVERED in lights. All of the other trees were decorated in lights as well as some of the iconic Playhouse Square sites. All of the holiday lighting mixed with the theater marquees and the GE Chandelier made this place feel like it could be the best place on earth to be at Christmas time. When the tree and decorations return to Public Square after it's renovated, Playhouse Square should consider doing their own tree and decorations from now on... if they don't already. It really is something that everyone should see.

I only added a few pictures because you should stop living vicariously through this blog and get down there to check it out for yourself! Bring your kids. Bring your parents and listen to their stories of going downtown at Christmas while you take it all in. There are no excuses for missing this!

After taking it all in we grabbed a bite to eat at Phuel cafe right there by the tree. Our food was great, healthy, and reasonably priced for the area! They have lot of veggie and gluten free options along with a variety of delicious drinks and smoothies. If you're lucky, you'll get our waitress too who was very nice and quite entertaining. I recommend stopping into Phuel if you are in the area... and you will be!!! Remember, no excuses!

This was an wonderful afternoon of firsts for me and I love those kind of days. First ride on a Zagster bike. First time riding a bike downtown. First time seeing Playhouse Square during Christmas time. First time seeing downtown lights with Gina. First time at Phuel Cafe. First time seeing Johnny football score a touchdown! Other than the loss, it was a good day!

Happy Holidays Cleveland!

Well Gina and I started at the Tremont Athletic Club on Monday so more to come about that. We've been to 2 Cavs games... both wins! Our 2 year anniversary is today (Friday) and I've got some fun in store for that but I'm not going to spoil it here today. I'm dressing a concrete goose on our porch in seasonal outfits and hiding a stupid elf named Sadie around our apartment. Oh the things you do for love huh? You know even though I have to keep her entertained like a kindergarten teacher some days, this whole experience wouldn't be the same without her. Well buenas noches land of the cleve! When it comes to cities, you are mi amor. >>>OUT!

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What I believe

First and foremost, I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Second and second most, I hope everyone is so full of turkey and gravy... and I guess cranberry sauce??? that all they have the energy to do is read good ole Sam's blog!... because I'm now speaking to literally 3 of you. Hi Gina, Kerry, and that one Google+ guy from eastern Europe who I see reads my posts but is only known as a stat on my stats page.

Now back to the show... A couple of posts ago (I just feel like I need to help) I made mention to a "list of what I believe" when it comes to rebuilding a strong urban core and fixing our broken suburbs. Lists (and in extension this blog) help me organize my thoughts. See I have tons of random ideas and I'm sure most of them are ridiculous but I don't want to lose any of them. Like for instance - I think you can build a large building in downtown Cleveland on Public Square and put a Macy's on the first 2 floors over underground parking and below class A business space and up-scale residential... and it will work! See the Marshall Field and Company Building in Chicago as a partial proof of concept. There's a growing population of people downtown and they need a place to shop for department store stuff and clothes that aren't t-shirts. It's a strong, well known brand and they have a presence in urban areas. They fill a retail void without squashing small business. Just make it the regional flagship store or something and demolish the one at Great Northern. That mall's gonna die in a few years anyway. More about that some other day.

So not that anyone cares but here's a outlined list of "what I believe" as promised:

• Per-acre, our downtowns have the potential to generate so much more public wealth than low-density subdivisions or massive malls by the highway. For all that revenue they bring in, downtowns cost considerably less to maintain in public services and infrastructure.
• Do anything you can to fix up underutilized buildings in an urban area, because that’s where your wealth comes from.
• Mixed-use high density developments will pay off the infrastructure investment (roads, water, sewer, etc…) and start creating tax revenue much faster than single use low density suburban subdivisions. In most cases those subdivisions can take decades to pay off the infrastructure investment since they produce a fraction of the tax revenue and involve more infrastructures since they occupy a lot more land.
• Business in the front. Parking in the back.
• Build up not out.
• By giving people transportation options, you empower them to incorporate transportation into their lives as they see fit. Communities of thought form based on these options and start to mold the fabric of the urban environments that they occupy and use. The financial benefits of alternate transportation options begin to become attainable thus adding to an individual’s buying power. This buying power takes the emphasis off of the automobile and puts it into arenas that better benefit the community such as home buying/improvement, entrepreneurship, local consumerism and an increase of each along alternate transit routes.
• Access
• Make transportation options available for everyone
• High, middle, and low class
• Handi-capable
• Residents and visitors
• Reactionary – Make sure these groups have access to multiple transportation options:
• Already established high concentrations of residential
• Already established mixed residential/retail
• City business center
• Entertainment districts
• Speculative – Support Transit Oriented Development:
• Along existing transportation corridors where multiple options exist
• Projects that include mixed use development and multiple transportation options in their plans
• Projects that include rehabbing/improving already existing secondary transportation options
• Comfort
• Security
• Security for all transportation options is top priority
• Make sure public perception of security exists and is positive
• Stops/lanes are in safe, well lit, and often patrolled areas
• Provide protection from weather and other traffic
• Ease of use
• Do not overcomplicate transportation options, maps, and/or payment options and amounts
• Provide clear and easy to follow instructions and general information at stops, in apps, and on the web
• Have in-person support when and where possible
• Convenience
• Make the transportation costs lower than parking/gas
• Supply alternate modes of transportation additional right of ways during congested times
• Provide bike racks close to events whenever possible
• Promotion of car-alternate transportation
• Environmental Impact
• Safety
• Efficiency/Speed
• Avoid traffic congestion before, during, and after big events
• Promote direct routes from high interest place to high interest place (ie Airport to Downtown)
• Avoid looking for parking
• Health Benefits
• Walking
• Cycling
• Fresh Air
• Financial Benefits
• Alternative to high gas prices
• Alternative to high parking costs and tickets
• Better Urban Environments
• Overall Cost Effectiveness (taxes)
• Walkability
• Safety
• Find out from the existing business base what it is that government can do to increase their number of employees by 1.
• Instead of only rewarding new businesses for moving to your city, reward businesses that have stayed in the city, especially if recent times have been tough.
• The possibility of receiving common requests/complaints allows you to:
• Make multiple existing businesses happier with minimal effort
• Show other businesses outside of your city that you can take care of common roadblocks that they may also be dealing with
• Eliminate out of date and unnecessary governmental red tape
• Keeps your finger on the pulse of business community in your city
• Adds jobs
• Promote a business friendly environment
• Businesses from outside your city take notice
• Word of mouth from existing business owners is great promotion
• Promotes city loyalty and reduces the chance for business to move away
• Start and promote incubator programs
• Provides an easy path to small business and promotes collaboration between local businesses as a support mechanism
• Small business incubation
• Make it a yearly competition to increase preparedness and possibility of success
• Predict the success rate of each applicant business
• Reward businesses that provide needed services
• Use current unused storefronts in decent areas as incubator space
• Have a graduated rent structure to promote early growth
• Provide high speed internet access
• Reward incubator businesses that decide to stay in the city/neighborhood
• Arts
• Diversify the type of artists in the program
• Offer low cost open work space and allow it to be creatively used
• Use current unused storefronts in decent areas as incubator art galleries
• Use artists on public works projects where necessary
• Promote public art projects as a form of city beautification
• Use group buying power to get better cost on supplies
• Find local companies and institutions to sponsor the programs and volunteer services
• Marketing
• Banking support
• Financial programs
• Educational opportunities
• Networking
• Past incubator businesses/artists
• Have the 2 programs work together
• Arts can provide decorating, marketing, branding, etc…
• Businesses can provide storefronts, promotion, performance space, etc...
• Support small, incremental investments over a long period of time. Make sure that they are high return investments that build community wealth and prosperity. [Strong towns approach]
• Easily falls within the city’s budget
• Plays to the strengths of the community
• Engages citizens and neighborhoods to discern what the pressing needs are
• Quick results with a small amount of energy
• More bang for your buck
• Little to no long term financial liabilities
• Promote renewable energy and recycling
• A onetime investment for years of renewable energy
• Promotes cost savings and environmental awareness
• Shows forward and progressive thinking

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My Walk Downtown

11/10/2014 - Bank holidays... they're a pain when you need to go to the bank for one reason or another. I guess now-a-days though you can pretty much do anything from an ATM but you always seem to need to get a cashiers check on Arbor day or whatever crazy holidays banks celebrate. I can remember how much I envied bank and government workers for their generous amounts of days off while I had to go in to my healthcare job which pretty much involved me working on every holiday. Now however... I say nah nah na boo boo to all you poor schleps who had to work on Veteran's Day... oh and who lets a Tuesday holiday go by without also taking the Monday before it off. Not this guy! 4 day weekend!!!!

Luckily or unluckily (I guess depending on if you're married or not) Gina had to work 12 hour shifts on both days. Ya my running buddy -- who I drag downtown further away from her hot farmers on green mechanical monsters in the middle of nowhere listening to songs about beer and trucks -- wasn't around to bore to death with fun history stories about our fare city while she walks holes in her shoes from new billboard to new shop. I'm sure she was crushed.

As I popped up from the Flats, I got to see a little sign history... and in chronological order too. The Tower city sign doesn't really seem to point to anywhere anymore. It used to give you directions to the tower city parking lot way back when but I think that's gone now. I'm not sure why it was taken away but I remember going down there to park. It feels as if over the years the powers that be have slowly taken away any left turns on Ontario or West Huron. It's like it's the edge of the downtown world. Even as you walk you can't see down the hill to the river because of the overgrown brush behind the fence. It's the perfect boundary to keep you in and not interested in what's across the river or the nature that's calling you from below.

You can only really start seeing the flats once you get to Tower City. Now don't get me wrong, I see the point of view of the Tower City folks in that they want a beautiful view but the area between them and the river is PRIME REAL ESTATE!... and not for Casino Phase 2 unless it's part of a tall structure that includes condos, apartments, and retail. Like Macy's level retail. Big and universally accepted. Stop hiding it from everyone and let us enjoy the flats for more than the glorified parking lot that it is. Yes kids, that's 2 flats rants in a row! This one was a bit more tame. I'll stop now and continue on my walk.

I continued walking until I got to the "Welcome to Cleveland" sign. This is a newer sign but is only cool enough to be here I guess. It greats you as you get off of the highway and head to the casino or stadium parking garages. I think that hits a good percentage of traffic but there really should be about 7-8 more of these. Be proud of the city you are and make sure everyone knows it!...and greet surface road travelers as opposed to highway drivers who are just passing through. Their trip should be as dull and boring as possible in my opinion. That being said, put other signs here:

1. If there's one at the airport, I haven't seen it but it should be there
2. One on Clifton Blvd on the Lakewood border
3. One on Lorain as you cross the Rocky River
4. One on Lakeshore Blvd as you come in from Euclid
5. One on Euclid Ave as you come in from East Cleveland
6. One on Shaker Blvd as you come in from Shaker Heights
7. One on Broadway Ave as you come in from Garfield Heights
8. One on Pearl Rd as you come in from Parma

It's also kinda nice that this sign was here and this ad campaign was thought up before Lebron decided to come back. I really don't want the city to use the revenue generated by 1 man as a crutch especially when he could up and leave... again. We made our strides when he wasn't here and we should continue on that path as if he wasn't. I'll bet on a group over 1 man any day.

Oh and in case you forgot... Lebron plays here and there are 2-4 billboards downtown to remind you. I like Lebron. I really do. I didn't when he left and no matter what excuses are made and how much better he is this time around, I will always feel some sort of indifference when it comes to him. The thing that makes it worth it for me is that his story parallels many boomerangs who left after high school and returned later in life. They're good people too and they care about where ever it is they call home. They went and maybe took advantage of opportunities that they couldn't have taken on here. Good colleges, jobs, weather, etc... The fact is that for whatever reason they're back and ready to contribute to the well being of this city. I applaud that but keep in mind the biblical tale of the prodigal son... and how much I hate that story.

The other thing that miffs me is that Lebron's not from Cleveland and he and his people make that very well known. We hold him in the highest regard but when it comes down to it his highly publicized humanitarian efforts tend to happen outside of Cleveland. Don't get me wrong, Akron needs help too and it's great that he spend so much time and effort helping them. I'll say this... this is not an anti-Lebron paragraph. It's more of a "I wish that I had Jesse's girl" kinda paragraph. If "Jesse" was Akron and "girl" was some sort of local hero. Someone along the lines of Drew Carey but who had a business in the city and enough money to build condo's along the lakefront. Someone who championed our cause with some mega financial backing. Like Dan Gilbert is to Detroit or like Donald Trump is to New York or Warren Buffett is to Omaha... somewhere in middle America. 

In the second half of the 19th century and early in the 20th century all of these millionaire's (although none born here) lived in Cleveland and on the same street, Euclid Ave:

Families living along "Millionaire's Row" included those of John D. Rockefeller (during the period, 1868-84),^[2] Sylvester T. Everett, Isaac N. Pennock I (inventor of the first steel railway car in the US), arc lightinventor Charles F. Brush, George Worthington, Horace Weddell, Marcus Hanna, Ambrose Swasey, Amasa Stone, John Hay (personal secretary toAbraham Lincoln and Secretary of State under William McKinley), Jeptha Wade (Cleveland benefactor and founder of Western Union Telegraph),Alfred Atmore Pope (iron industrialist and art collector), Worthy S. Streator (railroad baron, coal mine developer, and founder of the city of Streator, Illinois), and Charles Lathrop Pack. Euclid Avenue's most infamous resident was con artist Cassie Chadwick, the wife of Leroy Chadwick, who was unaware that his wife was passing herself off to bankers as the illegitimate daughter of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.

-From Wikipedia

We must not be a city that produce's genius millionaires on the regular huh? There are wealthy people in Northeast Ohio who regularly donate to the universities, museums, hospitals, and charities located in Cleveland which is wonderful and helps us push forward into the future. Unfortunately they do it from Chagrin Falls, Bratenahl, and Gates Mills. I can't blame them though. Cleveland was a nightmare when they were growing up and just like I don't dare step foot into East Cleveland for any reason, those kinda things stick with you. Since I was questioned on the tone of my last post I'll say this... Thank God for all of the people who help this city continue to thrive and pull itself out of the 50 year depression that nearly destroyed it... I just hope that one day we have a hero.

I have been hearing some pretty wonderful things recently about the 5th Street Arcades so I made that my next stop... and boy am I glad I did. In cold winter cities like ours there is a lull in sales from sidewalk shops when the snow and the wind whip up. Back in the long long ago before suburban malls came along and exploited the laziness in everyone, someone had the brilliant idea to put a roof over the streets where the shops were. This means that you could shop at some of your favorite stores all year long without the fear of frostbite or losing a small child in a snow drift. A wonderful day indeed!... and then retail dried up in Cleveland leaving these beautiful reminders of our once glorious past abandoned and practically empty. Go Walmart.

Today these beauties are near capacity as downtown dips its toes into the retail waters again testing the market temperature. Currently it's lukewarm but getting warmer as small independent business and start-ups fill storefronts across the city and service a growing downtown population. Even though there's not a lot of big well known players there are a lot of designer, arts and crafts, and vintage out there right now and they are holding there own. 3 major factors that play into their success are:

1. A supportive city and a great business plan
2. Lack of any major competitive retail
3. A growing demographic of hipsters, millennials, and artists

The next great retail giants are out there and if this city continues to fully support small business, we may see some of our own grow into major players in their markets and industries. Lord knows we have the beautiful spaces like this to put them in as they grow. That's what's great about this time in Cleveland's history... potential and hope.

From the arcades I walked over to Public Square and was able to get a decent view of a press conference the county was having about some major projects around downtown. One of them was the nuCLEus project which is being put together by Stark Enterprises. The plan is to build a $250 - $350 million mixed use development in the space currently occupied by a surface parking lot and some run down buildings between E 4th St and The Q. It's the latest development plan in the list of great projects in Cleveland over the past 5 years but it's not Stark's 1st plan in downtown. Years ago there was a project that was put together by Stark that would have built a similar concept on the surface lots just Northwest of Public square. That plan unfortunately never materialized. You may not know Stark Enterprises by name (or get them confused with Stark Industries from the Marvel universe) but if you've ever shopped at Crocker Park or The Strip just outside of Belden Village, you have them to thank.

Towards the end of the press conference CEO Robert Stark stood up in front of the small group of us and basically said the words that are written on my heart for this city. He talked about what used to be and the recent strides that have been made. He reminisced about being a boy and loving to go downtown. He talked about the importance of mixed use development and its interaction with the sidewalks, streets, and people. He emphasized the need and demand for retail, residential, and class A commercial in downtown as it continues to grow and hover around 95% occupancy. He made sure that we understood why the county was a part of this public/private joint venture and that nothing gets done in today's economy without a buy in from multiple parties across lines that haven't traditionally been crossed. Finally he ramped up the rah-rah Cleveland talk in a Howard Dean type of way but made sure that the message was true. It touched the hometown fans in all of us and I hung on every word. I really did smile most of the time... well there was an old Asian lady who started screaming in here native language at County Executive Fitzgerald from the sidewalk. Her tone and the look on her face didn't really convey a positive message... but other than laughing at that for a brief moment, I smiled the whole time. I was inspired. Not that I didn't already but I believe that this will be a game changer and I trust the hands that are guiding it. It unfortunately won't be completed for the RNC in 2016 but like a true business man, Stark hopes to have the parking garage open and ready for the luxury automobiles that will fill our streets during that time. You gotta love a man with vision. 

Soon the Geis's and the Stark's of this city will become house hold names and forever be known as the people who helped rebuilt downtown. They will be remembered along side the Van Sweringen's and the Jacob's as people who saw the potential of downtown as a profit center and as a great city. I'm not naive, I know they're businessmen but they took a chance and that's what's memorable.

Once the speech was over I took a quick tour of the Soldiers and Sailors monument. Yes there's an inside and if you've never been in there... YOU ARE MISSING OUT! History buffs, this is a must see. It's beautiful and historical. The man who was working the door was very passionate about what the monument and museum were all about. Even if you had no clue what it was or what it was memorializing, he's there to help.

My last stop was to the casino. I'm still writing this blog so I didn't strike it rich. It was fun and relaxing though.

So in summary:

1. Take down the Tower City sign that points you to nowhere
2. Put up more welcome signs throughout the city
3. The shores of our river deserve to be more than parking lots
4. Plan a Christmas shopping day downtown and get your hands on some really unique and fun gifts
5. Get on the waiting list right now for the nuCLEus project
6. Check out the Soldiers and Sailor monument
7. Stop going to Mountaineer and start coming up and supporting your local casino
8. Love Cleveland and say goodnight

You may have missed these 3 previous posts SOOOOOO if you're bored, please check them out:

• Random Stuff This Week Post
• Chicago Part 1 - The Train Ride
• Chicago Part 2 - The Rivers

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