Flats development -- sounds positive
I am not a fan of publicly financed sports stadiums like the Cleveland Browns Stadium, at least when the public pays the majority of the costs only to essentially give the facility to a private business. That doesn't mean I oppose any public financing -- it's just that what is publicly financed ought to be, you know, public things.
That's what I like about
this plan to redevelop the East Bank of the Flats. It looks like public money will be spent "fixing, and possibly reconfiguring, streets and sidewalks, improving sewer systems and building a new, publicly owned riverfront boardwalk." These are all good things. Sure, they are going to enable Scott Wolstein to make a lot of money -- and that is a great thing. Afterall, if guys like Wolstein can't make money developing downtown, then the only thing getting developed downtown will be projects that are almost entirely tax-payer funded and, most likely, not going to be self-sufficient.
People younger than their mid-twenties probably don't remember this, but the East Bank of the Flats was the best thing about Cleveland for about 15 years. The place was great on night summer nights -- jammed with people, bars and restraunts all packed, boats docked up five-deep, and the various bridges lit up like Christmas trees. The fact that it all disintegrated is an indictment of the city leadership at the time (though I really don't know enough details to even guess who's to blame). But the life in the Warehouse District and the abundance of housing now being constructed make the East Bank a hugely attractive area. So in short, the area has the best location in the city, there continues to be more and more downtown residents, the area already has ample public transportation, and there's plenty of space for new development. Projects like this are what will invigorate downtown and the city.
That's what I like about
this plan to redevelop the East Bank of the Flats. It looks like public money will be spent "fixing, and possibly reconfiguring, streets and sidewalks, improving sewer systems and building a new, publicly owned riverfront boardwalk." These are all good things. Sure, they are going to enable Scott Wolstein to make a lot of money -- and that is a great thing. Afterall, if guys like Wolstein can't make money developing downtown, then the only thing getting developed downtown will be projects that are almost entirely tax-payer funded and, most likely, not going to be self-sufficient.
People younger than their mid-twenties probably don't remember this, but the East Bank of the Flats was the best thing about Cleveland for about 15 years. The place was great on night summer nights -- jammed with people, bars and restraunts all packed, boats docked up five-deep, and the various bridges lit up like Christmas trees. The fact that it all disintegrated is an indictment of the city leadership at the time (though I really don't know enough details to even guess who's to blame). But the life in the Warehouse District and the abundance of housing now being constructed make the East Bank a hugely attractive area. So in short, the area has the best location in the city, there continues to be more and more downtown residents, the area already has ample public transportation, and there's plenty of space for new development. Projects like this are what will invigorate downtown and the city.
posted by Michael @ 9:44 AM
2 Comments:
At 3:13 PM,
Anonymous said…
I remember when it was the rock. I am pretty amazed it fell apart so quickly. Cleveland needs the Flats area to be revitalized. A lot, and I mean A LOT, of my memories from college come from experiences I had down there.
At 12:29 PM,
Anonymous said…
The reason the Flats is in the prediciment of it's current condition, has a hell of a lot to do with police action. There a other factors of course, but who wants to drive down there, then have to make like a tuna running through a gauntlet of sharks just to avoid being hassled,arrested or nailed with a big fine. In it's heyday , people would drive from Pittsburg and Sandusky just to party in the flats. First they nailed all the boaters. Remember how it was so rockin when all the boats could just pull up after a day on the lake. Then they went for the cars. Then they wonder why there are no customers, what a bunch of Einstiens? When you criminalize partying, a fresh coat of paint and some new sewers won't bring people back. The drownings didn't help things, and those raids for underage drinking had setup written all over it.
Now they want to make it more family friendly. Well the family won't keep any entertaiment establishments afloat, the family doesn't drop $40 a person for a night in the flats. No, what this will be is boring Beachwood in dowtown Cleveland. You'll have a bunch of national chain retail stores that only idiots would want to live above. The suckers that fall for it , will have to deal with the flies and dead fish smell from the river. Wolstien will laugh all the way to bank, which is all he wanted all along. No, the flats was an engineered destruction, and the same ones that brought it to you , are the same ones that will act like heros when they raise the phoenix from the ashes, and you and I will get the bill. People will still run the gaunlet to hit the warehouse district(at least until they get their first DUI or red light camera ticket), but if people think this will be an extension of that, they are sorely mistaken. Rowdy partying and residential communities don't mix. It's clear they want downtown to be more like just another suburb. As for Steelyard commons, I shudder to think of those dead steelworkers, how they'd feel if they knew there were plans to replace their legendary former millsite with a non-union Walmart that sells plastic American flags made in China.
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