Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Transit, Parking Lots, and Connectivity

Well, I must confess, revisting the plan for public art potential along the Euclid Corridor has me pretty giddy about the potential of this project to transform Euclid Avenue into a pedestrian friendly street that could very well become a magnet for people rather than an impediment. Take a fresh look here and try to re-envison your favorite Euclid intersection.

However, there appears much work to be done on creating pedestrian friendly (workers, school children, families, etc) linkages between the growing neighborhoods (flats, warehouse district, e.4th, gateway, playhouse/avenue district, & csu)
I recently took a look at the Greater Cleveland Partnership's new site including the "Living Here" section and followed a link to a "New Residents Guide" hosted by Cleveland.com.
Under "getting around" I think it's humorous that although RTA is first on the list, no map is displayed (maps being integral to mass transit) while the second item on the list, "downtown parking lots", displays a highly descriptive map of area parking complete with a spreadsheet of pricing. Which mode do you suppose the new resident who be lured to use?
And, from a planner's perspective, I think parking lot owners need to get together for the betterment of the city and consolidate lots into structured parking that sits on loop bus routes, which will soon masquerade as oldtime trolleys. While certainly not "real" trolleys, their visibility makes them the perfect vehicle for new residents and downtown workers alike.

And, how about a mention of RTA's beta TripPlanning Service? It is improving as it receives user input