On: "Is Ohio City Growing Too Fast?"
Build baby build. The first thing they should do is get rid of all the project housing in Ohio City and send those people living there to East Cleveland. Any growth is better than no growth and the project housing developments prohibit high end residents from living phio city. Next idea would be more business friendly environment in downtown to attract more corporations to relocate. Lower taxes and rewards for relocation to cleveland would bring in some big ticket corporate names which means their employees would live nearby downtown. I know too many people who live in the burbs because their offices packed up from downtown and relocated to independence or tiedeman because of lower costs. It's time we run this city like a business.
—Jesse Bartholomew
Maybe OCI should really do their job and focus on all of Ohio City and not just the easy part of W 25th. Although the growth is great you look at it what do we really have on W 25th? A bunch of micro brews and bars with mediocre food? I really think Mitchell's is going to struggle. Other than Saturdays you think families are going to be on W 25th? How about getting some retail and botiques in the area.
OCI dropped the ball a few years ago when they could of applied for some Neighborhood Stabilization funds which would allowed for some homes to get rehabbed and made it a nice option for middle classed home buyers.
And how much gentrification can be done with 2 of the largest Section 8 housing developments in all of Ohio in the area?
—Steven Gordnoshka
The area around the west side market is absolutely booming, and there is a flurry of activity there pretty much anytime you go there. It's great to see that area doing so well, and I think it's a big point of pride for the city as well. I don't want to see us develop the area too fast, but at this point I wouldn't say the area is over-saturated to the point where this new building would ruin everything. And just because they are expensive condos doesn't mean that you're only going to get one race - thinking that way is racist and ignorant. That area is racing towards being overbuilt and over-saturated, but it's not there yet. And I do feel sorry for the people that have been there all their lives and now see it changing into something totally different that they don't like. At this point, though, I don't see what's changed going back to the way it was anytime soon, and I do think all the growth and development has overall been for the best for the area and for the city.
—Adam Hall
I think the last few paragraphs capture the unsaid feelings of a lot of residents. Community is a more valuable resource that luxury lofts, and it's unclear that the latter promotes the former. It's nice to see some eyesores cleaned up and made into something useful, but we have to be cautious that development doesn't kill the character of the neighborhood. I won't be sorry to see Market Square go, but it does pain me each time a community institution moves or dissolves only to be replaced with market rate condos. E.g., the YMCA, and WSCH. Will St. Pat's Club Building be the next to become apartments, once NWT moves to Detroit Shoreway?
—robertks
