Roldo: Walking is Depressing in Downtown Cleveland
Roldo Bartimole wrote a blog in May that contrasts nicely with my last entry about downtown traffic counts 90 years ago. Titled
"Walking is Depressing in Downtown Cleveland," it reflects the feeling many of us who remember Cleveland's glory days when viewing Euclid Avenue, between CSU and Public Square. Let's hope the benefits of the Health Line kick in one of these days.
Labels: Cleveland history, Cleveland Ohio, Euclid Avenue, Health Line, Public Square, RTA, traffic counts
Historic Sidewalk Counts Downtown
In discussing the value of foot traffic (especially women) to ground floor retail outlets, County Auditor John A. Zangerle furnished some sample counts in his book
Principles of Real Estate Appraising, in 1924. Along the south side of Public Square, for example, he reported these counts: 25659 (1916), 24402 (1917), 20552 (1918), 24263 (1919), 28026 (1921), 30077 (1922), which were apparently from studies performed by the Cleveland Association of Building Owners. It would be interesting to look up the full set of data, determine just what these numbers mean exactly, and find out how many years were surveyed.
In 1924, when he was writing, the Cleveland Union Terminal project hadn't begun to focus more traffic on this side of Public Square, so these numbers should have greatly increased in the 1930s and '40s, depending upon the effects of the Depression and WWII.
But what I'd really be curious to know is what the same tallies for today would look like.
Labels: Cleveland history, Clevend Ohio, John A. Zangerle, pedestrians, traffic counts
