Staying Engaged In Our Communities

I thought I was going to do a synopsis of my findings at the Transforming Cleveland community meetings, and at some point I will. But instead I find a need to do a different kind of post. How do we stop the 'disconnect' between government, the non profit development corporations and businesses and homeowners in our communities? It's not a new phenomenon.

The Planning Commission (and therefore Mayor Jackson and the rest of the City staff) seem to be doing a good job updating Cleveland's master plan and even initiating efforts that are moving some of these plans forward. Mayor Jackson had an aggressive Five Year CIP for Cleveland which he unveiled in January. Our individual neighborhood development corporations are working their butts off to make things happen and improve the communities they represent.

What I keep thinking - and what people continually said at the last meeting is: we like the plan, we've seen others, what is being done to move things forward? We need jobs, not more plans to figure out how to get jobs. We need schools that satisfy the communities so residents want to stay there and send their children there; we need community involvement. It's not an 'us' and 'them' situation.

There are many people working on the grassroots level to either be the squeaky wheel, or get projects completed. I keep going back to the schools. This may sound radical, but I wonder how things would go if we fired the School Boards and our schools became coops of the neighborhoods in which they reside. Some of the ideas brought out at the Saturday meeting at Gunning Recreation Center (by Robert Brown, the Planning Director), were interesting. Making some of Cleveland's schools magnets by expanding on the theme of 'specialty' schools. The School of the Arts already does that. Max Hayes does that. Now apparently there is a push for a school with a focus on teaching 'design.'

The discussion at both of the Connecting Cleveland meetings I attended was lively. A recap will follow, maybe even tomorrow. These meetings showed me that I can't afford to be disconnected, I have to be engaged, as others are, about what is happening in The City of Cleveland. Peace Out - 3C (photo property of Carole Cohen, 2007©)

Cleveland's West Side Home Sales February 2007: Part Two

These home sales stats are for two more 'sections' of Cleveland's West Side. They cover sales during February 2007, and they will be compared to sales for February 2006. This is Part Two. My previous post contains sales figures for the other two West Side areas of Cleveland.

The following home sale statistics include the Clark Metro, Tremont and Ohio City communities.

February 2007: 32 Homes Sold. They were on the market an average of 94 days. The Average Ask Price was $76,184 and the Average Sale Price was $71,487. The average price per square foot was $38/sq. ft.

February 2006: 33 Homes Sold. They were on the market an average of 103 days. The Average Ask Price was $80,053; the Average Sale Price was $80,586. The average price per square foot was $57.
*There are 641 homes or condos for sale in this area.


The last area for home sales I want to cover in this post includes the Old Brooklyn and South Hills neighborhoods.

February 2007: 27 Homes Sold. They were on the market an average of $87 days. The Average Ask Price was $90,163. The Average Sale Price was $87,310. That brings the average price per square foot to $65.

February 2006: 19 Homes Sold. They were on the market an average of 86 days. The Average Ask Price was $102,784 and the Average Sale Price was $98,171. The average price per square foot was $79.

* There are 236 homes/condos for sale as of today in this West Side area. Peace Out - 3C

Homes Sold February 2007 For Cleveland Ohio's West Side...Part One

It's the weekend, and February is history, so it must be time for sales stats. Here is information on the City of Cleveland West Side sales figures for February 2007 - and I am comparing them to February 2006 information. Our computer system breaks the areas up into four sections. I will do two sections here and two in the next post. The first section includes but is not limited to: Kamm's Corners, and homes South of Puritas and West of 130th.

February 2007: 21 Homes sold with an average time on the market of 100 days. Average Ask Price was $126,286, the Average Sale Price was $122,027. The Average Sale Price Per Square Foot was $85/sf.

February 2006: 17 Homes sold with an average time on market of 74 days. Average Ask Price was $109,199, the Average Sale Price was $105,041. That averaged out to $85/square foot.

The next area includes but is not limited to: the Baltic Road area, and homes between Lorain and Puritas.

February 2007: 28 Homes sold with an average time on the market of 78 days. Average Ask Price was $65,178, the Average Sale Price was $61,330. That comes to $49/square foot.

*There are 289 homes for sale right now in this area.

February 2006: 27 Homes sold and were on the market an average of 74 days. Average Ask Price was $71,962, the Average Sale Price was $68,860. That comes out to $50/square foot.

*There are 404 homes for sale in this area right now.

Transit Oriented Development at Cleveland's W. 25th and W. 65th Street RTA locations

Nothing seems more urgent to me than getting cars off the road. One reason why I am lobbying for The Cleveland Hub project. That can only happen of course if there is aggressive work to improve public transportation here. So I am mildly optimistic about some of the City plans. The Cleveland Planning Commission is designating two RTA stops in District Two as Transit Oriented Development centers. One is W. 65th Street's RTA stop (which excites me because it's a great location for it). W. 25th Street is the other west side location. There is a triangle of land available across the street from the RTA stop. W. 25th and Lorain is one of the City intersections with the most commuter cars passing through each day. Wouldn't it be great if some of that car fuel could get off the road because people moved to housing near the RTA stop.

This information is revealed at the Planning Commission's Connect Cleveland public meetings. There are still two more: St. Phillip and James Church on Bosworth tomorrow (Thursday) evening at 7PM and the last one at Gunning Recreation Center on Puritas Saturday March 3rd at 10:00 AM. If you have things you would like to say to your Planning Commission leaders, this is the place to do it! Peace Out - 3C

Dogs Welcome At Work

We are just not a stuffy real estate office. I am not sure I could work somewhere stuffy. One of the nicest things people do is bring their dogs for a visit. This is Manager Mark with his dog Pepper, who is a sweetheart. And very well behaved I might add. And dog visits are not just limited to colleagues. We have a few business owner neighbors and past clients who know we want them to stop in, when they are on the street with their pups. They say pets add years to your life. Since I don't have a pet at the moment, I consider dog friends like Pepper my 'rent a dogs.' So if you are in the neighborhood of the West Side Market with your pup, stop in, we will enjoy the visit -- and your pup might enjoy the dog treats. Peace Out - 3C

Volume of Homes Sold Nationally Rose 3% In January 2007

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported some statistics regarding January home sales. It's the good news and not so good news scenario. First the good news: the volume of homes sold rose 3 % in January 2007 - the largest monthly percentage increase in two years. These figures are for already existing or previously owned homes sold. Okay and now the other news: the median price of those homes sold in January dropped to $210,600 which is apparently a 3.1 percent drop in median sale prices from January 2006. So more homes sold, that means people are still buying, but it also means it's still a buyers market and prices for buyers are better than they were a year ago.

I think it also means if you have owned your home a while, you can probably still expect a nice return on your investment if you decide you want to move. However, if you bought recently and are not forced to sell (new job, relocating, etc) then please wait, it's probably not the best idea to list your home at the moment. I think my rule of thumb still holds: if you want to move, or have to move, list your home and price it well and it will sell.

Keep in mind, these are National statistics and as always, real estate is local. Peace Out - 3C

Connecting Cleveland Planning Commission Meetings: Ten Down Two to Go:

The Planning Commission has already been to ten Connecting Cleveland neighborhood meetings. That included one I attended tonight at the Urban Community School on Lorain Avenue. They did a presentation, and had plenty of time for Q & A from those of us in the audience. I'm going to do a broader post about the whole thing after going to at least one more neighborhood meeting. Maybe I will see you there? The next one is:

Thursday Night, March 1st at St. Philip and James Church on Bosworth 7:00 PM

and the last one is:

Saturday Morning, March 3rd at Gunning Recreation Center on Puritas Ave. 10:00 AM.

Seeing the presentation boards lined up around the room is reason enough to go; they outline transportation plans (an emerald bracelet bike path for example) mixed use development, too much to post here - just passing on mtg. information. Peace Out - 3C