This page was published in 2009.
Some of its ideas are low cost, others are major projects. As of
January 2019, no
improvement on this list had been implemented!
Security
To change the widely held perception
that the Square is unsafe, it needs a greater police presence,
better lighting. more alarm boxes and more cameras. In its own interest,
Cleveland needs to
invest more and spend more.
Promotion
Aside from the North Union Farmers Market, a great boon
to the
Square, there has been a decline in large crowd events.
No problem there. Night-time events brought crowds to the Square
when parking was hard to find and the stores were
closed.
Here are some promotion possibilities:
-
Ads and promotions geared to
holidays such as Fathers Day and Mothers Day
-
Shaker Square gift certificates
-
Radio, television and internet
ads
-
Saturday
daytime promotions, each week for a different quadrant.
Greater traffic at one
store could lead to more business at nearby stores.
-
Early-bird dinners. Thousands of
older persons live around the Square, yet none of
its
restaurants offers an incentive for them to come
to dinner earlier.
Free Short Term Parking
Cleveland's parking meters, from Shaker Square to Kamm's
Corners on the far west side, do not offer free short term parking.
Changing the city code to give free short term parking would help
many of
its stores and restaurants.
In 2007 the 60 meters on Coral Company land all around the Square were changed to give 15 minutes free parking.
It was a boost. But in 2012 the rates were doubled and free short term
parking was removed from almost all meters.
More Parking
Shaker Heights helps local businesses
with free short-term parking and small parking lots. Cleveland Heights also offers
free short-term parking, much metered parking, plus parking structures at
Coventry Village and on Lee Road. Cleveland does
nothing!
How about it Cleveland? The
payback: collecting more from
sales, property and payroll taxes. Said differently: avoiding long-term declines in tax
collections.
"Hot Line" Phone Number
We
call 911 when we see something that needs
emergency response. But if we see
something on the Square that is messy, dangerous or broken,
there is no number
to
call. Each quadrant has
a directory of stores and restaurants. How about adding
a "hot line" number to these
directories?
Visitor and Living Center
There is a University Circle Visitor
& Circle Living Center, with a helpful staff, on Euclid
Avenue near Mayfield Road. A good idea for the Square.
Learn more.
Community Space
Indoor, day and
evening, year-round space can help build community. See
our page Public
Spaces and Community.
Merchants Association
Nearly all businesses on
the Square pay a monthly fee for promotion to the Coral
Company. We suggest that these funds be
controlled by the businesses, through their
merchants association, not by the property owner. There
will be more promotion, and when Shaker Square changes ownership,
its web presence
and promotions will continue.
Special Improvement District
A Special Improvement District (SID) is a way a defined
area can assess an additional tax on its property owners
and direct how those funds are spent. (Coventry Village
in Cleveland Heights is a SID.)
There was talk about an SID for the
Square in 2016, with no result.
Library Outpost
When this page was posted it had only nine suggestions. We invited visitors to submit a tenth. Here it is.
Have a branch of the Shaker Heights
Library at the Square. (The Shaker Square area, while in Cleveland,
is in the Shaker Heights
City School and Library District.
How that
happened.)
It need not be a big
commitment. For a start, a safe place to pick up and return
books, video and audio items would help. It
could be in a cooperating business or, even better, in
our hoped for indoor community space.
See you on the Square.
Arnold
Berger
August 8, 2009
updated
9/11, 7/13, 2/14, 4/14, 5/15, 8/18, 1/19 |