Lee Chilcote
Stories by: Lee Chilcote
Lee Chilcote is founder and editor of The Land. He is the author of the poetry chapbooks The Shape of Home and How to Live in Ruins. His writing has been published by Vanity Fair, Next City, Belt and many literary journals as well as in The Cleveland Neighborhood Guidebook, The Cleveland Anthology and A Race Anthology: Dispatches and Artifacts from a Segregated City. He is a founder and former executive director of Literary Cleveland. He lives in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood of Cleveland with his family.770 stories found; viewing page 22 of 39.
In the book Retrofitting Suburbia, authors Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson describe the need to retrofit new and old suburbs alike into sustainable, mixed-use areas that stem the tide of urban sprawl. Lakewood might be the region’s best example of that trend, with the city making moves to become more pedestrian and bike friendly while fostering a sense of place.
When the McDonald’s on Sloane Avenue in Lakewood closes this fall, it will be replaced by a considerably healthier happy meal option. The natural foods store Nature’s Bin will purchase the building and expand its catering operations there, hiring up to six new workers.
These new employees will be placed at Nature’s Bin through its owner, Cornucopis Inc., a nonprofit that prepares disabled individuals for the workforce by giving them real world experience... Read more >
These new employees will be placed at Nature’s Bin through its owner, Cornucopis Inc., a nonprofit that prepares disabled individuals for the workforce by giving them real world experience... Read more >
Downtown's growing base of residents and office employees, as well as the visitors coming into the city for the new Horseshoe Casino and other amenities, have spurred a mini restaurant boom here.
Many new venues are of the casual variety, offering tasty, reasonably-priced fare in a place where one would be as comfortable opening a laptop as wearing a tie.
The idea behind such fresh dining concepts is to cater to a gap in the downtown scene, which has plenty o... Read more >
Many new venues are of the casual variety, offering tasty, reasonably-priced fare in a place where one would be as comfortable opening a laptop as wearing a tie.
The idea behind such fresh dining concepts is to cater to a gap in the downtown scene, which has plenty o... Read more >
The Cleveland Carbon Fund has announced three grant awards totaling $15,000 for 2012, including an ambitious effort to increase the number of bike commuters in Cleveland, a backyard composting initiative in Tremont, and a project to make homes in the Central neighborhood more energy-efficient.
Bike Cleveland's project, Creating a Mode Shift, will provide riders with the tools, tips and advice on how to commute to work in Cleveland. The effort includes a commuter chall... Read more >
Bike Cleveland's project, Creating a Mode Shift, will provide riders with the tools, tips and advice on how to commute to work in Cleveland. The effort includes a commuter chall... Read more >
Santina Protopapa is a self-professed high school "band nerd" who learned about hip hop while organizing a Rock Hall conference, then used it as a launching bad to start her own arts nonprofit.
Ten years later, the Progressive Arts Alliance (PAA) serves more than 1,000 students across Northeast Ohio every week through hip hop arts education.
"Our students have really grown to be leaders through hip hop," says Protopapa, a percussionist and DJ ... Read more >
Ten years later, the Progressive Arts Alliance (PAA) serves more than 1,000 students across Northeast Ohio every week through hip hop arts education.
"Our students have really grown to be leaders through hip hop," says Protopapa, a percussionist and DJ ... Read more >
During Langston Hughes' heyday, African American theatre was "booming, expressive, avante garde and politically punching," says Anthony Elfonzia Nickerson-El of Project1Voice, a national group that aims to spark renewed interest in black theatre. "Hughes and his contemporaries were the conscience of the community."
Fast forward 80 years. Historically African American theatres continue to play an important role in exposing young people in urban area... Read more >
Fast forward 80 years. Historically African American theatres continue to play an important role in exposing young people in urban area... Read more >
668 Euclid Avenue, a downtown apartment building with a months-long waiting list for its popular refurbished apartments, recently welcomed a new coffee house and cafe that aims to be a community hub for residents who have chosen the city center.
Operator Mickey D'Angelo says he co-founded Nexus Cafe with Gateway Church of Downtown Cleveland to act as a "third place," those spaces outside of work and home that bring people together. There currently are few op... Read more >
Operator Mickey D'Angelo says he co-founded Nexus Cafe with Gateway Church of Downtown Cleveland to act as a "third place," those spaces outside of work and home that bring people together. There currently are few op... Read more >
When National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman toured Cleveland's arts districts last year, he blogged about how they were actively applying the principles of arts-based development and urban placemaking touted daily by the NEA.
Now ArtPlace, a creative placemaking initiative led by the NEA and others, has awarded Northeast Shores Development Corporation a $500,000 grant to engage local artists in creatively combating urban vacancy and foreclosure in Cl... Read more >
Now ArtPlace, a creative placemaking initiative led by the NEA and others, has awarded Northeast Shores Development Corporation a $500,000 grant to engage local artists in creatively combating urban vacancy and foreclosure in Cl... Read more >
Spice of Life, the umbrella group that includes a restaurant, catering company, and farm-to-table garden plots, is installing new raised beds and a high tunnel hoop house behind its restaurant and offices at W. 58th and Detroit Avenue to satisfy demand for local food in its operations.
"I like the idea of people being seated on the patio and seeing chefs pick herbs, go back to the kitchen and make things out of them," says chef and owner Ben Bebenroth, who also ... Read more >
"I like the idea of people being seated on the patio and seeing chefs pick herbs, go back to the kitchen and make things out of them," says chef and owner Ben Bebenroth, who also ... Read more >
Cleveland is nationally known as a brewing mecca. While established breweries like Great Lakes and Buckeye Brewing continue to expand, smaller startups are popping up in their shadows. Nourished by home-brewing clubs and finding strong models in Cleveland’s prize-winning breweries, many of these entrepreneurs started by brewing small batches in their basements or garages.
trails and greenways conference aims to set goals for regional trail system
When the Cleveland Clinic decided to expand its offices at the Independence Technology Center, it cited the nearby presence of the planned Hemlock Trail as one of the reasons behind its investment.
To Dave Linchek of the West Creek Preservation Committee, who has worked for years to make the Hemlock Trail a reality, that's further evidence that Northeast Ohio's trails and greenways not only add to our quality of life, but also enhance our bottom line.
Lin... Read more >
To Dave Linchek of the West Creek Preservation Committee, who has worked for years to make the Hemlock Trail a reality, that's further evidence that Northeast Ohio's trails and greenways not only add to our quality of life, but also enhance our bottom line.
Lin... Read more >
Megan Meister chuckles as she thinks of the unlikely collision of worlds involved in planting four eat-everything-in-sight goats in the midst of Stockyards -- a neighborhood that long ago shed its past as the home of the city's slaughterhouses.
Yet to Meister, the ebullient director of the Stockyards, Clark Fulton and Brooklyn Centre Community Development Organization, the area's new "Mow Goats" program is about the re-greening of the neighborhood, teach... Read more >
Yet to Meister, the ebullient director of the Stockyards, Clark Fulton and Brooklyn Centre Community Development Organization, the area's new "Mow Goats" program is about the re-greening of the neighborhood, teach... Read more >
Cleveland's original artisan bakery, Lucy's Sweet Surrender, has finished its move from Buckeye Road to a larger, better situated space in the former Chandler and Rudd building in Shaker Heights.
The new, 3,500-square-foot space features a small retail storefront that opens up to a bakery where visitors can watch the scratch baking process. The traditional Hungarian bakery, a dying breed that once thrived in Cleveland neighborhoods, intends to ramp up its retail b... Read more >
The new, 3,500-square-foot space features a small retail storefront that opens up to a bakery where visitors can watch the scratch baking process. The traditional Hungarian bakery, a dying breed that once thrived in Cleveland neighborhoods, intends to ramp up its retail b... Read more >
Kim Jenkins of Rising Star Coffee traded his job overseeing 110 scientists and engineers at Lockheed Martin in Florida to move to Spencer, Ohio, and launch a new coffee roaster in Cleveland.
Given his background in driving technological innovation, it comes as no surprise that his approach to roasting the best possible coffee beans is, well, innovative.
"Specialty grade coffee is the top half to one percent of coffee beans on the market, and that's all w... Read more >
Given his background in driving technological innovation, it comes as no surprise that his approach to roasting the best possible coffee beans is, well, innovative.
"Specialty grade coffee is the top half to one percent of coffee beans on the market, and that's all w... Read more >
Communities in Cuyahoga County are recycling about 50 percent of their waste on average, Diane Bickett, Executive Director of the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, told the audience at the recent Cleveland Composting and Recycling Forum.
Austin, Texas has an ambitious goal of reaching zero waste by 2040, which means reducing the amount of trash sent to landfills by 90 percent.
The question now becomes: How does our region advance those goals while encouraging... Read more >
Austin, Texas has an ambitious goal of reaching zero waste by 2040, which means reducing the amount of trash sent to landfills by 90 percent.
The question now becomes: How does our region advance those goals while encouraging... Read more >
Drivers traveling along I-90 near E. 55th could experience mild whiplash as they crane their necks to see the sheep grazing on the roadside this summer. It's not the most common sight along the lakefront, and the story behind it is no less unusual.
Michael Fleming first heard of the idea when he was studying Urban Planning at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. The mayor of Curitiba, Brazil had used sheep to mow the city's vast parkla... Read more >
Michael Fleming first heard of the idea when he was studying Urban Planning at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. The mayor of Curitiba, Brazil had used sheep to mow the city's vast parkla... Read more >
Technology, health care, food and rock and roll -- these are just a few of the industries flourishing in the eclectic Midtown neighborhood, its leaders told a sold out crowd at the Midtown Cleveland Inc. annual meeting at the InterContinental Hotel.
Key accomplishments within the past year include a successful lawsuit that stopped the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) from closing Innerbelt ramps until a study has been completed; breaking ground on several new proj... Read more >
Key accomplishments within the past year include a successful lawsuit that stopped the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) from closing Innerbelt ramps until a study has been completed; breaking ground on several new proj... Read more >
Christopher Busta-Peck first became interested in teaching others about Cleveland's architectural history when he developed summer history programs for kids as part of his job as a children's librarian.
Too fascinated to put the material down, he soon found himself enmeshed in creating a local history and preservation blog, Cleveland Area History, that has been called the voice of history and historic preservation in Northeast Ohio.
Part of what motivates... Read more >
Too fascinated to put the material down, he soon found himself enmeshed in creating a local history and preservation blog, Cleveland Area History, that has been called the voice of history and historic preservation in Northeast Ohio.
Part of what motivates... Read more >
When the Broadway Farmers Market in Slavic Village piloted a new program to offer a dollar-for-dollar match to Ohio Direction Card customers who purchase produce, it experienced a 191-percent increase in Direction Card sales in one year.
By offering incentives, the Produce Perks program helps to ensure that fresh, locally grown produce gets into low-income households where it's needed most. Many city residents do not have a grocery store with fresh produce within walk... Read more >
By offering incentives, the Produce Perks program helps to ensure that fresh, locally grown produce gets into low-income households where it's needed most. Many city residents do not have a grocery store with fresh produce within walk... Read more >
pink public art display brightens eastman reading garden at downtown library
The ordinary spaces that we walk through every day without noticing form, details or color can very often be transformed with simple changes that cause us to stop and look more closely at our surroundings.
Like pink. And lots of it.
A new art installation in the Eastman Reading Garden of the downtown Cleveland Public Library aims to transform viewers' perception of this quiet, reflective space by adding bold pink chairs and pink window coverings throughout th... Read more >
Like pink. And lots of it.
A new art installation in the Eastman Reading Garden of the downtown Cleveland Public Library aims to transform viewers' perception of this quiet, reflective space by adding bold pink chairs and pink window coverings throughout th... Read more >