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 34 of 39.
Kate Dupuis moved from Bay Village to a condemned Queen Anne Victorian in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood of Cleveland nearly 20 years ago. Now she's fighting to save her adopted community from the ravages of neglect, disinvestment and the foreclosure crisis.
The near-west side neighborhood has been hard hit by the economic downturn and is littered with boarded-up, vacant properties. Yet Dupuis insists that it's worth salvaging -- and it can happen if residents are organiz... Read more >
The near-west side neighborhood has been hard hit by the economic downturn and is littered with boarded-up, vacant properties. Yet Dupuis insists that it's worth salvaging -- and it can happen if residents are organiz... Read more >
A group of residents in the Shaker Square-Larchmere community of Cleveland have organized the second Neighborhoods of Shaker Square Home Tour to promote the neighborhood's many amenities and raise funds for a legacy project in the community.
The home tour will take place on Saturday, September 17th from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. The event will highlight the neighborhood's varied housing stock, showcasing single-family and two-family homes, luxury condominiums and apartments.Read more >
The home tour will take place on Saturday, September 17th from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. The event will highlight the neighborhood's varied housing stock, showcasing single-family and two-family homes, luxury condominiums and apartments.
If community renewal can be spoken of as planting seeds for change, then count the Cudell neighborhood of Cleveland as a change-maker. The community recently won a free orchard from the Edy's Fruit Bars Communities Take Root program.
On August 30th, dozens of new fruit trees will be planted near W. 85th and Franklin Boulevard on vacant land that was recently home to dilapidated row houses.
According to Jeanette Toms, Special Programs Coordinator with the non... Read more >
On August 30th, dozens of new fruit trees will be planted near W. 85th and Franklin Boulevard on vacant land that was recently home to dilapidated row houses.
According to Jeanette Toms, Special Programs Coordinator with the non... Read more >
The Cleveland Design Competition, an open ideas challenge that aims to spur fresh architectural thinking in Cleveland, will soon showcase ideas for a new K-12 public school in downtown Cleveland.
The event organizers, architectural designers Michael Christoff and Bradley Fink, plan to showcase the designs and announce the competition winners at a public ceremony that will be held at the Cleveland State University Student Center beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 19th. <... Read more >
The event organizers, architectural designers Michael Christoff and Bradley Fink, plan to showcase the designs and announce the competition winners at a public ceremony that will be held at the Cleveland State University Student Center beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 19th. <... Read more >
The Civic Commons, a nonprofit organization that helps foster civic engagement through creating community conversations, has relocated its offices to a street-level storefront at Trinity Commons.
"We wanted to be accessible to the community, and a place where people can just drop by," says Dan Moulthrop, Civic Commons Curator of Conversation, of the move. "We don't want to be hidden in an office building somewhere; we want people to feel like the Civic Commons is a place... Read more >
"We wanted to be accessible to the community, and a place where people can just drop by," says Dan Moulthrop, Civic Commons Curator of Conversation, of the move. "We don't want to be hidden in an office building somewhere; we want people to feel like the Civic Commons is a place... Read more >
When John Stahl launched LeanDog, his now four-year-old software development company that has grown to 34 employees, he was looking for a space that would stretch his clients' minds and embody the expansive thinking LeanDog tries to instill.
He found what he was looking for in a former Lake Erie barge, which dates back to 1892 and was last used as the floating restaurant Hornblower's. "We help companies envision who they want to be," says Stahl. "With a view of the train... Read more >
He found what he was looking for in a former Lake Erie barge, which dates back to 1892 and was last used as the floating restaurant Hornblower's. "We help companies envision who they want to be," says Stahl. "With a view of the train... Read more >
With the recent opening of the Urban Orchid, a new flower and gift shop located at 2704 Bridge Avenue, an empty storefront has been filled and a new business has been added to Ohio City's artisan economy.
Owner Brandon Sitler describes the Urban Orchid as "a small gift boutique and full-service flower shop that offers custom arrangements and delivers flowers throughout Cuyahoga County -- and anywhere in the world, really." The cozy, 400-square-foot space boasts an open f... Read more >
Owner Brandon Sitler describes the Urban Orchid as "a small gift boutique and full-service flower shop that offers custom arrangements and delivers flowers throughout Cuyahoga County -- and anywhere in the world, really." The cozy, 400-square-foot space boasts an open f... Read more >
In American culture, automobiles have long symbolized personal freedom. But present-day bike advocates say the exact opposite is true: Rather than create a sense of giddy liberty, cars foster feelings of isolation and enclosure. For that reason and more -- environmental concerns, high gas prices, the desire for a healthier lifestyle -- more people are opting to go "car-light" and "car-free."
Many a native Clevelander wears his or her hometown pride on their sleeve. Now, a new shop in North Collinwood's Waterloo Arts District is helping them do that in style.
In recent years, the T-shirt, once a ubiquitous symbol of hometown or team pride, has been transformed into a hip, ironic fashion statement. Nowadays, cheeky tees celebrate a city's attributes, quirky mistakes and even inferiority complexes. (Witness the proliferation of Cleveland T-shirts referencing th... Read more >
In recent years, the T-shirt, once a ubiquitous symbol of hometown or team pride, has been transformed into a hip, ironic fashion statement. Nowadays, cheeky tees celebrate a city's attributes, quirky mistakes and even inferiority complexes. (Witness the proliferation of Cleveland T-shirts referencing th... Read more >
Gateway Animal Clinic, a Tremont pet hospital that is known for accepting four-legged patients regardless of their owners' ability to pay, has relocated to a new, larger facility across the street from its original Abbey Road location.
Gateway's old home was torn down this year to make way for the Innerbelt bridge project, which is now under construction. Although Dr. Brian Forsgren, who founded the clinic 12 years ago, scoured the city for prime real estate, he ultimate... Read more >
Gateway's old home was torn down this year to make way for the Innerbelt bridge project, which is now under construction. Although Dr. Brian Forsgren, who founded the clinic 12 years ago, scoured the city for prime real estate, he ultimate... Read more >
For more than a year, advocates of multi-modal transportation have lobbied the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to add bike and pedestrian lanes to the new Innerbelt bridge. They lost that fight, yet ODOT agreed to fund a $6 million renovation of the Lorain-Carnegie bridge.
That project, scheduled to be completed next fall, will add a broad, multi-use path on the north side and narrow intersections so they can be crossed more easily. It will also narrow driving l... Read more >
That project, scheduled to be completed next fall, will add a broad, multi-use path on the north side and narrow intersections so they can be crossed more easily. It will also narrow driving l... Read more >
When asked why he decided to open his custom-engraved baseball bat store, Johnnyville Slugger, on W. 25th Street in Ohio City, owner Johnny Smatana naturally employed a sports metaphor.
"If you go to the Yankees and bat .280, they'll hate you," he says. "If you go to a little place where you can do some good, they'll still like you."
Smatana, whose career includes a stint playing football for the Miami Hurricanes and 27 years moving freight for Estes Forwarding ... Read more >
"If you go to the Yankees and bat .280, they'll hate you," he says. "If you go to a little place where you can do some good, they'll still like you."
Smatana, whose career includes a stint playing football for the Miami Hurricanes and 27 years moving freight for Estes Forwarding ... Read more >
Over the past year, more than $48,000 has been invested in energy audits and "green" retrofits for merchants along Buckeye Road on Cleveland's East Side.
According to Deepa Vedavyas, Associate Director for Development at Buckeye Area Development Corporation (BADC), this is just the beginning. She hopes to see Buckeye Road merchants become the first "green-certified retail district" in Cleveland.
"We're using this as a learning opportunity, and encouraging them no... Read more >
According to Deepa Vedavyas, Associate Director for Development at Buckeye Area Development Corporation (BADC), this is just the beginning. She hopes to see Buckeye Road merchants become the first "green-certified retail district" in Cleveland.
"We're using this as a learning opportunity, and encouraging them no... Read more >
January of last year, a natural gas explosion ripped through a vacant house on W. 83rd Street in Cleveland, destroying the home, damaging 57 others, and displacing at least 15 families.
Ultimately, investigators determined that the devastating eruption was caused by a gas main that hadn't been shut off at the street. This prompted neighbors and city officials to wonder if many of Cleveland's vacant and abandoned homes aren't ticking time bombs, waiting to explode under t... Read more >
Ultimately, investigators determined that the devastating eruption was caused by a gas main that hadn't been shut off at the street. This prompted neighbors and city officials to wonder if many of Cleveland's vacant and abandoned homes aren't ticking time bombs, waiting to explode under t... Read more >
The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) announced Tuesday that it has selected North Collinwood for its Artists in Residence Program, an effort to use artist-based development to help revitalize one urban neighborhood.
The two-year, $500,000 pilot program will provide a small loan program for artists buying or rehabbing homes in the target area, a small grant program to support artists' work in carrying out community-based projects, and artist home ownershi... Read more >
The two-year, $500,000 pilot program will provide a small loan program for artists buying or rehabbing homes in the target area, a small grant program to support artists' work in carrying out community-based projects, and artist home ownershi... Read more >
Situated on the edges of Cleveland and Shaker Heights, and home to a diverse, international community of residents, Shaker Square has long been a community gathering place for people of different backgrounds.
So it only makes sense, in a way, that Bruce Altchouler (a Clevelander and electrical contractor with a knack for project management) and Ziv Sarig (an Israeli businessman with a finance background) would meet and discover they shared a passion for historic Shaker S... Read more >
So it only makes sense, in a way, that Bruce Altchouler (a Clevelander and electrical contractor with a knack for project management) and Ziv Sarig (an Israeli businessman with a finance background) would meet and discover they shared a passion for historic Shaker S... Read more >
Sustainable Cleveland 2019 (SC 2019), an effort by the City of Cleveland and local environmental groups to promote sustainability as a means of growing the economy in Northeast Ohio, will soon have a physical home in Tower City Center.
Andrew Watterson, Cleveland's Chief of Sustainability, says the purpose of the new Sustainable Cleveland Center is to promote efforts to green Northeast Ohio, provide central meeting space for environmental groups, and offer affordable s... Read more >
Andrew Watterson, Cleveland's Chief of Sustainability, says the purpose of the new Sustainable Cleveland Center is to promote efforts to green Northeast Ohio, provide central meeting space for environmental groups, and offer affordable s... Read more >
When Zone Recreation Center's 22 acres of green space reopen next year following a $2.5 million "green" facelift, the rainwater that falls there will be reused on site, rather than being funneled into sewers to pollute our lake, rivers and streams. "We're using it to rehydrate the park," explains Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone, who allocated funding for the park's revitalization.
The redesigned park's water conservation features will include permeable pavers that allow rainwa... Read more >
The redesigned park's water conservation features will include permeable pavers that allow rainwa... Read more >