This week, a pair of Cleveland Heights residents and avid home brewers launched BottleHouse Brewery in a 6,200-square-foot storefront on Lee Road that had been sitting vacant for more than a decade. The new venue, which will feature craft beers, original brews and a brew-on-premise facility that will open this summer, celebrated its grand opening Tuesday after a year and a half of work.

"It all ties in with bringing craft beer to the community," says Brian Bench... Read more >

For Dan Miller, making a living as a visual artist in Cleveland meant selling his motorcycle, emptying his savings account and finding a warehouse where he could build his own walls and hang lights. The owner of the new Rotten Meat Gallery on East 40th Street between Payne and Perkins says it's all worth it to showcase the city's underrecognized art scene.

"I really wanted to do my part to encourage people to stay here and grow Cleveland as an art market,&quo... Read more >

Is 2012 the year of the collective? Based on the DIY art spaces that are springing up across the city, it would certainly seem like a trend-in-the-making.

BuckBuck, a new collaborative art space that is located in a former auction house, is the latest creative hotspot to join the list. Founders Joe Lanzilotta and Derek Maxfield are recent college graduates who started the gallery and co-op style workspace after obtaining fine arts and graphic design degrees from Ohio Univ... Read more >

The population of Northeast Ohio's 12 most populous counties fell by seven percent from 4.1 million in 1970 to 3.8 million in 2010. Yet at the same time, suburban areas added 400 square miles of roads, shopping centers, housing developments and office parks.

That unabated trend towards urban sprawl is not sustainable, argues the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium, a new initiative that won a $4.25 million grant from the federal government in 2010 to pla... Read more >

As the Circle East Townhomes near completion, 60 percent of the units are pre-leased, and eight of the 12 leased units have been snatched up by University Circle area employees. This proves the viability of new housing options in the area, says Chris Ronayne, Executive Director of University Circle Inc. (UCI).

"This is a great moment in time where the Circle is meeting East Cleveland," says Ronayne of the project, which features 20 townhouse-style apartments tha... Read more >

Recently, an artistically-minded student at Glenville High School was so inspired by his school's first-ever Sustainability Awareness Day that he painted a rain barrel with the school's signature "G" logo and displayed it at last week's inaugural event.

"It was kind of like a small-scale science fair," says Anthony Body, Community Organizer with the Famicos Foundation, a nonprofit community development organization that serves the neighborh... Read more >

Providence House, the first crisis nursery in Ohio and one of only 70 similar facilities in the U.S., recently broke ground on a $2 million, three-phase project in Ohio City that will allow the nonprofit agency to better serve Northeast Ohio families in crisis.

"We have a waiting list that is 20 to 30 kids long right now," explains Natalie Leek-Nelson, Executive Director of Providence House, which is expanding its current location at W. 32nd Street and Lorain Av... Read more >

Now that the urban farming movement is becoming steadily more mature, cities are looking beyond backyard hens and market gardens to longer-term agricultural land use policies. They can and should learn from what works in other places while also advocating for better public policy at every level.

These were the messages conveyed at a forum on urban agriculture that was held last week at Cleveland State University. Kimberly Hodgson, a planner and public health advocate from... Read more >

Developers of the long-awaited Flats East Bank development broke ground in the worst economy in generations by hook or crook, breaking the project into phases and layering public-private financing together in a deal that was dizzyingly complex.

This week, they're singing a different tune as they celebrate new leases from five high-profile restaurant tenants, including well-known Akron restaurateur Ken Stewart and national country music venue chain Toby Keith's I L... Read more >

A new initiative being pioneered by Cuyahoga County, Policy Matters Ohio and a bevy of partners aims to create more energy-efficient municipal buildings and catalyze the creation of green, living wage jobs.

Now that advocacy within the green jobs movement has shifted away from the state and federal level -- where activity is slow or nonexistent -- organizers are counting on this new initiative to help create a new model for energy-efficient construction as well as stimula... Read more >

You know the old saying: Once you start allowing chickens in your neighborhood, any four-legged creature can walk right in off the street.

Well, there goes the neighborhood!

Despite cries of fowl play, it appears that the City of Cleveland Heights is poised to allow residents to raise up to four chickens in their backyards. A group called Hens in Lakewood is lobbying their city to allow chicken-rearing too, yet the group is battling resistance from other resident... Read more >

Former Reddstone chef Josh Kabat and his fiance and business partner, Kiaran Daily, have opened Cleveland Pickle, a gourmet downtown sandwich shop. The venue specializes in eclectic sandwiches made from fresh, often local ingredients. Many of the sandwiches are also creatively named after local Cleveland landmarks.

For instance, the Terminal is a savory and sweet sandwich featuring black forest ham, brie, spinach, roasted tomato pesto and apricot jam. The Payne Avenue pan... Read more >

Later this month, a pop up store for visitors will open inside of an historic railroad car in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The store, called Trail Mix, will be housed on a spur track along the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in the town of Peninsula. It will feature snacks, refreshments, books, souvenirs and other items.

Then, later this year, Trail Mix will move into its permanent location at 1600 West Mill Street, adjacent to the Winking Lizard and the tracks wher... Read more >

After three years of fundraising -- and a generous last-minute gift from an anonymous donor -- a bronze statue of Dante Alighieri is now being crafted at Studio Foundry in Cleveland. It will be installed in the Italian Cultural Gardens in Rockefeller Park in June.

"I view this as a Cleveland project," says Joyce Mariani, Executive Director of the Italian Cultural Gardens Foundation, who championed the project after discovering unfinished plans for the Italian Ga... Read more >

Do you want to see more mountain bike trails in the Metroparks? Or spur trails that lead visitors through secluded, natural landscapes? Could the Metroparks take over the city's ailing, neglected lakefront park system, which suffers from millions in deferred maintenance from the cash-strapped State of Ohio?

These issues and many others will be the focus of public meetings scheduled in April and May by the Cleveland Metroparks. The Metroparks is seeking to present and ... Read more >

There was good news and bad news when David Uram and David Burg learned in June of 2009 about their application for Low Income Housing Tax Credits from the State of Ohio. The owners of PIRHL, an affordable housing development firm, were seeking to develop a 44-unit housing project on Euclid Avenue in MidTown called Church Square Commons.

The good news was that they'd been awarded tax credits for the project. PIRHL has completed 24 successful projects in five states in... Read more >

When Cleveland Indians fans catch their first game at Progressive Field this season, they'll be able to check out not only the power hitters in the batting lineup, but also a giant, new wind turbine that harnesses wind power to fuel the ballpark's operations.

The recently constructed turbine, which is the latest in the team's efforts to green-up its ballpark operations, was designed by Cleveland State University engineering professor Majid Rashidi. It weighs 1... Read more >

With cranes in the sky and construction workers swarming everywhere, downtown Cleveland is witnessing an impressive construction boom. Yet beneath the clouds of dust, a not-so-subtle changing of the guard is also taking place, as baby boomers retire and young people step into leadership posts.

The generational handing off of the baton appeared to be in display last week at the annual "State of Downtown" address, an event that is sponsored by the Downtown Clevela... Read more >

A trio of local entrepreneurs have recently opened Peace, Love and Little Donuts, a hippie-themed, gourmet donut shop in Kamm's Corners. The purple walls of the 40-seat venue are lined with Cleveland concert posters from the 60s through the 80s.

Now, donuts get a bad rap in today's health-conscious foodie scene. Yet founder Patrick Campbell says he's got that covered. The hot, fresh donuts are made right in the shop, and the coffee comes from Caruso's in B... Read more >

When Costas Mavromichaelis opened Constantino's Market in downtown Cleveland, he knew that he was an urban pioneer. Downtown residents and businesses had been crying out for a small, full-service grocery store for years, yet no entrepreneur had been willing to take the plunge.

Eight years later, Constantino's Market on W. 9th Street is still going strong, and Mavromichaelis is hoping for another shot in the arm when the Horseshoe Casino opens this year and the Med... Read more >