Bike-riding in the Cleveland area is up 50 percent since 2006, according to a recent survey by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA).Cleveland Heights is hoping to push the figure even higher in nextyear's survey with the addition of "sharrows" on city roads.

"Sharrow" is short for "share-the-road arrows," which are painted ontoroad surfaces. "You use them when you don't have enough room for a bikelane," explains Richard Wong, the city's director of plan... Read more >

Domokur Architects, based in Akron since 1979, has expanded into Cleveland via a merger with Tremont-based Michael Augoustidis.

"We like the neighborhood," says Linsey Domokur, who handles businessdevelopment, "and we like having a Cleveland presence." The new office,at Starkweather and Professor, will house three new hires, including aspecialist in the healthcare industry.

The firm's healthcare portfolio includes the Geneva Medical Centeraddition at University H... Read more >

City governments often get a bad rap. Cleveland's government isespecially vulnerable to dismissal, what with that lingering "mistakeon the lake" thing. But some informed government watchers — at Harvard,no less — like what they see, at least in terms of the city'swillingness to cooperate with communities in building a better future.

The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation,at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, recently recognizedthe Strateg... Read more >

"Restoring Properties, Rebuilding Communities," a new report from the Center for Community Progress, cites a Cleveland-based grassroots program as an example for other cities also struggling with widespread property vacancy.

The report, released at the start of last week's national Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conferencein Cleveland, outlines the longstanding problem, exacerbated in recentyears by foreclosures and the recession: Across the country, from theRust Belt to th... Read more >

Danielle DeBoe does not object to the descriptor "retail pioneer," butnotes that her business decisions are guided less by simple dollars andcents than by a desire to help Cleveland realize its potential. That'swhy she's preparing to relocate her jewelry/art/accessories/lifestyleshop Room Servicefrom West 65th and Detroit, in the popular Gordon Square Arts District,to the up-and-coming Ohio City Market District, around West 25th andLorain.

"I'm motivated by a challenge," ... Read more >

Last summer, planners in the Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown areasspent two intense months assembling a consortium of 21 public- andprivate-sector entities and applying for a new type of grant availablefrom the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Now the realwork begins.

Last week HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan visited the Cleveland-based offices of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA)to announce that the consortium had been awarded $4.25 mil... Read more >

Among the many services provided by the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities (CCBDD) is job training and placement for adults. As local manufacturing jobs have dwindled, the board has had to look elsewhere. One solution that seems promising is local farming.

"We're trying to be more entrepreneurial," says spokeswoman Lula Holt Robertson.

The effort began last year with a single farm at East 55th and Stanard. The site, formerly a school, was donated... Read more >

Neither the departure of LeBron James nor the specter of another losingBrowns season has dampened enthusiasm among restaurateurs to join thedowntown sports-bar scene. The newest member is City Tap, which opensFriday at 748 Prospect, on the grave of the former Boneyard and Forti's.

Owner Eric Pelham grew up near Norwalk but frequently visited Clevelandfor games, and continued to after graduating from Bowling Green StateUniversity. His like-named bar in Bowling Green celebr... Read more >

So how deeply has the sustainability movement taken hold in NortheastOhio? Three organizations that already have a lot on their platesrecently collaborated to save some grass.

Mind you, this wasn't just any grass. This was native prairie grassthat until recently was part of an art installation on Mall B. But theinstallation must make way for the Medical Mart, for which ground willbe broken later this month. So last spring, Cleveland Public Art contacted Slavic Village Dev... Read more >

Once upon a time, automobiles were built inside the 65,000-square-foot former factory at 6555 Carnegie Avenue. Or so current owner Giancarlo Calicchia surmises from elevators large enough to move finished cars from the upper levels to the parking lot outside.

Today Calicchia, an accomplished sculptor, sees a new use for thelong-dormant building — a center for artists' workspaces and offices.He and architect Paul Beegan are busy designing that future, whilepreserving the... Read more >

Someday the Medical Mart may make Cleveland an essential destination for healthcare professions. But the city has already achieved such status among those who study blight, which is why Cleveland is hosting the third national Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference, which continues through Friday at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel on Public Square.

"This is by far the biggest," says Jennifer Leonard of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Community Progress, which organi... Read more >

Remember the on-again, off-again Cleveland-Ontario ferry proposal? It's back — the idea, at least. Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority CEO William Friedman, who took the helm in June, has commissioned a fresh assessment.

"There is very substantial trade that already exists between Ontarioand the United States," Friedman said in the Port's newsletter."Cleveland has the potential to become a gateway for shipping andpassenger travel to and from Canada."

Propo... Read more >

Bad news first: The county's long-planned Medical Mart and conventioncenter will cost more than promised — about $40 million more, anddeveloper MMPI is only picking up a small portion of that. But the goodnews is that MMPI also has in hand letters of intent from companies andorganizations that hope to use the facility when it's completed.

Attorney Jeff Applebaum, who negotiates for the county with MMPI,revealed these facts in a presentation to the county commissioners l... Read more >

Through an initiative called Growing Communities, Charter Onebank is supporting ongoing efforts to develop Ohio City's MarketDistrict, the neighborhood anchored by the venerable West Side Marketon West 25th. Much of Charter One's $130,000 grant will beredirected by Ohio City Near West community development corporation to fledgling businesses in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $20,000.

"One of the things we're looking at is, how do we enhance the [WestSide] market's ability... Read more >

Greg Bodnar knows wine bars. He owns the successful Market Avenue Wine Bar in Ohio City and Corksin Willoughby. But he also knows that even good ideas can stand sometweaking. So when his latest, Corks PlayhouseSquare, opens at 1415Euclid Ave. in early November, fans of his other locations will noticea difference.

"This will be a little more on the contemporary side," Bodnar says,more sleek and polished than the traditional French bistro look of itsolder siblings. A local... Read more >

For almost two years, neighbors of the former Coventry School in Cleveland Heights looked forward to welcoming The Music Settlementto the community. The University Circle-based institution had plannedto raze the Coventry building, which was closed in 2007, and build "astate-of-the-art early childhood learning center and training center."

That plan was abandoned in August, after Music Settlement concludedthat it could not raise the $16 million to $19 million needed for the... Read more >

It has always been a bit of an oxymoron: The Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland (MOCA) housed in a building with as much contemporary flair as an old-fashioned Cracker Jack box. And while visitors still came to the Carnegie Avenue location to admire the museum's growing collection of contemporary art, many surely wondered why such a gem wasn't located in University Circle with other great museums, especially the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Turns out, MOCA was wondering th... Read more >

For decades it was merely a dream, but soon, the Syrian Cultural Garden becomes a reality. Part of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens that wend along Rockefeller Park, the Syrian Garden is in progress on Martin Luther King Boulevard across from the Indian Garden. Upon completion, it will be the first of the Cultural Gardens representing an Arab country.

About 80 years ago, Cleveland's Syrian community received a garden site on which to commemorate its culture and heritage. Pl... Read more >

The spice of life might just be found inside a Budapest Blonde Cocktail Mix. Created by Clevelander Ilona Simon, the new drink mixes promise to offer loads of taste but few calories.

The Hot Blonde Bloody Mary mix features fresh tomato puree, Hungarian paprika, mustard powder and wasabi - for that special kick. The best part: The tasty mix has only 10 calories per serving, according to Simon, although adding vodka will increase the calorie content (and, ahem, the fun).Read more >