Oversized chess and checkers boards, a concrete ping-pong table, and a figure-eight walking track are just a few features of Cleveland's newest playland for kids—and kids at heart. As of this Thursday, Oct. 19, a group of people spanning multiple generations will have a new place to play, learn, and socialize when Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) dedicates its Intergenerational Playscape and Garden on the front yard of St. Luke’s Pointe in the Buckeye-Shaker n... Read more >

Founded by David "Dee Jay Doc" Harrill, Refresh Collective offers a plethora of programs designed to energize and empower local youth. The common thread? Hip-hop. Check out this video about Fresh Force, its workforce development program through which students learn design, screen printing, sales, and entrepreneurship via the Fresh Gear T-shirt line. (And don't miss our recent story about Freshtoberfest, where hip-hop meets horticulture.)

Fresh beats and even fresher bites are the name of the game at Freshtoberfest—where Cleveland youth battle it out hip-hop style for culinary domination. This year marked the third annual installment of the event, which was held at Tri-C's Hospitality Management Center last Friday. Meshing hip-hop and horticulture, the "youth garden battle" competition teamed nine youth gardens with eight local chefs to design a dish inspired by their own ingredients. Learn... Read more >

“Buckeye trees rooted to Woodland Hills / water flows as cascading streams / Lake Erie awaits clean raindrops” reads a passage of Dawn Arrington’s poem, which will be inscribed on a wall along E. 104th Street within the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s (NEORSD) Buckeye Green Infrastructure project.Set for completion by January 2018, the project is part of Project Clean Lake—a 25-year plan to reduce pollution in Lake Erie by four billion gallon... Read more >

There's a whole campaign underway to bring the Forest City back to life. Here's the story of the foot soldiers in that effort—trees raised to green up our urban neighborhoods.

Welcome to the latest edition of Fresh Water Cleveland's “who’s hiring” series, where we feature growing companies with open positions, what they’re looking for and how to apply. See all of the listings here.

Welcome to the latest edition of Fresh Water Cleveland's “who’s hiring” series, where we feature growing companies and organizations with open positions, what they’re looking for and how to apply. 

Get the whole list here.

Last month, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) hosted its third annual Vibrant City Awards Lunch. More than 500 city leaders, stakeholders and community development professionals gathered at Cleveland's Edgewater Park to celebrate leading neighborhood revitalization efforts.

Click here to see who received the honors.

Michael Symon's Mabel's BBQ has smoked up plenty of press since the much anticipated meat emporium opened its doors on East Fourth Street last year. Mabel's may be Cleveland's go-to barbecue joint at the moment, but the city boasts a growing list of savory options for folks seeking to satisfy their carnivorous cravings. Fresh Water is happy to deliver the deliciousness with these BBQ hot spots at points across the 216.

Get the smokin' list — incl... Read more >

When Carly Hill attended East Cleveland’s Shaw High School, she was accustomed to being one of the star pupils — earning good grades, participating in mock trials in preparation for her planned law career and she was often chosen for special projects.
 
Hills describes her experience at Shaw being a part of a small group of students intensely interested in learning. In fact, she earned all As, except for her first and only B in 11th grade.
 
&... Read more >

The National Trust for Historic Preservation shines a light on the stunning resurrection of St. Luke's in Buckeye. From Katherine Flynn for Preservation magazine:

St. Luke’s was vacant for a total of eight years, and things weren’t looking good; it was the target of vandals and copper wire prospectors, and moisture damage severely eroded the plaster on the building’s interior. In 2006, the community development organization Cleveland Neighborhood Pro... Read more >

Fresh Water contributor Christopher Johnston steps inside Cleveland's human trafficking scene to uncover some dark realities — and the people and organizations battling them.

Iraqi kebobs, duck blood soup and hard to find Latino spirits — that's just for starters in this under-the-radar roundup of some the best (and little known) noshing in the 216.

Cuyahoga County residents are going green by banding together to reap the benefits of solar energy — and they're saving plenty of green as well.

From an elaborate renovation of Quicken Loans Arena to a series of residential construction projects, Fresh Water checks in on a handful of ambitious proposed and ongoing development efforts.

As some 76 million baby boomers retire, they are stirring a “silver tsunami” across the country, testing public and nonprofit agencies as well as the housing market. Fresh Water checks in to see how Northeast Ohio is preparing for the trend.