For those who don't already know, Cleveland is a place where culture, education, creativity and innovation flourishes affordably. At least, that's the message city boosters are trying to sell to mobile young professionals. According to who you ask, that strategy is either working, working slowly, or not working well at all.

During the mid-2000s, local newspapers ran stories with evocative phrases like "quiet crisis" and "brain drain" in lamenting the flight of young, talented minds from Cleveland.

Bob Yanega saw those negative headlines, too, and decided he wanted to do something about it. Yanega, a self-professed "serial entrepreneur" with a background in commercial construction and real estate, is the creator of Choosing Success Programs, a Cleveland-centric advocacy project aimed at area high school students.

The program provides live, in-school presentations showing students how to connect with the opportunities right in their own backyard. The goal is to motivate youth to become passionate, lifelong residents of Northeast Ohio.

"Many kids don't have parents who expose them to what's great here," says Yanega, of Larchmere. "We need to sell Cleveland to young people."

Yanega has been giving Choosing Success talks at local high schools for the last 18 months. Along with providing students with tips on college and career choices, he also mixes in a "sales pitch" about Cleveland, pointing to the city's affordability, increasing job rate and wealth of cultural options.

Choosing Success, under the umbrella of its parent organization The 1990 Project, recently received a boost as one of the winners of The Cleveland Colectivo's fast- pitch presentation event. The program now has a chance to get some much-needed funding from the giving circle, and Yanega believes his brainchild is worth it.

"We're presenting facts about the city," Yanega says. "Keeping the next generation in town is a powerful, broad-based message."

 
SOURCE: Bob Yanega
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

Captain Jeff Sanders has spent the past few decades training ship captains. He operates a training school in Seattle, where he lives full time. Yet the Cleveland native has always wanted a place to stay when he comes back to Cleveland, which he does frequently to visit his 95-year-old mother in a nursing home. 

Recently, Sanders completed renovations on a historic four-unit property that seemed destined for the wrecking ball until Detroit Shoreway Community Development Corporation (DSCDO) steered it into the hands of the right owner.

The Trenton sits at 7418 Franklin Boulevard (at the corner of W. 75th Street). The unique property features Italianate architectural details, a two-story front porch and an interior courtyard that lets additional light into the apartments.

Sanders, who converted the home into a three-unit, just received a community improvement award from DSCDO for his efforts. The project received special financing from the Cleveland Restoration Society's Heritage Home Program.

The renovation was a gut job. Sanders tore off the vinyl siding and restored the exterior with a handsome olive and red color scheme, redesigned the interior and installed all new mechanicals. The property includes many sustainable features.

Sanders combined two units into a townhouse-style apartment. "We blew out the dining room and created a cool interior staircase," he says. "We retained the old fireplaces."

One surprise was the floors. Initially, Sanders did not believe the old, three-inch pine floors were salvageable, but once sanded down, they refinished quite nicely.

Sanders plans to rent out two of the units -- including the 2,000-square-foot townhome for $1,400 per month -- while keeping one apartment for himself.


Source: Jeff Sanders
Writer: Lee Chilcote

During a recent address at the City Club of Cleveland, Joel Ratner of Neighborhood Progress Inc. touted recent success stories that the nonprofit has invested in, including a new home for The Intergenerational School underway at the Saint Luke's campus.

Ratner believes that even though Cleveland has been hard hit by the foreclosure crisis, the city can stabilize its population and begin to grow again through promoting thoughtful, equitable, synergistic development that helps everyone succeed.

"For a long time, there was a debate over whether it makes sense to invest in people or place," said Ratner. "However, we believe it should be people and place."

Ratner cited Pittsburgh as an example of a city whose population has been right-sized and has even begun to grow again in recent years.

As examples of why community development matters, Ratner presented statistics showing that neighborhoods where NPI invested heavily over the past decade not only fell less steeply in the recession, but are also coming back more quickly than others. He also believes that every Cleveland neighborhood can be successful.

Ratner touted the recently-announced Slavic Village Reclaim Project, which leverages private investment by Safeco Properties and Forest City to help rehab 2,000+ properties on 440 acres, as one example of innovative best practices.

He also cited NPI's partnership with the Key Bank Financial Education Center to help low-income residents build wealth through savings and investment programs. Through a possible merger with Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition and LiveCleveland, Ratner hopes to begin serving additional neighborhoods.


Source: Joel Ratner
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Cuyahoga County residents have picked which two large-scale projects will get funding through the Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) Creative Culture Grants competition.

* Dancing Wheels received $130,421 for a television documentary that will expand on the dance company's performance of the multi-media ballet, Dumbo. The film will explore issues of bullying and social injustice using the life stories of artists and community figures.

* LAND studio was awarded $150,000 to fund a multi-faceted light installation illuminating public spaces in downtown Cleveland.

Both projects were selected by 6,500 county residents in a public voting process held February 1-20. The winning arts programs, scheduled for completion in 2014, were chosen from a list of six finalists selected by an independent panel of arts and culture experts.

Officials from competition sponsor CAC were pleased by the voter turnout, and believe the winning projects will engage the region in creative ways.

"All six finalists had a different spin on how to connect arts and culture to the community," says CAC executive director Karen Gahl-Mills. "The two winners did a great job of reaching out to the general public."

CAC's pilot voting program revealed just how much creativity exists in the area, Gahl-Mills maintains. "It was delightful to see it come forward in new, exciting ways," she says.

The nonprofit is now assessing the program for possible future iterations. Gahl-Mills is not certain CAC will put on an annual public vote, but she can certainly envision county residents stuffing the ballot boxes for future arts projects.

"It's a great investment of public dollars," she says. "It isn't just the organizations that win; the community wins, too."

 
SOURCE: Karen Gahl-Mills
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

This week, Ohio City Incorporated and Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization launched an unprecedented joint process to develop a streetscape plan for long-suffering Lorain Avenue.

The street, which runs through the heart of Cleveland's west side, was historically a bustling neighborhood retail corridor. Although it fell on hard times beginning in the 70s, it has recently drawn investment by entrepreneurs like Ian P.E. of Palookaville Chili and David Ellison of D.H. Ellison Architects.

The street's classic, character-filled architecture as well as investment by major players like St. Ignatius High School and Urban Community School have made it an attractive breeding ground for up-and-coming members of the creative class.

If this week's public meeting was any indication, neighborhood residents, businesses and stakeholders will have plenty of passionate opinions about the future of this main street. They won't hold back in sharing them, either.

A capacity crowd that showed up to the meeting at Urban Community School voiced concerns about on-street parking, bike lanes, retaining the mixed-use character of the street and ensuring that low-income residents are engaged.

Behnke Associates and Michael Baker Jr. Inc. have been hired to help develop a plan that will include "traffic analysis, utility and signage recommendations as well as cycling analysis, green infrastructure and complete streetscape treatments," according to a handout provided by OCI, DSCDO and the City of Cleveland.

Early signs indicate that the plan will be quite different from those developed for Detroit Avenue and West 25th Street. For one thing, Lorain Avenue is narrower than those streets, which will make it tougher to widen sidewalks and create dedicated bike lanes. Secondly, the street's tenants range from antique shops to manufacturing businesses, making it a distinct challenge to serve all of them.

Nonetheless, representatives of the city and both CDC's pledged to create an inclusive plan that could serve as a model for "complete and green streets" that incorporate all modes of transportation and minimize environmental impacts.

Want to voice your vision for Lorain? A survey will be available beginning March 11th on the OCI and DSCDO websites, and a workshop is scheduled for May 28th.


Source: OCI, DSCDO, City of Cleveland
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Last summer, the Near West Recreation League's t-ball league was a hit for Cleveland kids. Organizers believe a recently debuted bowling league will play a similarly big "roll" in the health of a community that didn't have much in the way of organized sports.

The bowling program, open to 70-plus youngsters between the ages of 6 and 10, launched February 16 at Corner Alley in downtown Cleveland. The league is part of a two-year partnership between Ohio Savings Bank and Ohio City Inc. to support recreation activities on the Near West Side. Downtown Cleveland Alliance is also a partner in the new program.

The bowling league was created for children from Tremont, Detroit Shoreway and other West Side enclaves, although similar to the t-ball league, kids have been coming from other parts of the city to participate.

"Sports are a great way of bringing people together at a young age," says Eric Wobser, executive director of Ohio City Inc.

They're also a method of keeping people in the neighborhood, maintain the rec league's leaders. Retaining young families in the 25- to 34-age group has been problematic for Ohio City and downtown. Sports can be another amenity that grows a neighborhood population, while also integrating a community of diverse backgrounds.

"It's improving the quality of life," Wobser says.

If the bowling league proves successful, the rec league will add other sports throughout the year. Plans for the remainder of 2013 include youth-oriented baseball, soccer and basketball. The league may "age up" as well, from young kids all the way to junior high students.

"We've struck a chord with the community," says Wobser.
 
 
SOURCE: Eric Wobser
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

When we last checked in with real estate developer Howard Grandon, he was kicking off renovations of a 9,000-square-foot Detroit Shoreway building into four apartments and five retail spaces. The structure, which had housed an illicit nightclub called "Cheerios," sat vacant for seven-plus years before he bought it.

That was then, this is now. Although it's taken him longer than he anticipated, two and a half years later the results are plain. Grandon's building offers some of the most creatively-designed small apartments in Cleveland, a trend that's catching on in major cities.

"Because we were working with green, repurposed materials, we had to fabricate everything. It was more expensive than we anticipated," he says. "That happens in real estate."

It was worth the wait. Grandon himself moved into the building, occupying one of the light-filled apartments overlooking the Gordon Square streetscape. His suite includes a clever nook for his bed, spacious walk-in closet, huge kitchen with a countertop built for entertaining, and exposed spiral ductwork that hugs the ceiling. He has a bathroom straight out of Dwell magazine, including a European-style toilet with hidden plumbing and a glass-walled shower with subway tile.

The apartments, which are all similarly designed, rent for about $850 per month. The rates are about 25 percent cheaper than downtown, and two of the four are occupied. Grandon has completed a third, and the fourth will be ready this year.

Grandon's project also features many green, sustainable features. The wood floors in the units are built from an old parquet floor reclaimed from a gym. Come spring, he'll create unique planters out of old chemistry lab sinks he bought on Lorain Ave.

Grandon says that he's tapping into a small-is-beautiful movement that's popular in our post-recession world. "People are interested in having less possessions and living more efficiently," he says, pointing to huge kitchen counters that make dining room tables redundant and murphy beds that drop from the walls.

Perhaps the most radical feature of Grandon's units is that there are no walls except for the closets and bathrooms. It makes 800 square feet feel entirely liveable.

Grandon's next step is to begin renovating the storefronts. To do that, however, he needs to find willing entrepreneurs who are also bankable. Stay tuned for the next installment in our series covering this creative entrepreneur's endeavors.


Source: Howard Grandon
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Thanks to a new breed of bandleader, polka music is enjoying (yet another) Cleveland revival. While some of the acts might appear more shtick than substance, the motivation behind them comes from love and respect – and in the process are giving rise to a new generation of polka fan.

As the number of cyclists and pedestrians on the near west side grows and car traffic remains relatively flat, urban planners are giving several streets a "road diet" to make them friendlier for bikers and walkers while still accessible to drivers.

The result will be some of the city's first model green streets.

"We're starting to create all this connectivity," says Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone, who has helped push green initiatives through city hall, including the "complete and green streets" legislation that passed last year. "The city is realizing they have to accept and build out and incorporate all modes of transportation."

So what does a "road diet" look like? The recently-completed plan for W. 65th Street between Denison Avenue and the lakefront shows curb bumpouts with additional landscaping, striped sharrows for road riders, and a 10-foot-wide multimodal path for peds and cyclists who prefer not to ride in the street.

If the pretty pictures become a reality -- a process that will take several years and require an application to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency for millions in federal dollars -- it could result in a "healthier" street that better connects the investments happening in near west side neighborhoods.

"This is the main north-south thoroughfare between West Boulevard and W. 25th," says Zone. "We can build off the momentum we've created here. You'll eventually be able to bike from Edgewater Beach to the zoo via W. 65th."

Among the assets in the area, Zone cited the Gordon Square Arts District, the new Max Hayes High School scheduled to break ground this year, the EcoVillage, major employers and eight schools. The W. 65th project will cost about $6 million.

Most importantly, Zone says, streetscape projects like the W. 65th Street re-do make roads safer for kids who walk to school and families without access to a car.

Other green-street projects on the near west side include bike lanes on Detroit Avenue (which will be striped this spring), the planned Train Avenue corridor greenway, the creation of bike lanes on W. 41st and 44th streets in Ohio City (to be completed this year), a new streetscape for Denison Avenue (a few years away) and a planning process for Lorain Avenue (launching this month).

The West 65th Street corridor study was completed by Environmental Design Group, which has offices in both Cleveland and Akron.


Source: Matt Zone
Writer: Lee Chilcote

"We are all assets," declares the national website of TimeBanks USA, a movement dedicated to building "caring community" economies through an inclusive exchange of time and talent.

Indeed, time can be as valuable an asset as money in terms of the positive impact it has on a neighborhood, says Adam Gifford, director of community involvement at the Stockyard, Clark-Fulton, and Brooklyn Centre Development Office, which, along with its parent Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, is sponsoring a time bank in Cleveland.

The time bank movement works through reciprocation. For example, a landscaper does an hour of volunteer tree-trimming work, then deposits those 60 "time dollars" into his account. When he needs a service done, like getting his dogs walked or receiving help with his taxes, he simply "withdraws" his deposit for the service. There is no monetary value ever attached to any service -- time is the one and only coin of the realm.

"People may not have the money available, but they may have time," says Gifford. "It's about giving people access to services they normally couldn't afford."

Time banks have sprung up across the country. Locally, Kent and Medina are among the communities to use the service. The Cleveland time bank is in its infancy, attracting nearly 100 members putting in about 150 hours of work so far. A program orientation will be held February 26 at The Salvation Army's Clarke-Fulton location, while a Cleveland time bank website is scheduled to go live in March.

The time bank is open to individuals and groups. Gifford views the exchange of skills and services without cash as a method to enrich lives.

"It's a creative way to build a community," he says.

 
SOURCE: Adam Gifford
WRITER:  Douglas J. Guth

For a number of years at the tail end of the 20th century, Greater Cleveland's public and private leaders attempted to pull the city up through ambitious marketing campaigns. For awhile it seemed to work. The national media began referring to Cleveland as the "Comeback City" in conjunction with the grand openings of ambitious projects like Tower City Center, Jacobs Field and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
 
But toward the end of the '90s a strange thing happened: The city, for all intents and purposes, stopped marketing itself.
 
Why?
 
"We began to believe our own press," says Rick Batyko, president of the Regional Marketing Alliance of Northeast Ohio, which conducts the Cleveland Plus campaign. And civic officials "moved on to other tasks and defunded marketing."
 
In essence, Northeast Ohio stopped telling its tale with the tale barely begun -- a rather large mistake in retrospect. "The underlying economy wasn't doing that well," Batyko says. "That's something you couldn't see in the skyline shots."
 
During the mid-2000s, the region's narrative thread was picked up by Cleveland Plus campaign. Established in 2005 -- with founding members that included Greater Cleveland Partnership, Positively Cleveland and Team NEO -- the organization champions Northeast Ohio as a culturally rich, yet affordable place to live.
 
Read the rest of the story here.