When 76-year-old Fairfax resident Walter Stanley attends a community meeting with a packed room, he sits close to the presenters so he doesn’t miss a thing. And at a recent Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD) meeting this spring, there was plenty to take in as residents and stakeholders provided input on the Cleveland Board of Education’s budgetary decisions concerning the fate of Fairfax’s Bolton Elementary School.
 

For the last two decades, Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood has been master planning for a renaissance—and now its golden age is in sight. With an ideal location on the $331 million Opportunity Corridor and an array of developments and initiatives coming to fruition, the area is preparing to round the bend on a four-pronged Strategic Investment Plan that began in 2008.

Replacing urban vacant lots with green spaces provides countless benefits for local neighborhoods, but one of the most rewarding parts of the city's gardening program is seeing beginning gardeners transform into leaders.

Not surprisingly, Cleveland’s geological landscape 200 years ago was quite different than today’s modern, industrialized city. In 1820, spring-fed streams ran freely throughout the region, running through neighborhoods like Cleveland Heights, Kinsman, Scranton Flats, and Ohio City. Last Saturday, April 6, these now-hidden waterways took the spotlight during a sold-out tour: Exploring Cleveland's Hidden Waterways.

Cleveland's east side is steadily emerging from the 2010 housing crisis—with the number of vacant and distressed structures decreasing significantly while home prices are on the rise.

So go the findings of a 2018 report by the Western Reserve Land Conservancy that examined 13 Cleveland neighborhoods (including Fairfax, Slavic Village, and Shaker Square). 

Anyone who set foot in the Beachland Ballroom last Saturday might have thought the rumors of print media's demise have been greatly exaggerated. At the sold-out Concert for Truth, more than 450 people gathered to show their support for local journalism and those who bring us the news every day. The event featured 11 local musicians who volunteered their time and talents to raise about $5,000 for the 24 Plain Dealer employees who are being laid off after March.

With 20 cities in the running, Cleveland’s chances of becoming the next Say Yes to Education chapter—and only the fourth in the country to receive the distinction—were just a paltry five percent. Yet according to Say Yes founder George Weiss, it was no contest.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is known by all for his work in the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s through nonviolence and civil disobedience. Many people in Cleveland, however, may not be aware of how often King came through Cleveland in the 1960s—and the lasting influence he had on the city. From civil rights and Christianity to politics and school sit-ins, King was a well-known presence in Cleveland.

The Cleveland Clinic's positive impact is felt far and wide, but how does it affect its immediate neighbors? Its new CEO is committed to finding out. Read on to learn what's in store, and get the scoop on a big FreshWater announcement!

Refresh Collective has long been hanging out at the intersection of cool, creativity, and community, but now it has an actual brick-and-mortar storefront to call all its own.

Just over a month after opening its new 855,000-square-foot North Randall fulfillment facility, Amazon is already making its presence known around the Greater Cleveland area—with officials demonstrating how happy they are to be here and their desire to be a good neighbor.

Amanda King graduated from Case Western Reserve University's law school last year and still lives in the Cleveland Heights apartment she rented as a student. But instead of practicing law, King has immersed herself in her true love—photography. Now King's six-part portrait series, "The Marigolds," will be showcased as the first of four installations in LAND studio's Inner City Hues project.

Yulonda Amey and her three children, Nayira, 16, Ni’Shawn, 13, and Richard, nine, will be moving in to one of five Buckeye neighborhood houses recently renovated by North Carolina-based Ply Gem, a leading manufacturer of exterior building products, and the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity as part of Ply Gem’s Home for Good project.

More than 100 gatherings took place yesterday as part of Cleveland Foundation’s second annual Common Ground event—a series of meaningful community conversations across Cuyahoga, Lake, and Geauga counties. FreshWater Cleveland was honored to host its own installment: “Who are the people in your neighborhood?” Hosted at the Baseball Heritage Museum, the conversation was geared at connecting with neighborhood changemakers and helping bring their stories to the forefront.

Fresh Water's monthly "Free Stamp" feature rounds up the freshest free events in Cleveland.

This Tuesday, April 17, LAND studio will kick off Inner City Hues, a public art project in Cleveland’s Buckeye-Shaker and Mt. Pleasant neighborhoods designed to unite the community and bring some vibrancy into forgotten parts of the city. The project will pair four established artists with "blank canvases" on existing surfaces, buildings, vacant walls, and abandoned properties—with the goal of enlivening the neighborhood’s commercial district.

Three years in the making, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) is ready to release its Progress Index to the public. Aimed at fostering inclusive Cleveland communities of choice and opportunity, the Index had previously been available to Cleveland’s 31 community development corporations (CDCs), who helped test and fine-tune the tool.