West Park & Kamm's Corners
As the number of local bike commuters continues to increase, so too does the number of savvy entrepreneurs who serve and service them. In recent years, a mini boom of bike-based businesses has developed across Northeast Ohio, including frame builders, messenger bag makers, rickshaw drivers and an indoor bike park that attracts visitors from throughout the Midwest.
The newly minted nonprofit Bike Cleveland will bring together Northeast Ohio cyclists through cycling events, educational programming and advocacy work, says Jacob Van Sickle, the group's new Executive Director. The group also will provide area cyclists with a unified voice in transportation planning across the region.
Over the course of the next year, Bike Cleveland plans to focus on prioritizing bike investments in the West Shoreway project, collaborating with the City of Cleveland to update and prioritize its Bikeway Master Plan, creating fun biking events and advocating for cyclist-friendly policies throughout the region.
One of the group's first advocacy projects will be to rally against HR 7, the transportation bill that has been proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives. That bill would eliminate dedicated funding for transportation, cut funding that helps to make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians, and shortchange funding for repairing existing roads and bridges and improving roadways for cyclists.
For several years, Cleveland's cycling community has been fragmented among different organizations. The launch of Bike Cleveland last summer and now the hiring of Van Sickle unites cyclists under a common banner for the first time.
Van Sickle says Cleveland's energized cycling community has a lot ot be proud of. The 2010 American Community Survey shows that .8 percent of Clevelanders now use a bicycle as their primary mode of transportation to work -- a figure well above the national average of .53 percent. This is a 280-percent increase over one decade, giving Cleveland the highest 10-year increase in the country.
“I am looking forward to working with current and future Bike Cleveland members, and the greater cycling community, to continue to grow the cycling movement in Greater Cleveland," said Van Sickle in a press release.
Source: Jacob Van Sickle
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Over the course of the next year, Bike Cleveland plans to focus on prioritizing bike investments in the West Shoreway project, collaborating with the City of Cleveland to update and prioritize its Bikeway Master Plan, creating fun biking events and advocating for cyclist-friendly policies throughout the region.
One of the group's first advocacy projects will be to rally against HR 7, the transportation bill that has been proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives. That bill would eliminate dedicated funding for transportation, cut funding that helps to make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians, and shortchange funding for repairing existing roads and bridges and improving roadways for cyclists.
For several years, Cleveland's cycling community has been fragmented among different organizations. The launch of Bike Cleveland last summer and now the hiring of Van Sickle unites cyclists under a common banner for the first time.
Van Sickle says Cleveland's energized cycling community has a lot ot be proud of. The 2010 American Community Survey shows that .8 percent of Clevelanders now use a bicycle as their primary mode of transportation to work -- a figure well above the national average of .53 percent. This is a 280-percent increase over one decade, giving Cleveland the highest 10-year increase in the country.
“I am looking forward to working with current and future Bike Cleveland members, and the greater cycling community, to continue to grow the cycling movement in Greater Cleveland," said Van Sickle in a press release.
Source: Jacob Van Sickle
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Local writer, speaker and entrepreneur Craig James has some big ideas. In fact, he is a regular contributor to NEOtropolis's "What’s the Big Idea" segment on PBS. He and his partner Sue James formed CatalystStrategies, which helps organizations best communicate their message, market and meaning. In this "Letter to Cleveland," James pens an open letter to the city he loves.
While we pride ourselves here at Fresh Water in having crisp, professional prose, the truth is, without art, a feature is just font on a page. Pictures tell a thousand words, we're told, but the best ones simply leave us speechless. Every masthead and feature image since we launched this pub over a year ago has been shot by Fresh Water shooter Bob Perkoski. Here is a collection of some of his finest work.
When Fresh Water launched in September 2010, we promised to highlight Cleveland's most progressive and creative people, businesses and organizations. But more importantly, we endeavored to place those subjects against the most compelling backdrop of all: Cleveland and its wonderful neighborhoods. Each Thursday, our readers are invited to dig a little deeper into this city we call home. What follows is a list of the 10 most-read features of the previous 12 months. Looking at the subject matter of those stories, it's clear that the most important topics to our readers include neighborhood development, sustainability and transportation, and, of course, food and booze.
cuyahoga arts & culture announces this year's project support grants
On Monday, November 14th, the Board of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) approved 88 grants totaling $1,029,164 for its 2012 Project Support cycle. The awards include traditional PS I grants and the new Project Support II, a small grant program that provides awards of up to $5,000. Grants range in value from $625 to $49,333.
This year garnered the largest number of applications in CAC’s history. A total of 131 organizations submitted Intent to Apply materials, of which 118 of were eligible. This is an increase of 45% from the previous year, which was also a record-setter.
The largest recipient is Scenarios USA, a nonprofit that that uses writing and filmmaking to foster youth leadership in under-served teens. The smallest is River Valley Ringers, a community handbell choir in Cleveland Heights. Others include EcoWatch, Building Bridges, LakewoodAlive, and numerous neighborhood development corps.
See all the grants here.
This year garnered the largest number of applications in CAC’s history. A total of 131 organizations submitted Intent to Apply materials, of which 118 of were eligible. This is an increase of 45% from the previous year, which was also a record-setter.
The largest recipient is Scenarios USA, a nonprofit that that uses writing and filmmaking to foster youth leadership in under-served teens. The smallest is River Valley Ringers, a community handbell choir in Cleveland Heights. Others include EcoWatch, Building Bridges, LakewoodAlive, and numerous neighborhood development corps.
See all the grants here.
cimperman is 'darling' of food policy summit in portland
Last May, Councilman Joe Cimperman participated in the annual Community Food Security Coalition, a food policy conference in Portland, Oregon. Turns out, he killed.
"The surprise darling of the Community Food Security Coalition conference last May was a little-known city councilman from Cleveland," Hannah Wallace writes for Faster Times. "He spoke fervently about his city, a city of flourishing community gardens, backyard bee hives and chicken coops, a city where all farmers markets accept food stamps, where schools get discounts for sourcing local food, and where both trans-fats and smoking on playgrounds are banned. His name? Joe Cimperman."
In this lengthy Q and A, Cimperman discusses some of the efforts that are helping Cleveland become a "food justice utopia," and a model for other cities to emulate.
Cimperman explains how in 2007, Cleveland became the first city to pass an urban farm zoning law, leading to an explosion of community gardens. He says that by 2020, the goal is to have a community garden within five blocks of every Cleveland resident.
He also mentions progressive city programs like urban chickens and bees, farmers markets accepting food stamps, and shoring up food deserts with fresh produce.
"Community gardens just make us a nicer city," Cimperman says in the article. "They make us share more, pay more attention to each others' kids, understand each others' cultures more. There are just so many ancillary benefits to community gardens -- we can't imagine."
Digest the rest here.
"The surprise darling of the Community Food Security Coalition conference last May was a little-known city councilman from Cleveland," Hannah Wallace writes for Faster Times. "He spoke fervently about his city, a city of flourishing community gardens, backyard bee hives and chicken coops, a city where all farmers markets accept food stamps, where schools get discounts for sourcing local food, and where both trans-fats and smoking on playgrounds are banned. His name? Joe Cimperman."
In this lengthy Q and A, Cimperman discusses some of the efforts that are helping Cleveland become a "food justice utopia," and a model for other cities to emulate.
Cimperman explains how in 2007, Cleveland became the first city to pass an urban farm zoning law, leading to an explosion of community gardens. He says that by 2020, the goal is to have a community garden within five blocks of every Cleveland resident.
He also mentions progressive city programs like urban chickens and bees, farmers markets accepting food stamps, and shoring up food deserts with fresh produce.
"Community gardens just make us a nicer city," Cimperman says in the article. "They make us share more, pay more attention to each others' kids, understand each others' cultures more. There are just so many ancillary benefits to community gardens -- we can't imagine."
Digest the rest here.
With months-long waiting lists for many downtown apartments, it's clear that Cleveland is attracting plenty of new residents. But some aren't "new" at all. Boomerangs, native Clevelanders who've left and returned, claim a host of reasons for their homecoming. What they often find upon arrival is a city far different from the one they left behind.
Homeowners were taking out equity loans with alarming abandon just a few years ago, yet now many are reluctant to invest money in their homes. "With housing values falling, demand for home repair loans has also fallen," says Larry Slenczka, Vice President of Community Development for Dollar Bank.
Yet Dollar Bank continues to finance home rehabs through a partnership with Cleveland Action to Support Housing (CASH), a nonprofit whose mission is to revitalize Cleveland neighborhoods through home repair lending.
"CASH has been successful in identifying projects driven by investors," says Slenczka. "Their transactions tend to be very solid loans that have a very low default rate." CASH offers investors and owner-occupants a reduced interest rate. Currently, that interest rate is 2.6%.
Even as the average homeowner sits on the sidelines, some rehabbers are jumping in and finding deals. And the glut of vacant properties in Cleveland has presented an opportunity for savvy investors; while foreclosure rates nationwide reached their lowest level in four years last month, Cleveland still has a backlog of empty homes.
Yet while it seems anyone with a credit card can snap up a cheap foreclosure -- plumbing optional, of course -- that's just the beginning of the process. Getting a loan is no simple feat. Struggling with unsold inventories, many banks are cautious about lending to investors, while others aren't lending at all.
That's where CASH comes in. The nonprofit's partnerships with Dollar Bank and other lenders help owners get financing. In addition to offering a reduced rate, CASH helps owners to pick a contractor, develop a list of repairs, and inspect the work.
"Everybody wins," says Slenczka. "The neighborhood benefits from reinvestment, the benefits from private investment, and the bank benefits from a healthy market return."
Source: Larry Slenczka
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Yet Dollar Bank continues to finance home rehabs through a partnership with Cleveland Action to Support Housing (CASH), a nonprofit whose mission is to revitalize Cleveland neighborhoods through home repair lending.
"CASH has been successful in identifying projects driven by investors," says Slenczka. "Their transactions tend to be very solid loans that have a very low default rate." CASH offers investors and owner-occupants a reduced interest rate. Currently, that interest rate is 2.6%.
Even as the average homeowner sits on the sidelines, some rehabbers are jumping in and finding deals. And the glut of vacant properties in Cleveland has presented an opportunity for savvy investors; while foreclosure rates nationwide reached their lowest level in four years last month, Cleveland still has a backlog of empty homes.
Yet while it seems anyone with a credit card can snap up a cheap foreclosure -- plumbing optional, of course -- that's just the beginning of the process. Getting a loan is no simple feat. Struggling with unsold inventories, many banks are cautious about lending to investors, while others aren't lending at all.
That's where CASH comes in. The nonprofit's partnerships with Dollar Bank and other lenders help owners get financing. In addition to offering a reduced rate, CASH helps owners to pick a contractor, develop a list of repairs, and inspect the work.
"Everybody wins," says Slenczka. "The neighborhood benefits from reinvestment, the benefits from private investment, and the bank benefits from a healthy market return."
Source: Larry Slenczka
Writer: Lee Chilcote
In 2010, MetroHealth
began testing a surgical solution for high blood pressure, became the
only Ohio hospital chosen to participate in the Major Extremity Trauma
Research Consortium to benefit injured servicemen and women, launched
MetroExpressCare to address the needs of urgent care patients, and
provided resources for the identification of the first gene associated
with age-related cataracts.
All the while, the hospital system has kept its eye on sustainable business practices that resulted in a budget surplus last year. MetroHealth currently has about 6,000 employees.
Revenue over expenses for MetroHealth in 2010 totaled $27 million, and operating income decreased from $37.7 million in 2009 to $23.8 million last year. These numbers are in keeping with the health system's goal of maintaining sustainable business practices, which, according to MetroHealth CEO and president Mark Moran, means being able to support the hospital's mission of providing high-quality and affordable care.
Throughout 2011, MetroHealth will be addressing challenges that include a continuing decline in inpatient volumes and rising charity care. The total cost of charity care provided by MetroHealth last year was up $9 million over the previous year.
SOURCE: MetroHealth
WRITER: Diane DiPiero
All the while, the hospital system has kept its eye on sustainable business practices that resulted in a budget surplus last year. MetroHealth currently has about 6,000 employees.
Revenue over expenses for MetroHealth in 2010 totaled $27 million, and operating income decreased from $37.7 million in 2009 to $23.8 million last year. These numbers are in keeping with the health system's goal of maintaining sustainable business practices, which, according to MetroHealth CEO and president Mark Moran, means being able to support the hospital's mission of providing high-quality and affordable care.
Throughout 2011, MetroHealth will be addressing challenges that include a continuing decline in inpatient volumes and rising charity care. The total cost of charity care provided by MetroHealth last year was up $9 million over the previous year.
SOURCE: MetroHealth
WRITER: Diane DiPiero