Ohio City

home for the holidays: a pictorial guide to festive seasonal fun
Staying put in the 216 for the holidays has never been so easy -- nor so much fun. Thanks to a bevy of new attractions and eateries, combined with wonderful old traditions, locals and visitors alike will have no shortage of festive holiday fun. In this colorful slideshow, Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski highlights some of the season's best eats, treats, and places to be.
steelers fans offered taste of cleveland
Offered as a sort of travel guide to travelling Pittsburgh Steelers fans, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently ran a feature titled "On the road with the Steelers: Cleveland."
 
Writer Gretchen McKay does a great job providing tips on where to eat, drink and enjoy the scene in Cleveland.
 
"A growing foodie destination with a landmark public market and a lively arts community, there's plenty of fun in store for the weekend traveler. So much, in fact, that Travel and Leisure named it one of America's 'favorite cities' in 2009 for affordability and its rockin' music scene: in addition to one of the world's best-known music museums, it boasts a renowned orchestra," writes McKay.
 
As for foodie-friendly spots, McKay writes:
 
"Many of the best tastes of Cleveland can be found in its historic West Side Market in an arched NeoClassical/Byzantine building in the Ohio City neighborhood. In October, the public market celebrated its 100th birthday with a parade, but every day here feels like a celebration for food lovers. Home to more than 100 vendors that show off the city's ethnic diversity -- you'll find everything from Old World smoked meats and pierogies to produce and gourmet cheeses to a French creperie serving to-order sweet and savory crepes -- it's been featured on the Travel Channel and Food Network."

"Even though Cleveland and Pittsburgh have similar demographics, Cleveland's food scene has a higher national profile. As former PG restaurant critic China Millman pointed out in a 2010 travel story, the food here really rocks."


Read the rest of the article here.

forward-thinking cdc's the 'special sauce' behind successful neighborhood redevelopment
To be truly successful at neighborhood redevelopment, CDCs must change how they do business, says Joel Ratner, president of Neighborhood Progress Inc. They must adopt a holistic strategy that combines bricks-and-mortar development with high-performing schools, social services, and other amenities that residents need and want. 
vision for local food system outlined in artsy animation

This animated video premiered at the 4th Annual Sustainable Cleveland Summit in September.

"It illustrates the vision for a local and sustainable food system in the Cleveland region, and how people can get involved," explains Jenita McGowan of the Mayor's Office of Sustainability  "As part of the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 year of local foods celebration, we wanted to create a video that is fun, simple and easy to understand.  It is our goal that this video resonates specifically with residents of Northeast Ohio using recognizable icons, such as the West Side Market.”



this way in: how wayfinding helps visitors navigate novel surroundings
"Wayfinding,” the use of signs, maps and other graphic sources of information to navigate one's surroundings, has become a vital issue in the redevelopment of our city thanks to splashy new developments and the increasing popularity of old ones.
eater does 'heat check' on cleveland dining scene
Eater, a national website covering food, drink and chefs, published a list of the go-to places in Cleveland to eat right now.
 
“It's been over a year since we last looked at Cleveland's hottest restaurants, so today we circle back and focus on ten new openings that have been garnering serious buzz,” writes Gabe Ulla of Eater.
 
Food writer and Fresh Water managing editor Douglas Trattner clues Ulla in on some of the newest, hottest dining spots Cleveland has to offer.
 
“Among the choices: a very tasty restaurant that borrows from Korea, Japan, and several other Asian countries (Accent), an excellent sit-down taco and margaritas spot (Barrio), food truck man Chris Hodgson's new brick-and-mortar (Hodge's), and a place that bills itself as "pan-Southern" (SoHo Kitchen and Bar).”
 
Check out the full piece chock full of information and details here.
revival: new momentum in the contemporary arts scene is helping to revitalize region
Cleveland’s contemporary art scene is thriving and growing, serving as a magnet for tourism while proving an economic engine for revitalizing the region. Newly reenergized by momentous advancements at CMA and MOCA -- and nurtured along by CIA -- the progressive arts scene is enjoying a renaissance.
west side market centennial weekend slideshow
Last weekend, the city of Cleveland celebrated the 100th birthday of the West Side Market in style. Thousands of locals and visitors made their way to Ohio City to take part in one or more events held in the Market's honor. Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski covered the events for the magazine.
area creatives have designs on making cle hub of artistic talent
Local firms like TWIST Creative, Go Media and Studio Graphique are just a few of the design-minded companies that are fueling Cleveland's creative renaissance. With the region's future success dependent on the procurement of young talent, the design community's exciting body of work is earning the city regional and national buzz.
'gardens that teach' contest imparts to local students the importance of healthy eating
A school garden is a real, living world, a type of lab that offers teachers a way to embed creativity, collaboration and love for nature into their curriculum, believes Carlton Jackson, a farmer, self-described "food evangelist" and proprietor of Tunnel Vision Hoops, a provider of hoop houses that allow for year-round food production.
 
The Cleveland-based company is offering Cuyahoga County public school students grades K-8 a chance to win a hoop house for their school. The Gardens that Teach contest, which runs through February, asks students a series of questions about the preparation, construction and maintenance of a theoretical school garden. Answers will be reviewed by a panel of experts from the realms of food policy, botany and community gardening.
 
The winning school will receive the greenhouse-like hoop house, while the other participants will learn about the benefits of plants, year-round gardening and healthy eating, says Jackson. "We wanted kids to use their math skills," he adds. For example, "how many pounds of tomatoes can they get? What will the do with the food once it's grown?"
 
Hoop houses provide a high-temperature environment that protects crops from strong winds, cold and frost, allowing fruits and vegetables to grow during gardening's so-called "off-season," Jackson says.
 
The concept also is in line with the city's Sustainable Cleveland 2019 project, a movement that in part aims to increase the percentage of locally produced food. Mayor Frank Jackson also proclaimed October 24 to be Food Day, a national venture with the overriding objective of "eating real" and promoting healthy diets among the population.
 
The Gardens That Teach contest is certainly a nourishing exercise for Northeast Ohio's young students, says Jackson.
 
"There's a wonderment in watching something grow," he says. "If we can kids back to that, it would be a beautiful thing."
 

SOURCE: Carlton Jackson
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
developer announces plans for 72 new market-rate apartments in ohio city
The Cleveland-based developer The Foran Group has announced plans to convert a pair of historic buildings on W. 25th Street in Ohio City into 70 market-rate apartments. The game-changing project, in the works for several years, is the first big new housing project to get off the ground here since the Great Recession.

Positioned between the success of Ohio City's Market District and the popular Stonebridge apartment, office and condo complex, the new West 25th Street Lofts will bring fresh life and vibrancy to a critical dead zone in the heart of Ohio City.

"There is huge demand; we estimate that occupancy will be 93 to 97 percent," says Rick Foran of The Foran Group, who has partnered with developer Christopher Smythe to complete the project. "We're closing the gap between the established Ohio City area, Stonebridge and the Warehouse District."

The project, located at the corner of West 25th and Church, incorporates both the historic Baehr Brewing Company building and the former Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority on Church. It will include first floor garage parking, an interior courtyard that offers outdoor space, and 9,000 square feet of commercial space.

The Baehr Brewing Company, a two-story brick building that dates back to the 1870s -- and once housed horse stables, a powerhouse and a saloon -- will be completely restored on the exterior to federal historic standards.

Inside the buildings, existing historic features will be reincorporated into the apartments. For instance, the former CMHA building features a wood ceiling and iron girders, and these elements will soon become design accents in the suites.

Getting to this point wasn't easy. The project has complex, layer-cake financing from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), state and federal historic tax credits, and Cleveland's Vacant Property Initiative.

Foran expects to close on his HUD financing early next year, start construction immediately afterwards, and begin moving renters into suites by May 2014.

Foran hopes the project will prove catalytic for the neighborhood. Over the long term, a major new park is being planned on the hillside that slopes down to the Cuyahoga River from W. 25th -- an amenity for residents and the entire city.



Source: Rick Foran
Writer: Lee Chilcote
artist's film documents the surprising transformation of euclid square mall
Euclid Square Mall is hardly abandoned or dead, you just need to take a closer look to witness signs of life, maintains Cleveland artist Jef Scharf. Walk into the mall on a Sunday morning, in fact, and you may hear songs of worship reverberating through its halls.
 
The former large-scale retail center now has nearly 30 churches renting space for services, Bible studies and choir practice. Scharf, an artist-in-residence at SPACES Gallery, spent a year interviewing church-goers and congregational leaders for his documentary, simply titled "Euclid Square Mall Project." 

The film was officially screened at SPACES on October 11, but is available in the gallery's video viewing room until the middle of November.
 
First-time documentarian Scharf is a designer, screen printer, installation artist and musician. His 30-minute movie is a fairly typical talking heads-style venture that concentrates on the people running the congregations rather than the worship services themselves. How the vacant retail space shifted its function from retail to a faith-based community is a subject of fascination for the artist.
 
"There are so many stories to tell," notes Scharf. "You'd walk into this public space and the sounds of singing would bleed into each other. It filled the mall with incredible warmth."
 
The project's genesis was borne from simple curiosity. On a Sunday afternoon in fall 2010, Scharf was shopping at a nearby retail outlet when he stepped into the mall. He was impressed enough by the space's renewed energy to film some of the activity going on that day on his cell phone.
 
"It just stuck with me," says Scharf. "I realized I wanted to explore [the mall] further in that format."
 
It's strange to walk into a retail complex scrubbed clean of bright signage and other signposts that exemplify the typical American mall, Scharf says. Today, the signboard that once carried familiar names like Gap and Banana Republic now are stamped with names of congregations.
 
The film project, in its way, is a story of survival, believes Scharf. "These are people keeping their dreams alive by preserving the vibrancy of a space," he says. The movie "is a documentation of transformation." 

 
Source: Jef Scharf
Writer: Douglas J. Guth
 
seeing the world, one delicious plate at a time
It's no exaggeration to say that Cleveland wouldn't be half the city it was and is without the steady influx of foreign-born peoples. But nowhere, perhaps, is our city's melting-pot pedigree more evident than on the plates served at ethnic eateries throughout town. Every time we tuck into a delicious plate of ethnic food, we have these brave immigrants to thank for it.
cleveland named among top rust belt travel destinations for canadians
“With a flourishing theatre scene, beautifully restored Art Deco buildings and a burgeoning farm-to-table culinary movement, it’s hard to believe that this town ever served as a punch line,” writes Tim Johnson of the Toronto Star.
 
Fellow Rust Belt cities of Detroit and Pittsburgh also are highlighted in this travel piece that boasts how these three cities have emerged from industrial oblivion to become havens for artists, designers, and others that are fighting to bring these tired cities back to life.
 
“Their factories are now a haven for artists and designers, or hosts for living history tours," he notes. "Their rivers, one of which caught on fire in 1969 (the Cuyahoga), have been cleaned up. All three are home to several worthwhile attractions — if you know where to look.”
 
His piece details must-see attractions such as The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Terminal Tower, the West Side Market and Ohio City, the Cleveland Metroparks, and mentions The Greenhouse Tavern and Cowell and Hubbard as prime eateries.
 
Read the tale of three cities here.
mag for meeting planners points travelers to cleveland
Writing for Meetings Focus, a publication geared to professional meeting planners, Kelsey Farabee writes that "Northeast Ohio is booming. New venues and hotels are sprouting up throughout the region and visitors are pouring in, so planners seeking an energetic, bustling host city should look no further than the seat of Cuyahoga County."

The article, titled "Cure for the Common City," describes at length all the recent development that has taken place over the past few years. Mentioned within are the Medical Mart and convention center, "Cleveland’s burgeoning food scene," and Horseshoe Casino Cleveland.

Also described is the new Museum of Contemporary Art, about which Farabee writes, "Adding to the city’s cultural panache is the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Cleveland, which unveiled an enormous $350 million expansion this month. The new 34,000-square-foot structure has a distinctive mirrored exterior and is 44 percent larger than the museum’s previous location. The four-story building has a startling geometric footprint, rising from a hexagonal base to a square top, with exhibitions and space for public programs on all four floors."

Read the rest right here.
earth day coalition co-founder retires after 23 years with the organization
Steadfast. Tenacious and uncompromising. Someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of the issues at hand.

Those are just a few of the plaudits Earth Day Coalition (EDC) executive director Scott Sanders has for his retiring compatriot, EDC co-executive director Chris Trepal, who will be honored on Friday, Nov. 9 during the organization's Instrumental Evening for the Earth.

Trepal co-founded the nonprofit environmental education/advocacy group with Sanders in 1990. As a devoted environmental advocate, she has played an integral role in the community projects EDC is best known for, Sanders says.
Among Trepal's career highlights:

* Helped establish the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve opened to the public in February 2012. The former Dike 14 has 80-plus acres of "wild" activity, including 300 species of birds that live and migrate on site.

* Spearheaded EDC's NatureHood project, which has restored native plants to 32,500 square feet of neighborhood-maintained vacant land. An additional 16,500 square feet of empty lot on the West Side has been converted into a plant nursery.

* Worked on such clean air issues as Diesel Hot Spots, idle reduction, mercury-fish consumption and Cleveland's proposed waste-to-energy project.

Trepal has a drawer full of awards recognizing her accomplishments, including the Greater Cleveland Woman of Achievement Award from the YWCA of Cleveland. These honors are well-deserved, says Sanders.

"Chris is masterful in terms of her knowledge and approach," says the EDC director. "She's one of the hardest working people I've ever known."

Trepal's executive director position retires with her. Earlier this year, EDC named Elaine Barnes as its development and program director. The organization will also be hiring additional advocacy staff to make up for the experience lost with Trepal's leave-taking.

"Our vision has crystallized in the last year," says Sanders. "We want to strengthen our neighborhood focus as well as continue collaborations with groups like the Metroparks."

Regardless, Trepal's leadership will be missed, notes Sanders. "I learned a lot from her over the years," he says.


Source: Scott Sanders
Writer Douglas Guth
columbus food writer full of love for cleveland culinary scene
Following a recent trip to Cleveland, where apparently he visited half the restaurants in town, notable Columbus food blogger Jim Ellison of CMH Gourmand filed a glowing dispatch.
 
"I am at the halfway point in my Palette to Palate Tour of Cleveland with Positively Cleveland. I am touring with writers from LA, Detroit, Baltimore, Toronto and Columbus. Our collective opinion so far, we love Cleveland. Not a big surprise for most of us. What might be a surprise is that in spite of all I am doing, there is so much more to do and see and especially eat, that I am not even scratching the surface of this city."
 
Later he adds, "In the back of my mind, I can’t avoid the inclination to compare and contrast Columbus with Cleveland. My track record shows that I am a champion of my city of birth but on this trip, even though not completed, I will say that the culinary community of Cleveland kicks that of Columbus in the ass. Cleveland may have a little more in the quantity, I would say a head to head tie for quality, but where the win occurs in the spirit of collaboration and cheerleading among chefs here for each other and a desire to keep raising the bar."
 
His dizzying schedule included stops at Greenhouse Tavern, Spaces Gallery, Sweet Moses, Muse in the Ritz Carlton, Ohio City Urban Farm, West Side Market, Sokolowski’s, Crop Bistro, Cleveland Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, and many more.
 
Read his missive here.
q & a: william friedman, president & ceo cleveland-cuyahoga county port authority
The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority is asking voters to vote "Yes" on Issue 108, a levy that would cost property owners roughly $20 a year per $100,000. Fresh Water discusses the importance of the levy and more with Port President and CEO William Friedman.
up the river: navigating the narrow, twisting river to fuel the economy
On a recent September morning, the American Courage freighter began a trip upriver at the Port Authority’s Cleveland Bulk Terminal, where it picked up roughly 15,000 tons of iron ore. This was the 635-foot freighter’s second trip that day up the 5.5-mile ship channel to ArcelorMittal, where workers would later turn the iron ore into steel used to produce cars, construct buildings, and make household appliances.