The biggest gripe of downtown Cleveland residents (and, really, downtown dwellers in most non-coastal cities) is that their city center lacks the retail and amenities they need. Being a downtown resident often means regular car trips to the 'burbs -- or somewhere that's not within walking distance -- for shopping.

Yet that's slowly beginning to change. As any commercial broker will tell you, retail follows rooftops. As downtown Cleveland gains thousands of new... Read more >

Two years ago, after a 17-year career as a communications consultant with some of the area’s larger human resources firms, Denise Reynolds decided she wanted to put a little color in her job. So after she was laid off from her last position, she launched Outside the Lines Creative Group (OTL), a company that uses cartoons to convey company messages.

“I wanted to take all of my knowledge about benefits, wellness, policies and procedures and make it fun,” ... Read more >

Developer Rick Foran has made a career out of saving buildings, yet his latest project involves repurposing elements of one structure that was beyond repair.

Foran was hired by the Episcopal Diocese of Northeast Ohio two years ago to evaluate the condition of the long-vacant Emmanuel Church at 8614 Euclid. After discovering that the building needed structural repairs, the diocese marketed the property, but no buyers were willing to reinvest in it. When the Cleveland Clini... Read more >

Have you ever walked into a sweet li'l shop with a bevy of well-displayed merchandise and thought, Wouldn't it be fun to do something like this? That's exactly what artists Jen Buchanan and Colleen Bridegum always thought -- and they decided to act on it by launching Girl's Best Trend boutique this fall.

Girl's Best Trend, located at 17007 Madison Avenue, offers "art and accessories for you and your home," according to the tagline. The select... Read more >

An east-side developer has purchased the historic streetcar power station on Larchmere Boulevard. Once home to the American Crafts Gallery, which is thought to be the oldest gallery of its kind in Cleveland and is now housed within the Dancing Sheep boutique down the road, the property has been vacant for years. Ilene Greenblatt, who has developed properties in Chicago before moving back to Cleveland to be near family, bought the building and expects to wrap up renovations by Marc... Read more >

Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, a nonprofit community development organization, has begun offering Cleveland City Life tours to expose suburbanites, millenials, empty-nesters, boomerangs and newcomers to town to all the city has to offer.

CNP Director of Marketing Jeff Kipp says the tours really are about helping Clevelanders see for themselves the positive change taking place in the city.

"We'll do the proverbial handholding and take you into the neigh... Read more >

The City of Lakewood has issued 44 certificates of occupancy on Madison Avenue this year, and nine businesses are participating in the city's storefront renovation program. Planning and Development Director Dru Siley says these numbers show how much business interest there is along this traditional yet funky strip, which is seeing a wave of redevelopment activity spurred in part by Detroit Avenue's success.

"We want to reproduce the success we've had on D... Read more >

Cleveland artist Jessica Newell recently quit her job teaching Psychology at Cleveland State University to open a gallery in the 5th Street Arcades. Jessica's Gallery, as it's called, functions as a studio, a gallery for the artist's work and a showcase for rotating local artists.

"I love to paint," Newell explains. "I began receiving a lot of commissions from friends and family, and pretty soon I began to realize, 'I can make a business out... Read more >

From bikeshares to spare couches, swapping clothing to trading tools, the sharing economy has picked up some serious steam in recent years. Thousands of micro-entrepreneurs are finding ways to capitalize on the peer-to-peer trend -- and one of them might just be the next Airbnb.

This week, Brauhaus Cleveland LLC broke ground on the new Hofbrauhaus Cleveland in PlayhouseSquare in the most apropos fashion -- with a German oom-pah band, sausages and huge steins of beer. Project developers aim to complete the new restaurant and brewery by the end of 2014.

"Everything started in 1589 when the Bavarian kings decided the beer wasn't good enough for them, so they created their own brewery," extolled Maximilian Erlmeier, a former Hofbrauhaus... Read more >

It's a fact that $68 of every $100 spent locally returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. We all know that shopping small is good for the local community, but what are the real and tangible benefits behind the movement? A closer look reveals how buying local feeds our region in ways both obvious and subtle.

Since the Great Recession, more and more folks have been living the "gigging life," working multiple jobs or hopping from one project to the next in hopes of cobbling together a living budget. While that might seem arduous, it also allows those living the lifestyle to follow their true passion.