In collaboration with the Burning River Foundation, Fresh Water sponsored a photo contest in honor of the 45th Anniversary of the last burning of the Cuyahoga River. In anticipation of this weekend's Burning River Fest, we asked to see your best water-themed photos. Here are the top entries.

As urban neighborhoods become more vibrant, planners are turning their attention to creating world-class public spaces to complement the latest flurry of development. Three new or improved parks have just been unveiled this year: Scranton Flats, the marina at North Coast Harbor and Rivergate.

Remember the skate park built for the Dew Games held at North Coast Harbor in 2008? Well, it's been dismantled, but the concrete slab remains, surrounded by a metal-flame fence. Very soon the space will be home to the city's first shipping container-based restaurant, Blazing Bistro, which is scheduled to open in late July, adding to the amenities on downtown's lakefront.

"We've recognized for a while that one of the missing amenities on the lakefront is a gathering place for people while they're at the Rock Hall etc.," says Michael Deemer, Vice President of Business Development and Legal Services at Downtown Cleveland Alliance. "We worked with the city and with Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries to build off the success of Cleveland's food truck renaissance."

Blazing Bistro will take up residence in a recycled shipping container repurposed by Cleveland Customer Trucks. Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries (LMM), which operates the successful Manna food truck and employs formerly incarcerated and homeless individuals, was awarded the contract after responding to an RFP from the city.

The days and hours of operation are not set in stone, but likely will be lunch Wednesday through Sunday with some evening hours added as well. The shipping container idea grew out of the Small Box Initiative, a program of the Historic Warehouse District Development Corporation to develop retail in parking lots on West 9th Street.

As the new lakefront development takes off, Blazing Bistro can be picked up and moved to other locations, either in the harbor or other parts of downtown.

Blazing Bistro also will be open during various events taking place at North Coast Harbor, including the new Anchors and Ales event, held August 22-23 and September 13-14 in conjunction with Cleveland Browns home games.

Deemer says the seasonal restaurant is a win-win-win for the city, residents and visitors. "It's not enough to have a park on the lakefront; we have to actively drive people there with events and amenities," he says. "We've seen food truck owners open up brick and mortar stores with great success. This is a new wrinkle."
 

After decades of population loss, cities like Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Pittsburgh are now growing faster than the rest of their metro areas. Urban developers are trying to attract the right amenities to support the new wave of urbanites. So what’s needed to sustain a dense and vibrant city? The answers might surprise you.

Burning River Foundation and Fresh Water are sponsoring a photo contest in honor of the 45th Anniversary of the last burning of the Cuyahoga River. In anticipation of the upcoming Burning River Fest, we want to see your best water-themed photos -- from the winding Cuyahoga River to majestic Lake Erie -- that show how far we’ve come since that fateful summer of 1969.

Artists are often the first to move into urban neighborhoods, and also the first to move out when rents escalate. Yet in the post-recession landscape, many communities are working with artists to transform blight, engage residents and reimagine their neighborhoods.

Cleveland Public Library's Eastman Reading Garden once again will be transformed with public art this summer, as Mexican artist Ivan Juarez has recently completed the fifth temporary installation of the See Also program. The work, entitled Drawing Lines, features custom-built steel shapes threaded together with rope. The pieces are intended to be functional spaces in which visitors can sit and read, have lunch or talk, but they also are intended to inspire reflection on our relationship with the urban environment.  

"I am an architect who combines architecture with other disciplines, in this case landscape and art," Juarez explained during a recent visit to the garden. "I wanted visitors to be able to go inside and see different views and layers of the city."

According to the website of LAND Studio, the organization that coordinates the program, "Juárez brings a global perspective and a new interpretation of the space that imaginatively frames views of the garden’s natural beauty."

The site explains the meaning behind the installation: "A continuous thread moves across new and existing elements in the garden to filter the natural light and create new passages and spaces to gather and reflect. At the same time, the installation’s architecture is being broken apart. Its walls are transparent. Anyone can explore the installation, discovering new spaces, shadows, and frames. Similarly, Cleveland Public Library strives for greater openness and access for all, keeping its place as a community anchor with engaged learning and diverse programming."

About 20,000 feet of rope was used to create the installation, along with custom-built frames. The rope was provided by Samsel Supply in the Flats.

Drawing Lines will be illuminated during AHA!, a festival of lights that will take place August 8-10 during the Gay Games. The purpose of the festival is to highlight the transformation of downtown, local artists and public artwork.

The new Circle of Wildlife carousel at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo features 64 animals hand-carved by Carousel Works in Mansfield, Ohio, and grouped according to their natural environment. The carousel opened a few weeks ago just in time for the busy summer season.

"The response has been extremely exciting," says Zoo Director Chris Kuhar. "Folks are amazed by the carousel, which is extremely large and very beautiful, as well as the murals. Then there's the story that it was carved just down the road in Mansfield, by one of the world leaders in the creation of wood carousels."

Single ride tickets for the carousel are $3 ($2.50 for Zoo Society members). All-day ride passes are available for $8 ($6 for members). Directly adjacent to the carousel is the brand new Nature Discovery Ridge play area, which features natural habitats of rocks, water and trees where kids can play.

There also are new restroom facilities, concession stands, picnic shelters and an observation deck at Nature Discovery Ridge. The pavilion is available for rent, and the Metroparks is planning to build an events center called Stillwater Place adjacent to the carousel, which can be rented for weddings and other events. 

Carousel Works created eight custom animals that don't appear on any of its other carousels, including an Anatolian shepherd, lynx, ocelot and ring-tailed lemur. The animals and their habitats were selected by zoo conservation staff.

"This project is all about connecting the dots between people, animals and habitat," says Kuhar. "All of the animals on the carousel either have a conservation or education component. They're either animals in the collection or they're animals we support in conservation and education projects."

The project also features a number of historic sculptures of endangered bird species by local artist Viktor Schreckengost. The sculptures were repurposed from another project.

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Sometimes, even the most adventurous resident can grow a little too comfortable living in the same city after a while. But one can always find something new to discover if we just dig a little deeper. Lucky for us, a number of smartphone apps will help the explorer in all of us get reacquainted with the city we call home.

It's been four and a half years since the first edition of "Moon Handbooks: Cleveland" was published. Considering all that has taken place in Cleveland during that time, author and Fresh Water managing editor Douglas Trattner says that for the second edition, which was released this week, he went back to the starting gate.

From Seattle to Washington D.C., forgotten alleys are being reinvented as people-friendly places. Often perceived as dirty and dangerous, alleys are moving beyond garbage and garages to become havens for pedestrians, public art and small business.

Each summer, throngs of people flock to the streets to partake in arts festivals, art walks and marquee arts events. Many are free and no two are exactly alike. With art mediums that include paintings, sculpture, glassware, photography, leather, jewelry and performance art, there’s something for everybody.

Issue Media Group publications such as Pop City in Pittsburgh, The Line in Minneapolis and Soapbox in Cincinnati cover "what's next" in urban centers. In this recurring feature, we highlight the top stories in urban innovation from across our national network.

If you're considering a move to Cleveland, there might be no better means to examine the broad range of residential options than by hopping aboard a City Life tour hosted by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress. In a few short hours, participants enjoy an immersive dive into a number of Cleveland's most in-demand neighborhoods.
 

In the recently released Best Hikes Near Cleveland, Fresh Water contributor Joe Baur offers readers a deep dive into some of the best local hikes Mother Nature has to offer. Seven of those hikes are urban, taking readers through Downtown, Ohio City, Tremont, Forest Hill and elsewhere. Here's an excerpt -- and an introduction by the author.

Now that we've emerged from our respective huts, it's time to stop squinting towards the sky and go do something. Sure, the usual line-up of outdoor activities awaits -- but aren't there any surprises left in CLE? You bet there are, and we're about to point you in the right direction.

Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and CharterOne Foundation have announced the creation of a Clean&Green Cleveland program, which offers a fully stocked trailer to assist neighborhood residents with beautification projects. The trailer comes equipped with all the tools and equipment necessary to clean up vacant lots, maintain community gardens, tackle neighborhood improvement projects, and more.

The nonprofit introduced the trailer as part of its ongoing efforts to beautify and reimagine vacant properties in Cleveland. The trailer is available on a "first come, first reserved" basis, according to the website. Applications, use forms, waivers and other information all can be found online, and groups are encouraged to apply. The trailer is for use in the City of Cleveland only.
 
In a release, CNP stated that the Clean&Green program will offer opportunities not only for beautification, but also for community building among neighbors.


Source: Cleveland Neighborhood Progress
Writer: Lee Chilcote