113 years after it was first annexed by the city of Cleveland, Old Brooklyn is becoming new again. With a steadily shifting population (including rapidly growing African-American and Latino demographics) and an equally changing economic landscape (with Chain Reaction bringing at least five new businesses into the area), Old Brooklyn is entering a new era. FreshWater Cleveland is excited to cover the neighborhood’s ongoing transformation in its first-ever On the Ground community reporting initiative.

Now that Old Brooklyn has been chosen as the site for the second iteration of Cleveland Chain Reaction, who are the businesses that will set up shop on its streets? This week’s Business Pitch Showcase took Chain Reaction hopefuls one giant step closer to answering that question. With the field narrowed down from 107 initial applicants, the remaining 18 semi-finalists took center stage at COSE’s downtown headquarters to give their “Shark Tank”-style pitches for why they should be one of five businesses chosen to receive at least $100,000 of investment.

This Saturday, Surrogate Suburbs author Todd Michney will lead a guided bus tour hosted by the Cleveland Restoration Society. Titled "The Roots of Black Sub-Urbanization," the tour will dive deep into the rich histories of the Mount Pleasant, Lee-Harvard, and Lee-Seville (Miles Heights) neighborhoods. “It’s basically about the struggle to achieve the American Dream,” Michney says. “It’s the history of Cleveland’s Black middle class and looking toward the edge of the city for African Americans [who] started moving in the early 1900s."

Northeast Ohio’s largest temporary art event will celebrate its fifth year this weekend in Slavic Village. Led by curators Dana Depew, Scott Pickering, and the Visit Arts Collective, Rooms to Let will transform a trio of properties slated for demolition into interactive public art installations—with the intention of lovingly honoring the condemned homes in a creative way before they’re leveled.

In 1969, Cleveland became the butt of jokes when an infamous burning river attracted national attention. Beyond the punchline, the incident on the Cuyahoga became the precipice of the country’s environmental movement—inspiring Earth Day, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the passage of the Clean Water Act. This is just one example of how Cleveland has impacted the nation, and the first Cleveland History Days celebrates that legacy (and so much more).

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.

On June 24, Clevelanders will convene at various points around the city for conversation, connection, and cuisine as part of the Cleveland Foundation's annual Common Ground initiative. This year's prompt is: "Why does place matter?" FreshWater Cleveland seeks to answer that question with a Common Ground lunch at League Park, and we'd love for our readers to join us!

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

The Make Your Mark on Moreland project will utilize public art to not only enhance the neighborhood, but also to honor the people and events that have shaped Shaker Heights' Moreland neighborhood. Artists Scott Goss and Charlotte Lees have been chosen to bring their proposals for gateways and historical markers to life. Find out more about the progress of this vibrant initiative here.

Lakewood is a little more colorful after the unveiling of a new public art piece by local artist Derek Brennan last Tuesday, May 1, at the corner of Warren Road and Detroit Avenue. Brennan’s mural, “Imagination on the Lake,” spans approximately 13-feet by 9-feet over two inset panels of the brick building that houses Area Temps. “

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.

A beloved University Circle institution is widening its footprint to include Ohio City. This fall, The Music Settlement will open its doors on the ground floor of The Quarter, a new mixed-use development at the northwest corner of Detroit Avenue and West 25^th Street.

Imagine feeding 500 of your neighbors—and then doubling that number a year later. Melissa Khoury and Penny Barend of Saucisson, a Slavic Village-based artisanal cured meat and sausage shop, have taken the lead on making the neighborhood’s Village Feast one to remember.

When creativity, color, and conversation collide, the results can be unstoppable. Just ask community organizer Rachel Oscar, who is leading the quest to create an inclusive community conversation about race and build a mural celebrating all Clevelanders via the Bridge That Bridges campaign.