A handful of U.S. cities have torn down or busted through the '60s-era highway walls that separate their neighborhoods from adjacent waterways. Despite critics' fears that such people-friendly projects will cause calamitous traffic delays, they often reap major economic, social and environmental benefits while adding only a few minutes to the average commute.

Cleveland's version of such a wall is the West Shoreway -- a homely, 2.5-mile stretch of concrete that... Read more >

Local real estate pros like David Sharkey of Progressive Urban have been struggling to stay afloat lately, a drastic shift from the urban housing boom of the late-'90s. But slowly, they say, wary buyers are emerging from the sidelines. Their target: value-rich homes with energy-efficient features in neighborhoods with proven market appeal.

"My primary objective is to bring 100,000 newcomers to Northeast Ohio," says Larry Miller, newly appointed president of Global Cleveland. Miller brings more than 25 years of talent attraction and international human resources experience to the organization tasked with promoting the quality of life in and around Cleveland.

The City of East Cleveland, a community that has lost thousands of residents in recent years due to the foreclosure crisis and decades of disinvestment, has celebrated two groundbreakings in as many months, suggesting that the city's new pro-development approach may be working.

Officials from the city, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), the Cuyahoga Land Bank and Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing this week celebrated the groundbreaking of a new 39-unit... Read more >

As part of the JobsOhio initiative, Team NEO has asked regional organizations to submit their ideas for job creation and economic development. As one of six JobsOhio regional offices, Team NEO received $4.1 million from the Third Frontier Commission to fund the office and support economic development programs.
 
“The purpose of the money is to improve the economic development system in Ohio,” says Team NEO CEO Tom Waltermire. “We have been spending q... Read more >

What is most unusual about Trailside at Morgana Run, a new development of 100-plus new homes in the Slavic Village neighborhood of Cleveland, is not simply that it is a rare example of speculative housing development in today’s morbid real estate market.

No, what seems even more unique is that Third Federal Bank, whose headquarters is located adjacent to the site, is actually the developer of the project. Typically, banks do not take an active role in development.Read more >

It wasn't long ago that you couldn't touch a new home in Shaker Heights for less than $300k. That is, if you could find one; in those bygone days, new single-families and condos in this historic, built-out community were scarce, and so was buildable land.

Enter the housing crisis and 2008 recession. Since the dawn of these twin apocalypses, the City of Shaker Heights, which has a reputation for being proactive about the upkeep of its housing stock, has acquired do... Read more >

Lisa Dunn is socially conscious with an artistic flair. As owner of Revive boutique in Cleveland Heights and Lyndhurst’s Legacy Village, Dunn showcases the works of artisans from around the world, all while making sure they earn a fair wage for their work.
 
The two stores carry eco-fashions for children, women and men, as well as products for the home. The handcrafted pieces hail from more than 30 countries and are made of various sustainable materials, such as... Read more >

More than 100 people attended the Flats Forward Waterfront Summit, held this week in downtown Cleveland. Those in attendance learned how cities as far away as Duisburg, Germany, and as close as Pittsburgh, have leveraged their historic waterfronts into magnets for recreation, investment and tourism.

Flats Forward is a one-year-old effort to create a new identity for Cleveland's historic birthplace. Planners are now focused on improving the Flats' infrastructure, t... Read more >

Michael Christoff and Bradley Fink are all about using imagination to create the unthinkable. That’s the idea behind the Cleveland Design Competition. Now in its fourth year, the competition invites people to address the city’s underused sites and come up with new architectural ideas for their uses.
 
Every year, the competition has brought entries from around the world. This year’s project was the Cleveland K-12 schools of the future. “Our int... Read more >

What do hot dogs, running shoes and wooden cutting boards have to do with bringing about community change? Sponsors of the Challenge Cuyahoga promise to answer that question and more during the official Kick-Off Party, which takes place on October 28 at Legation Gallery in the 78th Street Studios.

Tremont Electric is developing a new energy source with its recently patented nPower Wave Energy Converter (WEC). The four-year-old Cleveland company made a huge splash with its nPower PEG, a pint-size power plant that allows people to charge their hand-held devices while walking, running or biking. Their new product uses the waves of Lake Erie -- and ultimately larger bodies of water -- to generate commercial-scale electricity.
 
“We put it in something like a ... Read more >

In an effort to inspire area students to think about clean energy, this year's Clean Energy Challenge will be open to local college students. NorTech is heading up Ohio’s participation in the business plan contest, sponsored by Clean Energy Trust in Chicago.
 
“The point of the challenge is to institute more technology transfer out of the universities,” explains Dave Karpinski, NorTech vice president. “It’s a business plan competition... Read more >

Kicking off what is being billed as "A Day of Social Innovation," bigBANG! will shine the spotlight on a number of innovative local nonprofits that are benefitting our community. The day-long forum, hosted by Cleveland Social Venture Partners (CSVP) and taking place at the CSU Student Center, is the event's inaugural year.