Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit organization, wants every affordable housing unit in the U.S. to be green by 2020. Now, thanks to that bold ambition, a Cleveland apartment building will receive a green makeover, making it healthier and more energy-efficient for the people that live there.

Enterprise recently announced that it had closed on its first loan in the Ohio Green Communities Retrofit Fund, a $1 million program to renovate older apartment build... Read more >

Green City Growers, a for-profit, employee-owned produce company that is part of the nonprofit Evergreen Cooperatives, will break ground next week on a 3.25-acre hydroponic greenhouse. The project, which will cost $17 million and is expected to eventually create about 40 full-time jobs, will be built in an east side neighborhood so wracked by poverty it has been dubbed "The Forgotten Triangle."

The greenhouse, which is being constructed on a scruffy, 10-acre pat... Read more >

As an approach to planning, designing and managing public spaces, “placemaking” is gaining momentum across the country. This strategy gives local residents a voice in shaping new development so that addresses their needs as opposed to those of the developers. Simply put, placemaking is likely the best path to improving a neighborhood, city or region.

Two prominent local nonprofit organizations, Cleveland Public Art and Parkworks, have announced plans to merge and form LAND Studio. If the organization's new name sounds like that of an edgy architect's studio, that may be no coincidence. LAND Studio hopes to foster great public spaces in Cleveland by leading civic conversations about design and urban planning.

According to a press release, the mission of the new nonprofit organization will be "to create pla... Read more >

The ninth annual Green Energy Ohio Tour, held last weekend at 260 businesses and homes across the state, featured more than 160 solar, wind and green energy projects in Northeast Ohio. Yet while education was the tour's primary goal, it also communicated a critical, attention-grabbing memo to policymakers: this fast-growing industry is driving development and job creation in Ohio.

"With some of our legislators currently doubting the value of renewable energy, our... Read more >

The typical Cleveland bus shelter is a drab glass-and-metal box whose primary purpose is keep the wind, snow, rain and salt off riders. They are not exactly known for their aesthetic appeal.

Yet two new shelters installed by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) on Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights take a more creative, sustainable approach. The solar-powered shelters light up in various colors at night, contain larger, more comfortable benches, and fe... Read more >

The 22-unit Sylvia apartment building has been an eyesore ever since it became vacant two years ago. When its owner died unexpectedly, leaving nobody to care for the property, Detroit Shoreway neighbors watched as the vacant building, which is nestled mid-block on Franklin Boulevard, fell into disrepair.

Beginning this fall, however, nearby homeowners should have something to celebrate: The Sylvia is slated to receive a $3 million makeover that will preserve this historic... Read more >

Last month, crowds poured into the third annual F*SHO, an exhibit that showcased locally made contemporary furniture. The goal of the Midtown event was to promote what is widely being described as a burgeoning local industry. This year's F*SHO was twice the size of last year's. If you didn't make it, check out Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski's visual tour.

Thanks to the volunteers at this year's Cleveland GiveCamp, there is now a downloadable app for local foods information in Northeast Ohio. The free app brings together information on community gardens, orchards, farms, community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs, U-pick locations, and farmers markets and stands into a single, easy-to-browse format.

Nicole Wright of the Ohio State University Extension Urban Agriculture Program says the Harvest NEO app is available o... Read more >

Ben Faller and Jesse Honsky's aim was to restore their home on E. 128th Street between Larchmere and Shaker boulevards to its original character based upon photographs they'd uncovered. Vinyl siding, noxious and non-recyclable, was an unfortunate side effect. Painstakingly removing the siding from their home, they knew, regrettably, that the chemical-laden strips likely would end up in a landfill.

Was there another option?

That's when one of their nei... Read more >

The growing number of urban gardens in the city of East Cleveland prompted the second annual Urban Gardens and Farmers Market Open House. Held last Saturday, the event highlighted the blossoming of urban farms and gardens in a community that lacks even a single major grocery store, says Nicole Wright, Program Coordinator with the Ohio State University Cuyahoga County Extension office, who helped to organize the event in collaboration with local residents.

Wright says the ... Read more >

St. Paul's Lutheran Church couldn't save itself, yet the developer of a new CVS in Lakewood is at least saving it from the wrecking ball. Zaremba Group, a Lakewood-based developer, has recycled 80 to 90 percent of St. Paul's Lutheran Church at 15501 Detroit Avenue, where a new drug store is slated to be built this fall.

Some of the church's finer elements have been rescued from the landfill and soon will gain new life as locally-made furniture or raised ga... Read more >