In American culture, automobiles have long symbolized personal freedom. But present-day bike advocates say the exact opposite is true: Rather than create a sense of giddy liberty, cars foster feelings of isolation and enclosure. For that reason and more -- environmental concerns, high gas prices, the desire for a healthier lifestyle -- more people are opting to go "car-light" and "car-free."

For more than a year, advocates of multi-modal transportation have lobbied the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to add bike and pedestrian lanes to the new Innerbelt bridge. They lost that fight, yet ODOT agreed to fund a $6 million renovation of the Lorain-Carnegie bridge.

That project, scheduled to be completed next fall, will add a broad, multi-use path on the north side and narrow intersections so they can be crossed more easily. It will also narrow driving l... Read more >

Over the past year, more than $48,000 has been invested in energy audits and "green" retrofits for merchants along Buckeye Road on Cleveland's East Side.

According to Deepa Vedavyas, Associate Director for Development at Buckeye Area Development Corporation (BADC), this is just the beginning. She hopes to see Buckeye Road merchants become the first "green-certified retail district" in Cleveland.

"We're using this as a learning opportunity, and encouraging them no... Read more >

January of last year, a natural gas explosion ripped through a vacant house on W. 83rd Street in Cleveland, destroying the home, damaging 57 others, and displacing at least 15 families.

Ultimately, investigators determined that the devastating eruption was caused by a gas main that hadn't been shut off at the street. This prompted neighbors and city officials to wonder if many of Cleveland's vacant and abandoned homes aren't ticking time bombs, waiting to explode under t... Read more >

The renewal of an urban core usually involves, at some point, a grand, sweeping plan that calls for huge development projects costing millions, or billions, of dollars: a new convention center, a mass transit system, a comprehensive waterfront plan. But as cities realize the importance of attracting and retaining talent, it's the smaller development projects and neighborhood investment that are driving real and sustainable change.

Situated on the edges of Cleveland and Shaker Heights, and home to a diverse, international community of residents, Shaker Square has long been a community gathering place for people of different backgrounds.

So it only makes sense, in a way, that Bruce Altchouler (a Clevelander and electrical contractor with a knack for project management) and Ziv Sarig (an Israeli businessman with a finance background) would meet and discover they shared a passion for historic Shaker S... Read more >

Sustainable Cleveland 2019 (SC 2019), an effort by the City of Cleveland and local environmental groups to promote sustainability as a means of growing the economy in Northeast Ohio, will soon have a physical home in Tower City Center.

Andrew Watterson, Cleveland's Chief of Sustainability, says the purpose of the new Sustainable Cleveland Center is to promote efforts to green Northeast Ohio, provide central meeting space for environmental groups, and offer affordable s... Read more >

When Zone Recreation Center's 22 acres of green space reopen next year following a $2.5 million "green" facelift, the rainwater that falls there will be reused on site, rather than being funneled into sewers to pollute our lake, rivers and streams. "We're using it to rehydrate the park," explains Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone, who allocated funding for the park's revitalization.
The redesigned park's water conservation features will include permeable pavers that allow rainwa... Read more >

To some, Michael J. Zone Recreation Center is just another city park where teenagers play pick-up basketball, softball teams face off on scruffy fields, and kids scamper about on a well-worn playground.

Yet for others, this 22-acre green space on Cleveland's near-west side has the potential to become an urban oasis, a premier green space that serves the neighborhood while providing a model for integrating sustainability into city parks.

Recently, the City of Cl... Read more >

Community leaders want to harness the wind in Cleveland. The future of wind turbines is here, with the recent arrivals of turbines at Lincoln Electric and Olympic Steel. And more are on the way. This industry is why GLWN is hosting a two-day summit, Making it Here: Building Our Next Generation Supply Chain. GLWN is an international supply chain advisory group and network of manufacturers. Their mission is to increase the domestic content of North America's wind turbines. The summi... Read more >

Long a destination that appealed primarily to small-town families in search of "big city" fun, Cleveland has ripened as a travel destination. Today, it's not just trade shows that are drawing folks, but also the growing LGBT scene, Broadway-quality theater and high-profile dining. Thanks to the efforts of Positively Cleveland, the region's convention and visitors bureau, "Cleveland Plus" drew 30 million visitors last year, who supported 163,000 jobs and dropped $13 billion in econ... Read more >

Last summer, Ohio City native Alex Nosse biked from Cleveland to San Francisco with a friend. While cycling for eight hours a day, he had plenty of time to dream of finding a job that also fueled his passion.

"It was a light-bulb moment," he says. "I realized how much passion I had for cycling, and that I wanted to do something bike-related."

A year later, the avid cyclist has launched Joy Machines, a new bike shop that opened in June on West ... Read more >

Buffalo is better known for its long, snowy winters than its flowering gardens. Yet last year, GardenWalk Buffalo, a free self-guided tour that bills itself as the largest garden tour in America, attracted an estimated 45,000 people to 300-plus gardens.

After learning about GardenWalk Buffalo from a Plain Dealer article last summer, Clevelanders Jan Kious and Bobbi Reichtell decided to make the trek northeast. Walking around the city and talking to its impassioned urban g... Read more >

The Near West Intergenerational School (NWIS), a public charter school that aims to serve families on Cleveland's near-west side, will open this fall inside of Ohio City's Garrett Morgan School of Science.

"The location in the heart of Ohio City will draw kids from the neighborhood, and many families will be able to walk to school," says Debbie Fisher, the school's recently hired Principal. "Cleveland has a huge need for quality, high-performing schools, and we really bel... Read more >