While the Port of Cleveland is well known as the fastest route between the Midwest and Northern Europe — bringing 13 million tons of cargo anually through the Cleveland Harbor, which translates into $3.5 billion in annual economic activity and more than 20,000 jobs — last week marked the arrival of a large cruise ship to Cleveland.
 
Victory Cruise Lines’ Victory 1 docked at the Port last Tuesday, June 20 as part of its Great Lakes Grand Discovery tour. The stop was the first of at least eight visits this cruising season, says Jade Davis, vice president of external affairs for the Port of Cleveland.

Find out more about the impact Victory 1 has on the city here.

As the summer solstice looms, groups of cycling advocates invite riders to celebrate Cleveland’s best bike year ever amid a host of two-wheeled activities with something for everyone.

In this — the second in an unexpected three-part series that takes a closer look at motorcycle dreams, Cleveland style — we meet a man who's jumped head first into the local custom bike scene in the strangest way.

Edgy bigger-than-life art meets vintage bikes courtesy of a legendary Cleveland artist in this, the first in an unexpected three-part series that takes a closer look at motorcycle dreams, Cleveland style.

From an elaborate renovation of Quicken Loans Arena to a series of residential construction projects, Fresh Water checks in on a handful of ambitious proposed and ongoing development efforts.

As some 76 million baby boomers retire, they are stirring a “silver tsunami” across the country, testing public and nonprofit agencies as well as the housing market. Fresh Water checks in to see how Northeast Ohio is preparing for the trend.

A 27-year-old skateboarding organizer is running for City Hall chief despite tough competition. Does he have a chance?

While the Cleveland Renaissance rises all around us in gleaming fashion, Fresh Water takes a steely look inside five spots that evoke the Rust Belt's hey day.

Walking the Ohio & Erie Canalway Towpath Trail reveals the details of fascinating sights, from stunning infrastructure and industry to magical cities and even a ghostly wetland.

From the reclamation of the Henninger Landfill to saving a Russell Township farm, the Western Reserve Land Conservancy fosters thriving urban centers, green space and more by preserving some 5,000 acres annually.
 

For those wishing to ditch the wheels (along with the expensive parking, insurance and not-so-green exhaust), USA Today taps Cleveland as the nation's top place to do so.

While locals may have other opinions of our public transit, the listing cites amenities such as the RTA Redline and the new UHBikes program as boons to those who'd just as soon opt for any mode of transportation over a private vehicle.

See which cities the 216 beat out here.

From Runner's World:

We started with a list of 250 U.S. cities with populations of more than 160,000 that had the highest number of households per capita reporting participation in running within the last 12 months (according to the SimplyMap 2014 census study). Then we gathered data from myriad sources to create five indexes of special importance to runners, ranking the cities in each index from 1 to 150. We then weighted the indexes [run, parks, climate, food, and safety] and tallied up the scores to create the final list.

Cleveland clocked in at 35, beating out the likes of Atlanta, Miami and even Honolulu.

Get the whole list here - or if you can't wait to don the Nikes and head out to the Metroparks, no worries. The link will be here when you get back.

In its quest to have bicycles be a primary form of transportation in the city, Lakewood recently added two new dedicated bike lanes along the entire stretch of Madison Avenue. The addition is part of the city’s Bicycle Master Plan, adopted in 2012 as a way to encourage cycling.

“We want to establish cycling as a main means of transportation in Lakewood,” says Bryce Sylvester, the city’s senior city planner. “The goal is to be recognized as one of the most bicycle friendly cities in the country.”
 
City officials began implementing the plan back in 2012 with shared bike-vehicle lanes, known as “sharrows,” on Detroit Avenue and dedicated bike lanes on Franklin Boulevard.  The lanes are clearly marked as sharrows or dedicated lanes.
 
In addition to the traditional bike lane markings, the new lanes on Madison implement two new bicycle infrastructure signs. The lanes will have “door zone” patterns – small diagonal lines – to mark areas where people in parked cars may be opening their doors into the lane. The idea is to reduce the number of run-ins cyclists have with abruptly opening car doors.
 
Dotted markings through intersections along the route will reinforce the fact that bicyclists have priority over turning vehicles or vehicles entering the roadway – alerting traffic, both bike and vehicles, of potential conflict areas.
 
“Our hope is to make it a safer ride down Madison Avenue,” says Sylvester.
 
The city also has installed more than 100 bike racks in front of businesses since 2012, with the aim of installing 20 racks per year.
 
Sylvester says the Bicycle Master Plan and its execution are in response to the residents’ demands. “The people have built an environment of cyclists here,” he says. “People use their bikes to get around. We’re taking a proactive approach of active living in Lakewood. We feel infrastructures like this allow out residents to be active.”
 
Lakewood has been awarded a bronze award for its efforts by the League of American Bicyclists
 
"We're doing okay," says Sylvester of the plan’s progress.

The City of Shaker Heights turned to its residents for input on how the forthcoming Van Aken District development will take shape and appropriately reflect the rest of the iconic city.