8ShadesofGray

By way of illustration, some stats from CMSD, Bay, Solon and John Hay Early College. To E Rocc's point, John Hay Early College is benefiting from very low numbers of students with disability and limited English proficiency, as well as from highly qualified teachers. That being said, 100% of students are considered economically disadvantaged ... That's a huge disparity in comparison to suburban school districts. Sure, these students have high GPAs, which is probably indicative of supportive and engaged parents and of their own high levels of motivation and drive, but nonetheless, schools like this are elevating people out of incredibly impoverished backgrounds, and that deserves some :clap: Even if the "economic disadvantage" designation is coming from the census tract level rather than the household level (and I have to assume it is ... 100% of CMSD students come from economically disadvantaged homes??), schools are still dealing with the challenges of troubled neighborhoods even if not troubled home lives. CMSD % Economically Disadvantaged: 100.0% Limited English Proficiency: 7.8% Students with Disabilities: 23.0% % of core academic subjects not taught by highly qualified teachers: 5.1% Bay Village City School District % Economically Disadvantaged: 8.4% Limited English Proficiency: 0.6% Students with Disabilities: 12.1% % of core academic subjects not taught by highly qualified teachers: 0.0% Solon City School District % Economically Disadvantaged: 11.2% Limited English Proficiency: 5.2% Students with Disabilities: 9.0% % of core academic subjects not taught by highly qualified teachers: 0.0% John Hay Early College High School % Economically Disadvantaged: 100.0% Limited English Proficiency: less than 5.0% Students with Disabilities: less than 5.0% % of core academic subjects not taught by highly qualified teachers: 0.0%

^ That's a fair statement. But I'd argue that decades of movement of people of means out of the city has disproportionately led to more advantaged, nurtured and stable home-life students in many suburban school districts and more disadvantaged and disenfranchised students from broken homes in the city. In many ways, suburban school districts do at least passively enjoy some of the advantages that magnet schools enjoy. For me, this story showcases another important narrative ... That while the City of Cleveland is home to some of the absolutely worst public and charter schools in the statep, it is also home to some of the best public and charter schools in the state. For parents who otherwise would gravitate to living in the city, were it not for horrible schools, we've got to amplify the message that there are a great number of high-quality schools in the city before you even get to our private and parochial options.

This is undoubtedly a stupid question, but what is the advantage of doing exterior clean-up on the front end of rehab? I know nothing about construction, but I would assume you'd want to do power washing once all the heavy lifting and installations and dust and debris from this and adjoining construction were nearing completion. Is this to take advantage of the weather? Start pre-leasing with a fresh look? Term of the Historic Preservation Tax Credit? Or is there some kind of advantage to the construction process itself? Loving the look, just confused :)

Cross-post of a fantastic map of ethnic composition that Oldmanladyluck found. Figured it might be worthwhile in this thread for two topics: the amount of integration or segregation in our downtowns; and the degree of concentration of population into particular parts of downtowns. In a quick look at the 3 C's' downtowns, I was surprised to see just how dense population was in some relatively small areas, with huge swaths of white (no population) in between. It gives you a sense of just how much more population/connectivity/density our downtowns can hold as we do more office-to-residential, mixed-use conversion and new construction residential.

My monthly refrain that St. Clair Superior should get its own thread or get merged with the Asiatown thread ... Lots of great stuff going on over there! :) indie foundry set to open creative clubhouse in slovenian mansion in st. clair superior Lee Chilcote, Fresh Water Cleveland THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2013 The founder of the successful Cleveland Flea will soon move her growing business, The Indie Foundry, into a historic mansion on St. Clair Avenue. The location will function as a co-working and classroom space aimed at helping small creative businesses to grow and flourish. It joins a growing list of new startups on that street. "This is the business development side of a business incubator, a place where you meet other creatives," says Stephanie Sheldon. "You’re making things in the kitchen, crafting things or making stuff in the woodshop -- but when it’s time to work on your business, where do you do that? 'Hey, have you found great insurance agent? Who do you use for bookkeeping? How do you deal with a growing company?' These are the kinds of questions that the Indie Foundry is dedicated to" ... ... More available at http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/indiefoundry082213.aspx

^ Yep, Templin-Bradley is the building that is being considered for some artist space. I can't imagine that their Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit would have any tie to final tenants ... That program is much more geared toward seeing the building tenanted and bringing it back to a quality state of historic renovation. DSCDO also landed funding from the National Endowment for the Arts in support of feasibility analysis on this building ... If there were any strings about artist occupants, it would be more likely here. But even then, I think it would be unlikely. Based on the schematics KJP posted above, it looks like there is still some considerable artist emphasis on the building, with several of the units explicitly marked "live/work".

The Plain Dealer has also been running a number of stories about the first week of the CMSD school year, with a focus on changes being made with the enactment of the new Cleveland Plan and the successful levy passage. I've got to say that after reviewing the Plan a little more deeply, and reading these stories, I'm thoroughly impressed with the direction the district is headed. First day of school gives Cleveland school district its first chance to show changes at its Investment Schools By Patrick O'Donnell, The Plain Dealer August 19, 2013 CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Temisha Patrick was poised at the door of Anton Grdina Elementary School this morning at 7:30 a.m., ready to guide students to class. "What grade?" Patrick asked a parent holding the hand of a young girl with a crisp new backpack over her shoulders. "Second grade." Patrick, an instructional coach at the school, gestured toward the front door. "First and second grades have already gone in," Patrick said. "We'll go to the office and take care of you." The first day of school at Anton Grdina started this morning with smiling children, few disruptions and consultants hired by the district on hand to make the start of school run smoothly. The start, particularly at a school like Grdina, is crucial said Davin Auble, of the School Turnaround Group of Mass Insight Education, the firm the district has hired to help coordinate changes at 13 struggling schools, including Grdina ... ... More available at http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/08/post_182.html

In addition to Homeland Security funding, a number of Council Members are using their discretionary funding from casino taxes for the purchase of security cameras ... Including a relatively large purchase already from Councilman Zone. Might just be a matter of making the request of the Councilman for placement there. Casino tax money being slowly spent by Cleveland City Council Mark Naymik, The Plain Dealer August 20, 2013 Cleveland City Council members are slowly spending casino tax revenue that flows exclusively to them. Just seven of the 19 members have tapped their share of the money as of July 31, according to council records. Council created a special fund for the money from which each council members can draw about $70,000 to spend on city projects of their choosing. Requests for expenditures are made in writing, reviewed by the city's Law Department and must be approved by council through separate legislation. Council has spent a total of $186,000, much of it to install surveillance cameras in three neighborhoods. Eugene Miller, whose Ward 10 boundaries include portions of the Collinwood neighborhood, spent $48,000 for the cameras. T.J. Dow, whose Ward 7 includes the city's Hough neighborhood, spent nearly $33,000 on cameras. Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone, who looks after portions of the city's near West Side, spent $40,000 for cameras ... ... More available at http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2013/08/casino_tax_money_being_slowly.html

It's looking really good, particularly that pedestrian-only pathway that used to be a throughway (E. 22nd? E. 23rd?). Unfortunately that particular alleyway is adjacent on both sides to what look like communal amenity spaces for renters, rather than retail ... Which might hamper the sidewalk cafe effect a bit.

^^ Interesting. Per the March 2012 study referenced in that article (http://urban.csuohio.edu/publications/center/center_for_economic_development/Film_Commission_Full_Report_Final_Revised.pdf) and Guidestar: Greater Cleveland Media Development Corporation, $560,000 annual budget (2011) Cleveland film production: 2,883 film jobs for Ohioans and $6,186,180 in wages, 2009- March 2012 (did not include Akron, County, or other locations in northeast Ohio ... Just Cleveland) Greater Cincinnati Film Commission, $155,000 annual budget Greater Cincy film production: 836 film jobs for Ohioans and $4,130,583 in wages Columbus Film Commission, $16,000 (last reported in 2007!) Columbus film production: 48 film jobs for Ohioans and $247,442 in wages Now I'm sure a ton of different factors go into why certain areas of the state see more film action than others. But my guess, looking at these numbers, is that at least one big factor is having an active and well-resourced film commission on the ground that can provide a lot of ground help as potential filming locations are scouted.

^ Good call ... My mistake. Clarification from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: "By the late 1920s ... Italian neighborhoods had been established. The largest was BIG ITALY, located along Woodland and Orange avenues from E. 9th St. to E. 40th St. LITTLE ITALY, centered at Mayfield and Murray Hill roads, proved the most enduring of the settlements. Nearby, at E. 107th St. and Cedar Ave., a community grew around St. Marian Church. Also on the city's east side was a substantial Italian settlement in COLLINWOOD. Two settlements were on the west side, one near Clark and Fulton avenues and one on Detroit near W. 65th St., the latter an offshoot of the former. Eventually, by the late 1920s, a 7th community was established by people moving out of Big Italy to the Woodland and E. 116th St. region." ^^ I think you might be talking about 5700 Detroit Avenue, the Templin Bradley building. It received a planning and feasibility grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for potential conversion into live/work space, with a focus on artists (http://freshwatercleveland.com/inthenews/placemakinggrant071912.aspx), and it looks like it has also received a $1.8 million tax credit toward a projected $7.8 million redevelopment. At the time of receipt, they were in the process of seeking financing for remainder of development costs. Not sure where they are at in the overall process, though.

^^^^^ According to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, University Circle (at least the western, first settled part) was originally known as Doan's Corners, as early as 1799. The current name, which looks like it's been in place since at least the turn of the twentieth century, was "taken from a streetcar stop on a line running on Euclid to a turnaround at E. 107th known as Univ. Circle". So there was indeed a physical circle where the streetcars turned around to head back toward the city center. ^ I'm not in love with renaming the entire nabe Gordon Square ... Less because of the existence or lack of a traditional square and more because DSCDO has a big service area, and I like the idea of sub-branding the neighborhood with different identities in different areas ... Something that already seemed to be off the ground with the EcoVillage, Edgewater Hill/Battery Park/Big Italy. That being said, I can understand the appeal ... Cleveland has had a bad habit of naming neighborhoods after one or two major thoroughfares and calling it a day ... Detroit Shoreway, St. Clair Superior, Payne Sterling, Buckeye, etc. These names strike me as pretty bland and lifeless (Buckeye I kind of like ... Maybe the two-street neighborhoods are the problem. Haha.). Opposite these sterile, institutional names, I think CDCs are trying to find something a little more inspirational. Gordon Square probably has the greatest brand equity among Detroit-Shoreway's existing name, as well as a long history (according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, "the heart of the area was known as Gordon Square until the late 1930s"), so it's not surprising that that's the name they'd cash in on. I wonder what this means for the future of the separate nonprofit Gordon Square Arts District, LLC

I'm always surprised that the downtown grocery store discussion never seems to involve Trader Joe's. They operate in many dense, urban places, they have a lot of experience with getting a great deal of variety into very small footprints (much smaller than the typical Whole Foods), and to FerrariEnzo's point, their price points are significantly less exclusionary than a Whole Foods. Not sure if it would be an ideal fit for the Rotunda, but it seems like a Trader Joe's could be quite successful in a number of different locations around downtown.

welcome weekend draws a dozen artists ready to sign leases, move here Lee Chilcote, Fresh Water Cleveland THURSDAY, AUGUST 08, 2013 Welcome to Cleveland, an artists' visitation weekend hosted by Northeast Shores CDC and the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, drew about a dozen artists to Cleveland, many of whom have signed leases and are expected to move here. "The weekend exceeded our expectations by far," says Brian Friedman, Executive Director of Northeast Shores. "We didn't know they'd be so ready to go." The artists were impressed not only by Cleveland's affordability but also by the accessibility of the rich arts scene here, Friedman says. "For them it was really the connectedness -- there's a much stronger ability for artists to network and connect here than in many of the communities where they're from." ... More available at http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/welcometocleveland080813.aspx

creative placemaking reframes how residents and visitors experience neighborhoods SHEENA LYONNAIS AND DOUGLAS TRATTNER, Fresh Water Cleveland THURSDAY, AUGUST 08, 2013 Over the past year, the neighborhood of North Collinwood has hosted pop-up art exhibits, opened a new art gallery, created a practice studio for bands, funded a large portion of the popular Lottery League, and filmed a documentary about its efforts to improve the community through arts programming. All of that was made possible thanks to a $500,000 grant from ArtPlace America, a collaboration of national and regional funders that recently awarded $15.2 million in grants to creative placemaking projects across the U.S. "The ArtPlace funding takes creative placemaking ideas that are being considered and gives them the cash injection they need to go from concept to reality and, hopefully, exit velocity," explains Brian Friedman, Executive Director of Northeast Shores Development Corporation, a nonprofit that serves North Collinwood. ... More available at http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/features/creativeplacemaking080813.aspx

Blitz BBQ is now officially open! http://www.facebook.com/BlitzBBQ They're across the street from the Beachland Ballroom ... Nice to see that they're maintaining late hours (1 am!!) to cater to the late night crowd on Waterloo. Check 'em out!

^ Not sure, but it's probably implementation of something in their massive "East Franklinton Creative Community District Plan" (http://development.columbus.gov/uploadedFiles/Development/Planning_Division/Document_Library/Plans_and_Overlays_Imported_Content/EastFranklintonCreativeCommunityDistPlan_screen.pdf), which was released in November and specifically noted ArtPlace as a potential funding source.

I can't remember fresh water examples, but when I did my fellowship in Germany, I had to do research on Siemens' green energy activities. I remember reading about technologies they had developed to combat problems with ice blockages, etc., so I assume that this isn't an uncommon problem. I think ice formation is more common in fresh water than at sea, but I have to assume that much of the offshore farms in the North Sea and the Baltic are subject to at least some ice formation. Here's an article about ice problems experienced at an offshore farm that lies between Denmark and Sweden: http://www.offshorewind.biz/2013/02/06/offshore-wind-farm-coping-with-danish-winter/

Congrats to the Franklinton Development Association for being named one of the finalists for a national ArtPlace award. I work on an ArtPlace project in Cleveland, and these large-scale grant awards are really transformative for communities nationwide. Fewer than 10% of proposed projects are named as finalists (there are only three finalists in Ohio!), so this is a big deal. Congrats! ArtPlace Names 105 Finalists for Creative Placemaking Grants By ArtPlace January 15, 2013 Chicago, IL One hundred five applicants in 72 communities in 33 states and the District of Columbia have been named finalists for grants from ArtPlace, an initiative to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S. through grants and loans, research, communication and advocacy. ArtPlace is a collaboration of 13 leading national and regional foundations and six of the nation’s largest banks. ArtPlace also seeks advice and counsel from close working relationships with various federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, and Transportation, along with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council. The selected applicants represent the best of the 1,225 letters of inquiry from across the country. Inquiries came from 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and American Samoa ... ... More available at http://www.artplaceamerica.org/articles/artplace-names-104-finalists/

^^ I think that's a fair critique. And I don't entirely disagree, but I do think that the CDC structure also creates something that we wouldn't see in one monolithic city agency or city nonprofit or redevelopment authority ... An opportunity for market competition for different ideas and a platform for urban innovation/exploration. For me, this is similar to "rightsizing" discussions around city council and county council. The problem at the county level? Too few commissioners and not enough geographic focus ... Let's move from 3 to 11. The problem at the city level? Too many council members and too much provincialism ... Let's move from 19 to 15. And while there are certainly many advantages to revisiting government structure and cutting waste, I'd argue that the best returns for fixing local government are to concentrate on what we're doing rather than just how we're doing it. At the federal level, Democrats argue big government, Republicans want small government, when we should all be talking about how to make good government, regardless of its size. Similarly, I think you can make a case regarding the appropriate number of CDCs or whether there should be alternative structures to CDCs or whether these should be government agencies or nonprofits, but at the end of the day, the big question for me is how you maximize the amount of ideas we're bringing forward for revitalizing different types of neighborhoods in Cleveland and maximize the amount of urban innovation here. Structure matters, but shifting from open-ended general operating support to performance-based funding and more project support for testing ideas would also be helpful. So would a general attitude shift of all the partners involved toward being more risk tolerant and branching out and trying new things. The potential merger of NPI, CNDC and LIVECleveland is interesting and possibly a game changer, but the movement away from solely focusing on bricks and mortar to a more holistic approach to human development I think is the really more meaningful movement in Cleveland community development right now.

From what I've heard, the plan absolutely is to reduce the number of CDCs. I doubt we're talking about having a city with 10 CDCs anytime soon, but I wouldn't at all be surprised if we start to see some mergers relatively soon, with attention on absorption of underperforming CDCs and expansion of service boundaries to areas not currently serviced by any CDC. At the very least, I think we'll see strategies like the Stockyard, Clark-Fulton and Brooklyn Centre Community Development Office operating under the leadership of Detroit Superior. I've got to say, though, that this can be a double-edged sword. I'm on the board of St. Clair Superior, and I have to say that it's personally very difficult for me to wrap my head around being a good steward of our entire service area, which stretches from East 30th Street to MLK and has a secondary service area from East 18th Street to East 30th Street. I have to imagine this is the case for some other mega-CDCs like Detroit Shoreway, Slavic Village and Bellaire Puritas, too. Sure, everyone knows that you need to focus on your primary assets and grow outward. And sure, planning at a larger geographic level allows for less provincial strategies. But as CDCs, we also have responsibility for working on behalf of all residents, businesses and stakeholders, sprinkled throughout a neighborhood, not just in our "hot spot". When you're balancing the needs of 12,000 residents and 10,000 employees, spread over 2 Strategic Planning Areas and 3 council wards ... Just saying this can be pretty difficult with broad geographic areas. Personally, I'd say the low-hanging fruit for merger talk are underperforming CDCs representing very small geographies. If you haven't been able to show measurable improvement in a 10-block by 10-block area, there's something a little off in your strategy.

And while those particular revenue streams are shrinking, there are a ton of other large-scale pools of money out there for community development that we can and should be pursuing aggressively. In the Obama era, we've seen the birth of a lot of cross-agency programs that are trying to address community development more holistically, a perfect alignment with the new NPI model, and to scale of CDCs' current CDBG allocations, these awards are HUGE. High-visibility examples are HUD's Choice Neighborhood grants (CMHA secured $300,000 in planning funds) and Sustainable Community grants (the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium received $4.25 million). And this money is not just coming from HUD ... DOJ, DOT, EPA, HHS, etc. are all making neighborhood revitalization grants that would be windfalls for Cleveland neighborhoods. Case in point ... tons of national money around the concept of creative placemaking, where Cleveland has garnered quite a bit of federal investment. Detroit Shoreway received $50,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts' Our Town program for planning of an artist warehouse space on Detroit. Northeast Shores secured a $500,000 grant from Our Town's sister program, ArtPlace, as well as more than $300,000 in additional support from national funders in its efforts around Waterloo. St. Clair Superior is now a finalist for a $675,000 grant from ArtPlace for its UrbanUpcycle program along upper St. Clair. That's collectively about $1.5 million in neighborhood artist investment all within two years ... a pretty hefty counterpart to CDBG and NPI SIA. I definitely hope that a new consolidated community development umbrella will have more capacity to pursue opportunities like this. When we tell the story of Cleveland neighborhoods to national funders, we tend to win support :)

Bit dated, but good news for the expansion efforts! Cleveland Institute of Art will sell its East Boulevard site to Cleveland Museum of Art, CWRU By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer January 14, 2013 CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In a deal with big implications for the future of University Circle, the Cleveland Institute of Art is selling its valuable, 4.1-acre property on East Boulevard to the Cleveland Museum of Art and Case Western Reserve University for $9.2 million. Money from the sale will trigger completion of the $66.2 million expansion and renovation of the art institute’s Joseph McCullough Center for the Visual Arts at the nearby Uptown development, which the art college co-anchors with the new home of the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland ... ... More available at http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2013/01/the_cleveland_institute_of_art_1.html

Just the mention of Zara and Topshop got me salivating.

creative workforce grants support artists while transforming 'rust belt' into 'artist belt' LEE CHILCOTE, FRESH WATER THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2013 Whether established or emerging, almost every artist struggles to find time for creative work, which necessarily trails behind responsibilities like work, family and paying the bills. Possessing an instinctive desire to fashion their experiences and ideas into art, artists scratch a few hours out of each day, savoring the time before they’re interrupted. All the while, they never stop hoping for that lucky break -- the moment when their work is recognized and rewarded with an opportunity that helps them reach the next level. Each year in Cuyahoga County, 20 talented artists get that lucky break. Thanks to the generosity of voters who approved a 2006 cigarette tax increase to fund arts and culture county-wide, a select group is picked to sit at the figurative head of the creative class. They’re bestowed with $20,000 Creative Workforce Fellowships to support their work ... ... More available at http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/features/creativeworkforcefellowship011013.aspx?utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=&utm_content=%7bEmail_Address%7d&utm_campaign=The+Gift+of+Art%2c+Time+and+Metamorphosis