8ShadesofGray

Not digging the blue brick. That entire rear entrance is reading a little Club Cleveland to me (3219 Detroit Avenue). And that's not a good thing.

I believe that's correct ... This is tied into the larger streetscape improvement taking place East 30 to East 105. My understanding was that this was moving west to east, so whenever this would start, the Asiatown section would be first.

^ I think they did have a phased approach in mind ... Just not with the length of wait in the middle between the two phases :) Shortly after Steak and Shake went up, they had signs about Phase 2 going up. And I think that was pre-financing crisis.

^ There were also comments opposite the PD article that they should be using LED, as it would be more environmentally friendly and would also last a great deal longer than traditional lighting sources, so we don't run back into these problems in a decade. Sounds very sensible to me.

bicentennial project to light Flats bridges: Whatever happened to ...? Monday, June 25, 2012 By Tom Feran, The Plain Dealer "Whatever happened to . . .?" is a weekly series updating some of the most newsworthy and interesting local stories covered in The Plain Dealer. Have a suggestion on a story we should update? Send it to John C. Kuehner, or call 216-999-5325. Today, we answer this question: Whatever happened to the Cleveland bicentennial project to light the bridges in the Flats? Jason Wood, chief of public affairs for Cleveland's Public Utilities, said the question is a timely one: The city is preparing to bid out the contract for maintenance work needed to fully restore the red, blue, purple, orange and green lighting on eight bridges spanning the Cuyahoga River ... ... More available at http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/06/clevelands_bicentennial_projec.html

I'm all about reimagining vacant space ... But a Greenspace "District"? Wouldn't that just be a park? Haha.

My beloved Alaturka has been removed from my beloved delivermefood.com ... These are crying days.

Isn't there a specific special events position at City Hall? That sits in the Park Department? that seems like a natural fit too.

Very cool. Definitely think we should consider how we can physically program the space with any capital improvements we ultimately do. In the meantime, some of this stuff is just as simple as paying a musician to perform in one of the quadrants at a peak hour. Cooking demonstration. Flash mob costume party. Continuing yoga for the masses. Historical walks. Face painting. Given the paltry activation of the space now, you could easily quintuple non-transit visitors for $100 a week ... And also integrate transit visitors into the fun. UrbanOhioans could feasibly bankroll the whole thing. Haha.

This is so true ... There's something to be said for higher quality greenspace downtown being a draw by itself (Perk Plaza is a great example), but programming is really what we should be thinking about. Voinovich Park is really lovely but rarely used, despite being right next to several tourist attractions, highway access and a train station. Whiskey Island is lovely, too, and is able to draw tons of people despite bad car access and HORRIBLE PEDESTRIAN / BIKING access ... Not to mention absolutely no downtown access as of yet (well, I guess boat/kayak access). I think at least part of this can be attributed to a marina, a restaurant, a bar, dancing, volleyball.

Wasn't the city also considering putting the lion's share of their investment in downtown greenspace, particularly the malls and Public Square (with a smaller portion of funds going back to individual councilpeople for ward projects)?

Wow, the interior is stunning. Reminds me of an Escher work. Actually, it reminded me of the movie Labyrinth, but then I remembered that I would sound a lot smarter if I referenced Escher instead. Haha.

From what I recall, the "living room" approach of the mall redesign broke down the exterior pathways into maybe like 20 different spaces. There's nothing to stop us from incrementally staging the redesign in, creating visual representations of the project that can then increase likelihood of private donations and that create a longer sense of reactivating the space (i.e. a longer communal sense of "newness"). I thought that was part of the purpose of that plan's approach ... That we don't have to necessary raise $100 million before we break ground.

I am 100% behind the Burnham Plan above! :D I was actually incredibly disappointed to read that some of these reconfigurations require expansion of Rockwell from two lanes to three lanes. If that's the case, I would much rather be studying Rockwell as a permanent closure and a focus on the northeast quadrant bleeding into the malls, as Burnham shows above. The integration of these two spaces as a programmable, greenspace with a safe, dedicated bikeway into the very center of the city (Rockwell) seems a better investment for the money, rather than focusing on creating one or two spaces in Public Squares that are still cut off on the outsides by vehicular traffic.

north collinwood wins $500k grant to creatively combat urban vacancy Lee Chilcote, Fresh Water Cleveland Thursday, June 14, 2012 When National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman toured Cleveland's arts districts last year, he blogged about how they were actively applying the principles of arts-based development and urban placemaking touted daily by the NEA. Now ArtPlace, a creative placemaking initiative led by the NEA and others, has awarded Northeast Shores Development Corporation a $500,000 grant to engage local artists in creatively combating urban vacancy and foreclosure in Cleveland ... ... http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/forgood/collinwoodrising061412.aspx

northeast shores/collinwood scores huge placemaking grant from artplace Lee Chilcote, Fresh Water Cleveland Thursday, June 14, 2012 Of the 47 projects awarded grants from ArtPlace to support their use of the arts to improve quality of place and transform their communities, only one was from Ohio. The creative placemaking grants totaled $15.4 million. “Across the country, cities and towns are using the arts to help shape their social, physical, and economic characters,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman ... ... More available at http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/inthenews/artcaresplacemaking061412.aspx

"Collinwood Rising" program wins prestigious $500,000 grant from ArtPlace program of the National Endowment for the Arts Wednesday, June 13, 2012 By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer It was only nine months ago during a visit here that Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, threw down a challenge for Clevelanders to apply for a prestigious new ArtPlace grant. Today, Cleveland has one. The privately funded grant program, a collaboration among top federal agencies and 11 leading U.S. foundations, announced that the Northeast Shores Development Corp. in Collinwood has been awarded $500,000 to engage artists in community development ... ... More available at http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2012/06/clevelands_collinwood_neighbor.html

I don't know what that means. But thank you. Haha.

You know I wasn't going to make my friends at UrbanOhio wait long ;) A new national $500,000 investment in the nabe ... One of 47 grant recipients (the only one in Ohio) among 2,200 applicants ... AND the 4th largest award nationwide ... AND we're one of the leads in the national press release. Yaya Cleve! CONTACT (ARTPLACE): Tim Halbur, 415.948.1398 [email protected] CONTACT (NORTHEAST SHORES): Seth Beattie, (216) 481-7660, ext. 27 [email protected] Waterloo Arts & Entertainment District to Bring Artistic Energy & New Vibrancy to Vacant Spaces, Thanks to ArtPlace Grant ArtPlace releases 47 grants supporting creative placemaking initiatives in 33 communities nationwide (CLEVELAND, June 12, 2012) The Waterloo Arts & Entertainment District is fast becoming one of the top night-time destinations for Clevelanders, with an assortment of funky music venues, art galleries and independent stores. A $500,000 grant from ArtPlace, announced today, will add even more energy to a district that is already fast on its way to success. ArtPlace funding will support the launch of “Collinwood Rising”, a collaborative effort to transform the North Shore Collinwood neighborhood by engaging artists in creatively combating urban vacancy and foreclosure at the community level. Central to the plan is reimagining vacant land into an artist-designed playground, converting a vacant house into an artist storefront and converting a vacant storefront into a performing arts incubator. It also involves the important task of engaging residents in reimagining vacant spaces through a yearlong series of pop-up events, gallery exhibitions and small artist-led projects. Having a portfolio of strategies for revitalization with art at the core is central to the type of creative placemaking supported by ArtPlace, a collaboration of 11 major national and regional foundations, six of the nation’s largest banks, and eight federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S. To date, ArtPlace has raised almost $50 million to work alongside federal and local governments to transform communities with strategic investments in the arts. "Across the country, cities and towns are using the arts to help shape their social, physical, and economic characters," said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. "The arts are a part of everyday life, and I am thrilled to see yet another example of an arts organization working with city, state, and federal offices to help strengthen and revitalize their communities through the arts. It is wonderful that ArtPlace and its funders have recognized this work and invested in it so generously." “ArtPlace’s investment in North Shore Collinwood is truly important not only for our neighborhood,” said Brian Friedman, Executive Director of Northeast Shores Development Corporation, “but for the entire city of Cleveland. This support will help us not only transform a number of vacant properties into meaningful community assets but will reframe how our neighborhoods think about vacancy and the opportunities we have to harness creative energy.” ArtPlace received almost 2,200 letters of inquiry from organizations seeking a portion of the $15.4 million available for grants in this cycle. Inquiries came from 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands. The 47 projects selected each take a unique and locally-focused approach to creative placemaking, from the creation of a Jazz and Heritage Center in New Orleans’ historic Tremé neighborhood to generate vibrancy and economic growth for the local community to ARTSIPELAGO, a comprehensive revitalization strategy that combines a number of unconnected arts and cultural initiatives in Eastport, Maine, for greater effect. “These projects all exemplify the best in creative placemaking,” explained ArtPlace’s Carol Coletta. “They demonstrates a deep understanding of how smart investments in art, design and culture as part of a larger portfolio of revitalization strategies can change the trajectory of communities and increase economic opportunities for people.” In September, ArtPlace will release a new set of metrics to measure changes over time in the people, activity and real estate value in the communities where ArtPlace has invested with its grants. Participating foundations include Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Robina Foundation, The William Penn Foundation and an anonymous donor. In addition to the NEA, federal partners are 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. ArtPlace is also supported by a $12 million loan fund capitalized by six major financial institutions and managed by the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Participating institutions are Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Chase, MetLife and Morgan Stanley. A complete list of this year’s ArtPlace awards can be found at http://www.artplaceamerica.org/articles/artplace-announces-47-new-grants/

Yeah, I'm really thankful that's made up :) We made our first 6 Artists in Residence grants in the neighborhood (averaging $5,000 each in size), so look for more details very shortly on the artist-led community projects that will be happening in and around Waterloo. We anticipate that we'll be funding between 20 and 25 projects in the coming 18 months. Also, look for a relatively large announcement (not anything that's been mentioned to date) very, very shortly ... More arts-related investments in the area.

Weigh in on the strategic direction of the Asiatown neighborhood ... https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/asiatownclevelandsurvey

Man, I love the Cleve ... And my beloved St. Clair Superior :) urban sheep grazing could be coming to a vacant lot near you Lee Chilcote, FreshWater Thursday, June 07, 2012 Drivers traveling along I-90 near E. 55th could experience mild whiplash as they crane their necks to see the sheep grazing on the roadside this summer. It's not the most common sight along the lakefront, and the story behind it is no less unusual. Michael Fleming first heard of the idea when he was studying Urban Planning at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. The mayor of Curitiba, Brazil had used sheep to mow the city's vast parkland, he found out. "They brought in shepherds for parkland because it was cheaper than using machines," says Fleming. "With large amounts of land, it just makes sense." ... More available at http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/urbanshepherds060712.aspx

Ohhhh, just keep watching. I think Waterloo's just getting warmed up :)

This little lovebubble for the Cleve was syndicated nationally, so people across the country got to hear about BrandMuscle moving into the city, people on 4-month waiting lists for apartments, etc. This was an absolutely glowing review. Yay :) A Comeback For Downtown Cleveland by David C. Barnett, NPR June 11, 2012 Long the punch line of late-night comedians, Cleveland is now part of a new trend as old industrial centers shed their Rust Belt images and become urban hotspots. David C. Barnett reports from member station WCPN. http://www.npr.org/2012/06/11/154740024/a-comeback-for-downtown-cleveland

If I found the correct property info, this house has been owned by a Beverly Jane Jimenez since 1981. And it's not listed for sale. Barring pending transfer, that makes me think that whatever happens to this house is not linked to the Transformer ... At least not yet.