Waterloo & Collinwood
Those among us that emerge to the forefront of their professions and community have been honing their leadership skills for some time. Here are a few young African-Americans making waves around town through advocacy, talent and so much more.
Mention the phrase "Paleolithic diet" and many will conjure the image of Fred Flintstone gnawing on a giant dinosaur leg. But nothing could be further from the truth, say adherents. The culinary movement is thoughtful, green, healthy and spreading like wildfire across Northeast Ohio.
ceo of breakthrough schools testified to u.s. house on education reform
On March 12, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), held a hearing entitled, “Raising the Bar: The Role of Charter Schools in K-12 Education.” During the hearing, members discussed ways charter schools are empowering parents, pioneering fresh teaching methods, encouraging state and local innovation, and helping students escape underperforming schools.
Alan Rosskamm, CEO of Breakthrough Schools in Cleveland, described Breakthrough’s success in raising the bar on student achievement.
“In 2012-2013, Breakthrough students, on average, outperformed their peers across the city, county, and state in every subject,” Rosskamm said. “Nationally, Breakthrough Schools were recognized as 1st in reading growth and 4th in math growth among urban charter school networks in the United States in a study by the CREDO Institute at Stanford University.”
Mr. Rosskamm’s remarks underscore the unique relationship that Breakthrough Schools has with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. The district sponsors eight of Breakthrough’s 10 schools, including Lakeshore Intergenerational School, which will open in Collinwood this August. Four of Breakthrough’s schools are housed in former district buildings and a fifth, Near West Intergenerational School, is in space leased from the district for $1 a year.
“Half of Cleveland’s top performing schools are public charter schools,” John Zitzner, President of Friends of Breakthrough School, added in a release. “Replicating high performing charters like Breakthrough Schools is critical to turning Cleveland into a championship city for education.”
Read more about the hearing here.
Alan Rosskamm, CEO of Breakthrough Schools in Cleveland, described Breakthrough’s success in raising the bar on student achievement.
“In 2012-2013, Breakthrough students, on average, outperformed their peers across the city, county, and state in every subject,” Rosskamm said. “Nationally, Breakthrough Schools were recognized as 1st in reading growth and 4th in math growth among urban charter school networks in the United States in a study by the CREDO Institute at Stanford University.”
Mr. Rosskamm’s remarks underscore the unique relationship that Breakthrough Schools has with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. The district sponsors eight of Breakthrough’s 10 schools, including Lakeshore Intergenerational School, which will open in Collinwood this August. Four of Breakthrough’s schools are housed in former district buildings and a fifth, Near West Intergenerational School, is in space leased from the district for $1 a year.
“Half of Cleveland’s top performing schools are public charter schools,” John Zitzner, President of Friends of Breakthrough School, added in a release. “Replicating high performing charters like Breakthrough Schools is critical to turning Cleveland into a championship city for education.”
Read more about the hearing here.
If women indeed are the barometer of a healthy cycling city, then making women feel safe while cycling in Cleveland must be a priority, say local biking advocates. Female riders are less likely to cycle without infrastructure that makes them feel safe, including separated bike paths and physical barriers on roads that divide bikes and cars.
The 2014 Gay Games kick off August 9th with an expected 8,000 to 10,000 participants competing in some 40 sports. The comprehensive event will serve as the latest memo to the world that Cleveland is a sought-after host for large-scale events that add millions to the local economy.
Thanks to a bevy of new accelerators and incubators -- all grooming startups to be the Next Big Thing -- the art of the pitch is more important now than ever. Whether it’s a casual elevator pitch or an intense 20-minute address to potential investors, there are some definite dos and don’ts to giving an effective pitch.
Some storefronts sparkle with inviting merchandise, while others languish behind a layer of dust. For the latter, Cleveland's Storefront Renovation Program has been lending a helping hand to entrepreneurs for almost two decades with financial assistance for exterior improvements and signage.
Even as the economy recovers, Americans are driving less and taking public transit more. With all that demand comes congestion and backups at major rail hubs. But smart cities are anticipating and adapting so that the transit station of tomorrow is a true neighborhood amenity.
On the heels of a successful merger that brought together under one roof three nonprofit community development organizations, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) has made a key hire to lead its policy and advocacy efforts. Alesha Washington, a Glenville native who most recently served as Director of Executive Administration and Government Relations at the Centers for Family and Children, recently joined CNP as its Senior Director of Advocacy, Policy and Research. Washington will lead strategic policy initiatives at the city, county, state and federal levels and identify and use academic research to inform community development strategies.
"Trying to create a shared advocacy platform for the CDC community is what attracted me to the role," says Washington. "There's a need and a longing for a very coordinated and aligned system. The goal is to work together to improve Cleveland's neighborhoods for all people."
"It's about connecting the dots," adds Joel Ratner, President of CNP. "The needs we're identifying at the neighborhood level should be articulated clearly, strongly and strategically to officials who are setting policy and government budgets."
In recent years, Ratner says, no such coordinated effort has existed. Policy priorities might include strategies and funding to address vacant and abandoned properties, maintaining and enhancing tax credit programs that lend to neighborhood development, and influencing the state budget.
Source: Alesha Washington, Joel Ratner
Writer: Lee Chilcote
"Trying to create a shared advocacy platform for the CDC community is what attracted me to the role," says Washington. "There's a need and a longing for a very coordinated and aligned system. The goal is to work together to improve Cleveland's neighborhoods for all people."
"It's about connecting the dots," adds Joel Ratner, President of CNP. "The needs we're identifying at the neighborhood level should be articulated clearly, strongly and strategically to officials who are setting policy and government budgets."
In recent years, Ratner says, no such coordinated effort has existed. Policy priorities might include strategies and funding to address vacant and abandoned properties, maintaining and enhancing tax credit programs that lend to neighborhood development, and influencing the state budget.
Source: Alesha Washington, Joel Ratner
Writer: Lee Chilcote
'best things in cle' called out in atlantic cities
In an Atlantic Cities end-of-year feature titled “The Best Thing My City Did This Year,” the editorial staff highlighted the Cleveland Museum of Art birthing a magnificent new atrium that doubles as public gathering space as one of the major highlights of the year for the city.
"My Cleveland 2013 was full of energy, risk-taking and community-based huzzahs. Culturally, high came to mass at both the Cleveland Museum of Art, where a stunning new atrium became our public gathering place, and the Cleveland Orchestra did a neighborhood-based residency,” shares Anne Trubek, founding editor of Belt magazine.
Other items of note mentioned include developments in Waterloo, St. Clair-Superior, and Detroit-Shoreway that will build the foundation for 2014.
Check out the full piece here.
"My Cleveland 2013 was full of energy, risk-taking and community-based huzzahs. Culturally, high came to mass at both the Cleveland Museum of Art, where a stunning new atrium became our public gathering place, and the Cleveland Orchestra did a neighborhood-based residency,” shares Anne Trubek, founding editor of Belt magazine.
Other items of note mentioned include developments in Waterloo, St. Clair-Superior, and Detroit-Shoreway that will build the foundation for 2014.
Check out the full piece here.
cleveland, the next brooklyn, says forbes
In a CNN Money feature titled "The Fortune Crystal Ball," the publication offers up its prognostications for the coming year, among them: Which cities will be the next Brooklyns, and which the next Detroits. Spoiler alert: Cleveland is pegged as a "Brooklyn."
"The American geography of prosperity has been driven by two big narratives in the past few years. On the one hand, there's Detroit, with its $18 billion in debt, pension mess, and population loss. On the other, there's Brooklyn, with its rocketing real estate prices, hip-luxe condos, and freshly foraged food stores," notes the money pub.
So, just what cities are deemed a "breakout town"?
New Brooklyns
Cleveland. The city is in the midst of a downtown revival that has seen not one, not two, but three Williamsburg-esque neighborhoods emerge: Tremont, Ohio City, and Gordon Square.
Odds of it becoming the "next Brooklyn" are placed at 63%.
Read the rest here.
"The American geography of prosperity has been driven by two big narratives in the past few years. On the one hand, there's Detroit, with its $18 billion in debt, pension mess, and population loss. On the other, there's Brooklyn, with its rocketing real estate prices, hip-luxe condos, and freshly foraged food stores," notes the money pub.
So, just what cities are deemed a "breakout town"?
New Brooklyns
Cleveland. The city is in the midst of a downtown revival that has seen not one, not two, but three Williamsburg-esque neighborhoods emerge: Tremont, Ohio City, and Gordon Square.
Odds of it becoming the "next Brooklyn" are placed at 63%.
Read the rest here.
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, a nonprofit community development organization, has begun offering Cleveland City Life tours to expose suburbanites, millenials, empty-nesters, boomerangs and newcomers to town to all the city has to offer.
CNP Director of Marketing Jeff Kipp says the tours really are about helping Clevelanders see for themselves the positive change taking place in the city.
"We'll do the proverbial handholding and take you into the neighborhoods," he says. "You see the positive headlines and positive trends, but a big chunk of our population doesn't have firsthand experience with the city. This is about removing that intimidation factor and bridging the gap."
Tours starts in Ohio City and include stops in Detroit Shoreway, the lakefront, University Circle, Little Italy, Midtown, downtown and Tremont. Along the way, it also touches on neighborhoods such as Cudell, Glenville and Fairfax. Each lasts two hours, costs $12 and comes with a free Live!Cleveland/City Life T-shirt.
"As we drive through University Circle, we can reference the excitement that's happening in North Shore Collinwood," Kipp explains, adding that while the tours can't feasibly cover the whole city, they will highlight all city neighborhoods.
The tours are being marketed through CNP's website and partner organizations such as Global Cleveland and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance. There currently are tours scheduled between Christmas and New Year's and around the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend.
"This is a way to roll out the red carpet and give a reintroduction to your Cleveland neighbors," Kipp adds.
Source: Jeff Kipp
Writer: Lee Chilcote
CNP Director of Marketing Jeff Kipp says the tours really are about helping Clevelanders see for themselves the positive change taking place in the city.
"We'll do the proverbial handholding and take you into the neighborhoods," he says. "You see the positive headlines and positive trends, but a big chunk of our population doesn't have firsthand experience with the city. This is about removing that intimidation factor and bridging the gap."
Tours starts in Ohio City and include stops in Detroit Shoreway, the lakefront, University Circle, Little Italy, Midtown, downtown and Tremont. Along the way, it also touches on neighborhoods such as Cudell, Glenville and Fairfax. Each lasts two hours, costs $12 and comes with a free Live!Cleveland/City Life T-shirt.
"As we drive through University Circle, we can reference the excitement that's happening in North Shore Collinwood," Kipp explains, adding that while the tours can't feasibly cover the whole city, they will highlight all city neighborhoods.
The tours are being marketed through CNP's website and partner organizations such as Global Cleveland and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance. There currently are tours scheduled between Christmas and New Year's and around the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend.
"This is a way to roll out the red carpet and give a reintroduction to your Cleveland neighbors," Kipp adds.
Source: Jeff Kipp
Writer: Lee Chilcote
new study on regionalism comes at ideal time, says next city
In a feature titled "Three Lessons on Regionalism," Bill Bradley, writing for Next City, outlines the findings of a report recently released by Fund for Our Economic Future.
"Regionalism, from Paris to Portland, offers cities with closely woven outlying suburbs opportunities to broaden their tax bases, increase minimum wages and develop unified approaches to transit -- which could, in turn, give low-wage workers better access to jobs. Advocates have touted these benefits for years. Now, a new report explores how regional collaboration can help spur economic growth."
The Northeast Ohio-based Fund for Our Economic Future, which along with the Knight Foundation, released the report.
In sum: "Data is hugely important, investing in groups that find funding can enlarge your pools of grant money, and big thinkers must be instrumental in turning those grand ideas into reality."
Read the rest here.
"Regionalism, from Paris to Portland, offers cities with closely woven outlying suburbs opportunities to broaden their tax bases, increase minimum wages and develop unified approaches to transit -- which could, in turn, give low-wage workers better access to jobs. Advocates have touted these benefits for years. Now, a new report explores how regional collaboration can help spur economic growth."
The Northeast Ohio-based Fund for Our Economic Future, which along with the Knight Foundation, released the report.
In sum: "Data is hugely important, investing in groups that find funding can enlarge your pools of grant money, and big thinkers must be instrumental in turning those grand ideas into reality."
Read the rest here.
It's a fact that $68 of every $100 spent locally returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. We all know that shopping small is good for the local community, but what are the real and tangible benefits behind the movement? A closer look reveals how buying local feeds our region in ways both obvious and subtle.
Since the Great Recession, more and more folks have been living the "gigging life," working multiple jobs or hopping from one project to the next in hopes of cobbling together a living budget. While that might seem arduous, it also allows those living the lifestyle to follow their true passion.
new grant program funds business incubator, other innovative community projects
A new grant program launched by Neighborhood Progress Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides funding and technical assistance to community development corporations in Cleveland, recently awarded $200,000 to five projects. The recipients include a new business incubation program in North Collinwood, youth programming in Ohio City and surrounding neighborhoods, an effort in Central to teach fourth graders about healthy, local food, arts-based development in St. Clair Superior, and a community engagement effort in Tremont.
"The program came to be when we, as an organization, made a decision to develop a program that all CDCs had access to," says Colleen Gilson, Vice President of CDC Services for NPI, of the Neighborhood Solutions grant program. "The idea was, let's not be prescriptive. Let's let CDCs tell us what their solution to a neighborhood problem is or a cool project in their service area."
The awards break down as follows: NPI awarded $45,000 to ActiVacant, a program to recruit entrepreneurs to vacant retail spaces on E. 185th; $45,000 to Near West Recreation to expand its network of youth programming, including baseball, soccer, softball, basketball and bowling; $45,000 to St. Clair Superior for its Urban Upcycle project; $45,000 to Burton Bell Carr for its Urban Farm Diet Program; and $20,000 to Tremont West for its efforts to engage residents in creating a community-based development plan around MetroHealth.
Gilson says the projects reflect "deep collaboration" and non-traditional approaches towards community development. For instance, Near West Recreation is an effort to engage and retain families in six neighborhoods on the near west side -- Ohio City, Tremont, Stockyards, Clark-Fulton and Detroit Shoreway -- and build "intergenerational mixed-income neighborhoods." ActiVacant, spearheaded by Northeast Shores, is a "new take on the American dream" and a "business incubation project on steroids" that will entice young retailers to fill empty spaces on E. 185th by offering them free or reduced rent for a period of time, access to mentors and other support, and incentives for meeting benchmarks.
"The process was pretty amazing," says Gilson, describing a Shark Tank-esque format in which finalists presented in front of a panel of community development leaders, who then ranked and voted on winners. "We invited other CDCs to come watch and learn from their peers, and it was a really good opportunity to learn."
Source: Colleen Gilson
Writer: Lee Chilcote
"The program came to be when we, as an organization, made a decision to develop a program that all CDCs had access to," says Colleen Gilson, Vice President of CDC Services for NPI, of the Neighborhood Solutions grant program. "The idea was, let's not be prescriptive. Let's let CDCs tell us what their solution to a neighborhood problem is or a cool project in their service area."
The awards break down as follows: NPI awarded $45,000 to ActiVacant, a program to recruit entrepreneurs to vacant retail spaces on E. 185th; $45,000 to Near West Recreation to expand its network of youth programming, including baseball, soccer, softball, basketball and bowling; $45,000 to St. Clair Superior for its Urban Upcycle project; $45,000 to Burton Bell Carr for its Urban Farm Diet Program; and $20,000 to Tremont West for its efforts to engage residents in creating a community-based development plan around MetroHealth.
Gilson says the projects reflect "deep collaboration" and non-traditional approaches towards community development. For instance, Near West Recreation is an effort to engage and retain families in six neighborhoods on the near west side -- Ohio City, Tremont, Stockyards, Clark-Fulton and Detroit Shoreway -- and build "intergenerational mixed-income neighborhoods." ActiVacant, spearheaded by Northeast Shores, is a "new take on the American dream" and a "business incubation project on steroids" that will entice young retailers to fill empty spaces on E. 185th by offering them free or reduced rent for a period of time, access to mentors and other support, and incentives for meeting benchmarks.
"The process was pretty amazing," says Gilson, describing a Shark Tank-esque format in which finalists presented in front of a panel of community development leaders, who then ranked and voted on winners. "We invited other CDCs to come watch and learn from their peers, and it was a really good opportunity to learn."
Source: Colleen Gilson
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Operation Light Switch on Waterloo is an effort to add critical mass to the area by "turning on" multiple new bars and restaurants as the streetscape project wraps up next year. The project recently scored another little win: restaurateur Alan Glazen sold the Harbor Pub to Tremont developer Tom Bell, who will reopen it.
Although it's too early to announce the concept, operator or even the name, Bell says he's excited about the opportunity to help revitalize Waterloo. "I'm trying to help Alan get the right mix," he says. "The area has kind of a rock-and-roll vibe -- it's really blue-collar Cleveland. I want to have a place with great food and great atmosphere. It won't necessarily be a step down, it will be a step over."
The Harbor Pub building features a historic bar that runs the length of the building. Although the exterior of the building has been redone, Bell will finish out the interior himself. The property features about 2,000 square feet on each of the two floors, and Bell plans to use all of it with a two-story bar and restaurant. He's also toying with the idea of creating outdoor seating along the driveway area or in the back.
Bell, who perhaps is best known as the creator of the Flying Monkey Pub in Tremont, says that he was intrigued by Glazen's salesmanship and vision for the area. "Alan browbeat me for months. He's a good drumbeater who creates excitement and gets people to think about new ideas. I can see the potential -- the CDC is re-seeding the area with artists and non-absentee property owners."
Bell plans to open next summer along with Steve Schimoler's Crop Rocks. He is toying with the idea of a coal-fired pizza concept and is looking for an operator to run it.
Source: Tom Bell
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Although it's too early to announce the concept, operator or even the name, Bell says he's excited about the opportunity to help revitalize Waterloo. "I'm trying to help Alan get the right mix," he says. "The area has kind of a rock-and-roll vibe -- it's really blue-collar Cleveland. I want to have a place with great food and great atmosphere. It won't necessarily be a step down, it will be a step over."
The Harbor Pub building features a historic bar that runs the length of the building. Although the exterior of the building has been redone, Bell will finish out the interior himself. The property features about 2,000 square feet on each of the two floors, and Bell plans to use all of it with a two-story bar and restaurant. He's also toying with the idea of creating outdoor seating along the driveway area or in the back.
Bell, who perhaps is best known as the creator of the Flying Monkey Pub in Tremont, says that he was intrigued by Glazen's salesmanship and vision for the area. "Alan browbeat me for months. He's a good drumbeater who creates excitement and gets people to think about new ideas. I can see the potential -- the CDC is re-seeding the area with artists and non-absentee property owners."
Bell plans to open next summer along with Steve Schimoler's Crop Rocks. He is toying with the idea of a coal-fired pizza concept and is looking for an operator to run it.
Source: Tom Bell
Writer: Lee Chilcote