Throughout his childhood, Esbeey Madera lived in three different houses on Cleveland’s Near West Side—on Seymour Avenue, Brainard Avenue, and Bridge Avenue. None of those houses are still standing.

Its food and drink come first, but Butcher and the Brewer on Cleveland's East Fourth Street is a contender in a national contest because of its distinctive restrooms.

Tom Gill, Jacqueline Gillon, Stephanie Buda and Shelly Gracon are thinking outside the box to make their communities stronger. They are this year's #Fresh4, recognized by the Cleveland Leadership Center and FreshWater Cleveland as innovators who are making a difference.

Class is in session for the first students at Welsh Academy, housed inside St. Ignatius High School on Cleveland's Near West Side. The 21 sixth graders, from Cleveland and its inner-ring suburbs, will receive a top-notch education, with donors covering their tuition.

The Fairfax neighborhood is home to some of Cleveland's most awe-inspiring architecture and sacred landmarks—including the city's oldest African-American church. Even as the Fairfax landscape changes dramatically, these historic churches stand strong as centers of community. See their beauty through our managing photographer Bob Perkoski's lens, and learn a bit about their history!

When Spanish-American Committee executive director Ramonita Vargas submitted 25 nursing candidates to a major medical institution for hiring consideration, she felt positive about their prospects—but was dismayed when all 25 were turned away “because their English wasn’t perfect.”

Kauser Razvi says she became motivated to create a literary lot based on the children's book The Wild Robot after the 2016 election. “It’s about identifying, bullying, isolation, and belonging,” she explains. "It's about having value in your own space."

From a dynamic duo bringing back Glenville to a Sudanese designer working on a welcome center for Irishtown Bend, these artists are changing the city's creative landscape.

For the last two decades, Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood has been master planning for a renaissance—and now its golden age is in sight. With an ideal location on the $331 million Opportunity Corridor and an array of developments and initiatives coming to fruition, the area is preparing to round the bend on a four-pronged Strategic Investment Plan that began in 2008.

Meadville, PA-based Voodoo Brewery is slated to open its first tap house outside of Pennsylvania and its eighth location overall later this year.

A 1.07-acre plot of land at the corner of Lee and Meadowbrook Roads is about to be developed to comprise a total of 4.8 acres in the heart of the city's commercial district.

When Anya Rudd was a child living in University Heights, she imagined what it would be like to live in the majestic house at 2178 Harcourt Drive in Cleveland Heights. In 2016, Anya and her husband John made her dreams come true when they bought the 1910 Elizabethan Revival, 7,422-square-foot mansion known as Harcourt Manor.

On the heels of Pride in the CLE, good news out of Gordon Square: after 20 years of operating out of a 5,000-square-foot basement at 6600 Detroit Ave., the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland is ready to move into a prominent, custom-designed and -built, and proud new home across the street at 6705 Detroit.
 

“Welcome home,” the crowd cheered as retired U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Charlie Pepinrivera and his family saw their new home on Canterbury Road in Cleveland Heights for the first time on Saturday, May 18. The four-bedroom, 1,736-square-foot home was purchased and renovated by Citizens Bank, in partnership with Homes 4 Wounded Heroes, then donated to Pepinrivera and his family.

Cleveland has had its shares of ups and downs in the 223 years since Moses Cleaveland first set up shop, but many of the city’s homes and buildings have remained—largely due to those who have put forth tremendous efforts to preserve and restore the structures that form Cleveland’s unique history.

For more than 50 years, the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes has stood as both an environmental haven and educational resource on 20 acres that were once proposed as highways to connect Cleveland’s eastern suburbs to downtown. Now, the Nature Center is about to undergo a $2.5 capital improvement project to renovate the All People’s Trail (APT)—built in 1983 and perhaps the focal point of the preserve.

Shel Myeroff spent the better part of his professional life helping executives find their perfect jobs. He founded Solon-based Direct Recruiters in the late 1970s and spent 35 years growing the company. But at the end of the day, Myeroff would go home and unwind by making furniture in his basement.