Thomas Paine would be proud. At a time when it seems like every new idea is first floated online, Plain Dealer architecture critic Steven Litt has chosen good old-fashioned paper as the primary vehicle for his impassioned paean to beautiful surroundings, Designing a Better Cleveland.

"To the extent that Cleveland fails to make the most of public and private investments in buildings, highways, bridges, streets, parks and waterfronts, it will waste opportunities, fail to compete effectively with its peers and damage its economy," Litt writes in the introduction. "Everyone, in other words, has a stake in good design."

Litt calls the slim, gorgeously designed booklet "a mini-primer on the ways in which citizens, developers, planners and designers can raise standards of civic design in Cleveland." But it's clearly also meant to inspire.

"Economists may disagree over whether excellent architecture and urban amenities such as streetscapes, bike trails and waterfront parks are a cause or consequence of economic vitality," he writes. "Regardless, it never makes sense to spend a dollar on mediocrity when the same dollar can buy excellence. The reality is that great design demands greater effort -- on the part of clients, designers, government agencies and citizens. Cleveland continues to be plagued by a chronic sense of low self-esteem and by the notion that trying to improve the city through better design isn't worth the effort.

"THIS VOLUME REJECTS THAT VIEW."

The book grew out of Spectrum: the Lockwood Thompson Dialogues at the Cleveland Public Library, and was facilitated by Cleveland Public Art.

Since the book's inroduction in the PD, Cleveland Public Art has received nearly 200 calls requesting copies, according to executive director Gregory Peckham. "That seems like a good benchmark when it comes to the interest of the public about the subject of civic design," Peckham notes.

Designing a Better Cleveland is also available online as a PDF.



Source: Plain Dealer
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

City governments often get a bad rap. Cleveland's government is especially vulnerable to dismissal, what with that lingering "mistake on the lake" thing. But some informed government watchers — at Harvard, no less — like what they see, at least in terms of the city's willingness to cooperate with communities in building a better future.

The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, recently recognized the Strategic Investment Initiative (SSI) — a partnership between the non-profit Neighborhood Progress Inc. and the City of Cleveland — as a "Bright Idea." The newly created Bright Ideas program "is designed to recognize and share creative government initiatives around the country with interested public sector, nonprofit, and academic communities."

"My understanding is that this [honor] is fairly unusual," says Walter Wright, Neighborhood Progress's senior program officer. SSI involves the city, but grew out of Neighborhood Progress's work with community development corporations. Today it includes the CDCs in Buckeye, Detroit Shoreway, Ohio City, Slavic Village and five other communities. Neighborhood Progress describes SSI as "a market-driven approach that incorporates a deeper investment in neighborhood planning, a concentration of resources on larger-scale project investments and the introduction of more comprehensive strategies to improving quality of life through green spaces, public art, and neighborhood stabilization strategies."

The Bright Idea designation is "basically an honorific," Wright says. But he welcomes the opportunity to discuss the SSI model with like-minded folks from around the country who will learn of it thanks to the nod from Harvard.



Source: Neighborhood Progress Inc.
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

With just six miles remaining, and following a route that was created some 177 years ago, the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail finally is nearing completion. Terminating at the Flats' new Canal Basin Park, the Towpath Trail will connect cyclists and pedestrians to Cleveland's historic neighborhoods. And when it comes to attracting the highly mobile talent class, access to bike paths is no longer an amenity -- it's a necessity

So how deeply has the sustainability movement taken hold in Northeast Ohio? Three organizations that already have a lot on their plates recently collaborated to save some grass.

Mind you, this wasn't just any grass. This was native prairie grass that until recently was part of an art installation on Mall B. But the installation must make way for the Medical Mart, for which ground will be broken later this month. So last spring, Cleveland Public Art contacted Slavic Village Development to see if it could find a new home for the Big-Blue Stem, Side-Oats Grama, Awlsledge and other oddly named varieties of grass that might otherwise now be decaying in a mulch heap.

"I said sure, we'd find a place to replant them," says Marlane Weslian, development officer at Slavic Village. She rented a Toro Dingo and rounded up volunteers to dig 500 holes along the Morgana Run Trail, between Aetna Road and Marble Avenue.

Meanwhile, contractors removed and transported the grass, thanks to a grant from ParkWorks. "It's a lot of work," Weslian says, but the transplant was a success. The grass has already gone dormant, she notes, but should grow strong and green again come spring.

Next week, another contractor -- again paid with grant money obtained through ParkWorks -- will relocate oak trees, already six inches around, from Mall C to a planned "savannah" behind a new Slavic Village housing development adjacent to the trail. Some of these trees are already 25 feet tall, Weslian says, and she's excited to see them make the kind of impact that usually takes decades to achieve.

"And talk about sustainable reuse!" says adds.



Source: Slavic Village Development
Writer: Frank W. Lewis

The Euclid Corridor project is completed. The Towpath Trail is knocking on downtown's back door. The long-planned Medical Mart and convention center are nearing shovel-ready status. Dan Gilbert's downtown casino is a deal away. And a revived Flats blueprint is being unfurled. This is the moment that green-space advocates have been dreaming about for years.

What's it like to be a Cleveland locavore? Spend a day with Dan Scharf, an attorney who smokes meat, cures ham, and raises chickens, and you'll find out. Hint: It involves a lot of shopping.

We managed to squeeze three days of mind-bending, jaw-dropping art, technology, music and performance art at the Ingenuity Fest into one teeny little photo slide show. Let Fresh Water managing photographer show you around.

For decades it was merely a dream, but soon, the Syrian Cultural Garden becomes a reality. Part of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens that wend along Rockefeller Park, the Syrian Garden is in progress on Martin Luther King Boulevard across from the Indian Garden. Upon completion, it will be the first of the Cultural Gardens representing an Arab country.

About 80 years ago, Cleveland's Syrian community received a garden site on which to commemorate its culture and heritage. Plagued by lack of funding followed by waning interest, the plot of land sat undeveloped for many years. But around 2007, the notion of a Syrian Cultural Garden began to once again take shape, with members of Cleveland's Syrian community becoming involved in design and fundraising efforts.

Sponsored by the Syrian Cultural Gardens Association, in collaboration with the Syrian American Cultural Council, the garden will have at its focus a series of classically inspired arches designed by University of Damascus architecture students Raghda Helal and Nagham Nano. The Arches of Palmyra, the Amphitheater of Basra, the Syrian Arch and the Arabic Fountain all served as inspiration. The history of Syria will be displayed on several granite stones along the amphitheater, according to Layla George-Khouri, one of the founders of the garden committee. Damascene roses will surround the architectural feature.

"It's going to be beautiful," says Khouri, adding that the goal is to unveil the finished garden to the public in April of 2011.

The Cleveland Cultural Gardens date back to 1926, when the Shakespeare Garden (which later became known as the British Garden) was dedicated to honor the Bard. Through the years, many other ethnic groups have planted flowers and built monuments as a tribute to the land of their ancestors. Check out this link for detailed information about all of the gardens, as well as a map.


SOURCE: Layla George-Khouri
WRITER: Diane DiPiero