A zoomin' fleet of electric go-karts? The next must live neighborhood? What made the RNC such a success? We've got all that – and more.

Click here for a roundup of some of Fresh Water's most popular stories from 2016.

For those wanting to take back control of winter after the recent reminder of what ol' Jack Frost can shovel out, here are three activities to choose from around the Metroparks for tomorrow.

All events are free and open to the public. Follow the links for more information.

Chickadee Feeding Hike, Rocky River Reservation, 10 a.m.

Wild black-capped chickadees can be remarkably friendly. Join a naturalist-led walk for an attempt to lure this gentle creature to your hand. We'll supply the black oil sunflower seed.

Mill Creek Dog Walk, Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation, 10 a.m.

Take a brisk walk with your pup along scenic Mill Creek. Enjoy the flora and fauna as well as hearing a bit of the history of the area. Dogs must be leashed and waste picked up. Walkers without dogs welcome.

Sunday Drop-By: Snowflake Matching, Watershed Stewardship Center at West Creek Reservation, 1 p.m.

Stop by the Watershed Stewardship Center to celebrate this snowy season with a fun game. Bring your friends to this friendly competition while learning about snowflakes. Are snowflakes truly unique?
 

Walking the Ohio & Erie Canalway Towpath Trail reveals the details of fascinating sights, from stunning infrastructure and industry to magical cities and even a ghostly wetland.

From the reclamation of the Henninger Landfill to saving a Russell Township farm, the Western Reserve Land Conservancy fosters thriving urban centers, green space and more by preserving some 5,000 acres annually.
 

After initial reluctance to becoming director of sales and marketing at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown, Ronnie Collins now sees what the city has to offer and has become a vocal advocate for all things 216.

Tigers, flamingos and elephants aside, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is also home to the world-class Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine – a mecca of animal care, science, conservation, education and research.

From Runner's World:

We started with a list of 250 U.S. cities with populations of more than 160,000 that had the highest number of households per capita reporting participation in running within the last 12 months (according to the SimplyMap 2014 census study). Then we gathered data from myriad sources to create five indexes of special importance to runners, ranking the cities in each index from 1 to 150. We then weighted the indexes [run, parks, climate, food, and safety] and tallied up the scores to create the final list.

Cleveland clocked in at 35, beating out the likes of Atlanta, Miami and even Honolulu.

Get the whole list here - or if you can't wait to don the Nikes and head out to the Metroparks, no worries. The link will be here when you get back.

The City of Shaker Heights turned to its residents for input on how the forthcoming Van Aken District development will take shape and appropriately reflect the rest of the iconic city.

From fascinating historical details to today's green shoots, this delightful short from Neighborhood Connections and the Famicos Foundation trains the spotlight on a classic Cleveland neighborhood – Glenville.

From an army of giant snails invading the Cleveland Public Library's Downtown branch to colorful murals lining RTA's Red Line, the 216 is alive with new eye-popping art to welcome RNC visitors.

Fresh Water uncovers the weird, the overlooked, the hidden, the has-been and even the naked in this rollicking roundup.

Despite a fear of heights, Fresh Water contributor Hollie Gibbs took to the Go Ape Treetop Adventure course in the Cleveland Metroparks' Mill Stream Run Reservation and lived to tell about it.

As the refurbished statues of Moses Cleaveland and 1901 mayor Tom Johnson overlook Public Square, one would think that the pair would be impressed with the modern transformation of the plaza that originally served as a common pasture for livestock and later a grid for moving from point A to point B within downtown’s epicenter.
 
Almost complete, the fences that have been hiding Public Square since renovations began in March 2015 will soon come down and a new six-acre green space will be unveiled before the Republican National Convention begins July 18.
 
But the revitalization was not solely for the sake of the convention, says Nora Romanoff, senior project director for LAND studio and part of the Group Plan Commission charged with transforming the heart of Cleveland’s downtown.
 
“We didn’t just do it for the RNC,” says Romanoff. “We did it for Cleveland.”

Get the rest of the story and a host of photos here.