Feel like going for a hike? How about canoeing, horseback riding, or even a round of golf? Of all the natural resources available for play in Cleveland, residents are lucky enough to have one of 69 national parks right in their own backyard with the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP).
All of these activities—and much more—can be found in the 33,000 acres that make up the park, which boasts the heart of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, an area rich in industrial history and rife with natural wonder. The CVNP is the only national park in Ohio, with the closest national park at least a four-hour drive from Cleveland.
In early January, the CVNP will break ground on a new $5.9 million visitor center to welcome the two million people who visit the park annually. Get the details here.
Ever since the real estate housing crash in 2008, Cleveland communities have been faced with tackling the problem of vacant and blighted homes—pulling down property values and aesthetic appeal in neighborhoods already struggling.
According to Justin Fleming, director of real estate for Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP), there are about 9,500 vacant homes in the City of Cleveland. “I’d estimate that approximately 4,500 of those are structurally capable of being rehabbed within a reasonable budget,” he says. “The other 5,000 are likely structurally too far gone to reasonably saved.”
But thanks to a three-year, $700,000 grant given to CNP by Detroit-based Quicken Loans, some of those homes that can be rehabbed will get that much-needed work. Read about how this grant will help blighted neighborhoods and rehab vacant homes here.
That time David Bowie played his first show in Cleveland back in 1972? Anastasia Pantsios was there.
The time the Jacksons visited Playhouse Square in the late 70s, or when an emergent U2 played the Agora Ballroom? Also there.
And when Bowie returned to play the Richfield Coliseum in 1990? Yep, she was there, and so were Bono and Adam Clayton—both of whom got their photo taken with Bowie backstage, by none other than Pantsios herself.