Whether it's a national design competition, kids making their own space or locals splashing color amid an active greenspace, Shaker Heights' Moreland district is alive with art and community collaboration.

From an anthropomorphic aardvark to a golden guy named Oscar, the venerable CIA is brimming with surprises of fine art, pop culture and a heaping helping of quirk.

From Billy Hallal for Thrillist:
 

There’s a problem with the current discourse on progress in different areas of Greater Cleveland: you can’t describe a neighborhood as “on-the-rise” when it’s already risen. Some neighborhoods and districts have been established for decades. Everyone knows about Coventry’s hippie/hipster vibe and Little Italy’s old-world charm. Some have seen their star rise rapidly in the past decade or so: your in-the-know friends have had an apartment in Ohio City or Gordon Square for years, and even your grandparents know that Tremont is the cool place for dining out.

Yet despite the renaissance of cool Cleveland neighborhoods, there are some that aren’t getting quite the press they deserve. Hang out in them now before the high-rise condos and spinning studios show up.

Now go and read which CLE locales he tags.

 

In this special op-ed for Fresh Water, Brandon Chrostowski, founder of EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute, gives Clevelanders powerful and sobering reminders on the heels of the city's remarkable summer of 2016.
 

With a new show at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, Cleveland Heights artist Seth Chwast further establishes himself in the local art scene. That he was diagnosed with autism when he was a toddler only underscores his achievements.

These local food entrepreneurs have found the sweet spot between 'clean-labeling' and good taste. The results are flavored with success.

"Along with the gum is a notarized affidavit signed by then Akron Deputy Mayor David Lieberth who chuckled Tuesday when told the 'infamous' LeBron gum had resurfaced."

Chew on the whole story from Ohio.com here.

As Cleveland’s eastern suburbs were just beginning to establish themselves in the 1920s, Cleveland’s Lee-Harvard neighborhood, bordering Shaker Heights, Warrensville Heights and Maple Heights on the the city’s south east side, was thriving in its own right.
 
The Lee-Harvard neighborhood, once known as Miles Heights Village and the Lee-Seville neighborhoods, was historically an integrated community of notable firsts. Ohio’s first African-American mayor, Arthur Johnston was elected in 1929 when the neighborhood was mostly white. His house on East 147^th Street still stands today.
 
The neighborhood established many of the first citizen's councils and neighborhood associations in the region and had an interracial police force.
 
On Thursday, October 6, the Cleveland Restoration Society (CRS), along with Cleveland Ward 1 councilman Terrell Pruitt, the Harvard Community Services Center and CSU’s Maxine Levin Goodman College of Urban Affairs, will present “Cleveland’s Suburb in the City: The Development and Growth of Lee-Harvard.”
 
The free discussion will be led by Todd Michney, assistant professor at the University of Toledo and author of Changing Neighborhoods: Black Upward Mobility in Cleveland, 1900-1980.
 
“We at CRS have been so impressed with the neighborhoods of Ward 1, Lee-Harvard and Lee-Seville,” says Michael Fleenor, CRS director of preservation services, "because they reflect our recent history – Cleveland’s last expansion, progress in Civil Rights, and the growth of neighborhood associations and community development corporations in the late 20^th Century."

Click here for photos and to continue reading about the fascinating history of this stalwart Cleveland neighborthood.


 

This series of stories, "Grassroots Success: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods," explores how meaningful impact on our communities grows from the ground up. Support for "Grassroots Success" is provided by Neighborhood Connections.
 
Alex Robertson is smart, ambitious, and successful. And after leaving Glenville to attend Ivy League Columbia University in New York City, he returned home to share what he has gleaned and improve his neighborhood by making it more fun.
 
Robertson threw a birthday party for his entire community when he first formed the pop-up game and event organization Recess Cleveland (recessCLE). Its first event was held on his 31^st birthday, August 9, 2015.
 
“Birthdays are always a good time to get people out to an event,” says Robertson. “I told my friend, for my birthday I want to throw dodge balls at you.”
 
Approximately 50 people showed up. They divided the group into age 21 and under and age 22 and older.

”The highlight of the day was a 65-year-old grandma pitching to five-year-old kids,” Robertson says. “When she was kicking, she kicked a line-drive to the outfield. So all the kids were like, ‘Granny’s got legs!’ We did get her a designated runner, though.”

Continue reading.