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The Artist

Carl Pope believes we are living in a time in which individuals and small groups can exert tremendous influence on the world. His artistic practice is rooted in a belief that outer change is born within the imagination, inspiring the individual to become a catalyst to effect transformation in the world. The goal of “The Mind of Cleveland” is to inspire civic pride and cooperation during this critical point in the city’s history. Now seems to be the perfect time to pose these questions.

If any city could proclaim itself the "Not for Tourists" city, it would be Cleveland. 

Make a pitch to NFT and perhaps, we can get a guide before Pittsburgh!  Believe it or not, Cleveland ranks higher than Pittsburgh in terms of worldwide economic clout (now my sister in Pittsburgh and I have something else to fight about).

See this article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer

Today I received my e-newsletter from University Circle Incorporated.  Lo and behold--they are using a new title. 

Sunshine helps to save energy and fight crime, some say.

If you want to know the health of your community--ask your mail carrier:  "How many vacant and foreclosed properties on my block today?"

Black Swamp Bird Observatory found a Northern Shrike in the nets yesterday 10/22. What a prize for one of the most beautiful days of the year.

The City of Cleveland has reimplemented curbside recycling.  I want it to work.  It should work, but we also need to consider incentives.  Philadelphia has the right idea.

The voyeur in me likes to read the personal descriptions of other realNEO personalities.  Here is a hopeful one.

Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to float in.  Yesterday, I attended a wedding shower for two people who represent everything hopeful about this region.  Smart, smart people.  My smart friend's smart mom arranged the party at the Henn House in Sims Park along the lake.  Henn House has been renovated by volunteers who see the value of fixing and restoring.  After the party, I found myself in the same position as another woman, who wandered down to the beach to admire the sun

I've enlisted the kids in the neighborhood to let me know of the most recent demolitions.  West 34th St. is the most recent victim of these random hits (Address 3872, south off Denison).  

Creating these gaping holes is not how to save the city.  If there was some actual vision or plan to make use of these demolished properties, then I could see the rationale.  To the people living with the bulldozers--it's as if someone has dropped a bomb on their street.  (I will have to buy a digital camera to record the devastation a la Jeff Buster).

Like millions of Americans, Oprah has been diagnosed with thyroid disease.  We know that there is an environmental stressor causing this autoimmune failure.  Maybe, now there will be more of an attempt to pinpoint the cause and spare our children from this silent epidemic.  It mostly affects women (due to body fat?) So ask yourself, what do we add to our water?  It's not just an urban problem--it's a suburban problem, too.  It's not just a Lake Erie problem, it's a Lake Michigan problem, too.  So, maybe the soccer moms will want to do something about it?  Especially, if Oprah leads the charge.

Expect more stories like the incredible sink hole that swallowed my backyard.   The infrastructure of Cleveland and the inner ring suburbs is crumbling.  Instead of repeating the same mistakes, Cuyahoga County needs to find a way to reimburse these homeowners and collectively allow these stream corridors to revert to their natural function.  It is certainly the most cost effective way of fixing this problem and it will serve the dual purpose of cleaning our waters and regreening our community.

Has REALNEO been a noble experiment doomed to failure?  People tune in from all over the world, but apparently the center will not hold. 

Press release  posted at the request of Council representative Brian Cummins:

Council needs to clean-up act, move to

Today's Plain Dealer again chronicles the "horror" of living in the city and validates the decision of all the suburbanites that have chosen to flee.  Sister Regina touches on the crux of the real problem in her column today.  Standards.  The school district is changing the standard for success by imposing a dress code.  The City of Cleveland needs to set the same standard for our neighborhoods.  The new second district police commander gets it. 

Thanks to Ed Morrison and George Nemeth for calling local attention to this important academic project.
http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/

Norm--I LOVE today's GIMP header of a flooded Rockefeller Park.  I think of Masumi Hayashi and John Jackson.   And, it makes me want to reread Love in the Ruins by Walker Percy. 

How can we refer back to these images?  Do you have them stored somewhere accessible?  Are they titled? 

This week's Crain's Cleveland Business commends the efforts of Convivium33's Alenka Banco and the design team of Nottingham-Spirk. Preserving the past to give us hope for the future. Bravo.

From Crain's Cleveland --Repeating history Monday August 6, 2007
For the business owners and others who opt to bring new life into old buildings, high costs, years of work and a slew of other challenges await. Is all that time and trouble worth it? Yes, insist some who have renovated rather than built new. 

The Tyler Elevator building project is another encouraging story.

My guess--the most recent member to sign on to RealNEO is Stefanie Spear--I think her maiden name was Penn.   Am I right?   I saw a copy of Earthwatch today as I met up with Lois Moss to promote Walk and Roll Cleveland.  The writing seemed familiar to me.  I lived through Cleveland in the nineties and remembered a highly literate magazine named Affinity.  Is this the same Stefanie?  So, I thought--Cleveland Public Library.  Surely, we must have archived a local environmental publication? Wrong! So, I checked www.worldcat.org.   And here's what I found.  Affinity.\by Stefanie Penn Language: English  Type: Periodical 

Some good news for my neighborhood-the Treadway Creek Project is off-the-ground and recycling may be coming back to the City of Cleveland thanks to the efforts of Councilwoman Donna Brady.

Third Federal will close it's downtown branch due to the decline in traffic.  Has any one on the Third Federal payroll noticed the orange barrels on Euclid?