Archive for February, 2010

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Clevelanders are not miserable they are proud!

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

You would have to be a hermit to have not heard about the Forbes magazine article.  They arbitrarily ranked Cleveland as the number one most miserable city in the nation.  You can say what you want about me or my family, and I will ignore what you say about my friends, but I get pretty hot under the collar when you put down my city.  Being a transplant here, I know the rest of the world.  I chose to move here a decade ago, and Even though there have been some definite culture shocks, I have not been sorry.  One of the best things about Cleveland and its citizens is seeing them rally-whether it is for something (like a bridge with pedestrian access on I-90) or against something (like closing churches).

I thought that when I wrote my thoughts on the Forbes magazine article that I would be alone in my ranting and singular in my disgust.  To my surprise, there have been a grand assortment of responses!  The Plain Dealer had an article by Phillip Morris.  Blogs went crazy (whew, I’m not the only one!) and posted a host of rebuttals.  Readers went off their rockers posting comments both for and against Cleveland and some said some very poignant and smart things.  Responses were not limited to just Ohioans though.  Texans even weighed in.  My family has been here, and they didn’t have a bad thing to say about our town (and my family is not known for holding back).  My favorite response was one I found late last night on a blog called Northcoast Lifestyle. Written by Kyle Roth, this blog just features cool things about Cleveland.  He made beautiful montage of images from his flickr site come alive in a way that showed how cool Cleveland can be!

Be sure to view the whole montage at his blog site.

We Clevelanders are afunny lot in an “I can say it, but don’t you dare!”  kind of way.  When the Positively Cleveland held its hastily made tourism video contest, the response was overwhelming:


And we all laughed at the tongue in cheek response that ended with “at least we’re not Detroit!”
Clevelanders are a proud lot, and while we are first to say what is wrong with our city, we are first to come up with a possible solution. If you have ever been to any public meeting, then you know we are first to stand up and complain to city council about how we have too much crime, or not enough parking or even too much snow. But we also will quickly come up with a Facebook page that tells Forbes to flake off.  Clevelanders are quick to respond, full of ideas (both good and bad), vocal in their opinions, and warm and caring about their neighbors, and proud of their town.

I guess I am home.

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How do YOU get to work?

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

I was alerted to this graphic by a blogger I read often called Joe.My.God. and it comes via 2nd Ave Sagas.  As a person who has driven in Seattle, LA, NYC, San Francisco, and Chicago, I can tell you that traffic is horrendous!  In NYC and SF, it is not a surprise that so many make use of public transportation, as it can be faster, easier and cheaper to do so than to drive.  In the case of San Fran, it is one of the greenest cities in the nation. The biggest polluters in any city are by far the buildings.  But cars, and their over usage cannot be ignored as a contributing factor to pollution, global warming and air quality.  Furthermore, a great public transportation system allows for dense urban growth and promotes cities with less reliability on commuters.  It can also do wonders to prevent urban sprawl.

What does this have to do with NE Ohio?   Cleveland is built to promote the suburbs.  Downtown may have plenty of living space these days, but what about shopping?  Furthermore,  our construction and promotion of rapid transit and the bus system as a way to move suburbanites to the city center instead of as a way to connect neighborhoods leads to less access of residents to other parts of the city.  At a time when we need to increase ridership and encourage people to drive less, lines are being dropped from the RTA scedule and weekend and evening service limited or eliminated.  Why?  There are less people living in the city who want to go downtown on the weekend, and that is how our system is set up.

Do not agree?  That is fine, but I will cite specific examples of where our service is lacking.  The rapid lines are built to go from the airport and the East side into downtown.  Unless you live right on the rapid line, you cannot reasonably use it get to the airport on a regular basis, and many of my colleagues travel regularly on business.  You are actually encouraged to drive and park there, or worse be driven and picked up, making each trip doubled.  The “Heart Line” a multi-million dollar investment by RTA to connect University Circle and corresponding hospitals to downtown is a colossal failure, in my opinion.  It does little to connect residents from surrounding neighborhoods to anything.  The rapid line that goes near the waterfront (which I have yet to actually see in service in the last 5 years) runs to Browns stadium.  It does not connect any eastside locations to downtown and their seems to be no plans to increase access to any waterfront development by way of rapid transit.  If I want to go from Brooklyn Center to Detroit Shoreway to catch a movie at the new Capitol theater, I can probably walk there faster than using public transport.  We want to have a strong urban core, a vital downtown, dense urban neighborhoods, and a green city.  Using the chart above, the three cities who have the highest use of public transportation for getting to work, all seem to be achieving these goals.  At least anecdotally, there is some sort of connection. It seems to me that until we get RTA on board to rethink “business as usual”, we are missing out on a key element of success.

And I would like to see our city leaders hopping on board the RTA to get to work.  How much more parking would there be downtown if half of our town’s govenment employees carpooled or rode public transportation?

So, how do YOU get to work?

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Posted in Arts & Culture, Cleveland, Green | 4 Comments »

What are YOU doing for Earth Day?

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Have you ever dreamed of making a difference?  It doesn’t just happen, you have to make it happen. Green Fest is a very new event, and a perfect example of how you can get involved and do something cool. This will be just the second year, and the reponse by the community is truly exciting. It started with two Moms having coffee, talking about their passion for recycling and “doing their part.” Wanting to do something to raise awareness and unite the community, they started thinking about putting on an “event” to teach North Ridgeville citizens about eco-friendly lifestyles. And thus, Green Fest was born.  Last year, they planned Green Fest with the help of the Parks and Recreation Dept, and several others who were willing to pitch in and give back. It was a highly successful event for such a small community, and with absolutely no operating budget. Everything was either donated by individuals or organizations that believe in going green. It just goes to show what you can do when you believe in something!  This year, Green Fest 2010 has a tiny budget, a great committee of committed individuals, and lots of support from the community. They hope to get bigger and better each year, delivering the message of environmentalism to all of the southern suburbs.Want to help?  They’d love to have you come to the event, make a donation, or offer any advice or tidbits of information they could use. ll an eco product or offer an environmentally friendly service?  Maybe you can get a table and show off your company.

North Ridgeville’s Green Fest committee is a branch of Friends of the Parks, a non-profit organization of local citizens who share and foster the idea to support and better the parks and recreational areas of North Ridgeville. Gandhi once stated: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” This quote explains how North Ridgeville’s Green Fest Committee came to be. In April of 2009 five local moms hosted Green Fest to help educate their community about making sustainable choices to preserve their children’s future. With only 3 ½ months of collaboration, Green Fest showcased 20 local North East Ohio earth friendly vendors. Amazed by the impact that the Green Fest 2009 had we decided in August of 2009 to open the group up to recruit local volunteers. Since then we have been joined by several diverse community members. During the last several months our committee has been diligently working to recruit volunteers, vendors, and donations. The Green Fest committee’s current fundraising goal is to raise funding to purchase recycle containers to be installed in each of North Ridgeville’s local parks. Once we have accomplished this goal, we then plan to reassess and research future earth friendly opportunities that can continue to bring North Ridgeville to the fore front of green living. We are currently gathering interested volunteers, vendors, and donations (reusable bags, coupons, samples, advertisements and monetary), and entertainment for this worthy event.

Let’s face it, making a difference is never easy.  But then, nothing worthwhile ever really is.  But if a couple of moms can get together over coffee and start a green revolution in their own town, what can you do?

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I give Forbes the finger!

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Thanks to my pal Mark Lastition, a local Realtor, for alerting me and the rest of his Facebook friends to the article on Forbes.com about Cleveland.  They ranked Cleveland as number one in a list of America’s most miserable cities.  I, Mark and his other buddies, seem to agree that Forbes has surely missed the mark.  I immediately inserted my comment on his page, then went off on my own little tirade int eh comments section of the Forbes site.  Here is what I wrote:

I have lived in a lot of places. Every town has its good and bad points. Cleveland is a great town with a less than stellar past, but with a bright future. We are working hard in this town to create new industries and new jobs based around emerging green technologies. We have a Chief of Sustainability who is working hard to develop and implement our long term plan for a green future. While it is true that Cleveland has suffered greatly from this recession, we are not alone. We still see a great deal of urban flight as people move to the suburbs, but those who stay are more committed than ever to revitalizing our city. Things may not be moving very quickly right now, but we are poised to have big improvements in the coming years. We have a balanced budget without laying off workers. We are installing a generator that will use trash to create electricity. Our sports teams go back and forth, but more money is spent in this town in the area of arts and culture than is generated by our sports teams anyhow. Not a big surprise when we have a world class museum (free) and symphony, and the largest theater district in America west of NYC. We are finishing a comprehensive plan to develop our lakefront, revitalize our ports, and add a new convention center and medical mart. Now that the lending crisis is about over, we can expect developments that were previously put on hold to resume soon. Jobs in the steel industry have been lost, but we are finding ways to replace them with new manufacturing and technology. Cleveland is a great town with a great future, and I say shame to Forbes for passing around more unproductive ill will about us and other cities who are in recovery. Luckily, businesses may see this article and realize that Cleveland is cheap and the perfect place to relocate their headquarters.

I didn’t even mention the Cleveland International Film Festival that get a lot of world press, the fact that we were chosen over Boston and Washington DC as hosts for the 2014 Gay Games, the Ingenuity Fest (the most unique festival I have ever attended), any of the neighborhood arts festivals, Rock Hall, MOCA and  host of other museums, or the great selection of first class restaurants that abound here.  I didn’t mention UH’s world renowned Cancer Center, or the fact that patients come from around the country to be treated at the Cleveland Clinic’s Heart Center.  I wanted to mention the work of Michele Kilroy and how she has taken the local affiliate of the USGBC to full member status and gotten an entire community involved through committees and groups.  What about our leadership in the local foods movement, thanks to advocates like Peter McDermott; the efforts toward green entrepreneurs thanks to E4S’s Holly Harlen; the movement toward Zero Waste thanks to the efforts of Annabel Kouri and Victoria Avi; the efforts of Andrew Watterson, Mayor Jackson and all the committee members from the Cleveland Sustainability Summit who are working in their own way on their own time to develop new ideas and plans for the region.  Eco Village, Cleveland Carbon Fund, Domestic Partnership Registry, Jump Start, Farmer’s Markets, City Fresh, Eco Watch…..There are so many positives going on in the area that I am sickened by this article.  What about your story?  If you love the city as much as me, I encourage you to read this article and send them your comments.  Cleveland has a truly bright future ahead, and I am personally sick of hearing otherwise.  In a time when Americans need hope and we need to pull together, the fact that Forbes felt compelled to write an article entitled America’s Most Miserable Cities just goes to show that they have no spirit!  Okay, crazed rant over, you can go about your day….

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Posted in Arts & Culture, Cleveland, Green | 2 Comments »

Where to spend your money…

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

I sometimes miss the great competition that is the grocery industry of the west coast.  Among other things, innovation and customer service are pushed to the limits when there are more people vying for your basic dollar.  In Cleveland, we have seen very little of this.  With the closing of Tops, and other smaller chains, there is little incentive for companies to give back or to be invested in their communities.  Last year, Giant Eagle built a nice big store on 117th, but I believe they went just over the line into Lakewood, leaving two empty stores in the wake of this move.  No commitment to the community.  What will fill these big empty storefronts remains to be seen.  Perhaps we could beg a company like Safeway to show Cleveland how it is done.  Check out their Corporate Social Responsibility video below.  In all fairness and full disclosure, I want to say that we have done some work for Safeway.  That being said, it has little to do with the great things that they are doing.

Part of the problem with the world is that we put too much emphasis on profits and not people. Safeway is one of the largest retailers in the world. They are an example of how you can both make money and do good things.

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What the heck in an REC?

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

REC stands for Renewable Energy Credit.  Every solar panel and wind turbine around the country generates electricity from a renewable source, as do hydroelectric sources.  In addition to the electricity that is created, a credit is created based on the amount of power that is produced.  For example, if a solar panel is installed on a business, it will generate electricity that the business can use.  If it doesn’t use it all, it can sell it back to the grid.  In addition, that company also gets a credit.  This credit is completely separate from the electricity and varies by the amount of electricity that they are creating.  Other sources of renewable power create credits as well, and the amount of credits vary from one power source to another.

What good are these darn credits?  First off, you can use them in your carbon footprint calculations.  The more credits you produce, the more carbon you are offsetting from your use.  But this is the 21st century and we have found a way to make money on anything.  In much the same way that you can buy gold or other goods for your World of Warcraft account, you can buy and sell these Renewable Energy Credits.  So, if you install a solar panel on your home or on your business to make your own electricity, you can also sell off the credits that are created along with the power.

Who wants these RECs anyway?  If you are a homeowner or a small business, these credits may not do you much good.  Sure, you can claim the bragging rights of producing less carbon dioxide, or spend less to become “carbon neutral,” but you can do little else with them.  However, utilities are being required to get more and more of their electricity from renewable sources.  In Ohio, a percentage goal of a utility’s energy production has to come from alternate sources-that is sources other than coal.  The goal standard is 25% from alternate sources.  12.5 % of that has to be renewable energy-0.5% has to be solar electric.  Additionally, they cannot wait until 2020 and start, they have to show annual percentage increases.  Let’s face it, we are not seeing the huge solar panel grid systems going up that would enable Ohio utilities to reach these goals.  However, they can purchase the credits they need from other producers of electricity.  These credits (Ohio Renewable Energy Credits) are created by anyone producing electric power within the state.  Since the state mandates are already in place, utilities are trying to buy the RECs from everyone they can that has a solar panel up.  The more credits that they buy, the less alternative energy they will have to produce on their own.

If you have a solar panel on your home or small business, you probably have already been approached to sign a contract for the REC from your panels.  Even small producers have some sort of credit, even if it is only a partial one and has to be bundled with several others for it to count toward the utilities’ goals. Signing a contract with any company means that they will effectively own those credits for the length of the contract.  You will still use your own electricity that you generate, and sell back to the grid any excess.  The credits are a completely separate commodity from the underlying energy itself.  As such, their value will fluctuate and is in no real way tied to the price of electricity.  This means that by selling off you RECs you can help accelerate the return on your investment in solar power.  You can contact Erika at RePower Solutions if you want to know more: erika@repowersolutions.com

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It’s starting….

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

34th CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL’S (CIFF)
WEBSITE IS LIVE

Let’s Go.  The 34th CIFF’s website is now live.  Visit www.clevelandfilm.org to see our newly redesigned film description pages and to learn what will be on screen at this year’s CIFF, March 18 – 28, 2010 at Tower City Cinemas.  Be sure to check back for program updates between now and March 28th.

The CIFF is thrilled to announce our CIFF iPhone App.  Search for films, get screening times, view program details, watch the 34th CIFF trailer; it’s like having the CIFF in your pocket! Click here to download our FREE iPhone App.  Special thanks to FORM for designing the CIFF iPhone App.
Tickets go on sale to members only on Friday, February 26th and to the general public on Friday, March 5th.  Not a member?  Become one here or call 216.623.3456 x10.  Ticket prices for most films are $10 per film for CIFF members and $12 for non-members.  Tickets will be available online at www.clevelandfilm.org, by telephone (1.877.304.FILM), at the CIFF store in the lobby of Tower City Cinemas, or by mail using the Program Guide order form.

Program Guides will be available throughout the region, including all Dollar Bank locations, the week of March 1st.
Cleveland International Film Festival
2510 Market Avenue | Cleveland, OH 44113-3434 | 216.623.3456

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Detroit Shoreway Carbon Crash

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

You probably know what a carbon offset program is.  Just in case, here is the gist.  You are doing something that you know is going to generate carbon dioxide into the air (anything-like driving, flying, even using electricity) you can offset it.  How?  Well you can log onto a number of carbon offset sites, or in the case of a plane ticket, you can often offset by paying a little extra when you book your ticket.  How does it work?  Say you are going on a trip.  You can figure out how much extra carbon you are going to generate, then by buying carbon offsets, a third party will plant trees or fund a wind turbine, or buy credits that will balance out the extra carbon that you are putting into the air.  Most of these programs work by planting trees in some far off land, but that is okay because the atmosphere is a global thing.  Someone in Cleveland thought, why not do something here at home?  If Cleveland citizens want to offset their carbon use, why don’t we off set it with programs that can be put in place right here in NE Ohio!  Enter the Cleveland Carbon Fund:

As the first community-based, open-access carbon reduction fund in the United States, the Cleveland Carbon Fund invests in local community projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and spark economic development in Cleveland. The Fund provides an easy, highly transparent option for anyone wishing to play a role in reducing carbon emissions. By investing in the Cleveland Carbon Fund, donors can be assured their worthy contributions are making sustainable, positive change in local Cleveland neighborhoods.

The latest program that is born from the CCF, is the Detroit Shoreway Carbon Crash.  What the heck?  DSCC is a program where residents of the Detroit Shoreway can replace their light bulbs (up to 12 per household) with CFLs for free.  CFLs are awesome, and I have written about them many times.  Using less energy, producing the same amount of light and cool to the touch, CFLs rock.  Now, the Eco Village is trying out this new program as a way to lower the carbon emissions from coal burning electricity plants by helping its residents use less energy.  To make sure the plan works, they are asking you to “opt in” meaning you are willing to show them your electric bill over the course of a few months to show whether or not this program is truly effective.  Neighborhood and student volunteers will come to your home and install these bulbs for you and tell you a little more about how to save.  Supplies of these bulbs are limited, so get on board today.  Call Lilah Zautner at 216-961-4242 ext. 227 or email her at Lzautner@dscdo.org for more information.  Not in Detroit Shoreway?  Maybe you can find out how to start this program in your neighborhood!

Spiral CFL

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Posted in Cleveland, Green | 3 Comments »

DESIGN TRENDS

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Okay, I don’t really know if this one is a trend or not; I just think it’s really cool. Years ago when my family visited Disneyland we went to Mickey’s Land, or whatever it was called at the time. It was where all the cartoons lived and was opened right on the heels of the successful “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”. One of the parts that really impressed me was Minnie Mouse’s house. It was a cartoon styled house you could walk around inside. You could see all her rooms including her bedroom with its cartoon styled bed and cartoon styled dresser. In her kitchen was even a cartoon styled refrigerator you could open to reveal cartoon styled milk cartons and steaks! I loved it. I’ve always loved such attention to detail.

I’ve always thought that a child would love to have his/her room designed in this same way. Everything would be “swoopy” and brightly colored. I’ve been waiting for years for someone to do it.

Back in the nineties I did a project for Darigold, a Northwest dairy company. The small retail outlet featured a circus theme, with cows as the performers. Upstairs was a self-guided video tour of the dairy factory. Here I put the tv monitors inside cartoon-styled cabinets, based on my love of Minnie Mouse’s house. The video, produced by a Seattle based advertising firm, had a clutzy scientist moving around a kitchen that was……….you guessed it, cartoon-styled, just like Minnie’s house!

Finally, after years of waiting, I stumbled upon Dust Furniture from Indiana. This company has decided to venture into stylized furniture based on cartoons for children’s rooms. It’s about darned time!

Checkout some of their stuff; it’s pretty cool. I could see this stuff in more rooms than just for kids. Think about one iconic bookshelf in an office, or a retail store! Oh wait….I may be giving out a design secret I would want to use in the future. Forget you’ve seen anything and move along.

Dust Furniture can be reached at www.dustfurniture.com

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Posted in Arts & Culture, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Links to some other stuff…

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

Got City Game wrapped up their first season this week.  Set in Cleveland, Got City Game is an online reality show that draws the viewer in by asking you to vote and by giving away great prizes!  The season my be over, but you can catch up on all the action on their site.  The Plain Dealer did a great piece on them as well.

The Cleveland Sustainability Summit Design Committee met last Thursday to start planning our our 2010 Summit.  It was a great day for me.  I am always left feeling enthusiastic about the possibilities that abound for Cleveland and NE Ohio when you get a bunch of  like minded individuals in one room to talk about what we can do.  The outcome groups all seem to be progressing well, and I can’t wait to see what comes from the summit this year… It is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, September 22nd and 23rd with a public day on Friday the 24th as we roll into Ingenuity Fest.  What a great week that is gonna be!

The Plain Dealer has finally gotten into the fray on the I-90 bridge.  Hopefully the video I posted last week that is making a splash on You Tube and around the net has gotten more citizens involved.  That video was made by local folks and some of the people involved are members of the transportation working group from last year’s summit.  They weren’t kidding when they called them “working groups” as since the summit many folks are putting their nose to the grindstone to promote sustainable ideas around town.

Did you know that we are getting our first “gasification” power plant?  You can read the basic story here and the longer story here.  But the gist is this:  Cleveland is going to build a power plant that turns organic waste into burnable fuel.  That fuel will then be used to create electricity.  It is considered a green technology and I can’t wait to see how this plays out.  We started a pilot program to collect compost able food waste at some areas of the city, so will we be using this?  Or could we be putting our other solid waste to work?  Bottom line we will be putting 100 PEOPLE to work and producing 6% of CPP’s peak power load.  If it turns out to be profitable, maybe we will be the first city to turn all our waste into electricity…

This is for the birds!  and the bats.  The Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force may be getting one step closer to our off shore wind farm.  They are studying bird migration patterns to make sure that we consider wildlife when we build our wind farm.  More at the Plain Dealer.  More than just a source of electricity, an off shore wind farm could be the source of a whole new future for Cleveland.  Sure we will get clean electrical power, sure jobs will be created to build and maintain turbines and their parts, but what may be more important than any of that would be the change in perception created by an off shore wind farm.  The city that does it first will be recognized across the country, and also get attention around the globe.  Becoming the City of the Wind could wipe away the stain of the burning river and attract business to the region.  We are a cool city, but if we so cool that we have a wind farm, them maybe we could have the new Apple Headquarters?  Imagine how much we could lease offices for (and what cool company would want them) if they overlooked a beautiful blue lake filled with spinning blades.

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