I have to preface these post with a shout out: the images are from Kyle Roth, a local photographer who does beautiful work and who is a big champion of Cleveland, be sure to read his blog at North Coast Lifestyle and Epstein Design Partners.
One great speaker was Terry Schwartz of Pop Up City Cleveland and the Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative. She was challenged with teaching urban regeneration in 15 minutes. She spoke of Japan and their pottery. When something of value is damaged, rather than repairing it seamlesley or throwing it away, it is often repaired with more care and made to honor the repairs that were done. This often gives the repaired item more value and elevate the end product. So here is where we are. Cleveland is one of a number of cities across the country that could be considered “broken.” While so many people are just running away to the suburbs or to other cities across the country, we need to believe that Cleveland is worth fixing. Just the fact that so many people are trying so hard to do it, shows that it is worth our efforts. It shows that there is an inherent value to this town. We have a tendency to want to repair a city as quickly as possible. Put it back the way it was. But here in Cleveland, we are in the ideal spot to repair this town in a way that elevates it to something even more valuable than it ever was.
Then she spoke about Pop Up City. The concept behind this effort is to take someplace broken in the city and make it better. Sometimes it can be made better for a single night, sometimes a weekend, sometimes longer. But if we can take a broken location around town and just “fix” it, even for a few hours, it might inspire us to try and fix it for a little longer. Then perhaps longer. Then perhaps we can be inspired to fix something once and for all in a more permanent way. I found out about them a few years ago, when they hosted a party in an abandoned building. They had something to do with one of the first Bizarre Bazaar events, as well as an evening on the Tremont footbridge. I highly applaud their efforts and their “out of the box” creative approach. I hope that we can help them plan a temporary park or cool event! They are just moving into their new digs by Playhouse Square, so stop by and visit them! And visit their site to see more cool stuff!
