Wow -  I just realized Pere Ubu is in town tonight for a concert promoting their rave new album, "Why I Hate Women" - 10:15 PM at the Beachland Ballroom, with the New Lou Reeds opening at 9 PM. I had seen a glowing review of the new album in CoolCleveland this week but didn't notice about the show, which is a must see.... wee need a better way to spread word about arts and culture in NEO. Luckily, there was a feature in the Plain Dealer Friday section today, which gives the new album huge props too.

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 As an excellent sign of the times, on November 13, 2006 it was announced "Carbon Neutral" is the Oxford American Dictionary Word of the Year. Unlike what is typically defined here as underpinnings of sustainability, being Business as Agents of World Benefit, I see this trend toward individual social responsibility reflects the real world, being Individuals as the Agents of World Benefit, and, in fact, I believe it is only through individuals as agents that businesses act as agents of anything, and so the rising of Carbon Neutral as the word of the year is very hopeful for the future of the world... this reflects social consciousness becoming mainstream.

I've had many "chicken or egg" discussions about the digital divide with many people over many years. To some, the divide is about economics and access to technology and the Internet. To some, it is about environment and culture. To some it is about usability and functionality. I believe a person's position relative to the digital divide is influenced by all these factors, over time, influenced by personal capabilities, and I tend to view the challenges to be overcome to bridge the divide in about that order, starting with economics and access to technology and ending with functionality of technology, applications and information services. I'll point to my 19 month old tech native son Claes and some friends and family to explore this issue further. 

I was at the Cleveland Institute of Art today to review the subtle "Home House Show" of green affordable housing and noticed across the street the extravagant, stony Cleveland Museum of Art expansion is really taking shape. While not scheduled to open until Summer 2008, contractors are already adding the skin to the East Wing and it is now possible to visualize what the finished product will look like. Most visually dominant, the surface of the addition is covered in marble that is similar to the light gray of the original 1916 Beaux-Arts building, transitioned with horizontal thin dark gray lines in a pattern lifted from the more recent 1971 Breuer addition, and the new structure is overall very much in that modern, brutal style. Still to come is all the glass, which should give the structure greater lightness. I now look forward to the end result.

I was very pleased to be joined by the new Director of Development for East Cleveland, Tim Goler, last Monday, November 13, 2006, at the Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council (GCLAC) Steering Committee meeting. Tim has an undergraduate degree in early child development, and has taught kindergarten and 4th grade, and he has a master's degree in urban planning from Cleveland State University, and has been active in that field, nationwide, including working in environmentalism in NEO. So, he is an excellent addition to the team in East Cleveland, and to the war against lead poisoning in our region. Short story, he has assured me East Cleveland is not intimidated by Sherwin-Williams suing them for suing the paint industry over the public nuisance of lead poisoning in that community, nor efforts of State Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, who hopes to tweak previously passed legislation that would prevent cities or anybody else from using the state’s public nuisance law to sue the lead pigment manufacturers - Tim Goler is in step with East Cleveland Mayor Eric Brewer and their law department in pursuing due process and justice and they will drive an aggressive battle against lead poisoning in this region.

Hear inspiring birth stories from fellow women.  Share your own birth story.  This is one of our most popular meetings of the year.  Come hear why!!!

Cleveland Chapter of BirthNETWORK presents Birth Stories

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I was thrilled today to see a large collection of the small sculptures, prints, sketches and drawings of John Jackson exhibited at the remarkable Zygote Press, on E. 30th Street and St. Clair. As john Passed away this year, this is an exclusive opportunity not to be missed.

Below is nonprofit ClevelandBikes' letter to the Ohio Department of Transportation regarding the ODOT plans for the West Shoreway. Individuals wishing to add their views on the plan can visit the ODOT website (http://www.innerbelt.org/Lakefrontwest/Lakefronthome.htm) or email project officers (craig [dot] hebebrand [at] dot [dot] state [dot] oh [dot] us, Lora [dot] Hummer [at] dot [dot] state [dot] oh [dot] us).  

While I still “live” in NEO, I now largely work in Toronto, and post most of my insight from there. I believe such global insight sharing offers unique perspectives to NEO not otherwise available and encourage more cross-boundary insight trade. As someone long associated with the Northeast Ohio economy and arts, I can't help but compare what I experience in Toronto (and Canada) with my experiences in Cleveland (and the USA), and I feel lessons learned far and wide, like in Toronto, will help NEO develop a stronger new economy at home. For those far and wide, I encourage you to post your observations here!

Two weeks ago saw the second birthday of REALNEO. I started REALNEO in October, 2004, to provide “Regional Economic Action Links for North East Ohio” and implement for the region some exciting open source social networking technology. While the outcomes have not been entirely what I expected, and these years have in ways been rough, I've been thrilled to help drive and support some great developments in the community.

The Plain Dealer published early details for a wonderful vision that has been developed by the Beck Board of Directors, with the City of Lakewood and the Lakewood schools, that will offer all of NEO a wonderful arts and learning asset for the future. "The Beck Center for the Arts will stay in Lakewood and form a partnership with city schools to create an arts-education academy that would anchor a possible cultural district in Lakewood's west end." "Other potential partners could include colleges and businesses." Sounds like a great opportunity for the CIA, and perhaps Kent State, wo have a valuable presence on the West Side!

An eye-opening exhibition on environmentally friendly design of affordable housing opens with a panel discussion at The Cleveland Institute of Art at 5:15 p.m. on Nov. 3, 2006. The traveling exhibition, HOME House Project: The Future of Affordable Housing, will be on view in the Institute’s Reinberger Galleries from November 3 – December 22, 2006. See images from the exhibition at the Weisman Museum here. Read On:

The exhibition began in 2003 with a competition sponsored by the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Designers and architects were challenged to create appealing, affordable single-family house designs using Habitat for Humanity house plans as a starting point. The 440 entries originally submitted by designers from the U.S. and six countries were judged on their design appeal, affordability and use of environmentally sustainable materials, technologies and techniques.

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Please join members of ClevelandBikes, friends and colleague with The Cleveland Orchestra on a silent ride in memory of Orchestra member Charles Barr, killed in a cycling accident on August 11th.  The ride is scheduled for Sunday October 22nd at 2:00 pm.

A silent ride is a low-speed group ride in memory of cyclists injured or killed while riding. The ride is intended to create opportunities for communities to spend their time and thoughts in a shared activity, winding through University Circle and past Severance Hall, the home of The Cleveland Orchestra. The ride (excluding the registration and safe riding instructions) will take approximately 30 minutes. Unfortunately, unaccompanied minors, or those under age thirteen, will not be able to participate in the ride. The ride proceeds regardless of weather.

Ohio State Representative Mike Foley (D) will be holding a press conference tomorrow, Tuesday October 17 at 11:30 am at the gazebo at Lincoln Park (W. 14th and Starkweather), located in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland’s west side..  

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 Thanks to Ed Morrison for forwarding to me an Akron Beacon Journal article about Akron filing a lawsuit against U.S. paint makers over lead hazards in their community. I don't believe the Cleveland Plain Dealer bothered to report on this important development, and the PD certainly didn't do as good a job of reporting on related litigation in East Cleveland and Toledo, a few weeks prior. Wonder why? As defendant Sherwin Williams' spokesman Bob Wells said, "Ohio is the last place we thought cities would bite their own'', and, in the case of mainstream local media, that line of reasoning holds true... they earn money from Sherwin Williams advertising and don't cover the lead issue in Northeast Ohio, even as 1,000s of children in Cuyahoga County are lead poisoned each year and so fail in life, trapping our core population in toxic poverty. With such a realization that our economy is held hostage by large corporate interests, it is time for the community to get serious about this issue... especially as Sherwin Williams and their attorneys act to intimidate our cities and deceive the people and the courts. Read on!

From Denise Polverine's "Young Professionals" blog on Cleveland.com, there's an interesting "Brain Gain" event coming up at the Rock Hall. I went to an earlier one of these events and they are interesting... if you plan to go, be certain to RSVP as they are strick about that:

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Today, at WVIZ IdeaCenter, Ingenuity Festival founder and director James Levin hosted his peer Steve Dietz, director of a remarkable "sister" arts and technology festival ZeroOne San Jose, along with a group of NEO arts leaders, for intimate planning for the 3rd Ingenuity Festival, which will be held around Playhouse Square and Cleveland State University in 2007. James introduced the discussion by explaining he had been in San Jose last month for ZeroOne and is working with the organizers of that event in his brainstorming for our festival, which is one of the most exceptional of its type in the world. And, based on what was presented and discussed today with Steve Dietz, Ingenuity Festival is about to get much more exceptional... James is looking and partnering very globally and focused on strengthening the integration of "technology" into Ingenuity 2007. This was clearly a strength in the exciting artistic expressions of ZeroOne, as presented in an impressive overview by Dietz.

The Cleveland Institute of Art will showcase designs from a diverse collection of Northeast Ohio companies – from a skateboard manufacturer to an alternative magazine publisher – in an exhibition in the Institute’s FUTURE: Center for Design and Technology Transfer. The exhibit, “Startup Ink: The Subculture Entrepreneur,” opens with a public reception from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13, and will be on view until Nov. 24, 2006.

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"Make no small plans" is developer Bob Stark's sentiment toward visioning the future of Northeast Ohio with which I agree completely. Next Tuesday, October 17th, the public is invited to a forum at the Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University, hosted by Dean Rosentraub, featuring Mr. Stark's development vision for Downtown Cleveland, with a panel discussion featuring Steven Fong, Dean, College of Architecture and Environmental Design, Kent State University, and Valerie McCall, Chief of Government Affairs, Office of the Mayor, City of Cleveland. It is exciting to see such a collaborative approach to planning forming around such core stakeholders and the public. The opposite of the command and control process that is giving us the ODOT bridge from hell and so many other bad outcomes in NEO, this public multi-university, public-private exploration has the potential to connect important agendas for consensus building around sophisticated visions of the future of our region, starting with the heart of it all, downtown Cleveland.

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There were two important shows on WVIZ/PBS public television tonight. First, locally produced Ideas featured a segment on lead poisoning. Second,  "Bill Moyers on America: Is God Green?" explored  how "Millions of evangelical Christians in America have taken on care for the environment as a moral and Biblical obligation. They believe that as Christians it is their duty to take action against global warming, the loss of species and toxic chemicals in our air, food and water." So, we saw the greatest problem in our local society today... toxic contamination of at least 20% of people's land and lives in Cleveland... followed by the solution, being the 65% of Americans who believe in Christ coming together to battle such toxins. To care about any of these matters without caring about all is to live an incomplete and evil life as, apparently taken from the scriptures,  "those who destroy the Earth shall be destroyed by God!"

One could safely say, before Cleveland went to the dogs it went to the pigs... but, that is a whole other story. Today, the dogs and pigs I'm talking about relate to the public arts series sponsored by the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation to have local artists paint fiberglass sculptures recognizing the animals of the Chinese zodiac - this year was of the dog... next year is of the pig. Much more interesting than the painted guitars concept, these animal forms offer great creative opportunities for artists and the results of the year of the dog efforts were extraordinary - you may see many of them posted here. So, if you are artistic or know someone who is, check out the following details on designing new pigs for Cleveland... below

In 2020 - the year, and with such vision - what postcard do you want to send from your hometown of Cleveland... the "Cleveland of my Dreams" vision above, or the the toxic "Nightmare in Cleveland" reality planned for us by ODOT, below, which is planned to be worse than anyone ever imagined. By 2020, ODOT plans to blight the entire dream zone of the Cleveland Flats and the East and West banks of the Cuyahoga River Valley shown in these renderings, and surrounding neighborhoods, even worse than they and the port have blighted there today. By 2020, ODOT will have finished their slash of concrete and steel rendered in the nightmare reality below, destroying these opportunity zones as freeways have destroyed so much else in NEO. Read on to see how we may be able to make these mightmare visions dreamy, instead.

The rendering above is of the aerial footprint of the new westbound bridge to be built in Cleveland, for over $300 million, in a multiyear, disruptive, near $ billion construction nightmare, which will make life in Northeast Ohio pure hell for commuters and the Cleveland economy through 2012 and leave a massive, ugly scar across Cleveland's greatest asset - the Cuyahoga River Valley - forever. All that is pathetic, but not nearly as sad as the loss of development potential for Cleveland, the city, and the area of the Flats around the current and future bridge sites and on the east and west banks of the Flats and surrounding neighborhoods. Destroying that potential is the whole point of regional leadership creating this disastrous outcome... what could be better for sprawl-mongers than further destroying the urban core?

 In a heroic battle of a few people who care about the future of the NEO skyline against broad community apathy and complacency with inconsiderate authority, Plain Dealer Architecture Critic Steven Litt has written another installment in the continuing saga of ODOT against Cleveland - the billion dollar Innerbelt joke - now warning the public that today, 10/05/06, NEO leadership will narrow the possibilities of bad bridge designs from eight to three awful options. As Litt puts it, in the title of his article, "Dull design burns bridges to better future". And he goes on to explain why we aren't getting something better...

Northeast Ohio's Blogging community is America's most active civic journalism network. Meet The Bloggers is an exciting, cutting edge community lead by George Nemeth, Gloria & Tim Ferris, and Jason Haas, building a national reputation for supporting freedom of speech, citizen dialogue and strengthening transparent political process - keystones of Democracy. 

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