David Gilbert is truly an unsung Cleveland HERO.  He has consistently built the "Cleveland" brand - distinguishing our city from Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo as a Midwest Northcoast destination. 

Clevelanddotcom travel writer Susan Glaser posted the news in November: 

http://www.cleveland.com/travel/index.ssf/2017/11/cleveland_named_to_national_ge.html

To date, there are 640 comments.  Crain's Cleveland Business recently honored David Gilbert at their annual C-Suite Gala.  

David Gilbert, president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, Destination Cleveland and the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee for the Republican National Convention, will receive the 2017 Champion Award.

Metroparks' CEO Brian Zimmerman was also honored.  For me - these two men deserve the lion's share of credit for the new attitude and appeal of Northeast Ohio.  My concern, though, will be that the criminal machine in this town will tarnish the reputation these leaders have worked to achieve in Northeast Ohio.  At the C-Suite gala, David Gilbert acknowledged that we MUST not look backward or allow ourselves to fall behind again.  

Gilbert can't control the land transactions going on behind the scenes throughout Northeast Ohio, but Brian Zimmerman CAN influence these decisions.  Zimmerman has created destination locations by highlighting our natural attractions, especially our lakefront and Cuyahoga River.  The Metroparks also distributes project funding throughout Northeast Ohio- giving, to my assessment, fair treatment to the eastern, western, and southern portions of their service area. 

Now, is the time for Cuyahoga County and City of Cleveland officials to allow major transportation decisions to be made by the Metroparks.  To attract young investors and retain our population- Cleveland needs to address the lifestyle economy that can be had in Northeast Ohio.  The Metroparks successfully applied and was awarded a TIGER grant for nearly $8M dollars to Reconnect Cleveland.  In October 2017- the announcement read: 

Please Join Cleveland Metroparks at this Open House to learn more about five trail projects currently under design in the city of Cleveland that were awarded Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant funds. Information will be presented on the Whiskey Island Connector, Wendy Park Bridge, Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway Connector, Canal Basin Park Connector, and Red Line Greenway.

Every Cleveland Metroparks reservation needs to be connected to these major trails and east to west connections need to be made high priority.  The Metroparks beat out the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) for federal 2017 TIGER funds.  The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority needs major infrastructure work throughout the system. Clevelanders and visitors to Cleveland want car-free options for travel.  In the next round of federal funding, Cleveland must work to leverage the trail and transit system in our region.  Otherwise, as Mr. Gilbert warned, we will be going backwards.

(NOTE: This article is reposted from an article I penned at LinkedIn)