Lisa Wuohela in front of Material Matters, the premier gallery of Canadian glass art in the world.

The August 14, 2006 REALNEO header (included below) has great meaning, as it introduces a new initiative of 7GEN, LLC, the organization formed by Phillip Williams, Evelyn Kiefer and myself following the attempted theft of REALinks, LLC, property by my former partner, Peter Holmes. This header is of a great NEO art collection, of my parents, Doctors Ann and Norman Roulet, which Phillip, Evelyn and I are documenting on-line as a first service of May Show for the NEO community... in the future, my parents and other NEO art collectors and art dealers and artists may show the world the art they create, sell, collect and exhibit here in Northeast Ohio. The May Show portal being developed by 7GEN, LLC, will be the only interface in NEO to so well document art and make it available to the public, far eclipsing capabilities of even our beloved Cleveland Museum of Art. But that is not the most exciting development for 7GEN I have to share with NEO today, as we are basing future operations at the location shown above, on Spadina Avenue in Toronto, Canada. Read a brief introduction of what, how and why 7GEN will operate in Canada below.

Welcome to the home of Material Matters, and now 7GEN Canada, at 215 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Canada

    Given the recent court decision on eminent domain and the upcoming decisions on how to define "blight", CSU professor Tom Bier's testimony on the issues is important reading.  Go to http://www.greaterohio.org/policy/policy.html and click on "testimony".  And while you're there do some other reading.  Clearly the state's policies encourage sprawl.  Sprawl is not good for our air, our land, or our water.  We need a coup in Columbus.

It was terrific to see Cleveland Foundation President Ronn Richard write an opinion column in the Plain Dealer today expressing his vision for developing an alternative energy industry in Northeast Ohio. This has been a topic of considerable discussion in Cleveland for two years, going back to several excellent Tuesdays@REI, back in the day, and more recently wind has become a visible promise on the horizon of Cleveland, with the installation of a turbine in front of the Great Lakes Science Center.

Ronn clarifies below what are his objectives for wind in NEO, which is not just to take as much of the region off the traditional electric grid as possible, but to build alternative energy technologies here, as a workforce and industrial development for the future. There is not doubt that is an excellent strategy with strong support in the region, and absolutely no opposition.

At the end of his column, Ronn writes "We're pressing for a move to advanced energy as an imperative for national security, local economic security and a healthier planet. Won't you join us?... Call Richard Stuebi at the Cleveland Foundation to get involved: 216-685-2011." There is also an opportunity to hear Mr. Stuebi speak at Case tomorrow - see http://realneo.us/SURES-RICHARD-STUEBI.

I took the picture at the top of this posting from Ronn Richard's office at the Cleveland Foundation, several months ago, and he spoke with complete confidence in his ability to make the alternative energy industry a strength of this region, so I am completely confident this will occur - those interested in that outcome should read Ronn's complete column below and follow through on his request - contact the Cleveland Foundation and get involved!

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In trying to keep up with what's happening in Cleveland regarding the development of green technologies, I've never been able to find anything that tracks it on a local basis. 
Chris Varley at TechFutures  is likely the most prolific local blogger covering cleantech and posts often about the promise of clean/green tech and a bit about the burgeoning and growing movement here in NEO. 

I had the pleasure of joining a group of East Cleveland residents of Ward 2 (the neighborhood nearest to University Circle), hosted by Ward 2 Councilwoman Barbara Thomas, where she gave citizens the opportunity to discuss their issues and seek insight and solutions - one of the things I love about East Cleveland is this small-town form of government... you need to experience it. One topic was trash, and that led to recycling, and I know realneo members love that! So... who wants to plan some more recycling?

The following story appears in the Summer 06 issue of Ohio Canal Corridor's newsletter .

Walworth Run – The Next Branch for the Towpath Trail?

It was back in 1996 when Ohio Canal Corridor led a planning charette in the ClarkMetro neighborhood that looked for a new vision for Train Avenue.  The daylong event was one of a half-dozen plans that were hatched throughout the city.  Others included a new park in Tremont where West 7 Street and West 10 Street merge along Railway Avenue and a park honoring surveyors in the Warehouse District between West 6 Street and West 9 Street/ just south of the Shoreway Ramp.  The exercises culminated in a booklet titled:  Green Spaces/People Places and was a component of the Lila Wallace/ Reader’s Digest funded park initiative under the direction of ParkWorks.

Ohio Canal Corridor immediately afterwards included Train Avenue in its annual RiverSweep program with the intent that this idea of a trail connection to the Towpath would not be lost, but rather that the neighborhood, through its represented Community Development Corporation, would awake to its potential. Thankfully, Clark-Metro has done just that. Last year, they teamed with a number of adjoining CDCs to submit a request to NOACA for funding under its Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative (TLCI) . Though they were unsuccessful, they regrouped and resubmitted again this year and were awarded $64,000 towards a $80,000 study that would explore a trail alignment and provide some estimated construction costs, identify benefits and spin-off development opportunities, and list potential funding sources. NPI contributed $12,000 towards the project and Ohio Canal Corridor (OECA) along with a number of stakeholder CDCs (Clark-Metro, Stockyards Development and Tremont West) have each added $1,000. As it stands, the planning will begin in 2007 and conclude in 2008.  Public input will be required and sought.  If you are interested in this project, please contact Abe Bruckman at Clark-Metro: 216-741-9500.

Additional ideas for Train Ave / Walworth Run can be found at
CSU's Levin College of Urban Affairs

Master of Urban Planning, Design, and Development (MUPDD)
PDD 611 Planning Capstone, Spring 2004
Train Avenue/Walworth Run Corridor

The Course Description contains the following information about Train Ave / Walworth Run

The corridor runs approximately two miles from W. 65th St. eastward to the Cuyahoga River. In the western end, the corridor is located directly to the south of the I-90 interstate; in its eastern third, the corridor study site turns northward toward the Cuyahoga River. Train Ave. is so-named for its proximity to several rail lines that run in the corridor. These railways were placed in the area in the late 19th and early 20th century as the west side neighborhoods of Cleveland developed. The trains were located in a natural ravine, which contained Walworth Run, a small tributary stream that emptied into the Cuyahoga River. Walworth Run was a valley riparian corridor containing several ponds, and drew early settlers, livestock businesses and slaughterhouses. The stream was gradually culverted and eventually buried underground, becoming part of the city's growing sewer system during the early 20th century.

In today's Plain Dealer was what appeared like an exposé on economic development organizations in Northeast Ohio, but really just showed lots of big salaries and highlighted the obvious about our regional economy that was summed up in one line - " Has it worked? Not yet." I've had good experiences with two people in economic development in NEO - Cleveland Tech Czar Michael DeAloia and I-Open leader Ed Morrison, quoted in the PD article saying: "There's not strong enough leadership looking out, picking their head up out of the weeds and saying we need to be heading this way,"... "He argues we lack the civic skills to grab opportunities, make decisions and move on." I agree, and have found the ivory tower efforts for the region are not for me or my interests. They are for others, and traction is being made in some areas, like health sciences (hard to avoid, with the $ millions in health related R&D at Case and the Clinic alone... the Clinic just took a medical company public last week). But in the small business and IT spaces there is little support available, and there are real obsticals to progress, to some extent caused by the community belief there is a support structure in place to help entrepreneurship here, which there is not. One hopeful sign for the future is that Case has disposed of the dean of their business school, and so that institution may again add value to the region through a good replacement... we'll see. Otherwise, it is worth considering the insight Don Iannone shared on his blog in response to the PD article, which offer some good lessons learned by a good local economic development professional... a few highlights below... my favorite being "our regional economic development culture (that includes everybody and not just the faces and names in the Plain Dealer series) is combative, secretive, blaming, insular, and small-minded":

What are your principles? How about the following:

1. Attack poverty and world hunger as if our life depends on it. It does.

Who are Roger Peterson and Judith Swain and why should you care?These world-leading scientists are part of America's “brain drain,” genetic researchers moving overseas to work on stem cell research, a trend almost certain to expand under the hostile climate in the US reflected in the President's veto of the stem cell research legislation. The veto maintains a failed policy that is leaving American researchers far behind in one of the most important scientific fields. Here are a few “brain drain” examples:

 I found the following very insightful commuting cost calculator via urban planner Scott Muscatello's cool "Cleveland vs. The World" blog. It takes into account much more than your $3.00 per gallon gas, as you'll see listed below - I don't drive to commute or own a car so I don't have these costs nor do I cost society for any of this... what about you... l commuting cost calculator?

If you live in Westlake and commute daily downtown (around 35 miles roundtrip), and tool around another 10 miles roundtrip per day (annual driving of around 16,500 miles) the cost to you and the world is around $20,000 per year. If you communte 100 miles roundtrip a day, like a friend of mine in Medina, and tool another 20 miles per day, you drive around 33,000 miles per year and the cost to all, including you is average $40,000. I can get RTA all day pases at $3 per day every day for around 36 years, for that. What does your car-based lifestyle cost you and society?

all meetings are open to the public.

july is new member's month.

http://clevelandcolectivo.org

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Seven-generation sustainability is the tenet that all decisions should be made with consideration for the effect they will have on the next seven generations to follow us.

Development of this concept is attributed to a precept of the Great Law of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy), which requires that chiefs consider the impact of their decisions on the seventh generation, although it has been adopted by modern groups. This book on REALNEO explores seven generation planning for NEO, in complete respect for all generations before us and seven generations ahead.

This flats east bank boondoggle  is going to be a most interesting court case.  a shame really that these big buck well monied folks cant just get along; it'd certainly bode well for the city if they dropped their egos.

From a planning and community perspective, it's frustrating and frighteningly humorous that none of these developers realizes the entire east bank is sitting on a light rail line.  a situation of which many cities would be envious. 

Now if only that light rail line went a bit beyond that orange abomination on the lakefront.  CSU, midtown, and little asia, for example, beg for connection to the lakefront.

Regardless, these excerpts are particularly frustrating while being quite telling of mr. wolstein's urban design acumen.  thanks to norm for initially pointing out this gentleman as captain sprawl.

From the July 13, Brooklyn Sun Journal

"(Victor) Shaia said he had his own questions about Wolstein's desire to acquire his parking lot, especially when Wolstein isn't seeking to build anything on it. Furthermore, a station on the light-rail Waterfront Line already exists next to the site.
Why would you take a parking lot to keep it a parking lot? Shaia asked. It boggles my mind. I think they want the land more than they need the land. Hopefully the court system will see things as any rational person would."
--------------------------------------------------------
"I think the city needs to put the brakes on this (Flats East Bank project ) and wait, said Khouri, president of Westlake-based Carnegie Management & Development Co. Khouri said he and Wolstein have been friends for 20 years. I don't understand why he won't return my calls. How they can take that much money from the county (for the Flats parking deck) and give it to a developer to build 300 housing units?"

What could possibly make NEO a Green City by a Blue Lake? Rewriting our propagandist "history" to be true through today, and teaching and learning from that, ruthlessly defending our "environment", celebrating progressive "politics",  restructuring "education" to truly focus on social responsibility, inspiring "innovation" through creative people and management practices,  promoting "finance" for progressive businesses and practices, embracing "spirituality" found in liberal religions and non-Western thought, and recruiting and building "critical mass" of like minded people who embrace all of that. What, why, how... several years ago I referenced this article on CAUSE and it still reads true and offers insight for NEO forever... and feel free to post suggestions as comments here.

I came across this cool service to Flex Your Power, in California, designed by an old friend from Tribe - definitely something we need here in NEO - note, this was funded by the power industry in California, because regulation there is very focused on demand side management, rather than consumption... we need to Flex Our Power as we head to the voting booths this November and choose politicians who will enable these type of outcomes...

Now that I must waste much of my time and energy preparing to sue Robert "Okihawk"/:NEOhawk" Hawkins I must conduct discovery determining the many ways to diverted business from his employer, REALinks, LLC, and acted against all stakeholders. One place where his record is told is on REALNEO, and so I am preserving his strings of inputs here.

The origins of REALNEO.US live at http://clevelandcause.tribe.net/ where I first organized this revolution, while I was based in Northern California and fighting to help the real NEO economy from afar. Read the manifesto that was the CAUSE for REALNEO.US  below... the very first copy sent to my friend and co-conspirator with REALNEO.US, Louis Carl Edwards, via Tribe.net on December 21, 2003 at 4:19 AM, West Coast time:

I've spoken to real estate, planning and economic development professionals in NEO about the false assumptions used for all planning in NEO, which take the position our economy is based on and driven by scarcity. We hear all day, every day, from the Plain Dealer to the Cleveland Planning Commission, that we have scarce resources here and must play every Joker and wild card we may to create value, in quiet crisis. I take the opposite viewpoint, that we have abundant resources here - plenty of excellent land and historical infrastructure, wealth and intellectual property - what I see as scare is effective leadership - and what leadership claims control is feudal and greedy. No doubt, that we are a place of environmental crises hampers growth of our economy, and scarcity of environmental activism slows our movement to a new economy, but in the seven generation context of real social change, we are in a strong position of abundant natural and human resources that may have great value forever, if not destroyed by current ineffective leadership decisions like poisoning our air and water, and neglecting public health and so education. For a conceptual overview of scarcity vs. abundance in economics, read on:

 For those who find interesting the issues of newspapers versus internet based news, even when provided by the same organization - like the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com are both owned by Advance Communications - Jones Day was able to arbitrate that the on-line product workers were not covered by union contracts negotiated for the newspaper product - I believe the Plain Dealer if set up the same way...

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Center for Public Service History

Public Service at Tulane has a long and rich history. Faculty, staff, and student members have been actively engaged in civic and research activities that link Tulane with communities outside of the university. These partnerships have run the gamut of experiences from as near as the university's immediate neighbors in New Orleans to partners in other countries. In the past these initiatives have included faculty-driven programs such as Academic Service Learning and research, student-initiated community service, and staff-supervised community activities.