The Star Neighborhood development plan includes a surface-level RTA Red Line rapid transit stop in East Cleveland, between the E. 120th stop location, to be moved west to the "Triangle", around Mayfield, and the current Superior stop, which is on a raised platform. The new neighborhood rail stop will be more like is found in Shaker, for neighborhood use, and is core to Transit Oriented Development for the surrounding neighborhood, now largely blighted, as illustrated by this pan in the general vicinity of the new stop, taken here at Lakeview and Euclid, at current track-height.

Driving back and forth between Ohio City and East Cleveland, I often take Euclid... partly to watch the progress of the "Silver Line" and Clinic Complex development. I increasingly find the "Silver Line" and Mid-Town aspects of all this disappointing, but I am fascinated by what I see coming together with the Cleveland Clinic.

I can understand why Jeff put up the sunny, happy sunflower header, on such a glum day, as I'm sure we'd all love a lift... but the reason we are feeling glum is not the weather or lack of flowers but the injustices we see all around us. My replacement header is not intended to cheer people up but to cheer on injustice-buster Buster in his pursuit of liberty and freedom to take pictures in public places and justice for all.

The John and Mildred Putnam Sculpture Collection is especially visible in this community, right now, as one day following the reception celebrating the addition of work #45 to University Circle - the stunning "Inner Circle", by David Deming - the collection welcomed to NEO the landmark sculpture "Acrobats", by important regional artist Keith Haring (born in 1958 in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, qualifying him for the collection).

While looking on Green City Blue Lake for a posting on the Breuer, I came across an interesting article by Marc Lefkowitz called "Warm up to district geothermal in Cleveland", which writes "Representatives from Case, UCI, Cleveland Clinic, city of Cleveland, Flats East Bank and Neighborhood Progress, Inc.— which is considering geothermal district power at its St. Luke’s development—met yesterday (October 22, 2007) at the Cleveland Foundation" to discuss "The economics of district-wide geothermal". It seems these groups are exploring large scale geothermal projects to help meet large energy needs, like for University Hospitals.

The Friends of Art, CWRU staff and the John and Mildred Putnam Sculpture Collection team of Harvey Buchanan and Evelyn Kiefer picked the perfect time and day to hold a reception celebrating the addition of work #45 to the world-class Putnam Sculpture Collection, at University Circle, as David Deming's "Inner Circle" is a work of art that changes dramatically with light in the environment, and sunset is an especially beautiful time to view this work.

University Circle is a community of overlapping circles of interdependent institutions, boards, patrons and public interests that in some way touch every life in the NEO universe, worldwide (well illustrated by the current Cleveland Orchestra tour of Europe). So thoughts of "Inner Circles" within this star-power constellation bring illusions of grand people and designs. So true, as the latest "Inner Circle" added to University Circle is a very sharp and strong sculpture by Cleveland Institute of Art President David Deming, commissioned by the Putnam Sculpture Collection, of Case Western Reserve University... a great collision of worlds.

Star Neighborhood Development is rapidly nearing completion of the first phase of historic renovation and greening of "the finest house on Roxbury" - interior above - a wonderfully designed and constructed, classic 3,000+ square-foot 1906 American Tudor home, in a transitional urban historic neighborhood of East Cleveland, a transitional city bordering dynamic University Circle and Cleveland Heights.

There are many big industrial sites around Cleveland I pass regularly - some are active brownfields, like the Flats, and some are abandoned. Some feature Cleveland Landbank signs and are in stages of redevelopment... the one featured here is on the West Side of Cleveland, at Bishop Road and Madison, by W. 117, and the city has clearly spent $millions clearing up this huge property of many acres.

Jeff Buster has surfaced as a bright new light in NEO photojournalism and graphic design, so it looks like the top few inches of REALNEO are going to be as interesting as the rest of the content again, going forward - anyone else who wants to offer a header image, contact Jeff Buster on REALNEO. Jeff Buster has outdone himself with today's REALNEO header... and the logo does look better 100 feet wide...

I had already put together an image I want to share... so here's a subheader for today....

Could it be just over a year since Masumi Hayashi and John Jackson were killed by a senseless psycho ...? As the senseless killing escalates all around NEO today, it is easy for the dead to become forgotten by so many they touched in many ways, in life... or lost to all. Where NEO has seen a community that remembers is those who love the arts, as the past year has seen many shows of love and respect for Masumi and John, the most recent being a wonderful exhibition that opened last week at Doubting Thomas Gallery, called To Masumi. A collection of special works by many who love and remember Masumi, this is a powerful statement on what lasts and matters in life and beyond. Props to the organizers of this exhibition and to Doubting Thomas - really fantastic... amazing musicians performing in the front Gallery, Michael Doc Dreyfuss and Bill Weita... haunting yet alive... see today's header... image below...

Now that I'm settling into East Cleveland, expect to see posted to REALNEO and my other communities many amazing pictures of urban cores of this NEO-Plum... healthy, ill and dead.

The last two realneo headers are pans of a site I pass often, on my way between the East and West sides, which is bounded by East 105, Wade Park and East Boulevard, in one of the most important historic and cultural neighborhoods in America, where I was shocked to find a group of significant apartment buildings being demolished.

We're close enough to our move in to 1894 Roxbury, in East Cleveland, that we have had our DSL service switched over from Ohio City to East Cleveland. Whereas on Clinton, at W. 45th Street, there were several WiFi signals in the air, my new POP on Roxbury is the only signal in the digital darkness of this corner of East Cleveland.

I was up at the Ubuntu website downloading the latest version to my ThinkPad (from a mirror site at OSUOSL, which I hopefully thought would be Ohio State University Open Source Lab, but was of course Oregon State) and I noticed a promo that "Ubuntu on Dell now available in the UK, Germany and France" with support from Canonical... one promo said this is available in the USA as well. This is a major development for Linux and for Ubuntu, and for open source development in the world. For the first time ever, I am a Dell fan... I'll be interested how pricing will differ between comparable Dell Ubuntu and Windows boxes... especially after you add Office (v.s. free OpenOffice)... more below and here.

I've always found Ingenuity Festival a worthy and positive undertaking, and was pleased to check out opening festivities tonight. I was a little late for the big opening number, and couldn't quite get the lay of the land, but was well in time to see good friends and an exhibit that alone makes the entire festival worthwhile - "What Would You Do With The Breuer Building?" - which attracted entries from as far as Australia and Columbus, Ohio, and fully answered a question, dumbfounding our community leadership, in ingenious and at times funny ways.

We're about to start prepping and painting lots of plaster walls and protecting lots of wood trim, windows, doors and floors, inside and out. As we are bringing the property to its most natural state possible, removing most paint, varnish, and wallpaper, we are working from very raw materials, and feel that is good. How do we now keep our house as natural as possible, as we finish it up?

I've appreciated having Cleveland Magazine pick up some of my photos from REALNEO for publication in their print edition - last time featuring the Van Duzer show at Convivium and this month featuring Gallery U-Haul, and my wife Evelyn and son Claes, at the April 11, 2007 Tremont Art Walk... I look forward to seeing you at Patsy Kline's homeless gallery at the July 13 Tremont Art Walk, where she will hold a Gas Money Garage Sale.

I noticed, the other morning, that overnight a new tag had popped up on dozens of buildings from the corner of W. 45th and Dertoit west. The tag is "Sexy Hek", and "Hek", for short, and has no real creative value... just someone shouting out. What does it mean, and why there and that night?

Friday, June 22, 2007, "Storage Spaces" opened at Spaces Gallery - continuing their orientation on "Shrinking Cities". It is a very cool show, with many great works in a variety of mediums. And Spaces is a cool arts anti-establishment. As I was up there on the Viaduct, shown in the header attached below, I reflected it has changed character so much, with the growth of condos contrasting with the shrinking cities theme of the moment, since I lived in one of the loft buildings a bit further down... before the viaduct went glass and chrome. I already miss the old days of industrial decay.

I was pleased to read in the Plain Dealer that Cottage Living has declared my neighborhood, Ohio City, one of their 10 best communities in America, for "charming cottages, a sense of community, and an eye on the future." No doubt they made a great choice with Ohio City, as my family well knows and celebrates each day we live here. Tonight we dined a few blocks from our house, among historic victorians and mature trees and gardens on the patio at Momocho (still as great as when I reviewed it last year)... the best NEOMEX restaurant in the world. Within a few other blocks of there are over a dozen more of the region's best restaurants and hot spots - core, local establishments - not to mention the "best in the world" West Side Market... With the W. 25th RTA and many bus lines criss crossing this area, it is a public transit dream, and is probably the most bike and walk friendly place in Ohio.

The main street through East Cleveland is Euclid Avenue, also known as "Millionaires Row", and many of the mansions and trappings remain in good condition and intact in East Cleveland, including the significant Lake View Cemetery... final resting place of many important Clevelanders including President Garfield and John D. Rockefeller.

While she did not die at war, Janet Edelen gave her life to her country. Born in 1917, maturing without her parents, during the Depression, Janet pursued an education in nursing and joined the military and served during WW2 with a stateside burn unit. She remained with the Veterans Administration hospital system the rest of her working life, eventually serving as head nurse at the Cleveland VA psychiatric unit. After her many decades of service to young men and women harmed by three major global conflicts, it is safe to say she attempted to heal as much pain, suffering and hopelessness as any who walked before her or shall follow in her steps... she lived through bitter times, in a bitter world. She passed away, a few weeks ago, shortly after her 90th birthday. She was never bitter, but she was always very serious about life.