Cleveland Connects community conversation "On the Waterfront" available via Ideastream

I missed the Cleveland Connects community conversation "On the Waterfront" last night. The discussion focused on the City of Cleveland's proximity to and underutilization of our expanse of lakefront property, arguable one of the our greatest natural resources. I was extremely pleasantly surprised to find that one could stream the entire 90 minute long forum on the Ideastream website (thank you public media!) and am looking forward to catching it tonight as I putz around the home office.

On the Waterfront Link

Here is a list of participants and a brief blurb via Cleveland Connects.

Background

After decades of neglect or haphazard, isolated investment, the stars appear to be aligning to turn Cleveland’s waterfronts into thriving, regional assets. What needs to be done to enliven the lakefront and the banks of the Cuyahoga River? How should we stimulate economic activity and make it easier to touch the great watershed that ought to define Greater Cleveland? After substantial public investment in parks, museums and a lakefront football stadium, what’s the role for the private sector? How can commercial needs at the port and Burke Lakefront Airport be integrated with greater public access? Those are just some of the issues on the agenda for the next installment of our Cleveland Connects community conversation series.

Participants

Keynote Speaker: Lisa Schroeder, President & CEO of Riverlife of Pittsburgh.

Moderator, Mike McIntyre, host of The Sound of Ideas, ideastream’s daily public affairs talk show which airs from 9:00-10:00 a.m. on 90.3 WCPN and Tipoff columnist for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.

Debbie Berry, Vice President of Community Development,University Circle, Inc.Debbie was Cleveland’s chief lakefront planner under Mayor Jane Campbell. She currently serves on the board of the Cleveland Metroparks, which is going to be a big player along the river and with the lakefront parks.

Jennifer Coleman, architect, Chair of the Cleveland Landmarks Commission, served on the new Group Plan Commission, founder of CityProwl Cleveland, a collection of recorded walking tours of the city that can be downloaded free.

Joe Roman is President & CEO of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, one of the nation's largest metropolitan chambers of commerce with more than 14,000 members. GCP's current areas of focus include the development of Cleveland’s downtown business district, lakefront and other major projects throughout the region.

Chris Warren, Chief of Regional Development, City of Cleveland. He joined the Jackson Administration in June 2007. He and the city will be soon be releasing an invitation to developers to submit proposals for developing 20 acres of waterfront.