NOACA Commuter Challenge 2013 (from July 14th to July 31st)

My drive to work is about 12.5 miles one way and in absence of some major motion picture closing down a local highway it usually takes me between 20-35 minutes to drive. According to the tools on the Commuter Challenge Website my commute costs me around $360 a month in gas and automotive wear/tear and .178 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent spewed into the atmosphere.

NOACA has recently launched an awareness program called the Commuter Challenge in order to combat pollutants and get folks to try new forms of transportation via a friendly competition.

Via the Commuter Challenge 2013 website:

What is Commuter Challenge?

Commuter Challenge is a clean-air campaign that encourages people to try an alternative to driving alone. It is also a friendly competition among Northeast Ohio businesses in which employees choose a sustainable mode of transportation such as walking, biking, carpooling, telecommuting, or using public transportation.

How does Commuter Challenge work?

Employees representing their organization can sign up for the Challenge. Individuals not associated with an organization are also welcome to participate.  At the end of the Challenge, participants complete the commuter form (third link on the left). The organization with the highest participation rate wins and will be recognized in a news release, publication and radio spots related to this event.

Why should you participate?

·         You will save money on fuel

·         You will reduce your stress

·         You will reduce your carbon footprint

·         You will help to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion

Schedule:

·         Registration starts June 1 (click on the registration link to the left to get started).

·         Commuter Challenge starts July 14 and ends July 31

·         Participants must complete the commuter form by August 3

·         The names of all participants will be entered into a prize drawing on August 9.  Winners will be notified by phone or email.

If you have any questions, please contact Brenda Walker at 216-241-2414

or bwalker@mpo.noaca.org. 

Go ahead, take the Challenge! 

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.

pARTy in Gordon Square - 2013.06.08

pARTy in Gordon Square
Saturday, June 8th, 2013
West 65th and Detroit Ave.
Gordon Square Arts District
Cleveland, Ohio
2-11pm

Tons of events, food, food trucks, etc. While down there you can see the remains of the Binoceros (2011) installation and the Greening Gordon Square (2012) installation which is still under study (which didn't make the map/flier/etc.)

Schedule via GordonSquare.org

Join us for pARTy in Gordon Square Day  6/8/2013!

Grab a printed sheet of this schedule & guide w/ map at the information booth and use this website to navigate the events as well. Below are digital copies to help you plan & get familiar with our community.

Download the pARTy in Gordon Square Day 2013 Program Guide & Map

PDF of 2013 Guide & Map 

Front page Guide JPEG 

Back page Map JPEG

DATE/TIME	EVENT
06/08/2013 10:00 am - 8:00 pm	EcoCle 6507 Detroit Ave. – Eco CLE, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 10:00 am - 12:00 pm	FREE Classic Cartoons at Capitol Theatre Capitol Theatre, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 10:00 am - 5:30 pm	Shuttles to University Circle for Parade the Circle Lolly the Trolley Trips to Parade the Circle, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 10:00 am - 6:00 pm	Sustainable and Local CPT Parking Lot – Urban Sustainability, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 10:00 am - 2:00 pm	Talespinner and Face Painting Capitol Theatre, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm	Watch Parade the Circle CPT East Store Front, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm	Kilbane Town Tour 7200 Detroit Ave. Craciun Berry Funeral Home, Cleveland, Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm	Arts Exhibit CPT Parish Hall 78th Street Studios Galleries, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm	CLE the Best Location in the Nation - Gordon Square Arcade The Arcade 6516 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm	Cleveland Designs 6501 Detroit Ave. – Zone Ward Office, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm	CPT Backstage Tours CPT Gordon Square, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 11:00 pm	CPT Beer Garden CPT Parking Lot – Urban Sustainability, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm	Food Trucks West 64th & Detoit Ave., Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm	GSAD information station CPT West Performance Installation, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Haiku Mistress The Church at CPT, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Health Mobile West 67th Street – NWT Stage, Cleveland, Ohio Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Historic Walking Tour 1390 W. 65th – Outside Capitol Theatre, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm	Housing Tours 1390 W. 65th – Outside Capitol Theatre, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm	Live Music on the Street 6501 Detroit Ave. Zone Office, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm	Near West Theatre Stage Near West Theatre, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Neighborhood Family Practice West 67th Street, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm	Reddstone Beer Garden 6702 Detroit Ave., Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm	Spaces Gallery Exhibit: PULL!  CPT East Store Front, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm	Superman’s “The Planet”  6706 Detroit Ave., Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Zygote Press The Arcade 6516 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio
06/08/2013 3:00 pm - 8:00 pm	Art House, Inc Art House, Inc, Cleveland Ohio
06/08/2013 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm	Kilbane Town Tour 7200 Detroit Ave. Craciun Berry Funeral Home, Cleveland, Ohio

LEAF Spring Fest (Lakewood) - 2013.06.06

Via: LEAF (Lakewood Earth & Food community)

LEAF Spring Fest 2013!  LEAF Season kicks off this Thursday!  Sign up for the City Fresh CSA program and shop with some local vendors.  Also, it's the first week for the Double Value Produce Perks program, for more information go to: http://www.leafcommunity.org/csa-programs. Spring Fest will also feature:  Perennial Swap- Dig up your extra perennials and swap them out for some variety in your garden! Plant Seeds- We'll have plenty of beans and squash seeds for the kids (or adults) to plant and take home with you to your own garden! Vegetable Dress-up- The kids can get into the spirit of the growing season by trying on one of our vegetable costumes- pick from the giant tomato, a carrot, or be the farmer if you'd prefer. Food- Sample some of Ohio's early bounty with food samples from LEAF's very own chefs. Music- Enjoy some fresh local tunes while you shop or just take a seat on the the front porch steps of the library and listen to our talented local musicians. Here's a list of vendors that will be at Spring Fest:  Maggie's Farm-  Fresh grown produce from an urban farm in Stockyards (Cleveland). Preserves and granola bars Super Queen-  Kettle Corn and more. Bay Branch Farm-  An urban market garden based in Lakewood. Mason's Creamery-  Ice Cream from scratch. Lake Erie Creamery-  Handmade, artisan goat and cow milk cheeses made in Cleveland. City Love-  Show your love for Lakewood through merchandise that reflects the unique character of our town. Cleveland Crops-  CSA program and local produce vendor Morki's Wares n' Such- Baked goods, jams, jellies and homemade items. STEM Handmade Soap- Natural handmade soaps.  Made here in Lakewood! Thursday, June 6th from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. Lakewood Public Library 15425 Detroit Ave.

Sculpture Center Reception: Rebecca Cross - 2013.06.07

via Sculpture Center:

You are invited to Rebecca Cross's reception and performance on Friday, June 7 from 7 to 10 pm. Rebecca Cross: Like a River Main Gallery  Wednesday, May 29 through Saturday June 8 Friday, June 7 (rain date Sunday, June 9)      7 - 10 PM Reception      9:00 PM Performance in the Sculpture Courtyard A poignant work of sensory remembrance in exhibition and performance, Like a River incorporates fantastical silks dyed by the shibori method - a traditional Japanese method of creating shape and color in cloth that holds the memory of its creation in its final form - black slate slabs, graphite wall drawings, poetry and music. Like a River includes the first of the 2013 W2S Summer Performances. Double-Edge Dance's Kora Radella and Jacquelyn Pitts, both enclosed in lighted fabrics, will provide a brief and possibly hypnotic performance to a prerecorded concert of original electronic music, Like a River/Soundprint II, composed by experimental, art-music composer Randolph Coleman, Cross's husband.        Rebecca Cross, Crevasse (detail), 2006, nylon tulle and silk organza, performance. Image courtesy of the artist.  _____________________________________________________________________________________ Mark Schwartz: UNIVERSE a 2013 W2S exhibition Euclid Avenue Gallery UNIVERSE has been extended through June 8 Mark Schatz maps the arbitrary world of a speculative future in a sprawling, double-sided landscape model that fills the entire Euclid Avenue Gallery. This faceted, multilayered structure could conceivably fold in either direction to form a continuous globe or, more precisely, a cuboctohedron, derived from by the global "Dymaxion" projection maps developed by designer and visionary R. Buckminister Fuller. Reviewed by Jimmy Kuenhle on Arthopper.org , "Emergent Hierarchy." Mark Schatz, UNIVERSE(detail), 2013, found cardboard, found objects, wood, paint, electrical metallic tubing, hardware. Image courtesy of the artist.  _____________________________________________________________________________________ THE SCULPTURE CENTER   Gallery hours   Wed - Fri 10 AM - 4 PM Sat- Noon - 4 PM   Other weekdays and times by prior appointment. Call any time you are in the area on a weekday for tours of the exhibitions or the David E. Davis Studio. Office hours Monday - Friday 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM Always free and open to the public 216.229.6527 Visit The Sculpture Center's website for more information.

Great Lakes Interagency Task Force Public Meeting- 2013.06.05

Great Lakes Interagency Task Force Public Meeting (community input requested)

Wednesday, June 5th, 2013

Cleveland Public Library

Louis Stokes Annex

325 Superior Ave., Cleveland, Ohio
6-8pm

New Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan covering fiscal years 2010-2014 has been released and the IATF is looking to refine the Action Plan for 2015-2019. The Interagency Task Force is looking for public input as well as to share the new Action Plan with stakeholders. The June 5th meeting is the last meeting on the schedule.

via Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Public Engagement link:

In February 2010, the Interagency Task Force released a GLRI Action Plan covering fiscal years 2010-2014. The Action Plan identified the goals, objectives, measurable ecological targets, and specific actions to help rehabilitate the Great Lakes. The federal agencies use the Action Plan to target investments to reduce toxic contamination, recover fish and wildlife habitat, increase nearshore health through the reduction of nutrient and other land-based pollution, prevent invasive species, and promote accountability, education and collaboration.

The IATF is seeking comments on how the FY10-14 Action Plan may be refined for FY15-19 to increase the effectiveness of these investments.

• Submit a comment>>

The following documents will be used to consider refinements to the Action Plan:

• Agenda (PDF) (2 pp, 37K) revised May 16, 2013
• Charge questions (PDF) (2 pp, 23K) May 8, 2013
• FY2010-14 GLRI Action Plan (PDF) (41 pp, 1.3MB) Feb. 21, 2010

Lorain Avenue Public Meeting Tonight! -2013.05.28

Via: Bike Cleveland

Lorain Avenue Public Meeting

What will make Lorain Avenue a safe pleasant place for all road users, boost local business and get more people on bikes? PROTECTED BIKE LANES, the studies prove it!

Tonight, come tell city leaders and planners that you want the new Lorain Avenue Streetscape plan to include dedicated facilities for people on bikes. Here are the meeting details:

When: Tuesday, May 28th at 6:30pm (That is TONIGHT)
Where: St. Ignatius High School - Rade Dining Hall (1911 West 30th St.)

The future of bikes on Lorain Avenue depends on tonight, come make your voice heard.

Marika Shioiri-Clark Lecture @ CUDC: 2013.05.31

Marika Shiroiri Clark Lecture

Dignifying Design

Friday, May 31st, 2013

Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative

1309 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio

via AIA Announcements:

Marika is principal of SOSHL Studio, a firm dedicated to creating social impact through architecture and design, based in Cleveland, Ohio. From 2007 to 2010, Marika was Co-Founder and Managing Director of MASS Design Group, an architectural nonprofit designing well-built environments that aid in the reduction of global poverty. Marika was a lead designer on the Butaro Hospital project in northern Rwanda in collaboration with Partners in Health, the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative, and the Rwandan Ministry of Health, and lived on-site in 2008 developing the designs and overseeing construction.

Marika has received several awards for her work in reframing architects as global change agents.  She was an invited Ideas Scholar at the Aspen Institute in 2009, and received a US National Commission for UNESCO Traveling Fellowship in 2008. Marika received her BA in Urban Studies from Brown University, and her Masters of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where her graduate thesis under advisors Jacques Herzog and Pierre DeMeuron focused on gendered public spaces in Cairo, Egypt. In 2011 she served in the first class of global residents at IDEO.org.

and via CUDC calendar of events:

Marika Shioiri-Clark, principal of SOSHL Studio, will speak at the CUDC on “Dignifying Design” as part of AIA Cleveland’s 2013 Emerging Practitioner Lecture Series. Based in Cleveland, SOSHL Studio is dedicated to creating social impact through architecture and design. In response to Denise Scott Brown’s comments on her exclusion from the Pritzker Prize, Marika recently co-authored a CNN.com article on the continuing discrimination of women in architecture.

RSVP on the Facebook event page here: FaceSpace event

The Emerging Practitioner Lecture Series is organized by AIA Cleveland’s Associates Committee in partnership with Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative. Events are free and open to the public.

Questions can be directed to: angela.jayjack@gmail.com

NOACA proposed improvements for public review

3 regional projects, two in Cuyahoga County and one in Lorain County, have been made available for public review.

NOACA April 2013 Project Planning Reviews

One of the projects specifically, the construction of a pedestrian bridge from Dock 32 to Voinovich Park in Cleveland, was on that I find special interest in.  Proposed in 2006 the request for a movable type pedestrian bridge structure which enclosed the constructed "North Coast Harbor" adjacent to the Rock Hall (where the Goodtime docks) would create a pedestrian shortcut between the Science Center and First Energy Football Stadium to Voinovich Park, one of the few public park places of lakefront in Cleveland proper.

The bridge itself was to designed by Miguel Rosales of Rosales + Partners, an architecture and engineering firm that are no slouches in pedestrian bridge design. Rosales presented 6 proposals (Steve Litt in the way back machine) of which a twin drawbridge was selected (although I personally appreciated the Thomas Heatherwick "rolling bridge" like proposal - its a youtube link).

If you were paying attention you were probably wondering, "Hey, where the heck did that project go off to?" which is very similar to the questions I raised last time I was strolling around the Mather and Rock Hall looking at the frozen lake.  Surprisingly (not surprisingly really) some unforseen considerations (Coast Guard requiring a manned control booth to operate the bridge) leading to extended design schedule has pushed the project 6 years which has created a $2.4 million shortfall (inflation and added project scope eg "more stuff than originally planned for". NOACA is being asked for $1.5 million while the project sponsor will provide the remaining.

This is one of those projects that I think is personally necessary to improving the Lakefront, something any Clevelander bemoans as necessary, and is more pleasing then an interchange in the suburbs. HOWEVER the fact that the project was so poorly executed as to miss the targeted budget by 40% makes me a tad frustrated. I suppose it is entirely possible that the shortfall was evident long before and this proposal for bridge funds is just a formality, but when projects drag on and costs increase so tremendously one begins to wonder who isn't doing their job, and there are lots of possibilities.

The easy 4:

The design/designer might not be realistic in response to the budget.

The client may be adding project scope (growing the project).

The cost estimator might be completely missing the mark.

More importantly, all three might be hesitating to have "the discussion" that not everything is unicorns and roses and there are some problems with the greatest of plans. I like to call this "the disconnect" and it shouldn't happen as much as it does. The only surprise everyone likes is when it involves cupcakes, surprise price overages, and to a lesser extent underages, do not serve the client or the project goals efficiently.

I'm going to support the dang project though. Anything to get PEOPLE moving around the city and visiting new corners is for the greater good of livability downtown which is the cornerstone of the region. I'm just not going to be extremely happy about it.

Make your own voice heard.

PechaKucha Night Cleveland, Vol. 18 - 2013.05.24

via: email from Michael Christoff (as I don't pay any attention to FaceSpace - 'cause I'm paranoid!).

PechaKucha Night Cleveland – Volume 18

Friday – May 24^th, 2013 – 7pm Doors Open 8.20pm Presentations Begin

House of Blues, Main Music Hall

On May 24th the 18th installation of PechaKucha is taking place in the main music hall at the House of Blues in Downtown, Cleveland. PechaKucha, Japanese for “the sound of conversation”, is a free event where 10-12 creative people to present their work, ideas and obsessions to an audience of anywhere between 500-750 people. Each presenter shows 20 images of their work and each image is pre-timed to 20 seconds a piece. Presenters this time around will be representing art, an international social movement, photography, community development, woodworking, comedy, civic participation, music performance, music recording, the story of how contraception came to Cleveland and the amazingness that is CMA’s Summer Solstice! Should be one heck of an evening….

WHERE

House of Blues Cleveland

308 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44114

WHEN

May 24^th, 2013

7.00pm   – “Doors” open

8.20pm   – Presentations Begin

9.10pm   – Beverage Break

9.30pm   – Presentations Resume

10.20pm – Presentations End

10.30pm – Foundation Room After Party (Limited Capacity)

As always, PechaKucha Night Cleveland is FREE. This event is completely open to the public and anyone can attend!

CONNECT

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pkncleveland

Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/137843496395451/

Twitter: @PechaKuchaClev

Event Tag: #PKNCLE18

Presenters (in no particular order):

Graham Veysey & Marika Shiori-Clark, Hingetown

Tom Welsh – Summer Solstice

Shannon Okey, Publisher / Designer – Cooperative Press

Alex Sheen – Because I Said I Would

Michael Pultz & Jae Kristoff, The Lottery League

Peter Debelak, Soulcraft Woodshop

Bryce Slyvester, Civic Participation Starts with a Conversation

Joe Whelan, Cleveland Comedy 

David Kennedy, Tri-C Recording Arts Studio

James Edmonson, How Contraception Came to Cleveland: the Skuy Collection at the Dittrick Museum

Clarissa Westmeyer, Photographer

Fleet Avenue Streetscape Public Meeting AKA Cleveland's First Complete and Green Street to be constructed

Fleet Avenue Streetscape Public Meting

Thursday, May 23rd, 2013

St. John Nepomucene Church

3875 Independence Blvd.

Cleveland, Ohio

In a nutshell plans are being proposed for streetscape improvements  green infrastructure and bicycle lanes to be installed between East 49th and East 65th Streets. Councilman (and local great guy) Tony Brancatelli believes that the project is critical to realizing reinvestment in Slavic Village.

Project funds become available July.

Engineering should take about a year and begin in the fall so construction is expected to break ground in late 2013 or early 2014.

Bike Cleveland wants cyclists to show support for connecting bike lanes to Broadway Avenue (not a bad idea in the least).

links:
Public Meeting Flier
Bike Cleveland notice
Slavic Village website notice