Cleveland is number 5!!!…as one of the least liveable cities in the nation.

As I always said, forget downtown, Cleveland is also many neighborhoods which, on average, see high crime, poverty, low number of advanced degrees, and there are only four more cities in the USA that are worse than us.   This is what I got from reading today’s piece in USA TODAY on the top 50 worst cities to reside in the nation.  The fact that Detroit Michigan is number one on the list leaves little comfort, especially since Toledo, which is located at the other end of Lake Erie just south of the Michigan border, is ranked 35 while Canton gets a 33 ranking.  Akron isn’t even on the list.    What the piece says about Cleveland many of all already know but to have all written down together, after all the hype coming from the powers that be and City Hall after the 2016 Republican Convention shows a general picture of what the nation thinks about this place.

“Widespread poverty, a high crime rate, and a bleak jobs picture likely partially explain the declining population. In the last decade, Cleveland’s population fell by 2.4% even as the country’s population as a whole grew by 7.1%.”

As many locals can tell you, it’s not all bleak.  The potential for this city on the North Coast is amazing and many of the problems it faces many cities in the nation’s Rust-Belt have to deal with as well.  Then again, decades of following the same playbook in downtown investment at the expense of neighborhoods like North Shore Collinwood has paid off this dividend of bad publicity.

Some cities in this region, like Pittsburgh, managed to turn things around and that’s why I have been examining what they are doing down there to see what we up here in Cleveland can do differently.  We also need inspired leadership, and an effort by City Hall not to just follow the mayor’s mantra of “it is what is” and improve public services for residents like they promised when we voted for that ! percent income tax hike in 2016.  It’s time to stop doing just studies on what needs to be done and just do them.  If Detroit area native Dan Gilbert wants to have money spent on the Quicken Loans Arena then he better spend some dollars in Slavic Village or St. Clair Superior.  If we get another shot at landing an Amazon type headquarters here, think out of the box and come up with a really good plan and not just offer them a downtown landmark getting empty because Forest City Enterprises is closing up shop (after all the tax dollars and subsidies given to it for projects I must add) but something like what Pittsburgh did at Bakery Square which is in an East Side neighborhood miles from downtown.

The current way of doing things here in Cleveland is not working.  Think of this story as a wake up call.

 

 

 

 

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Another Drive Out To The Boonies: A Quick Little Post.

Friday I took the day off from the job for another exercise in sadomasochism (or what my old career advisors would call networking) and attended the NE Ohio Planning and Zoning Workshop at the New Leaf Event Center in Conneaut Ohio.  I even got in the car 45 minutes earlier than I normally do so I can be there on time.

I have written about previous workshops on the blog before so let’s just say that it was worth the $60 and, while I never did get a government job in planning or community development, I still am truly interested in such matters as branding your community or grant writing for an organization which were in fact two of the topics of the four sessions I sat in on.   It gives me the illusion that I am part of something worthwhile, unlike recently my political activism.  When I left the workshop, I took a drive into town.  Once a major port for iron ore to be shipped to steel mills in Youngstown and Pittsburgh, Conneaut is now home of the Lake Erie Correctional Institution.   I tried to see where it was located but the prison is in fact hidden by woods as I drove East on Rt. 20 and unintentionally stumbled into Pennsylvania.  Retracing my way back, I drove onto Main Street and for a few blocks saw the old storefronts that still had plenty of cars parked in front of them.  Of course years earlier that place must have been a lot busier.

The keynote speaker, Dale Arnold of the Ohio Farm Bureau, does his presentation.

The It was only checking the news feed on my cellphone during one of the breaks did I realize the extent of the mess the man who says he’s president is leading us do now on the international trade and let’s be honest diplomatic front with long-term allies.  I felt Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pain when he was on Meet the Press June 1st and now Trump wants Russia back in the G-7 (6, or 8) fold.

While all this happens everyday life goes on and there is so little time even to write.  But, I do worry about what the state of this nation will be like in a few years.  We will not be great again, I can see that and I fear at the least an economic meltdown just as bad as the last years of George W. Bush     There was an interesting piece in the New Yorker on the last Kaiser of Germany, Wilhelm II, and what I got out of it was that Wilhelm’s bombastic tirades and erratic behavior might have triggered WWI and got himself overthrown 100 years ago this year but it was the forces unleashed on Germany in the years following his exile that truly lead that nation to utter ruin by 1945.  In other words, we can vote Trump out but what he is already unleashed would be something that may harm this country for decades to come.

 

Photographs by James Valentino

More Rhododendrons at Holden.

While the recent 90 degree F plus heat wave has now passed and the weather is back to normal, it sure sped things up when it comes to the gardens.   While many azaleas and rhododendrons have faded blooms, not all is over yet.  That’s why I went out to the Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio, to see what was still there at its two rhododendron gardens.  While the flowers did pass their peak, enough were still in full bloom to make the walk worthwhile.

The main entrance to the new part of the gardens.

With more than 3,600 acres in Kirtland, Ohio, Holden is one of the largest arboretum of its’ kind in the nation.  Though they recently merged with the Cleveland Botanical Gardens to create Holden Forest and Gardens, I personally still treat Holden as a completely separate place from the home of Orchid Mania.  After all, with Corning Lake, the Visitor Center, numerous hiking trails, tree collections, and of course the Helen S. Layer Rhododendron Gardens, it is a completely different experience which is exactly what I wanted Sunday morning.

While Holden is open to the public from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, it does open later for special events (like the wine tasting they had the evening before as all the white tents I saw on the grounds still standing testified), and members can use smaller parking lots to explore the grounds later as well. It is definitely worth exploring for a few hours at least in May.

Photographs by James Valentino

Holden Arboretum’s David G. Leach Research Station.

In Madison, at the Eastern edge of Lake County, is the David G. Leach Rhododendron Research Station.   Bought by noted rhododendron hybridizer David Leach in 1970, it has been a part of the Holden Arboretum since he donated it in 1987.  This 30 acre parcel is located in a stretch of NE Ohio that’s just perfect for growing rhododendrons.

The main test field.

Two of the test plants.

The guide told the group that it takes 25 years for a plant to go from germination to possibly retail. Leach was able to put 80 of his hybrids on the market, all of which are planted on these grounds.  Along with the display gardens there are test fields and greenhouses where seedlings and larger plants are checked to see which ones have the desirable qualities needed for a plant in today’s home garden.   Steve Krebs, who has been director since Mr. Leach’s death in 1998, has continued with his small team this work.  While Leach focused on plant hardiness, Krebs is working on plants that would be resistant to fungal root rot based on a species plant found in Taiwan.

A tray with the most recently germinated seedlings.

Admission is $10 per person to see the grounds but for Holden members it’s free.  The tours are conducted at set times.

 

Photographs by James Valentino

 

 

 

 

An opinion piece on learning a skill; A Quick Little Post.

Today I caught on my Google News feed an opinion published on MarketWatch by a Peter Morici regarding the merits of someone going into an apprenticeship or a technical school rather than spend all that money on a college degree.

The last paragraph of his piece pretty much sums up his argument; “Redirecting federal and state funding from higher education is sorely needed to encourage more of these innovative programs. Fewer students in college and more in skills-based training would make young workers more productive and the U.S. economy much more competitive.”  While I do have some differences with Mr. Morici we are both apparently on board with the idea that investing again into technical schools and programs offering real work experience for a given career is a very good thing. On the other hand, these highly skilled jobs are not a majority of the positions created or filled in our economy.  Well, let the article speak for itself and form your own opinion.

Another Quick Little Post.

Already a week ago, I drove up to Catawba and, after an hour wait, hopped on the ferry to Put-n-Bay.  As mentioned in a previous piece for the blog, it happens to be a very popular tourist destination in Ohio and a place I have known for years.  Considering how early in the season it was, I was surprised to see as many people around as there were.  While most of the big eateries are still closed on the weekdays, some were in fact open such as Pasquale’s.  I glanced at their website the night before so when I noticed it while walking past it I decided to stop in for lunch.  It wasn’t a large lunch menu but enough to choose from and they did a good job on the cheeseburger and fries.  The harbor was unusually empty, but then again boats are just starting to get into the water at this time of year.  In fact, as I stood on one of the piers I saw two speedboats come in to join the other three already there.  More were out of the water, many with fishermen trying to catch walleye since this is the season to do so.   I have a hunch that Put-n-Bay Harbor will be all filled up by Memorial Day and the place will be like tourists expect it to be.

Inside Pasquale’s.

Considering I haven’t done much recently on the blog, I am surprised that so far it has received this month 28 views.  That’s pretty good considering.  Between the job, the house, the three ring circus called the Mueller and Cohen Investigations, and events like a Democratic Club Dinner in a place called Lake County, there is so little time to sit down and think about a subject for a piece that may be good enough to be published in a magazine but the editors never will.  However, this is not the end of the blog by a long shot.

Downtown Put-n-Bay looking towards the Perry Monument in the distance.

Demolishing the CIA.

The former Cleveland Institute of Art building on East Blvd.

Last week, I spotted on Twitter a tweet about what will be on the agenda for that week’s Cleveland Planning Commission meeting.  The thing that stuck out for me was not just seeing the request for grants for the East 185th St./Marcella sewer project (and a permit to demolish a building next to the LaSalle Theater for what I hope is more parking) but something at University Circle.  It’s official, they now plan to demolish the old Gund Building on East Boulevard that was home to the CIA.  Now, for all those who don’t live on the North Coast, CIA can also mean the Cleveland Institute of Art which sold this building to the Art Museum and CWRU when it moved everything to their new facilities on Euclid Avenue a few years back.

Naturally, I have many memories connected to the 1956 building.  Not only did I take a painting class there but I was there practically every weekend because of the Cleveland Cinematheque which I was a strong supporter of.  I knew practically every inch of that building.  In fact, the drawings and proposals in the basement done by its industrial design students helped inspire me to write a piece a few years back on the fate of the Design District proposed by one of its’ instructors, Dan Cuffaro, for the are around Playhouse Square.

While the new Institute of Art Building is very nice, it’s still not the same for me.  Not only have I not gone to a Cinematheque show in months but when there I only see the main lobby and atrium.  Everything else seems hidden away.  As for the old building soon to be demolished for a park, I’ve walked past it at least a dozen times this year heading to other places.  It does look forlorn and you can see it’s been vacant for a long time.

Another view.

Things keep changing.

 

Photographs by James Valentino.