One of America's most blighted cities, hard hit by rustification and foreclosure, is also home to one of its loveliest urban initiatives, a plan to create acres of tree nurseries, oases of native plants, and community gardens with bees and chickens. Devised at Kent State University's Urban Design Collaborative, the strategy is part of Reimagining a More Sustainable Cleveland Initiative, funded by the city and the Surdna Foundation. It's meant to boost property values and community spirit in neighborhoods plagued by vacant lots and condemned buildings. A proposed "Mow-to-Own" program will encourage neighbors to maintain nearby lots, while a variety of land-reuse projects point to a greener future -- a solar array in a previously empty 3-acre lot, for example, will provide enough power for 200 homes.
Join the Cleveland conversation
Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, Malmö, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Taipei, Tucson, Vancouver
Related Stories: | Topics:Fast Cities, cleveland, Sustainable, urban design, Cleveland, United States, San Francisco, Taipei, Tucson |
Email
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Buzz Up!
LinkedIn
Recent Comments | 13 Total
April 17, 2009 at 2:36pm by Alissa Walker
It's even more interesting that Fast Company picked Cleveland as a Fast City since the announcement coincided with release of this impressive Cleveland tourism video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY
April 18, 2009 at 11:25pm by Hajnal Eppley
Yay Cleveland!
April 23, 2009 at 10:46am by Greg Walsh
Great observations Abha. Glad to read good things about Cleveland. You must have done quite a bit of research fo ryour article. We have two clients, Ziggy & Friends, Inc. and Wild Republic (the toy company) in the Cleveland area, and have had part in products at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Liked the insights abotu how homeowners and busiensses can do well there. - Greg
April 23, 2009 at 10:59am by Greg Walsh
Great observations Abha. Glad to read good things about Cleveland. You must have done quite a bit of research for your article. We have two clients, Ziggy & Friends, Inc. and Wild Republic (the toy company) in the Cleveland area, and have had part in products at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Liked the insights about how homeowners and busiensses can do well there. - Greg
June 4, 2009 at 11:02pm by Phyllis Thesier
Abha, thank you for putting this piece together. I have only been in Cleveland for a year, yet see a communities with great hearts struggling mightily to rebuild what was once a majestic and lovely place. And as it was once a city of immigrants, I think immigrants will have a great part in rebuilding it. phyllis@accentmanagementgroup.com
June 22, 2009 at 8:30pm by jason walker
Wonderful.
July 21, 2009 at 2:06pm by Jason Seoul
How about a “grow to own” program? So much of Cleveland’s soil is sick after years of lead paint dropping on it and lead dust drifting from the paint factories. The soils need to be improved.
With cover crops and even more organic technologies the truly sick ones can be healed and improved, so that the urban agriculture revolution can begin. Since we are on the downside of peak oil (30 years down that side), the urban agriculture revolution is upon us, but not like it was during victory garden times. We are now contending with soils that have been ever more compacted and polluted and are less arable. We will have to “bring back the land”.
Jason Seoul
July 30, 2009 at 1:03pm by abbeysen92 abbeysen92
Rwanda's President has recently dissertation | dissertations | dissertation writing advocated for Africa to stop its dependency on Economic Aid from Rich countries.
dissertation help | buy dissertation | custom dissertation | online dissertation
October 20, 2009 at 9:48pm by dd dd
Kudos to the iconic Steve Jobs for creating a company that creates awesome products that attracts such a huge following. I think Apple will continue to grow and dominate the market.
http://www.uggboots365.co.uk
November 1, 2009 at 12:19pm by Liontin Myer
I have an idea as to how you, all Cleveland Italians and anybody else who is interested could grow fig trees and lots of other good stuff year round. I think that we should build a solar-powered COMMUNITY GREENHOUSE! There is one in Cheyenne, Wyoming (if they can do it in that kind of extreme weather, I'm sure we could!)
Liontin Myer
Kayu Jati | Wheatgrass Grow | Kefir Grains
November 5, 2009 at 12:55pm by Eric Sandler
In some neighborhood, the foreclosure rate is 1 in every 3 homes.
To Quit Smoking | Stroke Treatment | Online Cricket Games
November 13, 2009 at 5:34am by renwen yan
AVI Converter for Mac provides advanced features that enable you to edit your videos files before converting them.AVI Converter for Mac | AVI Converter for Mac
November 21, 2009 at 5:09pm by jennifer park
Whenever i see the post like your's i feel that there are still helpful people who share information for the help of others, it must be helpful for other's. thanx and good job.
Masters Dissertation Writing |
Masters Dissertation Help | Buy Dissertation Online