Last night was a big moment for sustainable transportation in Cleveland.

With a small group of helmet-toting onlookers in the wings, City Council finally gave their nod to a Complete Streets ordinance — the culmination of more than five years’ struggle.

Finally, there was a sense that change was coming, that the value of traveling by foot, bike and bus was valued and understood.

Flash back to 2005, when the first seeds of this victory were being sown. It was then that an environmental advocacy group called EcoCity Cleveland, now Green City Blue Lake, first lobbied Cleveland City Councilman Matt Zone to put forward a Complete Streets ordinance.

For decades, Youngstown’s Fosterville Neighborhood, located on the city’s south side, was a vibrant residential area. It played host to the booming Glenwood Avenue commercial corridor and the legendary Idora Amusement Park, whose Wildcat roller coaster was consistently ranked among the top roller coasters in the country.

The collapse of the local steel industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the closure of Idora Park in 1984, signaled the area’s long decline.

In recent years, the area now known as Idora has begun a turnaround. The creation of the Idora Block Watch and then the Idora Neighborhood Association sparked increased community involvement. A decline in crime and the increasing removal of blight continues to give residents hope. That hope was celebrated this past weekend with the first annual Idora Fest.

Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of joining a group of Pittsburghers for an Urban Hike in Swissvale, a borough just outside the city with an interesting history.
Some stops along the way included the Trundle Manor, Kopp Glass and some affordable housing for sale from the Mon Valley Initiative.

Also on the journey: The Triangle Bar, home of the famous “Battleship” (giant sub sandwich).
Urban Hike is a group that regularly organizes hikes in the city’s various neighborhoods and surrounding communities, with stops along the way so participants can learn about what …

Whoa. Cleveland is getting pretty hip. Check out this video from Dan Krivenki of Crank Set Rides:

Hot Pants Bike Ride – Cleveland – 8-20-2011
I’ve been wanting to write about Crank Set for a while. This organization, led by Dan and his girlfriend Lindsey Bower, has been hosting themed bike rides in Cleveland for more than a year now.
Earlier this summer, they hosted a “nerd ride.” Let me tell you, it was a fun experience seeing drivers try to make sense of 100 something adults dressed as nerds riding around on …

History was made yesterday in the city on the crooked river.

Ten cyclists moved one Frank Lanza approximately 1.4 miles into a new apartment in Lakewood, completely by bicycle!!

Ok, before we go any further, for the sake of honesty and professional ethics, we must admit, there was a truck involved for moving a bed, couch and giant antique radio. But other than that, Cleveland’s burgeoning bike scene crossed a new milestone, following behind great bike cities like Portland and Davis, California in completing the time honored tradition of the bike move.

I love TV’s The Wire. When I heard about this self-guided, Wire-themed tour of Baltimore, I thought, “That’s the self-guided tour of Baltimore I’ve been waiting for.” But I read something a few days later that paralyzed my ambitions. Christian Lander, author of the blog and book “Stuff White People Like,” explained in an interview:

When and how did you get the idea for the site?

January 18th. A friend and I were having an IM conversation about The Wire. He said, “Not enough white people watch The Wire.” I said, “Don’t worry, they do.” We started talking about what they’re doing instead of watching The Wire : therapy, getting divorced, going to plays…

Painter and cyclist Jen Clausen is biking through the Rust Belt this month from her home in Madison, Wisconsin, to New York City.
Along, the way, she is painting what she sees every day.
Check out Rust Belt Ride to see what she has seen so far in Milwaukee and Chicago!
Thanks to Madison garden/ political blogger Linda Brazill for bringing this ride to our attention!
-KG
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Last week I visited Lowell, Massachusetts, which many consider to be the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
The city near Boston was home to many cotton mills in the early 1800s, but by the 1920s and 1930s, many of the mills had closed. The economy briefly revived during World War II, but most mills closed for good by the 1950s and 1960s – foreshadowing the manufacturing job losses that would later hit cities like Pittsburgh, Detroit and Cleveland.
The city saw dark times during the 1960s, and some …

There’s a little inter-Rust Belt rivalry going on right now.
The antagonist is Buffalo. Inspired by Detroit’s DIY art scene, especially Tyree Guyton’s Heidelberg project, Buffalo is nurturing a cross-regional artistic competition.
Artist Christen Clifford, a NYC-based Buffalo expat, is the brains behind a large scale art installation that seeks to imbue the Buffalo art scene with the same activist flavor as Detroits’.
Clifford is asking Buffalo area residents, as well as expats from near and far, to contribute to a knitting project. They are planning a 167-foot knitted strip, representing the 16,719 …

Lots of people who care about cities have focused their energy on helping cities attract college graduates, as the college degree share of a region is highly correlated with how successful it is economically.
This report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland cautions that  ”too narrow a focus on the graduates can lead to misguided policies”
It continues:
“It is a summary statistic that can change for many reasons. One metro area could have a fast-rising share because it has a lot of universities graduating local students or attracting high-skilled immigrants. Another area …