There are many histories of Cleveland. Not just one history of the city. No history that would tell us, “This is the way it was.”

There are many ways to report history. It could be from the view of different people. Different movements. Different economics. Different heroes. Different villains. Different reasons why the city went this way or that way.

Now, there is a new history examining this city through the eyes of what many people might see as odd or unusual.

Daniel Kerr’s “Derelict Paradise – Homelessness and urban development in Cleveland, Ohio,” does this. It is a remarkable testament of how – through the city’s history – the poor (especially black poor) have been pushed aside to make way for what the wealth of the community deemed Progress.

It was inevitable. Once again the sale of the historic Cleveland school administration building is front and center.

Why? There’s big money to be made.

The historic public building sits strategically centered now. The building and open land sits in the prime location for a hotel with the construction of the $400-million medical mart/convention center at its doorstep. Right across the street in fact. With more than adequate parking facilities adjacent.

Perfect for exploitation. And exploitation is a going business in Cleveland, even with Jimmy in jail.

What makes it even more attractive to some developer is that the schools are controlled by the mayor of Cleveland.

Does Ohio’s transportation policy, which leaves just 1 percent of its transportation budget for non-highway modes like transit, rail and complete streets, violate the Americans with Disabilities Act?

This question needs to be asked with greater frequency and urgency as 9 percent of Ohio households are without cars. The Census says that number is growing as Ohio’s population ages and as the cost of driving rises. Yet more transportation tax dollars are used for roads that cause Ohio’s metropolitan populations to sprawl over ever larger geographic areas, making options to driving difficult and sentencing more Ohioans virtually to house arrest.

No one can deny the awe-inspiring scenic beauty of Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, or Salt Lake City. But, often overlooked are the splendid topographic and geographic settings where a number of Rust Belt cities are situated. Beautiful city settings of the Rust Belt may not get the national notoriety and ink of their western competitors, but some are equally endowed with great scenery. Here’s a list of 15 Rust Belt cities that I feel are a visual delight:

Greater Lansing has an amazing music scene, but it is seldom heard about it outside a 100 mile or so radius from the State Capital. Probably the best known band to hail from this area is The Verve Pipe, with its memorable #1 hit single “The Freshman.” Frontier Ruckus, The Hard Lessons, and Autumn Lull (among others) have also made a decent amount of buzz outside of their Greater Lansing roots.

Recently, a new album entitled Ghost Town Lullabies was released by a Greater Lansing area alternative rock band called Elliot Street Lunatic. Ghost Town Lullabies is simply superb! I cannot give it a high enough rating – it is literally off the charts for those of us who like alternative rock or indie music.

Whether it is the Beehive of Industry, the Renaissance City, or the Creative Capital, this city has been changing hats for centuries. That isn’t a typo, this place is old. Not unlike other rust belt cities, Providence has been struggling to shake off the ashes of the golden age of manufacturing in favor of greener pastures. In each pursuit to reinvent itself every decade or so, this town certainly goes all in. Economic crises seem to hit here harder than most places. So, who or what is Providence and where does it plan on going from here?

Another edition of our ongoing series “Lies Cleveland Tells Itself (That Hurt It)” is one of my personal favorites: that it makes economic sense to move 15 miles farther away from work in order to save several hundred dollars (maybe a grand?) on property taxes.

First I want to congratulate the region’s realtors (also shout out to Cleveland Magazine) for so thoroughly selling people on this monstrous whopper. They’ve kept the housing market humming for three decades on this falsehood even as the regional population flatlined. So congrats!

But the truth is people are trading a cheaper tax bill for a much, much larger transportation tab, and they’re coming up short, in most cases.

LeBron James is in Cleveland to play the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight. People are buzzing, particularly about what he had to say when asked about the prospect of coming back home to play for the Cavs (a mere two years out mind you):
“I think it would be great…It would be fun to play in front of these fans again. I had a lot fun times in my seven years here. You can’t predict the future, and hopefully I continue to stay healthy…And if I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will …

I just got done reading this article: Gov. John Kasich Fires Back at Cleveland Leaders Fuming at His Administration’s Shortchanging of Bridge and Road Projects, Plain Dealer. And it didn’t leave me feeling too optimistic about the future of the state of Ohio.

To summarize, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has put off funding the second phase of Cleveland’s Innerbelt Bridge — a vital and decrepit passage to downtown Cleveland — until 2023. Also in jeopardy is funding for Cleveland’s West Shoreway highway-to-boulevard project, which is considered by Cleveland’s regional chamber of commerce to be the most important project to Greater Cleveland’s economy.

The Kasich Administration is strapped. No one is denying that.

This is a popular concept. You hear it about Detroit most often. Detroit, laid low by population loss and poverty, is a breeding grounds for experimentation.

Everyone is waiting for someone — just anyone — with a good idea that will change the whole dynamic there. Often the trial solutions tend toward almost utopian — urban gardens, artist settlements, etc.

I have been slowly coming of the opinion that this is wrong on a few levels. Hear me out.