“Keep Cleveland working!”was the chorus outside a Hugo Boss plant in west Cleveland this January.
The plant had been scheduled for outsourcing by overseas executives that spring. 350 people were told they were losing their jobs, despite the fact that the plant was turning a profit for the high-end suitmaker.
The Plain Dealer is carrying a great article about the struggle to save Cleveland’s Hugo Boss factory, Northeast Ohio’s last textile plant. The story follows the leadership of two women employees in a courageous and ultimately successful campaign to save their jobs. …

Cleveland Housing Court Judge Raymond Pianka is making news again for his aggressive stance on dilapidated properties- especially those purchased by people outside of Cleveland and hoping to make a quick buck.
Judge Pianka’s work was previously highlighted on Rust Wire and in this New York Times Magazine cover story last year. (Read more about him here.)
The Plain Dealer reports he is ordering absentee owners of vacant homes to pay restitution to neighbors whose property values have been eroded by the vacant structures nearby.

“What is happening (in Cleveland) is certainly …

Reporting from the third annual Great Lakes Urban Exchange Conference in Cleveland …

Fran DiDonato was tired of hearing people complain about Cleveland–idly complain without trying to influence. Out of that process, the Cleveland Coalition was born.

DiDonato and fellow Cleveland resident Gauri Torgalkar became part of a team of about 11 that started thinking about how engaged citizens could affect public decision-making for the future of the city.

The group that formed is known as the Cleveland Coalition. Their strategy is to educate, collaborate and then act.

Today, the Great Lakes Cities: Urban Laboratories conference kicks off in Cleveland. The program promises a mix of policy discussions, neighborhood tours of Cleveland and lots more.
Read what Bruce Fisher has to say about it in his column in Buffalo’s ArtVoice. He’s very enthused about “the hopeful, the engaged and the talented” who will convene in Cleveland. And he gives Rust Wire a shout out!
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From Buffalo Rising: Read Urbanophile Aaron Renn‘s pep talk to Buffalo.
(Though many people in Buffalo already know how cool it is!)
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It’s “the most important decision in history” and “the reasons why spew forth by the hour on ESPN’s LeBron Tracker, Deadspin and Esquire’s LeBron Watch, The Plain Dealer’s daily LeBron Rumors section, and the neighbor guy cutting his grass.”

But Scene magazine writer Vince Grzegorek says enough.

In an article titled “Let Him Go,” Grzegorek argues the groveling and the speculation and the posturing is hurting Cleveland’s image. Maybe more than “The King” ever helped it.

“LeBron in Cleveland validates our place on the map; LeBron anywhere else wipes us out,” he writes, “It’s sad, but no more so than our false belief that the guy ever loved us in the first place.”

To which he adds, hilariously, “even if LeBron departs, we’re stuck with ourselves.”

Check out Shrinking Cities from Virginia Tech’s Dept. of Urban Affairs and Planning.
The blog comes from the Shrinking Cities – Sustainability studio in Virginia Tech’s School of Urban Affairs and Planning, Alexandria Campus.
It  “aim(s) to explore the opportunities and challenges of shrinking cities in the context of contemporary urban planning. We will evaluate strategies and commentary on shrinking cities, including urban agriculture, storm water infrastructure, pocket parks, vacant property reclamation, land banks and community energy generation.”
Lots of good stuff here on Baltimore, Cleveland, Youngstown and more.
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For the second time in months, an abandoned building has exploded in the city of Cleveland, injuring nearly one dozen people.
Yesterday, an abandoned convenience store on the city’s southeast side, exploded injuring 11 people. The force of the explosion, according to local media, could be felt for 2 miles.
In Janurary, a home exploded on the west side that damaged 55 homes and displaced 15 families. Police have since charged a neighbor with arson.

As a Cleveland resident, I have to say, this is a very concerning trend. I wonder, are other …

The city of Cleveland has instituted a policy to promote local foods, offering certified “local sustainable businesses” a 5 percent discount on city contracts.

Green City Blue Lake reports that the incentive will offer a “huge advantage” because most city contracts are decided by less than 5 percent.

The legislation, however, won’t apply to the largest consumer, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

Still, city officials hope the policy will help stimulate a “self-help economy” and promote sustainability.

I know. I know. We said these things were stupid. I’m not going to retract that statement.

However, for the sake of discussion, Portfolio has cataloged the “Top 100 Fun Cities” and there’s a few interesting items.

In their list, Chicago scores second, Minneapolis 10th, Detroit 14th, Syracuse and Rochester 15th and 16th, Cleveland comes in at 23 (just before Portland?!), Milwaukee is 25, Youngstown’s 28 and Buffalo’s 29.

So, as we’ve discussed, these things are all relative and Portfolio doesn’t provide a ton of information about their rating system.