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What Northeast Ohio needs to be more sustainable

Marc Lefkowitz  |  03/31/14 @ 11:00am  |  Posted in Transform

What Cleveland and Northeast Ohio need to be sustainable is a better system than our current one for delivering what I’ll call authentic places. Currently, developers and their agents hold more of the cards than cities and citizens and therefore call more of the shots on how and where to build.

Build it better<br />Koningsplein, Amsterdam. Street nicely accommodates cyclists and mass transit as well as pedestrians. Courtesy of Better Cities & Towns, John Wily & Sons, John Massengale and Victor Dover, Street Design.Mid century legacy<br />Chester Avenue in Cleveland is designed primarily for cars at the exclusion of everyone else like pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders.

Re-introducing a climate toolkit for local communities

Marc Lefkowitz  |  01/29/14 @ 4:00pm  |  Posted in Explore, Live, Transform

Back in 2009, GreenCityBlueLake (GCBL) surveyed Northeast Ohio communities to find out what they’ve been doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to try to uncover the most common barriers to action.

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Sustainability group offers Greater Cleveland a choice: Vibrant or bankrupt

Marc Lefkowitz  |  01/15/14 @ 2:00pm  |  Posted in Transform

The Vision for Northeast Ohio laid out in the three-year, $4 million study of how we build today and what that means for the future could be a path to freedom. Unlike Norse demi-god Loki’s claim in Cleveland-scened "The Avengers" that we are ruined by freedom, I feel the VibrantNEO plan releases us from the fear of destruction (and not...

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Sustainability 2013 Year in Review

Marc Lefkowitz  |  12/18/13 @ 10:00am  |  Posted in Explore, Live, Transform

This was another eventful year in sustainability in Northeast Ohio. We worked hard to bring you all of the news. Here are some of the highlights from the year (add a comment below on what you think was the most significant development in the region).

Coming attractions<br />Cleveland's resurgence is being fueled by an interest in urban living.Pedaling for less waste<br />Bike composting like Massachusetts Pedal People seen here is coming to ClevelandWindustrious fellow<br />Lorry Wagner leads the effort to build a wind farm on Lake ErieGreen your district<br />Uptown Cleveland has been built with permeable pavers and storm water capture on siteEnjoy your stay<br />The parking lot of the Courtyard by Marriott at University Circle captures all of its rain water on site.Local green<br />Rid All Green Partnership is growing fresh food under giant hoop houses build over a former dumping ground in ClevelandLooking up<br />Cleveland and Cleveland Heights collaborated to paint a bike lane on Edgehill RoadGot Kale?<br />Nonprofit group Burten Bell Carr bought a truck and is delivering fresh food grown in the neighborhoodA downward trend<br />VibrantNEO studied the region's development pattern and forecast wide- scale fiscal distress for city and suburb alike Gateway green lane<br />GCBL and BikeCleveland developed a plan for a green bike lane connecting downtown and Ohio CityGreen acres<br />Advocates called for a new vision for Opportunity Corridor that transforms acres of vacant land into a verdant valley like Milwaukee's Menomonee green industrial parkA complete Lorain<br />A plan emerged to transform Lorain Avenue into a complete street with a protected bike laneFracking impacts<br />Fracking has arrived in rural eastern OhioLake to Lakes <br />Recreation trails like this one connecting Shaker Lakes with Lake Erie have emerged in a plan to connect the east sideOut of box<br />A project to convert shipping crates into stores will arrive in the Warehouse District in 2014
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Are we making Genuine Progress?

Marc Lefkowitz  |  12/03/13 @ 9:00am  |  Posted in Transform

A group interested in how regions measure progress gathered at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to share lessons from their efforts. Participants included the Fund for Our Economic Future “What Matters to Metros,” Sustainable Cleveland 2019, VibrantNEO, and the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), a “dashboard” project with roots in Northeast Ohio that is gaining traction in a handful of...

Progress or products?<br />US GDP with 26 Genuine Progress Indicator impacts subtracted shows progress peaked around 1980Making it count<br />Genuine Progress Indicator is a more holistic view of our progress

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