Introduction - Welcome to Uncovering Cleveland!

 What is Uncovering Cleveland?

Uncovering Cleveland is a new blog that will focus on multiple topics, including local history, architecture, urban transportation, housing, and many others. The purpose is to provide interesting narratives about Cleveland and its past, present, and future as a major urban area. New posts will go out every other Friday, starting on July 7th. 

This blog is also founded on the idea that we must both celebrate and scrutinize aspects of our city in order to gain a better understanding of the challenges and possibilities that we collectively face here. In this sense, I want Uncovering Cleveland to be a method for holding our local leaders accountable by inspiring ideas on how the city can be made better. 

Who am I?

My name is Connor and I’m currently a graduate student studying urban planning in Cleveland. I am from the Cleveland area, I have lived here my whole life, and I am incredibly passionate about working to improve our community. I absolutely adore living in Cleveland and this blog, in part, is meant to be a love letter to the city. 

My goal in writing this blog is to raise awareness of how great Cleveland can be, what aspects of our community need to change, and how the history of the city has influenced present-day conditions. 

More on the First Post

As a sneak peek, the first full post on the blog will be one part of a two-part study into creating multimodal streets in Downtown Cleveland. Specifically, this study will focus on Superior Avenue, which is typically showcased as being a street that is much wider than it needs to be. In the coming years, a new bike infrastructure project on the street will be coming online, called the Midway. The Midway will provide a center-running protected cycle track, running from Public Square to E. 55th Street. The posts here will reference the project and incorporate its ideas into my design proposal for the street. These posts will address the creation of a Bus Rapid Transit line on the street, as well as reducing private vehicle traffic. As mentioned previously, Part I will be available on Friday, 7/7, and Part II will be available on 7/21. 

More than anything, I want this blog to help me document my journey of building knowledge and developing skills, and I hope that you’ll join me for the ride. Thanks for reading, and look out for the next post soon. Cheers!