great takes on family travel in the U.S.

In honor of the recent Earth Day publicity, I thought I’d look into what Ohio has to offer in the way of eco-friendliness. There was so much press about events planned in other cities across the country, but I heard nothing about Cleveland. So to the Internet I went!

The biggest change taking place right now is that of Cleveland’s landscape, beginning with the design and construction of EcoVillage, an initiative set forth by Cleveland that will focus in urban regeneration with eco- and social-sustainability as the focus. From the EcoCity website, here are the specific goals:

EcoVillage is:

• An innovative partnership involving nonprofit organizations, the city, the regional transit authority, private developers, and neighborhood residents.

• A national demonstration project that will showcase green building and transit-oriented development.

• An opportunity to realize the promise of urban life in the most ecological way possible.

Currently, Green Cottages are available for purchase, with other housing initiatives in the works as the project progresses. These are 2 and 3-bedroom homes designed for families in the moderate income level. I’m not sure about the other home designs as far as size, but they will follow the same eco-friendly basics as the Green Cottages.

Another interesting city-wide undertaking is the Cleveland Design Competition. The 2008 competition is not yet underway, but the award winners for 2007 are listed on the Design Competition site. The competition is an open, anonymous, single-stage ideas competition being administered by a local committee that seeks to find new ideas for land that is currently languishing in Cleveland. Last year’s competition involved Irishtown Bend, an area outside of the Flats with a rich history that is sadly now mostly overgrown and uninhabitable. To view the amazing 2007 winning concepts, click here.

While Cleveland may not have garnered the same amount of attention on Earth Day as San Francisco and other large cities, I’m proud to know that in our small corner of the planet, we are taking steps to ensure the longevity of the Earth and our community.