10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part IX

I like the snow. Winter is my least favorite season, but the snow makes it bearable. I like its variations--from snow-globe flakes to harsh blustery blizzards. I like being tough and trudging through drifts when walking to work. I like being a baby and using it as an excuse to stay home, drink tea and cuddle my cat. I like how it brightens gray days. I like yards dotted with Snowmen.

We Clevelanders are blessed with four seasons made even more seasonal by our great lake. That basin of fresh water ensures springtime slogs will be spongy with a sucking, loamy, flower-sprouting ground. Our summer will be humid, yet made more sufferable because of cool lake breezes. Autumn will be misty with a foghorn soundscape. We'll have mayflies in June and seagulls all year round. And in winter, we'll have Lake-Effect Snow.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part VIII

I like Pop Up City. A part of the Kent State University Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, Pop Up City activates vacant/underused urban spaces in creative ways. All of their events are at the root, based on collaboration, sharing assets, a wacky sense of fun and having their finger on the pulse of what makes Clevelanders get off of their sofas.

My first Pop Up was Cleveland's initial Bizarre Bazaar. Then I went to Leap Night down in the Flats. I was fortunate to be able partner with P.U.C. when I was a Fellow on the Electric Roller DiscoTech and then again when I was volunteer coordinator for The Bridge Project.

If you've never experienced a Pop Up City event, or if you know you love them, check out Brite Winter Festival this weekend.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part VII

I like the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter from the Great Lakes Brewing Company. It is heavy enough to suit my winter palette, but fizzy enough for me to enjoy during the heat of summer. The taste is rich, complex, smooth and somehow bitter. I like it in a bottle, in a growler or from the tap at the brewery.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part VI

I like the abundance of urban agriculture in Cleveland. We have:

• plots of vacant land you can buy for about $1,
• a diverse group of willing, committed people,
• hungry citizens in need of fresh, nutritional produce,
• free technical assistance,
• innovative urban gardening and urban livestock zoning policies,
• bottom-up DIY-ness and
• top-down support.

I can't wait for the upcoming growing season. The plan is to turn the entire yard into a garden this summer. We've made layers of comforter compost and are letting it prepare the soil this winter

Last spring, garden prep

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part V

I like the Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit Authority--specifically the trains. I know that the RTA has raised fees and cut service. And I'm disappointed in that. However, I do like the convenience of taking the Red Line to University Circle, Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood, the Ohio City Neighborhood and the Airport. I like taking the Green or Blue line to Shaker Square.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part IV

I like the Ohio City Bicycle Co-op. OCBC is involved in so many community events include the Urban Harvest Garden Tour, Cleveland Bicycle Week, social rides and safety and repair classes. My bike got stolen this fall and I am riding an OCBC loaner bike until I can get another one.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part III

I like the People's University. I rarely purchase books, cds or dvds because the Cleveland Public Library has everything. CPL is part of the CleveNet Library Cooperation and the online catalogue makes reserving a book just as easy as ordering from Amazon.com. I get my books sent to the branch nearest my house.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part II

I like the Stone Cold Bikini Show. It's where I get my Indie Rock and Pop. Listen live on 91.1 FM-WRUW on Saturdays at 9am 10am, but if you're not up early enough you can listen online to the latest show anytime. The host Christine, is just as rad as the music she plays.