Buh-Bye Edgewater/Cudell.

I'm moving in a week. Soon i'll be out of the Edgewater/Cudell neighborhood(s) that i have come to know. I could never figure out which neighborhood i lived in.... is it E or C? There was too many misleading info surrounding me... Oh well, Cleveland has few strong, distinct neighborhoods, so it figures that i was confused. I just took the matters in my own hands, claiming the whole area as the Gay Ghetto, as it was the ghetto, but only to the gayborhood. It's not like i lived in Central or Kinsman, here. The Gay Ghetto was interesting with its slew of seedy gay bars and cross-dressing prostitutes on the corners. More on this later.

Ummm... Uhhh... About That Last Post.

So I was at Trinity Cathedral and this man who I know is homeless came up and said that to me, and it got me thinking, "Hey, if you replace your with a generic the, then it creates a deeper social message about gratitude and being a part of the big change and being involved in all good things and... Whew. Ok. Actually I just like keeping track of the random, somewhat obscure things people say to me. Of which there are many. Yes--MANYmanyMANY.

High Res

"I want to be a part of your New Year's resolution."

This was said to me last week by a man I initially met while doing outreach.

Why I Hate Luxury Condos, Part 1

While searching for articles on homelessness via Google News, I stumbled upon this beauty from the Washington Post:

"Million Dollar Condos to Be Built Above Church Serving Homeless."

I congratulate the fact that luxury condos attempt to create a mixed neighborhood. Instead of being secluded in the suburbs, they are built amidst poverty with no intent to keep their residents' eyes hidden from the realities of an urban area. It sounds like a good attempt at creating a melting pot neighborhood.

But this isn't Sesame Street. I highly doubt that owners of $400k 1 bedroom condos have chosen their location so they can mingle with the homeless folks sleeping at their curb. In fact, I doubt any homeless people would be allowed within 100 ft of their million-dollar developments. The problem is this: There is a place for luxury condos and we need to realize that. But that place isn't everywhere. What developers have failed to realize is that WE DON'T NEED MANY LUXURY CONDOS, whether it be in DC or here in Cleveland. We're poor. We have loads of people without homes. What we need is safe, affordable housing. We need more CMHA. We need more mixed-income housing units. We need more housing priced below $100k that is decent (no-frills). We need safe homes for families--who make up the fastest growing population of people that are homeless.

The Homeless Congress has it all figured out-- we could create jobs and housing by having people renovate old, abandoned buildings into affordable homes.

Condos will not make a neighborhood. Look at both Tremont and Ohio City. Sure they've been yuppi-fied, which some people see as a good thing. But it's a strange mix of the wealthy "urban hipsters" and the original poor residents who are continuously being pushed out. Enough pushing. We need to solve the problem.

In the article, a managing broker for a real estate firm had this to say, "You don't need the soup kitchen to make it a tough sell. It's a tough sell because it's a condo, and if there's anything we need less of now, it's condos. It's like overkill."