Om, sweet Om. Buck Harris couldn't be happier about the improvements soon to pop up near his yoga studio, located in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood's revamped Courtland Building. "I am truly excited that they are making it more of an artistic community," says the owner of There's No Place Like Om, one of four new businesses at the corner of Detroit Avenue and West 54th Street. The city of Cleveland and the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency have set aside millions to create a unique, pedestrian-friendly environment that focuses on the up-and-coming Gordon Square Cultural Arts District at Detroit Avenue and West 65th Street. "It will be a funky, different style than what people are used to seeing," says Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization economic-development director Matt Wiederhold. Street improvements, including new lighting, benches, plants and crosswalk arches, will cost nearly $2 million, while $16 million will be used to revamp old buildings in the area, including the Gordon Square Theatre.
Caution: Ice-cream headaches ahead. When two new Cold Stone Creamery locations cropped up in Northeast Ohio late last year, we wanted to know what the big deal was. Then, we talked to a friend who lives in Lake County. She confided that going back to the office after lunch with one of the ice-cream franchise's huge waffle cones sets off a chain reaction of gripes among her co-workers. "Why didn't you ask if we wanted anything?" they clamor. Now, East Siders (there are already two locations on the West Side of Cuyahoga County) and Lorain County residents can judge whether all that fussing is warranted. Admittedly, the idea of ice cream mixed with fresh fruit or candy in front of you on a frozen slab is enough to have even the most tired taste buds screaming for sugar. Lorain County residents can head to 36050 Detroit Road in Avon, while East Siders can grab a cone at 2193 Warrensville Center Road in University Heights.
