The Cleveland Section Scholarship application is now available. There are two competitive scholarships – one $2,000 award to a full-time student and a $750 award to either a full-time or part-time student. Applicant must be either an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in an Ohio planning degree program. Each scholarship is paid directly to the student to help offset expenses that are not usually covered by traditional scholarships.

Click here for more information and the application form. Applications are due Friday, June 14.

 
 
 
 
  • President - Maria Rokakis
  • Vice President - James Aspery
  • Secretary - Sarah Cohen
  • Treasurer - Audrey Hudak
  • Education & Professional Development Chair - Andrew Lang

     
 
 
Don't Forget to Vote Tomorrow!! 5:00pm in the Sweet Room!

Here are your nominees:

President
Maria Rokakis

Vice President
Caylen Payne
James Aspery

Secretary
Meg Ryan
Sarah Cohen

Treasurer
Audrey Hudak

Professional Development Chair

 
 
Check out the new photo galleries under the 'Library' tab!!

Coffee Talk with Tom Yablonsky
Apples 2 Apples 2 Oranges Art Gallery Opening
 
 
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Hey all!  We need volunteers to survey concert goers at the Beachland Ballroom.  Below is a list of shows for the next two weeks.  Volunteers get free admission to that nights show!  Any help is much appreciated!

Thursday April 4th - 7 pm door,  Enter the Haggis and Tara's Fire
Friday April 5th - 7 pm door, Tartan Terrors and Craic
Saturday April 6th - 7:30 pm door, Tristan Prettyman and Satelitte
Sunday April 7th -  7 pm door, Galactic and Nigel Hall Band
Tuesday April 9th - 7:30 pm door, Matt Costa, The Blank Tapes, and Meridian
Wednesday April 10th - 7:30 pm door, Zammuto, Snowblink, and Polina             Kourakina
Thursday April 11th - 7:30 pm door, Today is the Day, Keelhaul, and KEN Mode & Flight Amp
Friday April 12th - 7:30 pm door, The Speedbumps, Nate Jones Band
Saturday April 13th - 7:30 pm door, An Evening of Bluewgrass with Noam Pikelny, Ronnie McCoury, Bryan Sutton, Luke Bulla, and Barry Bales
Sunday April 14th - 7:30 pm door, Grupo Fantasma and We the People 
 
 
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Join us this Thursday, April 4th at 5:00 P.M. to hear from one of Cuyahoga County's most important and visionary leaders: Jim Rokakis. As a longtime Cleveland City Councilman, former County Treasurer, and now Director of the Thriving Communities Institute, Jim has been working tirelessly for communities and residents of Northeast Ohio throughout his career and for most of his life. He was one of the first to foresee the devastating foreclosure crisis, long before its effects were noticed by the state and federal governments. He was a key player in pushing legislation through Ohio's Congress to enable the creation of the Cuyahoga County Land Bank, and allow for the creation of similar entities in other counties throughout the state. We are so honored to have him join us this week to tell us more about his work with the Thriving Communities Institute. Mark your calendars and be sure to attend this week's APA meeting!

Meeting details: Thursday, April 4th at 5:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. in the Sweet Seminar Room, UR 241.

 

Help Kristel

03/08/2013

 
Hello.

My name is Kristel Smith and I’m a graduate student majoring in
Environmental Studies here at CSU.  I'm seeking help on a project I’m
leading and I’m hoping to find someone who as passionate as I am about
natural common spaces.  First - a little background.

As a kid, there were acres of woods behind my father’s house.  I spent
my summers with neighbor kids of all ages swinging on vines growing
from trees, climbing logs, building forts and doing whatever else
struck our fancy.  Although we have an amazing Metroparks system, this
type of play isn’t a reality for children in highly developed
neighborhoods.

I feel like there is no reason why some of this can’t be available to
them, so I’m working to build a natural playground.

A natural playground uses elements such as living plants, wood, sand,
water and stone to create play areas that encourage children to
develop their imaginative, social and constructive play skills while
engaging their senses in the natural world.  It is environmentally
friendly, provides habitat and it has been shown that kids do better
emotionally, physically and socially when they have access to these
types of play spaces.

There is a small playground on the East End of Lakewood that is
virtually unused by neighborhood children, because the equipment is
old and there isn't much there to begin with.  It just so happens to
be the park that is most accessible to our family and the many
children living nearby.  I recently decided it was time to change this
and that there was an opportunity to do more than your standard steel
and plastic playground.  I contacted my council person about it.  They
are very supportive as they have wanted to do something with this
space for a while.  They are enthusiastic about the natural playground
idea.

A few community members, along with our ward councilperson, have
started a new community group called Lakewood’s East End Neighbors and
this is our first project.
I’m looking for someone with an interest in sustainability or play
spaces to work with our city planning person with the planning and
design elements of the project.
I have inquired about making this an official internship, but can’t
make promises.  It could make for an interesting senior project.

No matter what, it is a great opportunity to meet and work with city
planning officials.  It would add an interesting and relevant element
to your resume.  We’re hoping to break ground spring of 2014 with a
“done in a day” Community Build, so we’re currently organizing,
recruiting people, and would like to begin planning.

If you are interested in learning more, please email me at
KristelSmith@gmail.com.   We can talk more about the project and to
see if this is something you’d like to participate in.

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.
 
 
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    This Thursday, March 7, we have the honor of welcoming back Chris Ronayne, President of University Circle, Inc.  Chris, a proud MUPDD graduate from Levin College, is also Chairman of the Holden Parks Trust, a member of CEOs for Cities, the American Planning Association, and numerous local boards and foundations.

    Prior to UCI, Ronayne served the City of Cleveland as the City’s Planning Director, Chief Development Officer, and Chief of Staff. He was the chief architect of the City’s Waterfront District Plan, an ambitious effort to reconnect the people of Cleveland to Lake Erie.
   
    Chris will be speaking at our meeting in the Sweet Room from 5 to 6pm.  Don't forget to join us before and after at the Urbean Levin Coffee House!  This week

 
 
Thank you to everyone who came to the meeting Thursday. We covered some important current and upcoming events. For those of you that were not able to make it to the meeting, or if you just want a re-cap, read on!

First of all - a HUGE thank you to our guest speaker, Cleveland City Councilman Anthony Brancatelli! We got some great insight into the exciting things happening in Slavic Village and the rest of Ward 12, despite the fact that they have been one of the very hardest hit neighborhoods in the foreclosure crisis. Here are a few links that the Councilman referenced during his presentation, and the video he shared with us.

Slavic Village Development
Cleveland vs. Wall Street documentary trailer
Reimagining Cleveland

Here's the video from the Neighborhood Solutions Summit:
If you have questions or would like to contact Councilman Brancatelli, his e-mail address is abrancatelli@clevelandcitycouncil.org.


Our agenda also covered a ton of upcoming and current events.

1-Urbean Levin Coffee House: We are up and running every Thursday from 3pm to 8pm. If you haven't checked it out yet, make sure to stop in this week! We are run entirely by volunteers and donations from APA and others in the College. If you can bake something delicious, help us with setting up (at around 2:15) or cleaning up (at 8pm) or tabling, let us know. There is a sign up sheet on the APA office door.

2-Graphic Skills Workshop: Saturday March 2nd, attend a one-day workshop with Kirby Date and take your visual communication skills to the next level. Only $30 for the workshop, plus materials. Contact Kirby with any questions - your spot isn't reserved until you pay with cash or check!

3-Drink Local Drink Tap: DLDT Executive Director and Levin College alum Erin Huber is throwing a fundraiser to premiere her film: Making Waves. This event, featuring local food and drink, is taking place on International World Water Day, Friday March 22nd at Tower City Center. Erin is generously offering a discount to CSU APA members. We can attend for just $25 (down from the regular required donation of $50). When you pay through PayPal, enter $25.00 for the amount and write "CSU APA" in the notes section. Donate and get your ticket here.
Learn more about Erin here and here! (She's awesome)

4-Elections for CSU APA Offices: This will take place during a meeting in April, but the date is TBD. Having a leadership position is not only great for your resume, but being involved in this organization gives you amazing networking opportunities and connections within the College and the community. Of the six current Executive Board members, 4 are graduating this May, so there will be plenty of opportunity for new leaders to step up. Keep this in mind; if you have questions or if you already know you would like to run, let us know!

5-Open House April 8th: It's a Monday. We would like to have a raffle, open Urbean for business, and more. We are putting together an Open House Committee to help plan and run the Open House event, so e-mail us if you're interested in signing up for that. It's a great chance to volunteer and give back to Levin by telling prospective students how awesome we are!

6-Waterloo Survey: We will update you once we know when we are conducting the survey. If you're interested in helping us conduct the survey, e-mail us.

7-Professional Development: The Cleveland Land Bank Survey with Christopher Alvarado - the internship is not posted yet. We will let you know as soon as we get any updates! There are 2 opportunities in Lakewood: the playground project that Jared talked about (e-mail for more info) and the Public Art Request for Proposals.

Next meeting: March 7th
Guest Speaker: Chris Ronayne, President, University Circle Inc.