When it comes to writing editor’s letters, I have to agree
with Debbie Stoller, editor of Bust magazine, who wrote
in her own recently that she can’t understand how other editors
seem so fresh and lively in their editor letters after slogging
through the production of the latest issue. Like Stoller, I don’t
pop in after lunching with a big shot, wave my hand and pop out
as the final copy and art appear on the screen.
Enough kvetching for the moment, though, about doing a job that
I really enjoy. Indeed, I’m part of a team of folks who I
respect and with whom I get to make decisions about creating an
issue and then see it come to fruition. When the vision becomes
clear, as it did once again in this fourth issue, it makes the 2
a.m. sessions bug-eyed in front of the computer worthwhile.
Allow me to comment on this fourth issue, now that I’ve had
a little bit of time to contemplate. Once again, we set out to capture
a snapshot or two of a Cleveland-area neighborhood. We were interested
in Glenville because of its history, it’s connection to Cleveland’s
industrial east side and natural areas including the lake and Rockefeller
Park, and cultural assets in University Circle. Glenville has a
latent richness but quite frankly is struggling to find an identity
(not to mention economic opportunity).
Glenville was once the heart of the east side, but today its pulse
flutters. New housing is rising along E.105th and pockets along
the East Boulevard historic district are seeing significant restoration.
We feature Daryl and Miriam Rush
in this issue because they understand the serious investment of
restoring a beautiful East Blvd. home. We visit a staple in Glenville
retail, the East side Market. We
offer design ideas for the future
reconstruction of Charles H. Lake Elementary that proposes making
greener and more human-scaled connections to the lake, transit,
and the area in north Glenville. And we visited Lake Elementary
to talk with (and film) a group of
students thinking about their environment and what they see.
Like many people living in the Greater Cleveland area, we began
with preconceptions, some of them based on myths perpetuated over
time, and slowly replaced them with glimpses of a real place. In
a small way, we were offered a glimpse of what may lie ahead for
Glenville and other Cleveland neighborhoods. And so we conclude
that so much depends on what you, dear reader, tell others when
you too go and see Glenville.
-Marc Lefkowitz
Editor
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