Here is a before and after image, showing the changes that have taken place in just this past year on the crumbling streets of Elderwood Ave. in East Cleveland. I took a short ride down the street the other day while passing through the area, and noticed that they have been removing all trees and trash, readying to tear down the rest of these beautiful, old, broken buildings. The world is such a strange place. These were once brand new structures, beautiful and radiant – full of life on the inside and out. I’m sure the streets were flooded with laughter of children, families conversing and morning to evening traffic of those leaving and returning from work. Lights would set windows aglow – a warm orange in the calm summer evenings, with the chirping of cicadas at neighborhood doors. While families sat watching the world go by, nobody ever imagined that it would all end up like this one day.

I will always feel such a strong importance in preserving the memories of these places, however possible. Whether it be via video, photo, writing or other forms of artistic communication, we must save their stories.
Parts of this same street were featured in my video, “Our Future” which can be viewed below: