🎉 Ingenuity Fest lineup just dropped — here’s who’s coming

Good morning, Cleveland! This is The 216 Scoop. Everyone else is panicking about housing, but somehow we’re… fine? Let’s unpack why the CLE market is flexing while “hot” cities cool 🏠📉

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Home purchases are getting cancelled at a record rate around the country. Foreclosures are up and prices are down in a number of cities.

And yet, Cleveland keeps chugging along.

“We’re the steady Eddie,” says Dave Sharkey, president of Ohio City-based Progressive Urban Real Estate. “We aren’t seeing the issues you see in other cities.”

It’s a function of speculative markets and overbuilding.

“People flocked to Florida during Covid, and Las Vegas is reliant on the service industry,” says Sharkey. “But Cleveland has a stable economy with houses that are affordable.”

Studies have identified Northeast Ohio as one of the last places where you can still find an affordable home. Ironically, it has led to price appreciation, even as once-hot markets see year-over-year declines.

Driving the strength, says Sharkey, are Lakewood, West Park, Parma, Fairview Park and Strongsville.

“Lakewood is the hottest and its strength has filtered into West Park, and we’re seeing Fairview Park getting rediscovered,” he says. “Parma offers affordability and a wide stock of homes and services – the main streets have butchers and bakers and small businesses that remind people of what the city used to look like.”

There’s another reason for the area’s strength. The median age of a home sold in the Cleveland area is 65 years – 30 more than the national average.

“We haven’t seen as many homes being built here; it’s supply and demand” says Sharkey. “But there are still bargains, especially in the $300,000 range.”

Summer festival season reaches a climactic end this weekend. Get ready to ring in the fall with IngenuityFest.

The city’s biggest celebration of art and technology returns Sept. 26-28, and has just unveiled a big, bold line-up of performers to go with its theme, Forging the Future.

Ingenuity’s six stages will host dozens of bands, dancers, acrobats and performers. Its interactive rooms allow attendees absorb waves of sound and lights and interact with immersive old- and new-tech activities.

Juana, the pioneering techno DJ who got her start spinning in Chicago’s underground clubs and warehouses, will headline the Tesseract stage, which also features DJ sets from BRAND, Chris Eff, Justin Hartman, JohnDoethe1 and Lo-Fila – and a violin and vocals performance by Manow Violin with Abbey Studor.

Of course, the festival that drew 20,000 people last year, also boasts trippy tech stuff.

International installation artists Gazelle Dasti will debut NewClear Neural, an audience-participatory sculpture that invites guests to step inside an 18’ stainless steel human bust, driving an LED light array in the cranium by a people-powered merry-go-round.

“We’re returning to hands-on tech like welding and metal working and glass blowing so expect a lot of sparks flying,” says Ingenuity Executive Director Emily Applebaum. “The theme is about celebrating our industrial heritage and connecting it to the trajectory of innovation in town.” More info and tickets here.

Cuisine of India – a Parma Heights eatery beloved for its bold spices, eclectic entrées and exotic cocktails -- has closed after 15 years.

“This is not easy, and it is certainly not what we want, but it is sadly what is our reality,” said owner Abhay Shah, referring to softening business conditions in the Southland area since the pandemic.

Ah, but there’s hope for patrons: Shah is surveying locations around Great Northern Mall and in Medina for a new eatery in the near future.

It will feature Cuisine’s staples, as well an Indian-Italian approach to pasta and pizza – similar to a restaurant he owns in Bryant, Arkansas called Rookh.

The fusion has become the rage in India and, in turn, is trendy into the U.S. and in local eateries like Masala Monsoon and Choolah.

Chopt Creative Salad will open its second location in the area today in Eton Chagrin Boulevard. The soft opening will be followed by a grand opening on Sept. 10. Chopt, a small salad spot opened by two college students in NYC in 2001, has developed a cult following and expanded to over 70 locations around the East Coast and South.

You mean, TV people tell jokes, sing? Find out Thursday when Mike Polk Jr. hosts a talent show featuring personalities from WKYC Ch. 3. The soiree benefits VeloSano’s Bike To Cure Event.  7:15 p.m. More info.

👉 View Listing on Zillow

There are guitar heroes and then there is Robert Randolph. The master of the pedal steel manages to shoehorn blues, rock, gospel and soul into a wildly innovative sound that has influenced players of all walks and instruments. Randolph, who got his start playing ‘sacred steel’ in churches, has just released his solo album, Preacher Kids – a disc that features him wailing on his pedal steel like few before him. At 7 tonight, he hits the Beachland Ballroom. Info.

The Alvin Theatre, 1913: It’s considered one of the first movie house in the city – known for showing films that would last 15 minutes to an hour and would be accompanied by a piano. It was part of a wave of nickelodeons – they charged a nickel, hence the name -- to appear around the country.

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72°F 🌡️ 59°F | 🌤️ | 25% | 💨 WNW 9 mph (≈ 8 knots)

72°F 🌡️ 59°F | 🌥️ | 1% | 💨 WSW 9 mph (≈ 8 knots)

68°F 🌡️ 57°F | 🌦️ | 65% | 💨 N 8 mph (≈ 7 knots)

_{Please note that weather conditions can change rapidly. For the most up-to-date information, consider checking a reliable local weather service.}

Cleveland Browns vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 1:00pm September 07 (Sunday)

Home vs. Rays, 1:10pm Wednesday

Home vs. Mariners, 7:40pm Friday

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