Hometown pride moved Justin Glanville and Erin Aleman to action during last winter’s break from Levin College of Urban Affairs. The graduate students wanted friends to see where Cleveland’s renaissance had progressed beyond Browns Stadium and the Rock Hall. So, they made a few calls, rented a van and on a crisp fall day schlepped some two dozen young and restless co-eds around town. It felt so right, they’re doing the Emerging Cleveland tour again next month.

“Last year’s tours were a big success and sold-out quickly,” Glanville says. “There are many young people who are interested in what’s going on in Cleveland, but don’t have time to seek it all out. We’re doing the work for them.”

This year’s hidden gems on Cleveland’s social and urban redevelopment circuit include the new Battery Park development and EcoVillage townhouses in Detroit-Shoreway, the Avenue District and E. 4th Street downtown, the West and East banks of the Flats, the artists' live-work district and Chinatown on the near East Side and the Gospel Press building and Valley View HOPE VI site in Tremont.

The Emerging Cleveland Tours are November 24 & 25th, and again December 26 & 27th. They are being co-sponsored by Cleveland State University’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs and Cleveland City Living.

The tour will cost $5 (payable on the bus), and reservations are necessary. E-mail Justin Glanville at emergingcleveland@gmail.com or call 216-269-0779.