I have had occasion, these warm summer days, to walk outside for lunch. In addition to being able to get out of the frigid office air conditioning, my great delight has been walking up Euclid Avenue toward Public Square. Yes, you heard me – a delight to walk up Euclid Avenue. What a difference a few months make!

In addition to the fabulous restaurants on and around E. 4th Street, the striped brick walkways and the geometric patterned crosswalks make the walk a pleasure. And the flowers! My goodness, the flowers!

The sweetly lyrical planters that dance along Euclid Avenue sidewalks can’t help but bring a smile. They look like they were designed by Disney Studios. And the exotic plants in them turn the street into a tropical jungle. What fun.

Then there’s the gorgeous, overflowing color and texture of the median strip plantings along the Health Line bus route. A garden in the middle of the street, going for blocks and blocks. And somebody must be taking good care of them. Not a wilted planter or withered planting anywhere. A sign of a city that cares about its pedestrian traffic. How nice.

And when I walk the other way towards the Cleveland State campus to visit Café Ahroma or Elements (great food there, by the way) or the Farmer’s Market on Thursdays, there’s more beautiful city jungle-scapes. CSU has always done a fabulous job with its landscaping. In every little pocket of the campus and around all its major buildings there is lush greenery and flowers.

So downtown is blooming this summer. It feels like we’ve arrived.