What's needed in response to the census news, and Cuyahoga County slipping behind Franklin County, is a comprehensive call to action for Cleveland and NEO's future. What that looks like can certainly be debated, but here are my recommendations:

 

1. Government Consolidation. The biggest elephant in the room, but the one that has the potential to yield the biggest gains both over the near term and longer term. Simply put, it's way past time to move beyond government fragmentation, political squabbling, and zero sum economic poaching between counties, municipalities, and townships in NE Ohio with the understanding that the region will either rise or sink as one. What this actually looks like in practice can be debated, but I do find it interesting that no other metropolitan region in the US has taken a crack at New York City's "Five Boroughs" Multi-County model of government. I honestly think we should look at instituting something similar to it here in NE Ohio's 18 or so counties. Perhaps the counties themselves could be redrawn and recast as administrative districts. At the very least, we could probably get away with having just four consolidated independent cities in the region--Cleveland, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown, or else perhaps "Four Boroughs" within a consolidated system of some sort.

 

The short-term effect of consolidating Cleveland+NEO into one mega municipality would be obvious. A city of 390,000 people overnight becomes a city of 2-3 million, surging up the rankings into the top tier of US cities, potentially surpassing Philadelphia, Houston, and Chicago. And lest you think size doesn't matter, remember that Columbus long ago realized that it would be able to give itself considerable economic development edge and capacity over Cleveland in the future simply by pursuing a policy of aggressive annexation. Cleveland would be in a far better position today if it had pursued a similarly aggressive annexation policy before its suburbs incorporated.

 

Longer-term, the benefit of thinking and acting regionally through a consolidated unit of government, sans so much costly and cumbersome fragmentation to deal with, could have considerable economic development benefits for the entire region, not the least of them being large-scale infrastructure and economic development projects, from commuter rail to targeted redevelopment zones.

 

2. University Investment. Let's face it, Cleveland's lack of a world-class public research university is one of the few key assets it lacks. But it is also one of the most essential. With a public university on par with the University of Cincinnati, University of Pittsburgh, or even Ohio State, Cleveland today would likely be reaping dividends from research with immediate implications for its economy, particularly with respect to medicine and technology. Not to mention having a world class public research university would put the city on the map internationally as a destination for foreign graduate students, many of whom would likely find their careers and a new home in Cleveland after graduating. No doubt this is happening somewhat already through Case Western, but for obvious reasons, public universities are able to provide considerably broader opportunities to a wider range of students.

 

My suggestion would be for Cleveland to take a page from Pittsburgh's book back in the 1980s when it hit rock bottom with the collapse of steel manufacturing. Pittsburgh decided to heavily invest in its local universities, Pitt and Carnegie Mellon, viewing them as the engines that would propel Pittsburgh forward to better, brighter days. What if Cleveland had taken a similar approach towards Cleveland State and Case Western? We could only imagine what might have been today, two or three decades out from such efforts, but there's also no time like the present to start. Case can always benefit from greater support, while CSU might benefit most greatly and quickly at this point through renewed efforts to consolidate it with Akron and Kent, the synthesis of shared resources among the three campuses providing heft and leverage for expanding more deeply into research and the potential to elevate the consolidated system's profile, and in turn, Cleveland's. The biggest opposition to any such efforts is likely to come from Ohio State, however, which is wary of any potential challenges to its flagship status among other public universities. But if Cleveland and NEO truly want to be competitive with Columbus and with other established or emerging cities, its time we seriously focus on building up our own public research university.

 

3. Cleveland/NEO Advocacy and Grit. If it isn't obvious by now, Cleveland and NEO must be our own tireless advocates for our wants and needs for the metropolitan area and region in relation to the rest of the state and country. This is because a state capital that has outstripped us both in terms of population and economic growth, with no apparent end in sight, is not going to be constructively in touch with its founding purpose as the administrative seat of Ohio government the way a far more modestly-sized state capital (e.g. Harrisburg, New Albany, Springfield, IL, etc.) would generally be. Columbus, unlike Pittsburgh or Detroit, has never been a natural ally of Cleveland's. Other than being within the same state, the two cities actually have very little in common, whereas Detroit and Pittsburgh at least share similar struggles with Cleveland as post-industrial cities, and can relate through these struggles and various battles won and lost on the long, long, rocky road to recovery.

 

Even if its expansive growth and redevelopment were borne out of the best of intentions for the state in general, Columbus has become an end unto itself. This will never work to the benefit of Cleveland, or the state's other major metropolitan regions that are potential competitors for Columbus as the state government apparatus also becomes increasingly insulated from the rest of the state by Columbus' growth and prosperity. Cleveland and NEO are going to have to scrap for whatever they can get, which may increasingly nurture a regional self-sufficiency and DIY approach to addressing its needs, while maximizing legal loopholes to do so.

 

Just a few ideas for consideration. Thoughts, refinements, and further suggestions/reflections are welcomed and encouraged.

Or instead of "competing" with Columbus, just incubate and create jobs in order for the area to grow.  Sherman is correct, it's the jobs.  Nationwide, Huntington, Cardinal Health, L Brands, Big Lots, hell, even Wendy's are homegrown, non-Ohio State/State Gov't jobs that spin off each other to create a domino effect of more jobs (marketing, fashion, etc).

 

Cincinnati doesn't have this issue (talking about "competing" with Columbus and Pittsburgh) and deals with TWO states that border it along with regional provincialism.  It just builds on what it already has and modestly grows with a psychotic mayor and strange chili.  Cleveland has a world-class health institution alone that can create endless corridors of job growth + Progressive, Key, etc.

The part of the problem with jobs is the unions. I'm in a union but i'm not blinded from what going on. A co-worker lived in Tampa and loved it. Be he said they didn't pay much from what he did(construction) down there. They were paying $11 an hour in that field of work. Up here in Ohio $18+. But people are willing to sacrifice pay for warm weather. Weather they can save money  to retire that a whole other  problem down the road.

 

I could not believe that Orlando had only 16,000 births compared to 40,000+ in-migration. Something will have to give someday.

 

People don't simply sacrifice pay for warm weather.

 

Some do!

 

"Sunshine tax" or "Paradise tax" is an ironic term used in the United States and Canada to describe the phenomenon that salaries are often lower than the national average, and costs of living higher than the national average, in places that have a desirably temperate climate.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_tax

 

 

What's needed in response to the census news, and Cuyahoga County slipping behind Franklin County, is a comprehensive call to action for Cleveland and NEO's future. What that looks like can certainly be debated, but here are my recommendations:

 

1. Government Consolidation. The biggest elephant in the room, but the one that has the potential to yield the biggest gains both over the near term and longer term. [

 

No, no, no, and Hell No.

 

Even seriously discussing this sabotages attempts at more sensible regionalization efforts.  People think that's the end game of their advocates, and sometimes they are right.  It's something that at least 90% of suburban residents would vehemently oppose, and they are 70% of the county.

 

They also have more clout in state government because they don’t vote in blocs, and their votes are in play for both parties.

Consolidation does not have to mean the entire county. It could mean that suburban counties consolidate. Or it could mean we reduce from 58 suburbs to 8 or so. Consolidation is the number one way that we can provide better services, reduce regulatory burdens, and become more competitive nationally

On the note of job poaching, I didn't know that all 59 Cuyahoga County communities signed onto the "Business Attraction and Anti-Poaching Protocol" back in 2011. It was to stop intra-county moves. But... Cuyahoga County offered a $480,000 forgivable loan to 7signal, which is relocating from Akron. Independence is also providing a $200,000 grant to the startup.

 

I suppose that's creating jobs (as part of their agreement with the loan, they have to have 48 new positions with annual salaries over $100,000 and keep them for 7 years), but it's poaching on a more intra-regional level. That's annoying.

 

While I do agree government consolidations are important, it won't happen, at least with it being as fragmented as it is. No city wants to merge with Cleveland; they would rather merge with Beechwood, Cleveland Heights or other stable cities and communities. Cleveland is far from stable and is hardly admired for its government efficiency and politics. Other cities are, simply put, managed better and have the track record to prove it.

 

Shared services, on the other hand, make better use of limited resources. What's most interesting that passed in the latest transportation bill is the allowance of local road districts - like local school districts. This would allow many of these small municipalities to consolidate their road crews into larger districts, pooling resources (money, equipment, staff) together.

I don't think there are any easy answers in a situation like this for Cleveland.  I think for starters though, blowing open a multi-million dollar path for suburban commuters to employment centers through poor neighborhoods isn't probably the best use of funds.  The Kasich administration most definitely has not been kind to cities, and when an area like NE Ohio is struggling, this just completely piles on.  I would say that all of our Ohio cities are vulnerable until we get some actual pro-urban policies in place.

On the note of job poaching, I didn't know that all 59 Cuyahoga County communities signed onto the "Business Attraction and Anti-Poaching Protocol" back in 2011. It was to stop intra-county moves. But... Cuyahoga County offered a $480,000 forgivable loan to 7signal, which is relocating from Akron. Independence is also providing a $200,000 grant to the startup.

 

I suppose that's creating jobs (as part of their agreement with the loan, they have to have 48 new positions with annual salaries over $100,000 and keep them for 7 years), but it's poaching on a more intra-regional level. That's annoying.

 

While I do agree government consolidations are important, it won't happen, at least with it being as fragmented as it is. No city wants to merge with Cleveland; they would rather merge with Beechwood, Cleveland Heights or other stable cities and communities. Cleveland is far from stable and is hardly admired for its government efficiency and politics. Other cities are, simply put, managed better and have the track record to prove it.

 

Shared services, on the other hand, make better use of limited resources. What's most interesting that passed in the latest transportation bill is the allowance of local road districts - like local school districts. This would allow many of these small municipalities to consolidate their road crews into larger districts, pooling resources (money, equipment, staff) together.

Cleveland is almost impossible to manage in it's current state of infrastructure.  With almost 2/3 of the population gone from 1950, and thousands of job losses in the inter-city, the current tax revenue base can't support a city that was built for 1 million plus residents with an economy that at one point was going gang-busters.  We almost need to vacate neighborhoods, shut down sewers, abandon roads and turn off street lights in order to retain money to be put back into "still-stable" neighborhoods, and help those thrive.  Places like Old Brooklyn, UC, Harvard Lee, Westpark and Nottingham are losing out on city spending that is going to places like Woodhill, South Fairfax, etc. 

^And there in lies the problem. You can't just abandon those neighborhoods you mention, because there are still tax paying residents and business that use those roads and street lights and schools.

 

It would be best for the city or a developer to  come in buy up a couple blocks and start over, and there is some interest in doing that in the developer community with the investment being made at the Opportunity Corridor. We'll have to see how that plays out.

I've been through enough grit in Cleveland to know that you can do some wholesale abandonment of streets and overhead utilities in many locales. There are a lot of streets that can be barricaded off in an effort to reduce maintenance costs. I'm assuming that the city pays for street lights that can be disabled or removed entirely.

 

Detroit did this (to an illegal extent) under Kilpatrick's administration to force residents to move out so the city could expand their airport. The city simply stopped picking up trash, refused to fix water/sewage leaks, and all but deserted an entire neighborhood. Youngstown does something similar on a smaller scale by enticing residents to locate to populated neighborhoods.

 

Does every bit of Cleveland need to be redeveloped? At this point, no. There isn't enough population and a lot of those areas are simply not desirable. They are near railroad tracks and industrial areas, deep in valleys, near no amenities, close to no highways or transit stops. Identify those areas to abandon, entice residents to move (or quietly stifle some city maintenance), and redevelop it to another use or seed it over.

On the note of job poaching, I didn't know that all 59 Cuyahoga County communities signed onto the "Business Attraction and Anti-Poaching Protocol" back in 2011. It was to stop intra-county moves. But... Cuyahoga County offered a $480,000 forgivable loan to 7signal, which is relocating from Akron. Independence is also providing a $200,000 grant to the startup.

 

I suppose that's creating jobs (as part of their agreement with the loan, they have to have 48 new positions with annual salaries over $100,000 and keep them for 7 years), but it's poaching on a more intra-regional level. That's annoying.

 

While I do agree government consolidations are important, it won't happen, at least with it being as fragmented as it is. No city wants to merge with Cleveland; they would rather merge with Beechwood, Cleveland Heights or other stable cities and communities. Cleveland is far from stable and is hardly admired for its government efficiency and politics. Other cities are, simply put, managed better and have the track record to prove it.

 

Shared services, on the other hand, make better use of limited resources. What's most interesting that passed in the latest transportation bill is the allowance of local road districts - like local school districts. This would allow many of these small municipalities to consolidate their road crews into larger districts, pooling resources (money, equipment, staff) together.

Cleveland is almost impossible to manage in it's current state of infrastructure.  With almost 2/3 of the population gone from 1950, and thousands of job losses in the inter-city, the current tax revenue base can't support a city that was built for 1 million plus residents with an economy that at one point was going gang-busters.  We almost need to vacate neighborhoods, shut down sewers, abandon roads and turn off street lights in order to retain money to be put back into "still-stable" neighborhoods, and help those thrive.  Places like Old Brooklyn, UC, Harvard Lee, Westpark and Nottingham are losing out on city spending that is going to places like Woodhill, South Fairfax, etc. 

 

Does anyone know how many people the city currently employs?  I can't seem to find online anywhere.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20140825/FREE/140829853/list-of-cuyahoga-countys-largest-employers-proves-cleveland-is-a

 

 

6,757

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20140825/FREE/140829853/list-of-cuyahoga-countys-largest-employers-proves-cleveland-is-a

 

 

6,757

 

Actually now that I review my notes--I already had this number.  I am actually on the hunt for HISTORICAL numbers.  How many did the city employ in 2000, 1990, 1980, etc.   

^ good question.  It should be available from city hall upon request.  Not sure how long it will take them though.

Consolidation does not have to mean the entire county. It could mean that suburban counties consolidate. Or it could mean we reduce from 58 suburbs to 8 or so. Consolidation is the number one way that we can provide better services, reduce regulatory burdens, and become more competitive nationally

 

Yes, but ultimately the idea of consolidating with Cleveland or a few inner ring suburbs would be seen as the end game, making the concept reprehensible to a solid majority of county residents, not to mention the suburbs outside Cuyahoga County.

 

If one wants to sell people on the benefits, this annelid container should not be disturbed.

I don't think there are any easy answers in a situation like this for Cleveland.  I think for starters though, blowing open a multi-million dollar path for suburban commuters to employment centers through poor neighborhoods isn't probably the best use of funds.  The Kasich administration most definitely has not been kind to cities, and when an area like NE Ohio is struggling, this just completely piles on.  I would say that all of our Ohio cities are vulnerable until we get some actual pro-urban policies in place.

 

That depends on what is actually being removed and how accessible said path is to those neighborhoods.  This isn’t exactly a fenced off freeway being plowed through densely populated housing.

The number one goal is always going to have to be economic development (i.e. more jobs). Most importantly, because of the way Ohio administers taxes, this will be what increases the tax base. And likely more residents would follow the jobs as well.

 

Secondly, the City needs to be much much more proactive in attracting immigrants. THAT is how US cities are growing now-a-days. I can just hear Frank Jackson (in what I believe was 2016s state of the city address) saying immigrants would take residents jobs. ?

The number one goal is always going to have to be economic development (i.e. more jobs). Most importantly, because of the way Ohio administers taxes, this will be what increases the tax base. And likely more residents would follow the jobs as well.

 

Secondly, the City needs to be much much more proactive in attracting immigrants. THAT is how US cities are growing now-a-days. I can just hear Frank Jackson (in what I believe was 2016s state of the city address) saying immigrants would take residents jobs. ?

 

Immigrants DO take residents jobs. However, they also create jobs in a MAJOR way. Those who are motivated deserve the jobs.

 

And I agree, if we grow our BioTech industry - for example - and some of these companies that currently have 15 employees have 200 by 2020, that will increase demands for supplies, accountants, legal counsel, facility maintenance and the like. Growing industry is the only way to grow a population. Boston was able to do it in the early 1990s after their population had been in decline.

I don't think there are any easy answers in a situation like this for Cleveland.  I think for starters though, blowing open a multi-million dollar path for suburban commuters to employment centers through poor neighborhoods isn't probably the best use of funds.  The Kasich administration most definitely has not been kind to cities, and when an area like NE Ohio is struggling, this just completely piles on.  I would say that all of our Ohio cities are vulnerable until we get some actual pro-urban policies in place.

 

I think the key to Cleveland's success is to focus on the east side neighborhoods, near mid-town. What a huge swath of abandonment. Yeah, you have all these wonderful institutions nearby and a booming bio-tech industry the health-tech corridor but it won't be attractive to all of those highly-paid professionals who work nearby until developers start taking risks and give people a reason to want to live near where they work.

 

There needs to be more arts and entertainment, retail along the health-tech corridor. There's already tons of incubators and tech companies nearby. People need a reason to want to live there other than it being close to work, though. Housing stock needs to be greatly improved to make it attractive to those in bio-tech and healthcare but that's not going to happen until there's more amenities nearby. People don't just live near where they work; the type of people Cleveland needs to attract are people who are living somewhere that is 'cool.' You think the majority of people who live in Coventry Village live there because they can walk to work? No! They live there because it's cool. It's not really a convenient location for someone working at UH, Clinic or even CWRU.

 

We need to make the Health-Tech Corridor cool.

Does every bit of Cleveland need to be redeveloped? At this point, no. There isn't enough population and a lot of those areas are simply not desirable. They are near railroad tracks and industrial areas, deep in valleys, near no amenities, close to no highways or transit stops. Identify those areas to abandon, entice residents to move (or quietly stifle some city maintenance), and redevelop it to another use or seed it over.

 

This almost sounds like an argument for never building Cleveland in the first place.  Cleveland will never progress until its own people stop advocating its destruction.  The answer is not destruction.  I live near railroads and industry and I love it.  That's what we are, that's what we have, and if we treat is like it's valuable others will see it that way too.  So we need to stop saying it's garbage.  Many of our neighborhoods are in bad condition due to abandonment and disinvestment, due to bad management and bad policy decisions, but not because this city shouldn't exist.

 

We need to make the Health-Tech Corridor cool.

 

Agree with all your points, but I think the best way to do this is to put the Health Tech along the Opportunity Corridor, allowing the area around Euclid Ave to be developed into walkable mixed use.  Euclid already connects two desirable areas so why not continue that theme?  Health tech installations aren't particularly walkable.  While neighborhoods containing industry can be perfectly viable, there's no reason to make our Main Street into one.  That's not what cities usually do, instead they usually make Main Street their premier neighborhood.  Kinda like Cleveland did in the first place... we don't need to reinvent it!

327[/member]: But many of these areas are literally garbage. Not ripe for residential redevelopment and more suited for other needs. Let's examine a few areas:

 

1. http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=41.48527,-81.62647&z=17&t=S : A handful of houses, a lot of abandonment and industrial sites that will ultimately be cleared for the OC. This is prime for redevelopment into industrial or light commercial use. It's days as a residential neighborhood bordering heavy industry (there used to be a petroleum distiller on the corner lot by the railroads) is long gone. Looking up the property values, the city or a CDC could snap those up cheap, demolish the roadways (which may be going away anyways) and rebuild the infrastructure to support a new use.

 

2 The other side of Buckeye isn't that much better. Yet as taxpayers, we pay to have those all-but-vacant streets maintained, plowed and lit. Why?

 

3 http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=41.48297,-81.63281&z=17&t=S : Another nearly vacant area full of abandoned houses and only a handful of active buildings - mostly not residential. I've been back in this area a lot when Van Dorn was still standing and the streets were unmaintained, hardly lit and were full of garbage. The roads were dumping grounds and some were blocked because of so many piles of refuse and tires. The unmaintained lots all around it were not any better. Why maintain this when it could be seeded over? Who drives through here? Who walks through here? No one. (Again, I think the OC is taking out much of this area for redevelopment.)

 

There are smaller pockets that is emptying out that could be ripe for redevelopment or at least abatement. The OC is taking care of many of these issues through the worst pockets of Cleveland so that it can be repurposed for light industry or commercial uses. Land use is fluid. Many areas that were once residential are now industrial. Many areas that were once industrial are now residential (e.g. Eveready battery).

Redeveloping areas for new uses is different than surrendering them to weeds and rodents.

I think this is veering off-topic at this point, but clearing the lot of abandonments and reseeding it for grass is better than leaving collapsing structures or places where bodies can be stuffed at (which apparently is more common in Cleveland that I thought). You aren't getting tax dollars from those lots anyways, so why not clean it up with money allocated for those specific purposes? At least then it's marketable to outside companies.

^That would involve the county foreclosing on the vacant lots for the back property taxes along with the amount of the demo cost which is typically added to the taxes.  The problem is that it can take the county forever and a day to even begin a tax foreclosure.  Pick any parcel in the area in question and look up how far behind on taxes these parcels are.  you'd be surprised to find many lots on the southeast side are $15,000 to $30,000 behind in taxes.  The county has in essence given up on the southeast side; which needs the most help to begin with.

^ Tax foreclosures can be fast tracked if you run them through the County Land Bank.

^That would involve the county foreclosing on the vacant lots for the back property taxes along with the amount of the demo cost which is typically added to the taxes.  The problem is that it can take the county forever and a day to even begin a tax foreclosure.  Pick any parcel in the area in question and look up how far behind on taxes these parcels are.  you'd be surprised to find many lots on the southeast side are $15,000 to $30,000 behind in taxes.  The county has in essence given up on the southeast side; which needs the most help to begin with.

 

That's tragic, especially considering that from what I've seen, the auditor's assessed value of land/properties are much lower than what they're up for sell for or last sold for. I looked up one property for sale for $3M, that was assessed for I think a few hundred thousand. Maybe they do that on purpose, hoping to at least get some money out of the owners.

 

That sounds like a lame excuse on the county's part, considering the large scale of deterioration and abandonment. They're going to need to act fast or else it's just going to get worse. I admit, I'm not the biggest policy wonk but it seems like they would ultimately recoup a lot more money by seizing those properties. Wiih property in municipality's hands, it seems it would provide more flexibility in terms of negotiating a reasonable selling price and ultimately a proposed re-use. I'm guessing a lot of those properties aren't seeing investment because the buyer would be obligated to pay back-taxes as well as the asking price of the property or sellers are inflating the asking price based on how much debt they know they owe.

 

Another possibility would be to not take it over but forgive that tax debt upon proof of transferred ownership to someone willing and financially able to make improvements or at least reasonably maintain the property.

 

Municipalities have to be realist and think about the future. You can't let cities whither away because of slow-acting government agencies, their bureaucracy and red tape.

 

They'd obviously need to expand the department to execute those new policies but when it comes to funding I believe that where there's a will, there's a way in most cases. Maybe that money could come from Cleveland or from a source where promises of reimbursement is fulfilled at a later date once some of those properties are operating profitably to where investors are happy to pay their property taxes.

 

The blight and abandonment is on such a large scale, we can't afford to let people make excuses like "the county has given up on them" or "there's too much red tape." Recouping something is better than never getting anything, ultimately putting a higher burden on residents when those properties are even further deteriorated.

^In the absence of hard objectives and/or deadlines enforced by external influences, expecting an entrenched bureaucracy to move quickly is like expecting water to run uphill.  It’s against the laws of nature.

We need an East-Side Neighborhood to become gentrified. There have been MASSIVE efforts in Colinwood and now Slavic Village, neither has really gained any steam that would really make a difference in terms of professionals relocating there. Slavic Village has a beautiful grid to it, with streets conducive to development as well as enough vacant land to make it appealing to developers.

 

The catch-22 of it all is that there has to be large investments before people will be willing to move there, and no one will be willing to move there without large investments in the neighborhood.

 

Just as an aside, the Buckeye neighborhood has some BEAUTIFUL old homes. I would love to see some of them refurbished.

^ Iwould say that St. Clair Superior/ AsiaTown has a good chance as well as parts of Glenville and Hough.

We also need a massive land pollution clean-up effort, and have an expanded agency plus a couple of new judges with support staff within a court to target cases of excessive property tax delinquency and nuisance blight, then have those properties taken by eminent domain if the property owner can't remediate them in a timely manner. Ultimately, these are issues relating to making properties clean and green so they can be returned to productive use. Interestingly, many of these are located along RTA rapid transit lines -- an asset that remains from Cleveland's years as a top-10 city and can be utilized again to address issues that hold back the metro area today -- poverty caused by a geographic disconnect of jobs to job-seekers. We need to focus more housing and jobs along the rapid transit lines, within walking distance of stations, before we think about extending transit lines to jobs. If we can make better use of Cleveland's existing big-city assets as tools to address what ails the city and metro area, that will help all of us create a more attractive and vibrant city.

Very well put. I noticed that that's another problem in Cleveland; people who rely on public transit don't have job opportunities near where they live. Not everyone living on the east side is a bio-medical engineer or doctor. Far from it. Those abandoned neighborhoods don't have any job opportunities for the low income residents who do live there or wouldn't mind living in the area right now. A lot of folks have to take two buses just to get to a minimum wage job and a lot of well-paying jobs in far-away suburbs aren't accessible for them by bus or train. It's a lot easier to just sell drugs.

We also need a massive land pollution clean-up effort, and have an expanded agency plus a couple of new judges with support staff within a court to target cases of excessive property tax delinquency and nuisance blight, then have those properties taken by eminent domain if the property owner can't remediate them in a timely manner. Ultimately, these are issues relating to making properties clean and green so they can be returned to productive use. Interestingly, many of these are located along RTA rapid transit lines -- an asset that remains from Cleveland's years as a top-10 city and can be utilized again to address issues that hold back the metro area today -- poverty caused by a geographic disconnect of jobs to job-seekers. We need to focus more housing and jobs along the rapid transit lines, within walking distance of stations, before we think about extending transit lines to jobs. If we can make better use of Cleveland's existing big-city assets as tools to address what ails the city and metro area, that will help all of us create a more attractive and vibrant city.

If you're going to push cleanup, it's better to try to attract the jobs.  CERCLA is the primary reason companies don't want to locate in the city and inner ring.  Also, I believe you can get away with less stringent cleanup for industrial than residential.  Most importantly, the feds need to get rid of "legacy" liability for potential new companies.

 

The cleanup that was "snuck" in as part of the OC project is a good start.

We need an East-Side Neighborhood to become gentrified. There have been MASSIVE efforts in Colinwood and now Slavic Village, neither has really gained any steam that would really make a difference in terms of professionals relocating there. Slavic Village has a beautiful grid to it, with streets conducive to development as well as enough vacant land to make it appealing to developers.

I was born near Slavic village and my grandparents moved back there in their later years, and I live in North Collinwood now.  The latter is way readier.  It already has two potential foci in the Waterloo district and the lake.    Less vacant lots too and less blight, it seems.

 

What about Murray Hill?

We need an East-Side Neighborhood to become gentrified. There have been MASSIVE efforts in Colinwood and now Slavic Village, neither has really gained any steam that would really make a difference in terms of professionals relocating there

 

I think the trick is to start with a neighborhood that was gentrified when it was new - gentrified in the sense that the upper middle class lived there - namely, Hough. There is a reason people liked the place a hundred-odd years ago. Today the location is superb vis-a-vis new employment centers; and, with a ton of vacant lots now, not a whole lot of bulldozing would be required. Plus supportive things are already happening both in Hough and on its borders. 

 

I think the city would get the biggest and quickest payoff in terms of increased taxes from developing Hough, money that could then be spent stabilizing other neighborhoods.

 

We need to make the Health-Tech Corridor cool.

 

Agree with all your points, but I think the best way to do this is to put the Health Tech along the Opportunity Corridor, allowing the area around Euclid Ave to be developed into walkable mixed use.  Euclid already connects two desirable areas so why not continue that theme?  Health tech installations aren't particularly walkable.  While neighborhoods containing industry can be perfectly viable, there's no reason to make our Main Street into one.  That's not what cities usually do, instead they usually make Main Street their premier neighborhood.  Kinda like Cleveland did in the first place... we don't need to reinvent it!

 

Cleveland needs a true urban neighborhood. Dense 3-5 (maybe 6) story residential with mixed-use interlaced. You know just typical, traditional city design stuff. Cleveland is missing out on population (of all ages) that want to live in these places. I can't think of a better place than along the Euclid,Healthline/Chester corridor. Break up those huge blocks with 20 ft or less wide streets, no setbacks or tree lawns. Weave together an interesting place to live, work and explore.

 

At the very least, personal design preference aside, there is absolutely no reason the Heathline corridor is not mixed use/ residential  (including bio tech industries) the whole stretch. We don't get nice new transit things very often in this city, why are we set on making this stretch a suburban office park. I think there is a huge opportunity to gain a lot of smart population growth here.

Very well put. I noticed that that's another problem in Cleveland; people who rely on public transit don't have job opportunities near where they live. Not everyone living on the east side is a bio-medical engineer or doctor. Far from it. Those abandoned neighborhoods don't have any job opportunities for the low income residents who do live there or wouldn't mind living in the area right now. A lot of folks have to take two buses just to get to a minimum wage job and a lot of well-paying jobs in far-away suburbs aren't accessible for them by bus or train. It's a lot easier to just sell drugs.

 

Brookings says fewer than 30% of available jobs are within a "90 minute" transit trip of Greater Clevelanders. That's 90 minutes EACH WAY. If a more tolerable 45-60 minute trip were used as the upper limit, I'm sure that even fewer jobs are accessible.

 

MORE:

https://www.clevelandfed.org/newsroom-and-events/publications/a-look-behind-the-numbers/albtn-20151123-a-long-ride-to-work-job-access-and-public-transportation-in-northeast-ohio.aspx

 

Putting more residential and jobs around transit as a matter of local and regional public policy helps address not only the depopulation and jobs access situation but also addresses the pockets of hyper-poverty that turn former urban neighborhoods into cancerous urban prairies....

 

Cleveland metro ranks in Top 10 in U.S. for concentrated poverty (graphic): Brookings

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/03/cleveland_metro_ranks_in_top_1_1.html

 

We need to make the Health-Tech Corridor cool.

 

Agree with all your points, but I think the best way to do this is to put the Health Tech along the Opportunity Corridor, allowing the area around Euclid Ave to be developed into walkable mixed use.  Euclid already connects two desirable areas so why not continue that theme?  Health tech installations aren't particularly walkable.  While neighborhoods containing industry can be perfectly viable, there's no reason to make our Main Street into one.  That's not what cities usually do, instead they usually make Main Street their premier neighborhood.  Kinda like Cleveland did in the first place... we don't need to reinvent it!

 

Cleveland needs a true urban neighborhood. Dense 3-5 (maybe 6) story residential with mixed-use interlaced. You know just typical, traditional city design stuff. Cleveland is missing out on population (of all ages) that want to live in these places. I can't think of a better place than along the Euclid,Healthline/Chester corridor. Break up those huge blocks with 20 ft or less wide streets, no setbacks or tree lawns. Weave together an interesting place to live, work and explore.

 

At the very least, personal design preference aside, there is absolutely no reason the Heathline corridor is not mixed use/ residential  (including bio tech industries) the whole stretch. We don't get nice new transit things very often in this city, why are we set on making this stretch a suburban office park. I think there is a huge opportunity to gain a lot of smart population growth here.

 

 

Isn't that Innova project exactly what you are saying you want? It's a start, things have to start somewhere. To be honest developers are really just starting to believe in the midtown corridor enough to build the types of developments you're talking about.

Yes. Innova would be the start of such a neighborhood. You need height like that maybe even a little more on such a wide street like Chester. Behind Innova would the heart though. the 3-4 story residential with mixed in stores, retail, resturant/ bar on narrow streets.  Just about like the look and feel of existing multi family apartments on Newton

 

But, if my memory serves me correctly there is already a structure being planned right to the west of Innova that breaks the urban code.

IMO the best chance we have for that now is in the W 25th/Detroit Ave area.  Slim down that intersection, build out some density and link it to the transit system, perhaps by re-opening the lower deck on the D-S bridge. 

Cleveland isn't Detroit. It has been and still remains a far more dense and geographically compact city. I don't think downsizing the city and shutting-off services to neighborhoods makes remotely as much sense here as it does up there for where Detroit currently stands.

 

Also, I guess I can't help but admire Mayor Dan Horrigan and Jason Segedy's approach in Akron, fighting like hell to reinvest in the whole city for the future, and not writing off any part of it, which is what Cleveland should also be doing.

 

Is it overly ambitious for Akron? Probably? Will it fail? Maybe. But I do think there's something to be said for genuinely trying, even when the odds of success are not particularly favorable. Akron may still end up much better off for their efforts and vision over the long haul than if Horrigan and Segedy just didn't bother to give a damn and were content to let the city crumble to ruins. Why can't Cleveland give its all as well, particularly since it actually has the assets and resources to redevelop itself? It's only the will and vision part that's missing.

 

As for regional approaches as solutions, people are for the most part still too narrowly focused in scope to see the benefits of them whether they live in the city or in the suburbs. It's as if Cleveland, or Beachwood, or Mentor, or Brunswick, or Avon Lake are going to be able to individually hold their own in competition for people and companies with Columbus, let alone Texas' massive sprawling cities, consolidated cities like Nashville and Indianapolis, or even just regionally aware places like Minneapolis-St. Paul that were at least able to put into place intraregional tax-sharing agreements. Sure they are. :roll:

 

Keep doing what you've always done, and you'll get the same results that you've always gotten. It doesn't have to be an "us vs. them" city vs. suburb dichotomy, but as long as that goes on, Cleveland and its suburbs will continue to lose economic and population growth to other regions considerably less fractured and divided against themselves. Clevelanders in the city proper as well as in the burbs will continue to watch their kids lured off to CBUS--literally now by bus.

 

I truly wish we could harness and perpetually use as region what we seemed to have for a few precious days after the Cavs won the NBA Championship last year, up until after the parade and rally in Cleveland. Regional unity and seeing ourselves as having a common interest is indeed possible as that rare instance proved. We just have to find ways to tap into it and build on it. Maybe that doesn't inevitably lead to government consolidation, but I also don't see how we get out of our rut without moving beyond perpetual vacillating between paying lip service to potential solutions, and denial that there is a need for substantial changes in how we view and govern ourselves in Cleveland and NE Ohio.

IMO the best chance we have for that now is in the W 25th/Detroit Ave area.  Slim down that intersection, build out some density and link it to the transit system, perhaps by re-opening the lower deck on the D-S bridge. 

 

I don't see it with Lakeview Terrace right there.  It's not that it's low-income subsidized, it's predominantly many-generations such, which seems to result in the highest crime, resentment, and blight levels.

 

It's like a different world when you pass through that "tunnel" where 25th meets Main and passes under the Shoreway.  But it's a short walk.

IMO the best chance we have for that now is in the W 25th/Detroit Ave area.  Slim down that intersection, build out some density and link it to the transit system, perhaps by re-opening the lower deck on the D-S bridge. 

 

I don't see it with Lakeview Terrace right there.  It's not that it's low-income subsidized, it's predominantly many-generations such, which seems to result in the highest crime, resentment, and blight levels.

 

It's like a different world when you pass through that "tunnel" where 25th meets Main and passes under the Shoreway.  But it's a short walk.

 

Lakeview is also a high-density community that would benefit from the transit access on that corner.  If you build enough moderate/high-income housing around it, the problems will lessen as there will be man eyes and ears on the streets. 

IMO the best chance we have for that now is in the W 25th/Detroit Ave area.  Slim down that intersection, build out some density and link it to the transit system, perhaps by re-opening the lower deck on the D-S bridge. 

 

I don't see it with Lakeview Terrace right there.  It's not that it's low-income subsidized, it's predominantly many-generations such, which seems to result in the highest crime, resentment, and blight levels.

 

It's like a different world when you pass through that "tunnel" where 25th meets Main and passes under the Shoreway.  But it's a short walk.

 

Lakeview is also a high-density community that would benefit from the transit access on that corner.  If you build enough moderate/high-income housing around it, the problems will lessen as there will be man eyes and ears on the streets. 

 

But it would take time for people to move in and there would likely be incidents that might stymie that migration. I just don't see it as feasible at this point.

IMO the best chance we have for that now is in the W 25th/Detroit Ave area.  Slim down that intersection, build out some density and link it to the transit system, perhaps by re-opening the lower deck on the D-S bridge. 

 

I don't see it with Lakeview Terrace right there.  It's not that it's low-income subsidized, it's predominantly many-generations such, which seems to result in the highest crime, resentment, and blight levels.

 

It's like a different world when you pass through that "tunnel" where 25th meets Main and passes under the Shoreway.  But it's a short walk.

 

Lakeview is also a high-density community that would benefit from the transit access on that corner.  If you build enough moderate/high-income housing around it, the problems will lessen as there will be man eyes and ears on the streets. 

 

But it would take time for people to move in and there would likely be incidents that might stymie that migration. I just don't see it as feasible at this point.

 

I'm not following. 

 

There's already a brand new project going up on the NW corner.  Not sure of the vacancies, but I imagine like other new construction in the area it is renting out quickly.  There are already several buildings just to the west of there that have been rented for years (and yes, dealing with the problems of urban America).  A larger project on the SE corner would create a much more lively environment.

We need to make the Health-Tech Corridor cool.

 

Agree with all your points, but I think the best way to do this is to put the Health Tech along the Opportunity Corridor, allowing the area around Euclid Ave to be developed into walkable mixed use.  Euclid already connects two desirable areas so why not continue that theme?  Health tech installations aren't particularly walkable.  While neighborhoods containing industry can be perfectly viable, there's no reason to make our Main Street into one.  That's not what cities usually do, instead they usually make Main Street their premier neighborhood.  Kinda like Cleveland did in the first place... we don't need to reinvent it!

 

I thought this idea was brilliant.

 

Cleveland’s District of Design; what happened?

 

Today, most people look puzzled when you ask them what happened to the District of Design. Many don’t even know there was such a thing in the first place. “Sounds like the Medical Mart,” a friend of mine said on the phone recently. The brainchild of Cleveland Institute of Art industrial design professor and chair Dan Cuffaro and Cleveland State University’s Ned Hill, the goal of the District of Design Initiative was to create as Cuffaro put it, “The Milan of the Midwest,” an agglomeration of consumer design firms in the hope of generating jobs for graduates of the Cleveland Institute of Art’s Design Program. When it was first presented to the public, a flurry of news stories touting its’ benefits appeared in local media and then mysteriously vanished. Now, question is this; is the District of Design still viable or was it doomed from the start?

 

https://madmangreatlake.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/clevelands-district-of-design-what-happened/

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.t03.htm

 

 

Ohio is bleeding jobs. HOWEVER Cleveland gained jobs, but still lost population in it's metro.

700 jobs in one year ain't much for a market of 2.1M people...

Very well put. I noticed that that's another problem in Cleveland; people who rely on public transit don't have job opportunities near where they live. Not everyone living on the east side is a bio-medical engineer or doctor. Far from it. Those abandoned neighborhoods don't have any job opportunities for the low income residents who do live there or wouldn't mind living in the area right now. A lot of folks have to take two buses just to get to a minimum wage job and a lot of well-paying jobs in far-away suburbs aren't accessible for them by bus or train. It's a lot easier to just sell drugs.

 

Brookings says fewer than 30% of available jobs are within a "90 minute" transit trip of Greater Clevelanders. That's 90 minutes EACH WAY. If a more tolerable 45-60 minute trip were used as the upper limit, I'm sure that even fewer jobs are accessible.

 

MORE:

https://www.clevelandfed.org/newsroom-and-events/publications/a-look-behind-the-numbers/albtn-20151123-a-long-ride-to-work-job-access-and-public-transportation-in-northeast-ohio.aspx

 

Putting more residential and jobs around transit as a matter of local and regional public policy helps address not only the depopulation and jobs access situation but also addresses the pockets of hyper-poverty that turn former urban neighborhoods into cancerous urban prairies....

 

Cleveland metro ranks in Top 10 in U.S. for concentrated poverty (graphic): Brookings

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/03/cleveland_metro_ranks_in_top_1_1.html

 

I agree whole-heartedly. I've been preaching that forever. It's really nice to hear someone else say it. We need to look at neighborhoods surrounding the rapid stations, even in the worst neighborhoods, as opportunities for any and all forms of transit-oriented development. Even when considering the development of low-income housing. For those who don't have cars, accessibility to more parts of the city means more employment opportunities and more income which in time will allow the community to prosper. That's not only good for low-income residents but for employers who are forced to pay over-time or compromise the quality of services and products or can't keep up with demand and lose money because they can't fulfill their staffing needs. It seems as though people don't think about those kinds of hidden injuries of poor urban and transportation policies. The routes or existence of bus service can change over time but fixed rail lines and their stations generally do not. Accessibility through bus service is important (and IMO, in Cleveland, express bus service to large employment centers in the outer suburbs are particularly an issue) but at the very least the areas surrounding the Rapid Transit Stations of the inner city should be perceived as a good, long term investment for anybody.

 

The focus up here is almost entirely on bringing individuals with a lot of disposable income, back into the city. There isn't much thought put into how the region and its residents function as a whole. There needs to be a more efficient, symbiotic relationship between residents and employers in the region, to make the metro more functional. I'm starting to get philosophical but hopefully people understand what I mean.

 

We need to make the Health-Tech Corridor cool.

 

Agree with all your points, but I think the best way to do this is to put the Health Tech along the Opportunity Corridor, allowing the area around Euclid Ave to be developed into walkable mixed use.  Euclid already connects two desirable areas so why not continue that theme?  Health tech installations aren't particularly walkable.  While neighborhoods containing industry can be perfectly viable, there's no reason to make our Main Street into one.  That's not what cities usually do, instead they usually make Main Street their premier neighborhood.  Kinda like Cleveland did in the first place... we don't need to reinvent it!

 

Cleveland needs a true urban neighborhood. Dense 3-5 (maybe 6) story residential with mixed-use interlaced. You know just typical, traditional city design stuff. Cleveland is missing out on population (of all ages) that want to live in these places. I can't think of a better place than along the Euclid,Healthline/Chester corridor. Break up those huge blocks with 20 ft or less wide streets, no setbacks or tree lawns. Weave together an interesting place to live, work and explore.

 

At the very least, personal design preference aside, there is absolutely no reason the Heathline corridor is not mixed use/ residential  (including bio tech industries) the whole stretch. We don't get nice new transit things very often in this city, why are we set on making this stretch a suburban office park. I think there is a huge opportunity to gain a lot of smart population growth here.

 

What is with everyone's obsession with high-rise buildings in Cleveland? High-rise buildings are usually a result of extremely high demand for land and most of the Health-tech Corridor does not have that kind of demand or else you would see more cranes in the area.

 

You can't call 6 story buildings 'traditional urban design.' Most of the currently successful urban neighborhoods in America aren't full of six story buildings. The most important aspect of a functional and even aesthetic urban environment is continuity, not high-rises surrounded by a bunch of dilapidated houses or grass fields that owners owe back-taxes on. The streets need to be walkable and much more of the land needs to be utilized for purposes that would serve the community well.

 

I can't blame you for thinking that, though. Those two story townhomes they built on Chester by The Clinic (I forgot what that development is called) looks absolutely ridiculous. I saw that before I even moved to Cleveland last year and thought, "Wow, they'll allow anything to be built up here, huh?" It's essentially a large scale, crappy subdivision built near grand historic homes that look nothing like it. The architecture isn't close to what is befitting to Cleveland; it's an eye-sore and there is obviously no thought in terms of how the development will interact with the surrounding urban environment and other land-uses. When they do build more intimate scale developments up here, they get the proportions of the buildings all wrong for some reason.

What is with everyone's obsession with high-rise buildings in Cleveland? High-rise buildings are usually a result of extremely high demand for land and most of the Health-tech Corridor does not have that kind of demand or else you would see more cranes in the area.

 

You can't call 6 story buildings 'traditional urban design.' Most of the currently successful urban neighborhoods in America aren't full of six story buildings. The most important aspect of a functional and even aesthetic urban environment is continuity, not high-rises surrounded by a bunch of dilapidated houses or grass fields that owners owe back-taxes on. The streets need to be walkable and much more of the land needs to be utilized for purposes that would serve the community well.

 

I can't blame you for thinking that, though. Those two story townhomes they built on Chester by The Clinic (I forgot what that development is called) looks absolutely ridiculous. I saw that before I even moved to Cleveland last year and thought, "Wow, they'll allow anything to be built up here, huh?" It's essentially a large scale, crappy subdivision built near grand historic homes that look nothing like it. The architecture isn't close to what is befitting to Cleveland; it's an eye-sore and there is obviously no thought in terms of how the development will interact with the surrounding urban environment and other land-uses. When they do build more intimate scale developments up here, they get the proportions of the buildings all wrong for some reason.

 

I think you misunderstood me. The 4 or 5 or 6 story would front the wider streets: Euclid, Chester. I am not formally educated in urban design by any means, just someone who travels alot and through observation formulated what feels right, at least to my preference. But yes that kind of widespread development would need a much more attractive market in that area.

 

What I am more concerned with though is the other asspect of my post with those huge blocks being broken up with with a network of much narrower streets and 3-4 story residental with mixed-use worked in to the fabric. Buildings abutting each other, no set backs, no tree lawn. Something much more intimate as you put it. That is what I meant when I mentioned traditional design. Cleveland has an overabundance of single family detached wood frame neighborhoods. It would be nice to have something in contarst to that to tap into a population pool that have different tastes.

 

I know exactly which development you are talking about just west of the clinic and agree 100% To add to it I despise those horrible marginal streets (or whatever you call them) on the north and south sides.

 

 

Great conversation on the Sound of Ideas today re: population loss. The guests presented good data and ideas as well as comparisons of Franklin vs Cuyahoga counties that were deeper than 'Columbus annexs.'

 

Two things I found interesting:

- 86% of Cuyahoga population loss (past 40 years) was attributable to smaller family sizes

- It was recommended that the county/city focus more on income and property value rather than population, as Boston has done (which will also probably never reach its peak population ever again).

 

http://wcpn.ideastream.org/programs/sound-of-ideas/ohio-poverty-report-ne-ohio-population-loss-statehouse-update